Changing the highlight color in Adobe Acrobat/Reader makes different types of text stand out in a PDF file. This tutorial covers how to adjust highlight colors so you can customize and improve your documents to suit your preferences.

Adobe Acrobat & Adobe Acrobat Reader are versatile tools for all things PDF. The software offers a range of tools that allow you to create, edit, and manage your documents effortlessly.

What the Highlight Feature Does & Why Use it

The highlighting feature in Adobe Acrobat is a handy tool that allows you to mark important sections or points within a document by translucently coloring your text. It serves as an effective method to emphasize key information, making it easier to locate and reference essential details later.

By using different highlight colors, you can categorize or differentiate various sections, enhancing readability and comprehension. This feature is particularly useful for students, professionals, or anyone dealing with extensive documents, enabling them to extract, emphasize, and review critical content efficiently.

How to Change Highlight Color in Adobe Acrobat Reader

Before we look into how to use the highlighter feature in the Adobe Acrobat software, let’s get the difference between Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and Adobe Acrobat Reader DC out of the way.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is the free version of the software that you can use for basic PDF viewing and annotations. Adobe Acrobat, available through Creative Cloud, offers advanced editing and conversion features. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (Document Cloud) is the latest version of the software which adds cloud-based functions for secure document sharing and storage across devices. The Adobe Acrobat Pro DC version embodies all of the features available in the standard version of the app and also adds premium features like a variety of e-signature tools.

No matter which version of the Adobe Acrobat software you’re using, the steps for using the text highlight tool will be similar (the steps are also the same for Mac and Windows operating systems).

To highlight your text in Adobe Acrobat/Reader, follow the steps from our tutorial:

Step 1. Open the document you want to edit in Adobe Acrobat.

Launch the Adobe Acrobat/Reader app on your computer. Then select File > Open. Navigate to the document you need to edit and add it to Adobe Acrobat.

Step 2. Add highlights to text.

If you need to highlight parts of your document, from the sidebar open Tools > Comment > Highlight or Tools > Highlight, then highlight your chosen text.

Step 3. Select the highlighted text.

If your document already has parts of the text highlighted: once you open the document in the app, find the place with the highlighted text. Right-click the highlighted text and select Properties (or Tool Default Properties) from the drop-down menu.

Step 4. Change the highlight color.

If you don’t like the harsh yellow that is the default color in Adobe Acrobat, you can change it to your desired color.

In the Highlight Properties bar, open the Appearance tab, and click on the Color field. This will open a color palette where you can select a different color of the highlighter to suit your needs and to change the color of your selected text. You can also use the color picker tool to get the desired color right from your document.

When you’re happy with the selected color, press OK at the bottom of the dialog box and close the Highlighter tool properties window.

This highlight color will then be changed automatically.

If you’re using a Mac, you can use a keyboard shortcutto change the highlight color of the text in Adobe Acrobat. Press Command (Cmd) + E to access the Highlight Properties pop-up window. There, you can change the highlight color as well as the opacity. You can also select More to open the full-sized Highlight properties window.

On a Windows computer, the Ctrl + E hotkey combination will open the same toolbar.

How to Change Default Highlight Color in Adobe Acrobat Reader

Changing the highlight color from default to something else every time may be time consuming and simply annoying. Instead, you can set a different default highlight color in Adobe Acrobat Reader to the one you like. This will save you time and apply the new color to your highlighted text every time.

To change the default highlight color in Adobe Acrobat, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Highlight the Text in Your Document.

Begin by selecting the text you wish to highlight. Then select the Highlight icon to highlight your text. After that, right-click the text to open the context menu and access the Highlight Properties as shown in the previous section.

Step 2: Set the Default Color.

Within the Highlight Properties menu bar, modify the color of your highlight.

To make the new color the default color for all future edits, check the box labeled Make Properties default in the Highlight Properties window. This ensures that your chosen color becomes the default highlight color for future use.

How to Change Highlight Color in Adobe Acrobat Reader Mobile

Adobe Acrobat offers a mobile version of the app so that you can edit PDFs right from your smartphone. If you don’t have the app installed on your phone already, download it and install it from Google Play or Apple App Store. To change the highlight color using Adobe Acrobat Reader Mobile, follow these simple steps for efficient PDF management on your phone. The instructions are the same for both Android and iOS users.

Step 1: Launch the App

After you download and install the app, open it on your smartphone.

Step 2: Open Your PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader

In Adobe Acrobat Reader, select Open File to add the PDF file you wish to edit to Acrobat Reader on your phone. You can import the file from your smartphone and let the app detect it automatically.

Step 3: Adjust Text Highlight Color

Find the highlighted text that you want to change the color of. Long-press the highlighted text to access the Highlighted Text Properties. Select the highlight color to display the color palette and choose your preferred color for the highlighted text.

Step 4: Set Default Color

The recently used highlight color will become the default for future highlighted text. This color will be automatically selected when you highlight text in subsequent use.

After the app saves the changes, you can carry on working on the same document on multiple devices. The mobile app also comes with an array of PDF editing features, including changing the font text color.

What Other Software You Can Use For Highlighting Parts of Your Documents

There are other software options available for highlighting parts of your documents if you’re looking for alternatives. Some of these include:

• Foxit Reader: Similar to Adobe Acrobat, it’s a free PDF reader that allows highlighting and annotating PDF documents.
• PDF-XChange Editor: This software provides basic PDF editing features, including highlighting and annotating texts and images.
• Nitro PDF Reader: A comprehensive PDF reader that offers a free trial with annotation capabilities, letting you highlight texts in your PDF documents.
• Sumatra PDF: While primarily a lightweight reader, it allows basic annotation functions such as highlighting.

These software options offer various functionalities similar to Adobe Acrobat Reader, including the ability to highlight and annotate your documents.

If you don’t have a dedicated PDF editor, you can also use Photoshop to highlight text in your PDFs. Photoshop is primarily an image editing software and doesn’t offer the same ease of use or specialized tools for text highlighting within PDFs compared to dedicated PDF editing software. So the process will be a little different and more complicated compared to using Adobe Acrobat.

Edit Your Documents in Adobe Acrobat Reader Like a Pro

Mastering the art of editing documents in Adobe Acrobat Reader can significantly enhance your productivity. From changing highlight colors to modifying text, this tool offers versatile features that can streamline your document management process.

Whether on desktop or mobile, these tips can help you navigate Adobe Acrobat Reader like a pro and excel at editing your documents, allowing for efficient and effective document editing on the go.

The post How to Change the Highlight Color in Adobe Acrobat/Reader first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

But there’s more than one way to zoom in or out in Photoshop. You’ll have to choose the zoom option that will fit your workflow the best.

1. The Zoom Tool

Using the zoom tool is the default way of zooming in and out in Adobe Photoshop. You’ll just have to use the magnifying glass icon near the bottom of the toolbox on the left side of the Photoshop screen.

When you select the zoom tool, your cursor changes into a magnifying glass with a + sign. Use it to click anywhere on your image to zoom in. If you want to zoom out, simply hold the Alt key (Windows) or Option (Mac) on your keyboard and click on the image. You’ll also notice that the plus sign inside your cursor changed into a minus sign.

The keyboard shortcut for activating the magnifying glass icon is the letter Z on your keyboard.

You also don’t have to click on the image each time you want to zoom in or out. There’s an Animated Zoom option that turns zooming in or out into a continuous feature. But first, you’ll have to enable this feature. Here’s how:

1. Go to Edit in the menu bar at the top ribbon.

2. Hover over Preferences in the drop-down menu, and select Tools from the sub-menu that’ll show up.

3. Tick the checkbox next to the Animated Zoom.

Now, you don’t have to click to magnify your image each time. Simply click once and hold until you reach the magnification percentage that you need. However, not all graphics cards will support the Animated Zoom feature. Check if your PC’s graphics card is compatible with the Photoshop version you’re running.

Another way to omit clicking each time to magnify or reduce the image size on your Photoshop screen is to enable the Scrubby Zoom option in the Zoom Tool’s options bar at the top, just under the ribbon. These options will be available only while the Zoom Tool is active. Simply click the checkbox next to Scrubby Zoom to zoom in and out by holding the mouse and dragging it right or left.

2. Using the Keyboard Shortcut

Using Photoshop’s keyboard shortcuts is the quickest way to zoom in or out on your image or canvas. Press CTRL and + (Windows) or Command and + (Mac) to zoom in. If you want to zoom out, press CTRL and – or Command and –.

If you hit CTRL + 0 or Command + 0 on your keyboard, your image will automatically fit on the screen, whether it means zooming in or out.

3. Zoom with the Scroll Wheel on Your Mouse

Another quick way of zooming in and out is using the scroll wheel on your mouse. To enable this feature, you’ll have to:

1. Go to Edit in the ribbon.
2. Hover over Preferences and select Tools in the sub-menu.
3. Tick the checkbox next to Zoom With Scroll Wheel.

4. Scrubby Zoom With the Move Tool

If you’re using the Move tool and need to access Zoom quickly, you can use the Scrubby Zoom feature.

Select the move tool from the left toolbox of your main Photoshop window. Alternatively, hit the V on your keyboard to access it.

While the Move tool is active, you can hold down Spacebar + CTRL (Windows) or Spacebar + Command (macOS), then click and drag the image to zoom in or out. Dragging to the right zooms in, while dragging to the left zooms out the image or canvas.

That way, you don’t have to change the Move tool into a Zoom tool, especially if you know you’ll have to switch between the two often.

6. The 100% Zoom View

Whenever you want to get the most accurate view of an image, you should look at it at 100% zoom. That’s because, at 100%, one monitor pixel will display one image pixel. To quickly jump to 100% view you can select it from the View menu on the ribbon. Simply choose the 100% option from the drop-down menu.

If you want a quick way to jump to the 100% View, you can do it with the keyboard shortcut. Simply press CTRL + 1 on Windows or Command + 1 on macOS.

Viewing an image at 100% is the only way to get the most accurate view. You’ll be able to see all the details in the picture. Of course, you can zoom in even past 100%, but you won’t see more details because the image will be too pixelated.

Viewing an image or a picture at 100% is especially significant if you’re sharpening it. This lets you easily see when sharpening effects affect the image’s details.

7. Navigator Panel

You can also use the Navigator Panel to Zoom in or out of your image or canvas in Photoshop. You’ll find the Navigator Panel on the right side of the Photoshop screen by selecting the icon that looks like a ship steering wheel.

If you don’t see the Navigator Panel in the right-side menu, you’ll need to enable it. Here’s how:

1. Go to the Window option in the ribbon.

2. Select Navigator from the drop-down menu.

Once you’re in Navigator Panel, you can click the big mountains icon to zoom in, and the small ones to zoom out. You can also click and drag the slider between the mountain icons to zoom in and out.

How to Navigate the Image While Using the Zoom Tool

When you zoom in on an image, you’ll notice you can’t see all of it at once. That’s where panning and scrolling the image gets useful. There are several ways to navigate your zoomed-in image. Let’s take a look at what options you have and how to use them.

The Hand Tool

The Photoshop Hand Tool is typically used to pan the image from one area to another. The Hand tool is in the Toolbar just above the Zoom Tool.

Once the Hand Tool is active, your cursor will change into a hand icon. To grab the image simply click it, and while holding the mouse button down, drag the image around. This will allow you to inspect different areas of the zoomed-in photo. To let go, you need only to release the mouse button.

Although the Hand Tool is easily accessible from the Toolbar on the left side of the Photoshop screen, switching between the Zoom and Hand tool can get annoying. Instead, there’s a quicker way to temporarily access the Hand Tool while the Zoom Tool is active. Simply press and hold the space bar on your keyboard. This will turn your cursor into a hand, which you can use to move your zoomed-in image around.

Flick Panning

Flick Panning is not a feature in itself. You can observe it as part of the Hand Tool feature. When you’re in the middle of a drag, you can release the mouse button and toss your image in any direction. It will keep moving and gradually come to a halt. But you can also stop it manually by clicking on the image again.

However, you might need to enable the Flick Panning in your Photoshop. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the Edit option on the ribbon, and hover your mouse over Preferences.
2. Select Tools from the sub-menu.
3. Enable Flick Panning by checking the corresponding box, and clicking the OK button to close the dialog box.

Panning With the Scroll Bars

When you zoom in on an image, you’ll notice a scroll bar on the right side. Use it to pan up or down.

There’s another scroll bar along the bottom edge of your Photoshop window. Use it to scroll left or right.

Panning With the Mouse Wheel

You can also use your mouse scroll wheel to pan the zoomed-in image up, down, or sideways. You don’t have to use the hand tool when you are panning with the scroll wheel. You can use any of the many Photoshop’s tools.

Scrolling the wheel up moves the image up. Scrolling it down moves the image down. But if you want to pan to the right or left, you must hold the CTRL key on Windows or the Command Key on Mac keyboards. While holding the CTRL or Command, scroll the wheel up to pan the image to the left and scroll down to pan the image to the right.

If you need to alternate between panning and zooming with the mouse scroll wheel, you can do it simply by changing the keyboard buttons you’re holding. Use the Alt or Option key on your keyboard to zoom in and out, and CTRL or Command to pan the image.

And that’s it! You now know all the basics of zooming in and out in Photoshop, and you can navigate faster with the panning tools. Photoshop is a complex tool with a bit of a learning curve, so start getting in the habit of using keyboard shortcuts or key + mouse scroll combinations to speed up your workflow.

The post How to Zoom (In and Out) in Photoshop first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

So you might want to try some of these tools and cancel your Adobe subscription. We’re here to help you through this process and give you some information on getting a refund if you’re eligible.

If you want to cancel your Adobe Acrobat Pro or Photoshop subscription, you’ll also have to give up other elements of Adobe Creative Cloud, such as Adobe Stock and Indesign.

What to Consider Before Canceling an Adobe Subscription

Canceling your Adobe subscriptions can have consequences you’ll need to consider. Weigh your options and think if this is the right moment to cancel that subscription, as there’s no such thing as freezing your account and going back to it whenever you want. Instead, you’ll have to go through the account reactivation process, which can be tedious.

Another thing to consider is when you last paid for the subscription. If you want to cancel your Adobe Creative Cloud more than 14 days after the last payment, you won’t be eligible for a refund.

If you want to keep some of the Adobe perks, such as extensive cloud storage, but you don’t need Photoshop anymore, perhaps consider changing the subscription plan instead of canceling the subscription. This way, you get to choose what plan suits you better and keep the perks that you still find useful.

Remember that canceling your Adobe subscription won’t delete your Adobe account. All your data will still be there. If you need to delete the account permanently, contact Adobe Customer Support.

How to Cancel Your Adobe Subscription

Here is a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to cancel your Adobe subscription:

1. Go to your account page on the Adobe website.
2. If you’re not logged in, Adobe will ask you to enter your sign-in details before redirecting you to the plans page.

3. Select Manage Plans.

4. A new window will pop up where Adobe will ask you if you want to change your plan or cancel it. Select Cancel your plan to proceed.

5. Choose why you’re leaving Adobe by ticking the box next to the answer that describes your case. You can also write a comment if you think it’s necessary. When done, simply click Continue.

6. Adobe doesn’t like losing their customers, and they’ll try again to persuade you to change your plan instead of canceling it. Select the No Thanks option if your mind is set on canceling Adobe.

7. The next page will list the consequences of canceling Adobe’s subscription. Sometimes, you’ll need to pay a fee, and the price will depend on whether your subscription is annual or monthly. Click Continue to finish the cancelation process.

8. At this point, Adobe will try to get you to rethink your decision again and change your plan or get one of its other products. Select No Thanks again.
9. Finally, the next page will display all cancelation details. Review them so you’re sure there are no mistakes. Select Confirm, and your Adobe subscription will be canceled.

Once you complete all these steps, you can expect a cancelation confirmation email to arrive in your inbox. That’s when you’ll know your Adobe subscription cancelation was successful. You don’t need to reply to this email or take any other action.

Canceling Your Adobe Trial

You can try out Adobe products without having to pay for them. When you sign up for the trial period, you must add your billing details. After the trial period, Adobe will automatically start charging you for their services. You can cancel your trial subscription before that happens.

The steps for canceling a trial plan are the same as the one described above. If you want to cancel your trial, follow the directions described in the “How to Cancel Your Adobe Subscription” section. Ensure you do it before the trial period expires to avoid getting charged.

Cancellation Fees and Adobe Refund Policy

If you cancel your Adobe subscription within 14 days from the last payment, you’ll be eligible for a full refund. But if you cancel it after those 14 days, you can use the subscription until the end of that billing cycle. This is valid if you have a monthly subscription.

If your subscription is annual, Adobe will let you cancel it within a month from the subscription renewal. That’s why you should mark the subscription renewal date in your calendar.

All Adobe subscription plans renew automatically. That means once you input your debit or credit card details, you don’t have to go through the payment procedure every month. The subscription renews itself without you having to do anything. So if you want to cancel your subscription and not get charged for the next subscription period, you’ll have to do it before the end of your contract term.

What Happens When You Cancel Your Adobe Subscription

Your account won’t be deleted once you cancel your Adobe subscription plan. Instead, it’ll be transferred to the free plan. You’ll lose access to all apps and tools, but you can continue using your Creative Cloud storage. Adobe will also downgrade your storage to 2GB.

If you use more than these free 2GB of cloud storage, you’ll have 30 days from the subscription cancelation to reduce the number of your files; otherwise, you’ll lose some of them. Lightroom images will stay online and be accessible for up to 12 months after subscription cancelation. You can still import and organize them, but your access to the Develop and Map modules in Lightroom will be restricted.

That said, canceling your Adobe subscription is a relatively painless process. Depending on how you initially signed up for the subscription, it may take just a few clicks or involve some more involved steps. No matter what, taking this vital step to manage your finances and ensure you’re not automatically paying for services you no longer need will save you time, hassle, and money over the long run. Remember always to double-check your account details to ensure your subscription has been successfully canceled.

The post How to Cancel Your Adobe Subscription first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

As you look over the tools menu, you’ll notice that they already have a keyboard shortcut in parenthesis right next to the name of each individual tool. For example, you’ll notice a (P) next to the pen tool. So go ahead and press P on your keyboard, and you won’t have to go to the tools menu and manually select the Pen.

But Adobe Illustrator has much more shortcuts than just tools. You can use them to select items, copy them, group items, and so on. This article lists the ones mostly used by professionals and beginners alike. So use our keyboard shortcut tables for your cheat sheets. Also, make sure to check our list with the best GIMP keyboard shortcuts for maximum productivity.

Most Popular Shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts will help you interact with Adobe Illustrator and perform various tasks quickly. They are most popular because they are actions that need to be repeated frequently, no matter what you are working on.

Documents Related Shortcuts

The keyboard shortcuts listed in the next table will help you set up your document and work with it in various ways. Use them to quickly create new documents or to save existing ones. You can even use a shortcut to print out your work without the hassle of going through the different menus.

Adobe Illustrator Tool Shortcuts

Adobe Illustrator is filled with useful tools that you’ll use regularly in your projects. As mentioned, many tools have already written shortcuts next to their name, but some are grouped together, and you’d have to navigate around the toolbox a lot just to find them. The best would be to learn the ones you use the most by heart. That way, you won’t have to spend time searching through the tools menu each time you need to switch a tool.

View and Navigation Shortcuts

The shortcuts described in the next table will help you view your document and navigate any section of it quickly.

Work With Selections

Working with selections can be tiresome. It’s very nuanced work, and you need tons of practice to perfect it. But these shortcuts might help you along with your workflow.

Work with Text

Text can be a huge part of your Adobe Illustrator projects. Here are some keyboard shortcuts that’ll help you manipulate the text faster.

With Adobe Illustrator’s vast array of helpful keyboard shortcuts, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be flying through your design projects faster and with greater precision. Whether you’re a first-time user or an experienced professional graphic designer, taking advantage of this more efficient way to work can save both time and frustration. Learning these shortcuts may take some time and practice but with a bit of dedication, that time will be well spent! Don’t forget to come back and check out our other posts if you’re looking for even more Adobe software tips and tricks.

The post 120 Most Useful Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcuts first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Instead of memorizing all the necessary Photoshop shortcut keyboards, you can save this article and use it as a cheat sheet whenever needed. Keep in mind that in most cases shortcuts for Windows and Mac users are the same. But in some cases, they can be different. If they are, the article will list both variations. The one for macOS will be displayed in parentheses.

Also, make sure to check our articles on the best Word keyboard shortcuts and the best Excel keyboard shortcuts for a complete boost in productivity.

Preparing Your Work

Before you start working in Photoshop, you might want to prepare the image or the canvas. This will help you enhance your workflow. Preparing a Photoshop document should be second nature to you if you often use the software, but using keyboard shortcuts saves time. Instead of wasting time finding the right tools, press a few buttons on your keyboard to change image size, zoom in or out, and scale your image. Here are the most basic shortcuts that’ll help you prepare your work in Photoshop:

Selecting Tools

The tools with which you work in Photoshop come in groups. Each tool group has different functions. For example, under the Object Selection group, you’ll have options to make a quick selection, or to use a magic wand tool.
Each tool has a keyboard shortcut, and here’s the list of the most commonly used ones:

Selecting Tools
Move tool		v	Path Selection tool Direct Selection tool		a
Object Selection tool Quick Selection tool		w	Hand tool		h
Rectangular Marquee tool Elliptical Marquee Tool		m	Rotate View		r
Lasso tool Polygonal Lasso tool		l	Pen tool Freeform Pen tool		p
Eyedropper tool Color Sampler tool		i	Clone Stamp tool Pattern Stamp tool		s
Crop tool Perspective Crop tool		c	Dodge tool Burn tool		o
Eraser tool Background Eraser tool		e	Zoom Tool		z
Rectangle Rounded Rectangle		u	Default Foreground/Background colors		d
Horizontal Type tool Vertical Type tool		t	Switch Foreground/Background colors		x
Brush tool Pencil tool		b	Toggle Quick Mask Modes		q
History Brush tool Art history Brush tool		y	Change Screen Mode		f
Spot Healing Brush tool Healing Brush tool		j
Gradient tool Paint Bucket tool		g

Note: These quick shortcuts are the same for Windows and macOS users.

The Brush Tool

The brush is one of the most commonly used tools in Adobe Photoshop for obvious reasons.

Use these shortcuts to change the brush size, shape, and transparency of the brush strokes.

The Marquee Tool

Making quick and simple selections in Photoshop is easy. But the Marquee tool is capable of so much more than a simple drag and select. Use it to select individual elements in your image or the entire graphic. After making a proper selection you can easily copy, cut, and paste it into another place, document, or even layer.
Here are some of the commonly used Marquee tool shortcuts. But first, press M on your keyboard to select the tool.

Blending Options

Blending modes will improve the looks of your graphics or image you are working on. They determine how the colors blend between the layers. Some of the blending options make subtle changes, while others can drastically change the visual impression of your graphics.
To select the blending option go to Photoshop’s top bar menu and select Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options.

Alternatively, you can double-click any layer and that will bring up the options for that particular layer. You’ll find blending options there.

Once you open the blending options, you can use the following shortcuts. But don’t forget to first select the move tool (v) and then click on the layer you want to manipulate with blending options.

Working with Layers and Objects

Manipulating certain objects in your graph, or even multiple layers can be daunting work. But these shortcuts make it all seem so easy. These are also some of the most commonly used shortcuts in Photoshop by both professionals and those who are just starting out.

Saving Your Photoshop Document

Finally, let’s see which shortcuts you can use to save your work in Photoshop. It won’t matter if you finished it or not. You can always return to your work if you save it as a Photoshop (PSD) file.

Even if you’re a beginner at using this software, taking the time to learn and practice these important key commands can really pay off in significantly reducing the time it takes to adjust intricate images. Don’t worry if it takes time to remember a certain shortcut though – practice makes perfect!

The post 76 Most Useful Adobe Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

To complete the zoom in effect, you will need to know how to zoom out so you can get back to the original view of your clip. It’s just as easy as doing a zoom in, so once you know how to do that you’ll quickly be able to pick up zooming out too.

In this article we’ll teach you how to do both, and how to use these zoom in and out effects in your own videos.

How to Make a Zoom In Effect

To begin this tutorial, we’ll assume that you already have your project open and the clip you want to apply the zoom in effect to is placed in your timeline. From this point on, you can follow the steps below to create the effect.

1. Click on the clip which you want to have a zoom-in effect.

2. Head to the Effect Controls panel and open the Motion options.

3. To zoom in to a particular area of your clip, in the Program panel locate the circular blue target, called the Anchor Point, likely in the middle of your clip when you select it in the panel.

4. Using your mouse, click and drag the Anchor Point to the point in your clip you want to zoom in to.

5. Now, use the Scale effect by either changing the numerical value or using the slider. Increasing the number will produce a zoom-in on the Anchor Point.

During playback, you may notice the zoom in effect happens as soon as the video clip plays. If you want to have the zoom-in effect take place more slowly, as the clip plays, you’ll need to utilize key frames to do so. If you’re not acquainted with key frames yet, check out our article on the topic first. Then, follow these steps to create a gradual zoom in.

1. First, place the Anchor Point on the area you want to zoom in to on your clip.

2. Click on the stopwatch icon next to Anchor Point in the Effect Controls panel.

3. Now, click on the stopwatch icon next to the Scale effect, after setting it to where you want your zoom in starting point to be.

4. In the keyframe timeline that appears next to your effect controls, slide the playhead (the blue marker in the timeline) to the point in your clip where you want the zoom in to end.

5. Use the Scale effect and set the value so it’s fully zoomed in to the point you want. A keyframe will automatically be set once you change the Scale value.

Keep in mind that the closer together your two Scale keyframes are, the faster the zoom in effect will take place. So, you can adjust the speed by moving the keyframes closer or further apart. This should produce a smooth zoom in effect.

How to Zoom Out

If you’ve already zoomed in and want to zoom back out, the process is relatively simple. Zooming both in and out requires using keyframes, so if you followed the steps above to achieve a zoom in, you can use these next steps to zoom back out.

1. From the keyframe of your zoom in point, move your playhead in the keyframe timeline to the point you want your clip to be fully zoomed out.

2. Use the Scale effect and slide it back to the original value, before the zoom in.

3. The keyframe for the zoom out will automatically be set. You can slide it along the keyframe timeline to alter the speed.

A zoom out of a clip already at its original scale will only make the background behind the clip visible. If you want your clip to begin with a zoom out, you’ll have to first enlarge the scale at the beginning of the clip and use keyframes to create a zoom out from there.

How to Zoom In to Multiple Point In One Clip

Maybe you want not only one, but two zoom in effects within one clip. This is entirely possible, but you’ll have to create your zoom in effects from the beginning with the Position effect instead of the Anchor Point. Follow these steps to create multiple zoom in points within one clip.

1. Turn your attention to the Position effect and turn on its stopwatch, opening the keyframe timeline. Also turn on the stopwatch for Scale, making sure it’s at its original value.

2. Use the Position controls or double-click on your clip in the Program panel and drag the position of your clip to your new zoom in point.

3. Move your keyframe playhead to the point in the clip where you want a second zoom in.

4. Use the Scale effect the same as before to create your next zoom in with keyframes.

You could potentially have as many zoom in effects as you want in one clip by following the method above.

Create Visual Interesting Videos With a Zoom In or Out

A zoom in can have many useful or stylistic purposes within a video, and knowing how to create one is important beginner knowledge to have when it comes to video editing. Thankfully, it’s not too difficult to do this in Adobe Premiere Pro, especially if you have some knowledge already in using effects and editing keyframes.

Do you enjoy zoom in or out effects in videos? Let us know your thoughts below.

The post How to Make a Zoom In or Out Effect in Adobe Premiere first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

In this beginner’s tutorial, we’ll cover 10 Lightroom editing tips you can use to improve your photo editing skills. These tips apply to every version of Lightroom, including Lightroom Classic, Lightroom CC, and the Lightroom mobile app.

1. Understand the Basics of Lightroom

If you’re new to Lightroom, check out our Lightroom beginner’s guide on how to get started. After that, these basic post-processing tips will help you progress in your photo editing journey:

1. Use auto-tone. If you’re new to Lightroom, you can use the auto-tone feature in the Basic panel of the Develop module. This will allow Adobe Sensei — Lightroom’s artificial intelligence (AI) — to adjust your image to what it thinks are good settings. While this won’t be a finished product, it can help get you closer to it.

2. Use auto-white balance. Just like auto-tone, you can select the Auto button under the White Balance section, too. Lightroom will adjust your white balance to what it thinks is right. This won’t always be perfect, but it’ll usually be closer than the original (if you used the wrong settings in camera). This means you won’t have to play around with the Temp and Tint sliders.

3. Press reset. If you don’t like your edit, but you’re not sure exactly what went wrong, you can select Reset. This simple button takes your photo back to its original state, letting you start again.

4. Compare to the original image. When editing, you can press the keyboard shortcut “\” to view the photo in its original state. Toggling between edited and original states, you can easily see what you like about the photo and what you don’t.

Pro tip: Set your camera to produce RAW files rather than JPEGs. RAW files contain more data, letting you manipulate the image more than you can with JPEGs. This is especially helpful if you don’t expose your images correctly, as it gives you more leeway to rescue the light and dark areas.

2. Use Brushes to Dodge and Burn

Dodging and burning is when you apply exposure tweaks to small areas of your image, rather than applying global adjustments. “Dodging” is when you increase the exposure (or lighten the image) and “burning” is when you decrease it (or darken the image).

Lightroom includes several selection tools, from brushes to radial filters to automatic subject selection tools. The most common way to apply dodging and burning is to make local adjustments using the Brush tool.

To do so:

1. In the Develop module, select Masking (or press Ctrl + W).

2. Choose Brush. If using a mouse, you can expand or contract the size of your brush using the mouse wheel. On Lightroom mobile, use the size slider. You can also adjust the feather, flow, and density.

3. Click (or tap) and drag on the screen to apply the brush.

4. Any settings you activate under Effect will be applied to the area you brush. To dodge, increase the exposure. To burn, decrease it.

Pro tip: Use the “Auto Mask” feature to assist your brushing process. Applying a brush to specific, finely defined areas (like hair or birds) can take a lot of time. Auto Mask lets Lightroom try to find the edges of each object automatically. This way, when you use the brush, it won’t apply masking to the area it doesn’t think is part of the object.

3. Use Range Masking

When you use masking, there’s a handful of ways to tell Lightroom to only apply that mask to particular parts of your image inside the mask.

To do so, press Masking then select Range and choose either Luminance Range or Color Range. Alternatively, if you already have a mask, you can press Subtract then Luminance Range to remove that luminance value from your mask.

Each of these will give you power over what to include or remove from your masks. However, range masking gives you even tighter control by letting you tell Lightroom which colors or luminance values you want to focus on.

Choosing Luminance Range will open up a new slider that lets you control both ends from 0-100. Play around with the sliders to see how your mask changes. To target dark values, move the right-hand slider towards the 0 value. To target light values, do the opposite.

You can also use the automatic dropper to click an area with the luminance value you want to add or subtract from your mask. Press Show Luminance Map to make sure that the correct parts of your image are included.

Choosing Color Range opens up a similar slider. Use the dropper to select the color you want to remove, then use the slider to refine your selection.

4. Remove Fringing

You’ve probably noticed that several of your photos have a frustrating green or purple fringe to objects in harsh light. This is caused by something called “chromatic aberration”, an unavoidable optical phenomenon that occurs because of the way light reaches your camera sensor through your lens.

Luckily, Lightroom has a built-in tool to remove this. In the Develop module, scroll down to Lens Corrections. Here, you can choose either Profile (automatic) or Manual.

1. In Profile, select Remove Chromatic Aberration to allow Lightroom to automatically try to remove the fringing.

2. If this doesn’t work, select Manual then select the Dropper tool.

3. Hover over the fringing until the right color appears (in the example below, purple).

4. Then click or tap to apply defringing.

5. Use Composition Aids

You can use Lightroom’s grid overlays to crop and compose your photos exactly how you’d like. There are several overlays, from the rule of thirds to the golden ratio spiral. These can help you compose your photo according to several well-known aesthetic “rules” of composition.

1. To select your composition aid, press the Crop button in the Develop module.

2. When the crop overlay appears, press O on your keyboard. Keep pressing O to cycle through the different options. On Lightroom for mobile, tap the three dots in the upper-right corner, then tap the Grid icon. Choose None, Halves, Thirds, or Golden.

6. Pay Attention to the Histogram

You can find the histogram in the top-right corner of the Develop module. This complicated-looking graph shows your image’s tonal values and color distribution.

The red, blue, and yellow sections represent how concentrated those colors are in the image. Green areas are where blue and yellow overlap, and turquoise areas are where green and blue overlap. The gray areas are where all three colors overlap.

The left-hand side of the histogram represents the darkest parts of your image, and the right-hand side is the brightest. So if most of your peaks are on the left, your image may be underexposed (and vice versa). A well-exposed image will generally have most of the histogram toward the center of the graph in a single peak.

Pressing the J key will show you where your image is clipping. Clipping is where your highlights or shadows have reached the point where no information is being shown anymore — it’s just white or black pixels.

If you press J and then play around with the exposure slider, you’ll see red areas where the highlights are clipping and blue where the shadows are. This can help you get the perfect exposure.

You can also edit your image directly via the histogram. Hover over each part of the graph to see what it represents, then click (or tap) and drag to alter that section. You’ll see the corresponding sliders change as you do.

7. Remove Unwanted Dust Particles (and Other Objects)

When it comes to photography, dust spots are an annoying part of the process. Changing lenses often introduces dust to your camera sensor, which can appear as distracting black smudges in your photos.

Lightroom now features a spot removal tool that can help you remove these (and other) distracting objects from your photos, speeding up your editing workflow because you no longer need to switch to Photoshop to get rid of them.

To remove dust particles:

1. In the Develop module, press the Healing icon (it looks like a bandaid).

2. Using the healing tool, hover over the section you want to fix. You can increase the size with your mouse’s scroll wheel or by adjusting the size slider.

3. Press and drag the healing tool over the area you want to fix, then let go. Lightroom will automatically replace that section of the image with similar pixels.

8. Batch Editing

If you have a series of similar images you want to edit the same way, you can apply batch editing to speed up your editing process.

To do so:

1. Edit your image manually or apply one of the Lightroom presets.
2. With the edited image selected, hold Ctrl (or Command on Mac), and select all other images you want to apply the edit to.

3. Click Sync at the bottom of the Develop Module.

4. Make sure every setting you want to apply is ticked, then press Synchronize.

9. Use Masking When Applying Sharpening

When you’re applying sharpening and noise reduction, you’re able to selectively choose which parts of the image you want to affect. To do so

1. Use the sliders to apply as much sharpening or noise reduction as you’d like.
2. Press and hold the Alt key (or Option on Mac), then move the Masking slider. Your image will turn to black and white. The areas in white are where the sharpening or noise reduction will apply. Everywhere that’s black will be ignored.

10. Learn How to Color Grade

Color grading is one of the hardest skills to learn, but with a lot of trial and error, you can hone your eye and learn to make beautiful images.

In Lightroom, colors can be manipulated in several ways:

1. In the Basic panel, the Saturation slider enhances all colors, while Vibrance enhances colors in low-intensity areas.

2. In the Tone Curve panel, each color channel can be manipulated by changing its tonal values individually. To do so, choose the color, then select and drag the curve.

3. In the HSL panel, you can adjust the hue, saturation, and luminance for each color individually.

4. In the Color Grading panel, you can adjust color wheels for your Midtones, Shadows, and Highlights. Moving the dot to a particular color will tinge those tones correspondingly. The further you move the dot to the circle’s edge, the more saturation will be applied.

5. Finally, in the Calibration panel, you can adjust the Tint, Hue, and Saturation of the major colors to achieve the exact look that you want.

From Beginner to Professional

Becoming adept at photo editing can take time. There are dozens of editing tools, and it can be hard to know where to start. But with these photography tips, you should be well on your way to using the Lightroom photo editor like a pro.

The post 10 Lightroom Editing Tips to Improve Your Skills first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

This Lightroom tutorial will cover what you need to know to get started with Adobe Lightroom for beginners.

Lightroom Creative Cloud vs. Lightroom Classic

There are two versions of Lightroom: Lightroom Creative Cloud (now just Lightroom) and Lightroom Classic.

Lightroom is the cloud-based version across desktop, mobile, and web. Lightroom Classic is the desktop version focused on local storage and has more comprehensive features.

Since many of the controls are similar between the two apps, this tutorial will focus on the more feature-heavy Adobe Lightroom Classic.

So, let’s dive into how to use Lightroom.

How to Import Photos

When you first open Lightroom, you’ll be asked to create a Lightroom catalog. Choose a location on your local drive (this will be faster than an external drive).

Once this is completed, there are a few ways you can import photos, depending on your workflow:

1. If you insert an SD card into your computer, Lightroom will detect these photos and display them in a grid. Select each photo you want to import and select Copy.
2. If your photos are on a local hard drive, select Import. You can drag and drop your files into the center of the window or navigate to the folder where your photos are stored using the menu on the left-hand side. Select Import.

Pro tip: You can import most file types into Lightroom (for example, JPEG, PNG, or RAW). However, if you use a digital camera, we recommend using RAW files, as these preserve the greatest detail and enable you to perform more in-depth edits.

How to Organize and Manage Photos

Once you’ve imported your photos, you can begin to organize them. There is no hard and fast rule for photo management, so it depends on your preferences. However, Lightroom allows you to add keywords and other metadata to photos to sort and access them easily.

To add keywords to your photos:

1. Ensure you’re in the Library module.

2. Select one of your photos.
3. Select the Keywording drop-down menu from the right-hand sidebar.

4. Choose “Click here to add keywords,” type your keyword, and press Enter.

5. Add as many keywords as you like. Later, you can search these words and find every photo with that tag inside your catalog.

Lightroom also lets you add and edit photo metadata. In the Metadata drop-down menu, you can add a title, caption, copyright information, a creator’s name, and a rating for the photo. This information is saved in the photo file.

How to Sort and Discard Photos

If you’ve just been on a recent trip, chances are you have thousands of photos and hundreds of near-duplicates. That’s okay — Lightroom has everything you need to sort through and discard the ones you don’t like.

Here are a few tips when it comes to “culling” your photographs:

1. In the Library tab, double-click a photo to see it in full screen (known as the “loupe” view). To return to grid view, choose Grid View at the bottom-left of the window (or select the G key).

2. Select two photos at once and select Compare View (or the C key) to see two photos side-by-side. This helps narrow down duplicates.

3. If you see a photo you’d like to remove, tap the X key to set it as rejected (it will appear as a faded image in the grid view). Likewise, you can use the P key shortcut to “pick” photos you like.

4. Press Ctrl + Backspace to delete all rejected photos at once. Lightroom will ask if you want to delete these from your catalog only or from your hard drive as well.

How to Edit Photos

Now that you’ve sorted your photos and decided which ones are keepers, it’s time to turn them into professional-grade images. In this section, we’ll cover the major editing tools in the order they appear in the Develop tab.

An Introduction to the Develop Module

Lightroom provides a fairly large suite of image-developing tools, and if you’ve never used it before, you might be wondering what you’re looking at.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

1. In the top-left corner is the Navigator pane. This section shows you an overview of the image with quick buttons allowing you to zoom in.

2. Beneath the Navigator pane, there are four drop-down menus. Presets features a set of one-click filters that you can apply to photos. Snapshots let you save the photo during different stages of the editing process. History shows you a list of previous edits. Finally, Collections lets you group photos together into slideshows or galleries.

3. At the bottom of the Develop window, there is a carousel showing each photo in your current import.

4. The center of your screen displays your currently selected photo.

5. The right-hand menu is where the major editing tools can be found. The Histogram is a graph that shows the brightness of each color channel. Under the Histogram, you’ll see the settings used to capture the photograph. Below, we’ll explain step-by-step how to use the major editing modules.

How to Use Lightroom Presets

Presets are the quickest way to edit a photo in Lightroom. Similar to filters in social media apps like Instagram, presets allow you to apply a range of settings to your photo in one hit.

Lightroom provides many presets designed for different genres of photography, from vintage effects, to landscape photo enhancements, to black-and-white styles.

To preview a preset, hover your cursor over it in the Presets menu. Then, simply select the preset to apply it.

How to Crop and Adjust Perspective

Cropping lets you adjust your image to the best possible composition. When cropping, Lightroom lets you rotate the image to perfect the perspective (for example, you may need to align the image with the horizon).

To crop and adjust the perspective in your image, do the following:

1. Select Crop Overlay.

2. Select and drag from the edges to make the crop smaller.

3. Hover your cursor at the corner of the crop overlay until you see a curved arrow. Select and drag to rotate your crop.

Pro tip: In the cropping panel, you can choose an aspect ratio. This ensures that your crop overlay conforms to a particular ratio (like 2:3) so that your images remain consistent.

How to Use The Basic Panel

As good as presets are, they don’t always do a great job. Sometimes, a fine touch is required — that’s where the Basic panel comes in.

1. Apply the correct white balance. You can do this manually by playing with the Temp and Tint sliders or correct the white balance automatically using the dropper. To do so, click the White Balance Selector and select the most neutral part of your image (pure white works best).

2. Correct the exposure. If your image is under or overexposed, use the Exposure slider to brighten or darken it.

3. Fine-tune the Tone sliders. Under tone, you have six sliders, including Exposure. Contrast increases the difference between the light and dark tones. To keep it simple, Highlights and Whites affect the lightest parts of your image, while Shadows and Blacks affect the darkest parts. Play around with these sliders until you like the look of your image.

4. Adjust the Presence sliders. Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze are contrast adjustments that affect different parts of your image. Texture only affects the details, Clarity the mid-tones, and Dehaze the low-contrast areas. Saturation enhances all colors, while Vibrance enhances colors in low-intensity areas. As with tone, while learning Lightroom, the best thing to do is play around until you like what your photo looks like.

Pro tip: While adjusting the exposure, turn on shadow and highlight clipping by pressing the triangles in each corner of the histogram. With this setting turned on, if you increase or decrease the exposure by too much (called “clipping,” where you lose detail in your image), it will highlight these areas in red.

Adjusting Tone Curves

Tone curves are a more advanced way to alter the tone values of your photographs. If you hover over each section of the tone curve, you will see which parts of your images it affects — shadows, darks, lights, or highlights. Selecting and dragging that section of the curve will increase or decrease the value for those tones.

While there are many possible variations for your tone curve, the most commonly used conformation is probably the basic S curve. This increases the contrast in your image and leads to a more pleasing look.

Pro tip: To add the “faded” look that many modern images have, simply add a point at the lower end of the curve and increase the point where the line meets the left-hand edge, as shown below. This increases the black point so that it’s higher than true black.

How to Apply Color Edits

To apply color correction, you want to head to the HSL/Color module. Here, you’ll see the list of colors with three columns: Hue, Saturation, and Luminance. Hue affects the actual color. For example, you can change yellow to become much more orange. Saturation affects the intensity of the color. Finally, Luminance alters the brightness of the color.

You can also use the Color Grading tab. Here, you’ll have three color wheels that can be used to add particular tints to your mid-tones, highlights, and shadows. Select and drag the center point towards a particular color. The further toward the edge of the wheel you go, the more saturated the color will be.

Pro tip: When you apply presets, the HSL and Color Grading tabs are updated with the changed values. This can be a great way to learn color grading in more detail. Simply choose a preset you like, then study sliders. As you experiment with these values, you’ll get an idea of what works and what doesn’t.

How to Apply Noise Reduction and Sharpening

Next in line is the Detail tab. This section lets you add sharpening and noise reduction to your images if they need it.

The Sharpening Tool features four sliders:

1. Amount changes how much sharpening you’re adding.
2. Radius increases the size of the area around the edges that will be sharpened. A value of 1.0 means one pixel around the edge will be sharpened.
3. Detail refers to the type of edges that will be sharpened. A lower value will mean only thick, obvious edges will be sharpened. A higher value will mean that even fine details will be sharpened.
4. Masking lets you choose where in the image to apply sharpening. By pressing the Alt key on PC (or the Option key on Mac) while you move the slider, you’ll see a preview of where sharpening will be applied.

Note: The image shown under “Detail” is a zoomed-in preview showing you what the changes will look like in your image.

The Noise Reduction tool is very similar. Before we explain the settings, remember that there are two types of noise — luminance and color noise. Luminance is the black-and-white grain you see in noisy images, while color noise is when you get multicolored pixels.

1. Luminance controls how much luminance noise reduction is applied. The more you increase this, the more noise will be removed but at the cost of detail.
2. Detail increases the preservation of fine details. This is the same for both luminance and color noise.
3. Contrast controls how much contrast remains in the image (as some can be lost during noise reduction).
4. Color controls how much color noise reduction is applied.
5. Smoothness increases the blending between colors (so they don’t appear to “bleed in” to each other).

Most of the time, the default values will do fine. Also, Lightroom applies color noise reduction to RAW images on import.

Pro tip: You can use the Adjustment Brush to apply effects to only one area of your image. To do so, choose the Masking icon, then select Create New Mask and select Brush. Select and drag the brush over your photo. The edits you apply in this mode will only affect that area.

How to Add Lens Corrections

When you take a photo with a digital camera, the file stores information about the lens used. Many lenses are not optically perfect, meaning that straight lines can be distorted and look strange in your photographs.

In the Lens Corrections module, click Enable Profile Corrections and ensure that your lens’ make and model is selected in the drop-down menus. Your image will be automatically corrected so that it’s closer to the real thing.

How to Export Images

You’re almost done. The final step is to export your edited photo as a standalone image file. This won’t affect the original file, as it will be saved separately.

To export an image:

1. Press File then Export. This will open the export window.

2. To choose the export location, open the drop-down menu next to “Export To” and choose Specific Folder. Navigate to the folder you’d like to export to, select it, and select OK.

3. Change the other output settings. When exporting photos for viewing on computer screens, you want at least 240 pixels per inch, 100 quality, and color space as sRGB.

4. Choose Export.

Start With the Basics in Lightroom

When it comes to digital photography, photo editing software is a must. Lightroom is a powerful program with many features that can help take your basic edits to the next level. To take your edits even further, consider adding Adobe Photoshop to your workflow, too.

With this beginner’s guide, you should be well on your way to editing your photos like a professional photographer.

The post How to Use Lightroom for Beginners first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

In this Photoshop tutorial, we’ll show you how you can replace the background image, including how to select your subject and color match the original images.

How to Change Background Images Using Photoshop

There are several steps to replace a background image in Adobe Photoshop CC. Firstly, you need to import both the original image and your new background image. Then, you need to select and mask your subject, subtract the background, and overlay the subject on the new background. Finally, you can add finishing touches such as color to match the two images.

Of course, this will be easier with an image that has a clearly defined subject and background, such as the image we’ve chosen to illustrate the process. If there are several subjects, or there is a foreground or an unclear background, it will be more difficult to create a convincing image.

With that out of the way, here’s how to change the background of an image.

Step 1: Import the New Background Image

The first step is to open your image and import the new background. The trick here is to use a background image that fits the perspective of your subject as best as possible.

In our example, a lady is looking into the distance and her upper body is visible. Choosing an image with too much of a foreground would not match it, so we’ve chosen a distant landscape with a similar perspective as the new background.

1. Open the image in Photoshop by either clicking and dragging the file in or by selecting File > Open and choosing the image file.

2. With the image open in Photoshop, select File > Place Embedded.

3. Navigate to your new background image and select Place.

4. Place the new layer below the original layer by clicking and dragging it in the Layers panel. You may have to unlock the original layer by clicking the lock icon first.

Step 2: Select and Mask the Subject

There are several ways to create a selection. If you have a clear subject, Adobe Photoshop’s automatic subject selection tool is the easiest to use. However, you can use a combination of the Quick Selection tool, the Magic Wand tool, and the lasso tool to select your subject, too.

Select Your Subject

1. Click Select.
2. Click Select Subject and let Photoshop perform its magic.

3. Alternatively, use the Quick Selection or Magic Wand tool to select as much of your subject as possible.

4. Use the Lasso tool to refine your selection. This will be necessary for harder to identify subjects. In our example, you can see that Adobe has picked up some wrong areas.

5. With the lasso tool, holding shift and circling an area will add to the selection while holding alt will subtract.

6. Click Select and Mask… to cut out your subject.

Refine the Selection

1. Refine the selection further if needed by using the lasso and brush tools from the toolbar. To add to your selection, make sure the add to selection button is selected. To remove areas, click the subtract from selection button.

2. Finally, zoom in to the edge of your selection. If the edges look unnatural, under Global Refinements, change the Smoothness and Contrast sliders until the selection looks more natural. It can be helpful to adjust the Opacity slider to 100% to better see the edges.

3. Click on Refine Edges to fine-tune any difficult areas, such as hair. Then select Refine Hair (if it is hair) to let Photoshop refine the edge automatically, or use the brush to add areas to your selection.

4. In the Output Settings, select the drop-down menu and click Layer Mask then select OK.

Note: The more time you spend refining your selection, the better your results will be. Zoom in and pay close attention to any areas that Photoshop has accidentally added or removed. You can always adjust your selection later by double-clicking the mask layer.

Position Your Subject in the Composition

Now, simply click and drag your subject to where you would like them to appear in the final image. This is entirely up to preference.

Step 3: Match the Perspective

Matching the perspective from the original photo to your new background will help make the image look more realistic. To do so, you can use the ruler tool to mark where the horizon is in the original image, and line the new background up so that it’s in more or less the same position.

1. Disable the layer mask by holding shift and clicking the layer mask so that the original background is clearly visible. If successful, the layer mask should have a red cross covering it.

2. Click and drag from the horizontal ruler to create a line where the horizon would likely be.

3. Using the Move tool, position or resize the new background so that the horizon aligns with the original perspective. To make this easier, slide down the opacity on the top layer.

Step 4: Content-Aware Fill

If you have reached the edge of your image and introduced a transparent background, you can use the Content Aware Fill tool to create a background in that area. If your background has no transparent pixels, you can skip this step.

To fill the transparent area:

1. Right-click your background layer and select Rasterize Layer.

2. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool and make a selection that includes the transparent area as well as a small amount of your background.

3. Click Edit > Content-Aware Fill.

4. Click OK.

Step 4: Match Depth of Field

The next step is to match the depth of field of your original image. For this, you have to image how cameras work, and which parts of the image should be in focus. In our example, the woman in the foreground is in focus, meaning everything in the distance will be out of focus. The further away, the more out of focus it will be.

To add this effect, we’ll introduce blur to the background image:

1. Select the background layer.
2. Select Filter > Blur Gallery > Tilt Shift. Other blur effects will work as well (such as Gaussian blur), but tilt shift will give the effect of gradually increasing blur into the distance.

3. Drag the middle circle down until it is where your subject’s plane of focus will be (in our case, the woman’s feet). Everything above the top dotted line will be out of focus.

4. Change how much blur is introduced with the Blur slider. Move this around until it looks realistic then select OK.

Step 5: Match the Lighting

You may notice that your subject and the new background have different light sources. This can be difficult to adjust, so it’s better to choose a background with a similar light source. In our example, you can see in the background that the light source is to the left (the shadows fall to the right). However, in the subject, the light source is more top down.

This can be adjusted by introducing lighting and shadows. To do so:

1. Select Adjustments then Exposure.

2. Press Ctrl + I to invert the mask.

3. Lower the exposure, then paint using white to introduce shadows to the correct side of your subject.

4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 but raise the exposure to add highlights.

Step 5: Color Match Your Images

At this point, you should have your subject nicely aligned on the new background. However, you will notice that the two images have different color tones. To fix this, you may need to:

1. Match the colors automatically by selecting the background layer, then clicking Image > Adjustments > Match Colors. For Source select your subject. Then, click Neutralize to match the colors. Play around with the Luminance and Color Intensity sliders if necessary, then select OK.

2. Alternatively, match the colors manually by adjusting the RGB levels. To do so, select Adjustments then Levels. Make sure the adjustments only affect your subject by selecting the clipping mask icon. Now adjust the red, blue, and green channel individually until the subject colors are more closely aligned with the background color.

3. Finally, add a global adjustment layer to make the subject and background match each other. This can include adding grain, color filters, or vignettes to improve the cohesiveness. To add global color adjustments, the best way is to select Adjustments > Color Lookup. Then, choose a 3DLUT file in the Properties panel that looks good with your image and adjust the opacity slider to change its intensity.

This will take some playing around to get it perfect, but the more attention you pay to details, the better your image will look in the end.

Export Your Final Image

That’s it. Simply click File then Save As to save your final image as a JPEG. As you can see, background removal is relatively simple, but it will take a keen eye for detail to get it perfect – so don’t give up!

The post How to Change the Background in an Image Using Photoshop first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

The Shape Builder tool was added to Illustrator in version CS5, and all versions since then have included it. We used Adobe Illustrator CC, but as long as you’re using Illustrator CS5 or later, these instructions should work.

How to Merge Shapes With the Shape Builder Tool

We’ll start by merging vector shapes. All of the shape tools in Illustrator create vector shapes. That means they can be scaled to any size.

1. Add a few shapes to the artboard. You can use any shape tool like the rectangle tool, the ellipse tool, the polygon tool, or the pen tool.

2. We’ll use the Merge Mode of the Shape Builder Tool on overlapping shapes and move the shapes, so they intersect.

3. Use the Selection Tool to select two or more overlapping shapes. Hold down Shift to select multiple shapes.

4. Select Shape Builder from the tools panel or use the keyboard shortcut Shift + M.

5. Drag the Shape Builder tool across the selected shapes. Each part of the new shape will be highlighted as you drag over them. When you release the mouse, the shapes will merge. You’ll see a tiny plus sign next to the cursor to remind you that you’re adding one shape to another.

TIP: To avoid inadvertently missing some overlapping areas of multiple shapes, press Shift while you drag the Shape Builder marquee around all the shapes you want to merge.

How to Erase Shapes with the Shape Builder Tool

Sometimes a graphic design project will require you to subtract one shape from another. Shape Builder has an Erase mode that makes it easy.

1. Begin by using the Selection Tool to select two overlapping shapes. We’ll subtract one shape from the other.

2. Select the Shape Builder Tool and hold down Alt or Option (Mac) while you drag from one shape into the part of that shape that overlaps the other shape. As you can see, pressing Alt or Option puts the Shape Builder tool into Erase mode so that one shape is subtracted from the other. You’ll know you’ve activated Erase mode because you’ll see a tiny minus sign next to the cursor.

TIP: Notice that additional anchor points are added to your new shape where the two shapes used to intersect. If you like, you can use those anchor points to reshape the path.

If you’ve ever used Illustrator’s Pathfinder tool to create complex shapes, you’ll love how much faster and easier it is to use the Shape Builder tool instead.

How to Set Shape Builder Tool Options

Now that you have a good idea of how the Shape Builder tool works in Adobe Illustrator, take a minute to learn about the options you can customize.

Access the Shape Builder Tool options by double-clicking on Shape Builder in the toolbar.

Gap Detection

Imagine you have three overlapping ellipses with a gap in the middle.

Turning on Gap Detection in Shape Builder Options allows you to tell Shape Builder to include that gap region when merging shapes.

It may take trial and error to set the gap length correctly, so the Shape Builder includes as much of the gap as you want.

Consider Open Filled Paths as Closed

If you’ve used the Pen tool to create an open path and you check the Consider Open Filled Paths as Closed box in the Shape Builder options, Shape Builder will create an invisible edge where the path is open so it’s able to make a region.

In Merge Mode, Clicking the Stroke Splits the Path

If the In Merge Mode, Clicking the Stroke Splits the Path box is checked, you can select a portion of a path.

Pick Color From

This is where you choose how the newly-created shape will be colored.

• Select Artwork if you want the new shape’s styling to be the same as the first object you touch with the Shape Builder tool.
• Select Color Swatches if you want to fill the new shape with the swatch from the last object that was selected.

Checking the box for Cursor Swatch Preview will bring up a floating color picker. Use the left and right arrows to cycle through the options.

Selection

The Selection option you choose determines how the Shape Builder selection will behave as you drag it across objects. If you choose Freeform, you’ll be able to move around options and regions you don’t want to include.

Highlight

The Highlight option helps you see what you’ve selected with the Shape Builder tool. The Fill option will cause Shape Builder to fill the regions you’ve dragged across with a mesh pattern. You can see the mesh pattern in the screenshots above.

If Highlight Stroke when Editable is checked, parts of a path that can be edited will be stroked in the color selected. You must also have In Merge Mode, Clicking Stroke Splits the Path selected above. Otherwise, the path segments won’t be editable, and, therefore, won’t be highlighted.

Keep At It

Once you become familiar with Adobe Illustrator’s Shape Builder tool, you might want to try your hand at 3D modeling. It works in much the same way—by adding and subtracting shapes. The only difference is that in Illustrator, you’re working with two-dimensional shapes, and, by definition, 3D modeling means working with three-dimensional objects.

The post How to Use Adobe Illustrator’s Shape Builder Tool first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

This tutorial will cover how to arch text by creating a curved path, adding text along that path, and formatting the text so your Indesign project looks the way you want. If you’re working with vector graphics, learn how to flip text on a path in Illustrator.

Create a Layer for Text

First, if your design will have both graphics and text, consider creating a dedicated layer for all the typography.

Select Window > Layers to display the Layers panel or use the keyboard shortcut F7. Then select the New Layer button to create a new layer.

Create a Path

InDesign has several tools you can use to create a path. To create a curved path, you could use the Ellipse Tool or the Pen Tool. While you can use any shape tool to create a path, in this example, we’ll use the Ellipse Tool to create a perfect circle.

How to Create a Perfect Circle Path

First, select the Ellipse tool. It might be hidden behind the Rectangle Tool. If it is, click and hold the dropdown arrow on the Rectangle tool icon until you see the extra options appear, including the Ellipse tool. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut L to activate the Ellipse tool.

With the Ellipse tool selected, hold down the Shift key, and click and drag the cursor to create a perfect circle.

To create curved text in InDesign, you type on a path. This is the curved path we’ll add text to.

Make the Path Invisible

Paths are invisible by default. However, if base color and stroke color are turned on, you’ll need to turn them off to make the path invisible.

Using the Selection tool, select the circle path you just created. You can find the Selection tool at the top of the toolbar or by using the keyboard shortcut V.

With the Selection or Direct Selection tool selected, click on the circle path. Then select the Properties panel. In the Essentials workspace, select Windows > Properties to display the Properties panel.

If the circle path has a fill color and/or stroke applied to the path, you’ll see it in the Properties panel. Select the None option under Fill.

Then do the same to remove the stroke. Select the None option under Stroke.

You should be left with a simple circle path without fill or stroke.

Next we’ll add text to the curved line of the path.

Add Your Text

To add text, first select the Type on a Path tool from the toolbar. It may be hidden beneath the Type tool. Click and hold the mouse button on the text tool to reveal the Type on a Path tool. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Shift + T to select the Type on a Path tool.

Next, with the Type on a Path tool selected, move the cursor to the circle. When you see a Plus icon next to the Type on a Path Tool icon, click on the circle. The plus icon means you can add text there.

Once you click on the path, you’ll see a cursor on the path where you can add text. Type a line of text.

To adjust the font and size of the type, activate the Character panel by selecting Window > Type & Tables > Character or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + T or Command + T for Macs.

To adjust the color of the type, activate the Color panel by selecting Window > Color > Color or use the keyboard shortcut F6. Select text and apply the color.

Next we’ll position the text exactly where you want it on the circle path.

Move the Text Along the Curve

To move your text along the curve, use the Selection Tool to select the type on a path. Hover the pointer over the type’s beginning or end bracket until you see an icon with an arrow next to the pointer. Avoid the bracket’s in port or out port—those are used to thread text frames from one to the next.

Drag the text along the path to the desired position.

Type on a Path Options

The Type on a Path tool comes with a variety of options. Select Type > Type on a Path > Options to display the dialog box.

You can add Effect, Align, and Spacing options.

Make sure the Preview box is checked, and try all the options in the Effect dropdown. Rainbow is the default effect, but look at others like Stair Step or Skew to see which text effect you like best.

Check the Flip box to put the anchor point in the inside of the circle path. You can also use the Align options to adjust where the text appears relative to the line of the path. Baseline is the default. In general, selecting Ascender will align the top of the text to the path. Selecting Descender will align the bottom of the text to the path.

The Spacing option controls the spacing of the text around the curve.

Adobe Apps Work Together

The best part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps is how they work together. Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are essential graphic design tools. Check out some of our other tutorials:

• How to Link Text Boxes in Indesign
• How to Mask in Photoshop to Hide Layers
• How to Cut Out a Shape in Adobe Illustrator

The more you work with Adobe apps, the more comfortable you’ll be creating new designs.

The post How to Curve Text in InDesign first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

In this Photoshop tutorial, we’ll show you six workflows you can use to convert any color image to black and white using Photoshop on Mac or Windows.

How to Make an Image Black and White

Here are six methods to convert your color image to black and white.

Method 1: Use Grayscale

Photoshop now has a feature that automatically converts your images to grayscale. The problem with this method is that it is destructive, so you cannot adjust the saturation and brightness of each color after the conversion.

To use this feature:

1. Open the color photo you want to convert.
2. Click Image.

3. Click Mode > Grayscale.

4. A dialog box will open asking if you want to discard the color information. Select Discard.

Note: You can also access this feature from the Properties panel by clicking the drop-down menu next to Mode and selecting Grayscale.

Method 2: Make an Image Black and White Using the Black & White Adjustment Layer

The second way to convert an image to grayscale is using the Black and White adjustment layer. This method will enable you to keep all color data, meaning you can adjust the color values for your desired look. To do so:

1. Open the image you want to convert to black and white.
2. Click Image.

3. Select Adjustments > Black & White.

4. If you’re happy with how the image looks, click OK. Otherwise, you can fine tune the photograph by playing with the color sliders.

Method 3: Use Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layers

Using the Hue/Saturation adjustment tool is another non-destructive method allowing you to preserve color data.

1. Open the color image in Photoshop.
2. Click the Adjustments tab.

3. Select Hue/Saturation. This will add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer so your original photograph won’t be affected (i.e., the color data is preserved).

4. In the drop-down menu, select Master.

5. Slide the Saturation slider to -100.

Note: The Adjustment feature lets you desaturate each color channel separately to apply a selective coloring effect to a black and white photo. To do this, simply leave a specific color channel unsaturated (for example, magenta). Bonus tip, you can use the color selection tool to automatically choose the color you want from a part of the image.

Method 4: Use a Gradient Map

The Gradient Map tool turns color images into grayscale based on the brightness values. With this effect, the darker areas will become dark gray while the lighter areas become light gray.

To use this tool:

1. Open the color image in Photoshop.
2. Select Layer.

3. In the drop-down menu, click New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map.

4. Click OK.

Method 5: Use the Channel Mixer

The Channel Mixer is another feature that uses color data to create a black and white image to your preferences. This tool lets you mimic the effect of using a color filter when you take a photo.

1. Open the color image in Photoshop.
2. Select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer. Alternatively, select the Adjustments tab and click on the Channel Mixer adjustment layer icon.

3. Tick Monochrome.

4. Adjust the RGB sliders until you’re happy with the effect.

Method 6: Use Lab Color

The Lab Color method is destructive (it removes all color data and is permanent). However, the conversion to black and white is more accurate (based on brightness values).

1. Open the color image in Photoshop.
2. Select Image.

3. Click Mode > Lab Color.

4. Select the Channels panel (next to the Layers panel). If it isn’t displayed, open Channels by clicking Windows > Channels.

5. Select the Lightness channel.

6. Click Image > Mode > Grayscale.

Vintage Photos in Three Clicks

Photo editing tools like Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom now include many tools for black and white conversions and hundreds of other easy image modifications, helping you make photos exactly how you like them.

The post How to Make an Image Black and White in Photoshop first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Creating this effect will need to use masks and mask tracking, which isn’t necessarily difficult but does take some time. However, with these steps outlined below, you’ll be able to make your composite video editing effect easily and get an interesting and professional-looking end result that’s social media ready. 

How to Embed a Video Inside a Video

To begin, make sure you upload videos you want to use for the composite in your media bin in your new project. You can follow these next steps to add your first video and create a mask.

1. Add the video you want to place the second video onto first, on the V2 track in the timeline. Make sure you have trimmed the clip or selected in and out points to your desired length.

2. Select this clip, then open the Effect Controls panel.

3. Look under Opacity and you’ll see icons of an ellipse, rectangle, or pen (free draw). Select one that fits the object you will be masking, which is where you want the second video to go.

4. Using your selected tool, create a mask that covers the area you want the second video to go.

5. If your masked object is moving in the video, you’ll have to do some mask tracking. In the Effect Controls panel, click on the wrench icon next to the Mask Path option and select an option in the dropdown menu that will work for your object. Then click on the play button to the left of the wrench.

6. You can use the Playback option to see how the mask tracking looks during playback, and if you need to fix anything you can use the preview controls to move the points where needed.

Now that you’ve created the mask, you will be able to go ahead and add in your second video.

1. Place the second video on the V1 track in the timeline beneath your first video.

2. Now you’ll be able to see how the video looks through the mask you created. In order to position it correctly in your video, use the Position, Scale, and Rotation tools in Effects tab. If you use mask tracking with a moving object, you may also need to use keyframes to keep the positioning of the second video in line with the object.

If you aren’t familiar with using keyframes, check out our article covering the topic. Keyframes can be used to animate certain effects if needed. 

Tips for Creating a Composite Video

The steps above will allow you to create a basic composition, however, there are some more things you’ll want to keep in mind that can help you fine-tune your video. 

Use Lumetri Color

When you first put two separate video clips together, it’s very likely the colors won’t exactly match up. This could make the composite look less harmonious. However, if you use Lumertri color to do some color correction work on one or both of the videos to get them to match up better, this can help a lot with any inconsistencies. 

You can use the basic color correction options to change things more subtly, or you can add some presets to the video to change the overall look.

Feather Your Mask

When you first create your mask, you’ll see an option called Mask Feather. This will feather out the edges of the mask as much as you set it. Doing this can help blend the added video into the first and make it look more seamless.

You’ll want to increase the Mask Feather until the edges are just slightly blurred, so it’s less noticeable. Of course, if your specific project calls for it, you can feather as much or as little as you want.

Take Your Time With Mask Tracking

We get it, mask tracking can be a tedious ordeal. But it’s worth it for a tidy end result. When you are doing mask tracking, it’s best to make sure it is being tracked smoothly. Changing the keyframes of the tracking when needed will ensure this, and you can keep playing back the preview and tweaking the tracking until it looks smooth.

Create Special Effects With Composite Videos

The ability to piece two or more videos together can allow for tons of creative uses in video content, and really the sky’s the limit when creating composite video. The better you get at it, the more advanced effects you can make too. This tutorial should give you a good working foundation to start with and improve composite video creation.

The post How to Embed a Video Inside a Video in Adobe Premiere first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

The creators of the video editing software Adobe Premiere Pro foresaw this situation and graciously included a method to stabilize your shaky footage in post-production. It works very well for minimal to medium shakiness and can really make your final piece look yards more polished. In this Premiere Pro tutorial, we’ll show you how to apply and use this stabilization effect during video editing.

How to Stabilize Shaky Video

Before starting, you’ll want to make sure the video clips you’ll be using are imported into Premiere. Go to the Media Browser. Search your computer for the video files you’re using. Select and drag the files into your timeline. They will automatically be imported into the project files as well.

Now that you have your clips imported and in your timeline, you can begin to stabilize them using Warp Stabilizer in Premiere. Follow these steps to do so.

1. Decide which clip(s) you need to be stabilized and select it.

2. Go to the Effects panel, and go to Video Effects > Distort > Warp Stabilizer.

3. Click and drag it onto the clip and the effect will be applied.

Premiere will take a few seconds to analyze the video and then stabilize it for you. You can then play it back in the Preview panel to see if you like the results. If something is off, there are a few ways you can edit this effect in the Effect Controls panel to make it look exactly the way you want.

How to Edit the Stabilization Effect

If you want to change anything about the stabilization effect, such as the movement, method of stabilization, borders, scaling, or more, you can change these in the Effect Controls. Here’s how to use these controls.

1. Navigate to the Effect Controls panel.

2. Look under your Warp Stabilization effect and open the dropdown if it’s not already.

Here, you’ll see a few options you can change to get a different stabilization effect.

Stabilization Dropdown

The first option here is Result. This is the type of motion you want the effect to have on your video. You can choose either Smooth Motion or No Motion.

Next, you can change how smooth the motion is. If you want a bit more of a subtle stabilization effect, you can change this Smoothness effect to a lesser value.

Then there is the Method option. This is an important aspect of using the Warp Stabilizer effect, as each stabilization method can be useful in different types of situations.

The Position method uses only position data within your video to stabilize it.

The Position, Scale, and Rotation method uses data from all three of these to stabilize your clip.

The Perspective method will corner pin the frame of your video to stabilize the tracking of the shot.

The Subspace Warp method stabilizes only parts of the video that it analyzes to be shaky to make the whole video more uniform.

By selecting the correct method for your clip, you’ll get a more natural-looking effect. For instance, when using Warp Stabilization, you don’t want a video that, while looking smoother, still has too much movement and distracts from the subject. If you try all the methods available and the video clip still looks like this, it may be too shaky to save.

The Preserve Scale check box underneath Method will retain the scale of your original footage. Sometimes, using a specific Method will alter the scale of footage to get a better result. You can check off Preserve Scale, but it may cause the video to look off. But this depends on the clip itself.

Borders Dropdown

When using Warp stabilizer, Premiere will alter the borders of your video by cropping them to achieve better stabilization. However, if you notice black bars around your video, go to the Framing section to make adjustments.

If you have the Stabilize Only option selected, it’s the likeliest reason behind the black bars. Unfortunately, Premiere doesn’t scale the video to take them out, so you’ll still see them.

The Stabilize, Crop option can cause even more pronounced black bars. In addition to stabilization, it also crops the footage to get a more stable effect yet doesn’t scale the footage to hide the crop. 

If you select Stabilize, Crop, Auto-Scale, Premiere will scale the footage to take out the bars. As a result, though, this can result in a low-resolution video.

If you select Stabilize, Synthesize Edges, Premiere will add pixels based on your video and remove the black bars. However, this option takes more processing power. However, know that choosing this option will disable the auto-scale section as well as Crop Less Smooth More.

Below the Framing dropdown, you’ll see Auto-scale. This tells you how much your video has been scaled. You can open this dropdown to change the Maximum Scale level. You can also change the Action-Safe Margin, which will add a border to the video.

You can go down to change the Additional Scale and scale the video even more if you wish.

Advanced Options

Here are a few options you’ll want to keep in mind to get better stabilization.

First, there is the Detailed Analysis checkbox. If you turn this on, Premiere will do a more in-depth analysis to get you a better stabilization effect. However, this will use more processing power and cause longer render times.

If you chose the Synthesize Edges option under Framing, you could also change the Input Range here to determine how much of the video both forward and backward in seconds Premiere will use to create new edges from.

You can also choose to hide the warning banner here that appears while the video is being stabilized.

Get Smoother Shots Using Warp Stabilizer in Premiere

Shaky video is one of the last things you want in your video project, but accidental camera movement can be hard to avoid at times, especially when shooting handheld footage. Thankfully, filmmakers and video editors can count on Adobe Premiere Pro CC to help with video stabilization if they use the warp stabilizer. It makes the stabilization process simple and can save video footage.

The post How to Stabilize Video in Premiere Pro first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

In this article, we’ll review several ways to cut out a shape in Illustrator. This tutorial was written using Adobe Illustrator CC 2020, but these instructions should work no matter which version of Illustrator you have, as long as you’re using vector elements and not a raster image.

How to Use a Shape as a Cookie Cutter

Imagine you have two shapes on the artboard in Illustrator–a rectangle and a circle. If you use the Divide Object Below command, you can use one shape like a cookie-cutter, creating a cutout through the other shape and deleting the shape you used as the cookie cutter. This is a great method for beginners because it’s so simple.

1. Use the Selection tool to move the circle on top of the rectangle. Note: To quickly activate the Selection tool, use the keyboard shortcut V.

2. With the circle still selected, select Object > Path > Divide Objects Below. The yellow circle will disappear, leaving a circular path on the rectangle.

3. In the Layers panel, select the circle path.

4. Then use the Selection tool to move the circle layer off the rectangle.

How to Cut Out a Shape Using the Knife Tool

1. Locate the Eraser tool on the toolbar and notice the tiny arrow in the corner indicating the button contains more tools in a submenu when you hold down or right-click the button. Holding down the button reveals the Scissors tool and the Knife tool. Select the Knife tool.

2. If the knife tool is missing, it’s probably because you’re using the Essentials workspace. Switch to Essentials Classic or another workspace in the upper-right corner of the Illustrator window, and the knife tool will be restored.

3. Use the Knife tool to cut out a shape just like you’d use an Exacto knife on a physical piece of paper or cardboard.

4. In the Layers panel, select one of the layers you created by cutting the shape with the Knife.

5. Using the Selection tool, move the layer you just selected away from the rest of the shape.

You can use the Knife tool to slice multiple shapes. The Knife tool will cut it as long as a layer or shape isn’t locked.

How to Cut Out a Shape With the Scissors Tool

We’ve already taught you how to find the Scissors tool (it’s hidden in the submenu beneath the Eraser tool in the Tools panel). You can also use the keyboard shortcut C to activate the Scissors tool.

1. With the Scissors tool selected, click on the edge of a shape to create an anchor point.
2. Create a second anchor point by clicking on the edge of another area of the same shape.

3. At this point, you can use the Selection tool to drag one part of the shape away from the rest.

4. You can add a third anchor point with the Scissors tool, and Illustrator will make two cuts.

How to Cut Out a Shape With the Crop Tool

In Illustrator, the Crop tool isn’t on the regular toolbar. Instead, you can find it on the Pathfinder panel. Display the Pathfinder panel by selecting Windows > Pathfinder or using the keyboard shortcut Shift + Ctrl + F9 or Shift + Command + F9 on a Mac.

Using the Pathfinder tool, you can put a shape on top of another object and tell Illustrator what part of the object you want to keep or eliminate.

Let’s put the circle on top of the rectangle and use the Crop tool to create a new shape.

1. Place a shape on top of another object you want to crop.
2. Select both shapes.

3. In the Pathfinder panel, select the Crop tool.

4. The object will be cropped as soon as you select the Crop tool.

5. Try the other options on the Pathfinder panel to achieve different effects. For example, selecting Minus Front will subtract the object in front from the object behind it.

You may find that instead of cutting out a shape, it might be easier to build a shape using the Shape Builder tool. We’ll cover that in a future tutorial.

How to Use a Clipping Mask to Cut Out a Shape

If you already know how to add a mask in Photoshop, this will be very familiar. In this example, let’s imagine we have a shape colored with a gradient. We can use another shape as a clipping mask so that only areas inside the second shape are visible. In other words, you can use clipping masks to hide parts of shapes.

1. Create the object you’ll use as the mask. In our example above, we used the Ellipse tool (keyboard shortcut L) to create the oval which we’ll now use as the mask. The object you use as the mask is called the clipping path.
2. In the Layers panel’s stacking order, move the clipping path above the object you want to mask.

3. With the Direct Selection Tool, move the clipping path on top of the object you want to mask.

4. In the Layers panel, select the clipping path and the object you want to mask.

5. From the menu, select Object > Clipping Mask > Make.

Many Options With Adobe

All the Adobe Creative Cloud apps offer multiple ways of achieving the same effect. So, check our Illustrator tutorials and articles about Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. With practice, your graphic designs will be pixel-perfect!

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