10 Cool Things to Do with Photoshop You Didn't Know Was Possible

With almost 70 tools and a seemingly limitless list of features, there is no wonder that more than 10 million people use Photoshop.

With so many options, it is easy to miss some of Photoshop’s features. Whether you are an expert or a novice, you don’t want to miss anything that can change an image without anyone noticing.

We are here to help. Read on for 10 cool things to do with Photoshop you didn’t know was possible.

1. One Click Color Effects

Every user wants an easy and quick way to add an eye-catching look to their picture. Color Lookup Tables (CLUT) can do just that.

The CLUT allows you to change a range of input colors into another range of colors.

To find the CLUT option, click on the “Adjustment Layers” icon. You can find this at the bottom of the Layers Palette. Then select Color Lookup Tables from the menu.

2. Adding Realistic Trees

Photoshop now includes a tree generator!

This doesn’t use something like a clipart brush. This generator will produce a realistic looking tree with many different options. This includes different types of trees too.

Depending on your version, this feature is in a different place. If you are using an older version, it is under Edit, Fill, “Script Commands”. In newer versions, this is in the Plugins Menu under “Render”.

3. Hidden Glyphs Options

For all those graphic designers, this is a real boon. You’ll find the regular Characters panel only shows common options for typographic design.

You can access hidden panel to see the glyphs your new typeface can offer. You can find this panel under the window tab and clicking “Glyphs”.

Depending on what you’re using, there are all sorts of letter types and symbols to choose from. You can add logo symbols, and some fonts add some amazing calligraphy options.

4. Third Party Mockups

We’ve all seen the header images with delicate typography and complex item layout. You can make these using third party PSD files called Mockups. They contain a vast number of objects which you can arrange to create your new custom image.

First, you will need to download the file. It will most likely be a zip folder.

Once you extract it, open the PSD file in Photoshop. You should then see all the layers that make it up. You can then re-position, change artwork or remove objects as you see fit.

5. Apply Multi-file Effects

If you’re looking to apply the same effects to a range of files, Photoshop makes this easy for you.

You can load a range of files into one document. Then you can apply the effects to the whole stack, or selected files from the stack. You can even use folders.

To do this, you click on File, Scripts, Load Files into Stack. You can then select what layers you want to apply your desired effects too.

6. Color Range in Masking

This is great for things like tree leaves with the sky as the background. To start off you click Select then Color Range.

For the best results, choose the following settings:

Sampled Colors
Set Fuzziness to 40
Selection rather than Image
Selection Preview set to – Matte Black
Eyedropper+

These settings will allow you to add to the selection as you go around the entire image. Once you have selected all the background, you can decrease or increase the fuzziness as needed to sharpen your mask.

7. Batch Image Format Conversion

If you want to convert a batch of images to a different format, Photoshop allows you to do this.

To do this, go to File, Scripts and then “Image Processor”. You choose the folder with the images you want to change. You can even select the resize dimensions.

Select if you want JPEG, PSD or TIFF. You can also control settings such as compression or comparability.

Once you are happy, press “Run”. The program will then process your images and save them using your desired format settings.

8. Quick and Easy Photoshop Filters

For those computer artists who like filters, Filter Forge could be for you. The high-end plugin works alongside Photoshop to allow you to create your own Photoshop filters. You don’t need to have any programming knowledge to use the add-on.

Some of the features it allows include:

Seamless Textures
Visual Effects
Patterns
Backgrounds

It provides a visual filter editor and a free online library of user-created filters. You can either make your own, use one from the library or even edit an existing filter to suit your needs!

9. Improved Web Design Tools

As a web designer if you’re using Photoshop CC and Edge Reflow CC the generator plugin can be useful. It will allow you to build a web design in Photoshop which you can then export.

You can take the whole project, CSS and appropriate image files included, and export it to Reflow. Here to can make the appropriate edits. This can be a real time saver.

Additionally, if you are using a layout that only uses image elements you can make a folder for these. Click File, Generate, Image Assets.

10. Increase Bitmap Size Without Blurring

While only applicable to Photoshop CC, this tip is worth noting. A new feature in CC allows you to increase the size of bitmaps without the resulting quality loss.

Before you could increase image sizes but this would cause blurring and a degeneration of image quality. To use these feature, click on Image, then Image Size. At the bottom of the dialogue box, there will be the option, “Resample”.

Check this and use the drop-down menu. There will be a variety of options to control the quality of the image as you resize it. For more information on this tool, click here.