Author: James Qu

James is a seasoned Photoshop expert with over 25 years of experience based in Australia. As the driving force behind PSD Vault, he authors the majority of its in-depth tutorials and insightful articles.

When Adobe moved Clarity, Dehaze, and Grain from Camera Raw into native Adjustment Layers, every blog on the planet wrote the same article: “Here’s how to add Clarity. Here’s how to add Grain. The end.” Boring. You don’t need another basic tutorial. You need the weird tricks – the undocumented behaviours, the hidden blend modes, the masking hacks that actually save you time. I’ve been testing these layers for four months. Here are 7 pro tips I wish someone had told me on day one. Pro Tip #1: The “Invisible” Clarity Hack (Negative Values Work Differently) Everyone knows dragging Clarity to +50 adds…

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Photoshop’s Neural Filters are AI wizards that automate complex edits, but pairing them with Smart Objects takes it further- enabling non-destructive tweaks, layer masking, and batch automation for pro workflows. In this tutorial, we’ll convert portrait layers to Smart Objects, apply neural filters like Skin Smoothing, and automate across multiple images. What You’ll Need Step 1: Open Your Images and Prepare Layers Launch Photoshop and open your portrait images via File > Open. For each, duplicate the Background layer (Ctrl+J / Cmd+J) to work non-destructively. Name it “Portrait Edit” in the Layers panel. Step 2: Convert to Smart Object Select…

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AI

Photoshop’s Remove Tool is an AI-driven feature that simplifies object removal with incredible accuracy, making it a game-changer for photo editing. Unlike traditional methods, it leverages machine learning to analyse your image and fill removed areas seamlessly—often in one stroke. In this tutorial, we’ll walk through how to use it to remove an unwanted object (the Tattoo on the neck), with a comparison to the classic Content-Aware Fill tool to see why this newcomer shines. Let’s dive in! What You’ll Need Video Tutorial If you wish to skip the full tutorial, I have a shorten tutorial here on PSD Vault…

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