So it's got nothing to do with music. I've spent quite a bit of time over the last few months scanning hundreds of old family negatives, and sorting and editing my most recent digital shots too. Although there's always something new to learn in Photoshop, I think I can now confidently list the Greatest Photoshop Photo Tips EVER. Some of them I developed myself, and some I picked up on the web. I assume you know how to duplicate a layer, how to use the clone tool and similar basic tasks. The following tips combine these basic skills to make quick, easy and effective adjustments to your snapshots. I'm using Photoshop 7, but there's probably little here that can't be done in earlier versions. You can download a set of some of these techniques recorded as Photoshop Actions here:

Download igActions (4kb Photoshop .atn file)

Pre-tip preamble.

• Always work on a copy. Always save your original scan or digital photo untouched.

• If your images are in jpeg form, save your finished edits at the highest quality you can afford given your available disk space. Of course it depends on your shooting size and resolution, but I've found a finished file size of between about 2MB produces a photo that looks good on screen and on paper.

• Learn the shortcuts to the basic tools - they are mostly single kestrokes. Especially learn that the square brackets " [ " and " ] " decrease and increase brush size. With the correct sized brush always in your hand you'll be both more subtle and more dynamic in your editing. Learn also that "D" resets the foreground and background colours to their default of black and white, and "X" swaps them around to white foreground and black background. Brush size and the default colours are important to a number of the tips which follow.

• Layers are your friends. You can try things out, fiddle and adjust to your heart's content, and leave the underlying background untouched. Layer blending modes can provide corrections based on brightness and colour. Adjustment layers - levels, curves, hue/saturation, etc - allow you to fine-tune without destroying any pixels until you finally flatten the image right before saving.

• Layer masks are even bigger friends. The combination of a layer mask and the right sized brush is powerful. You can also "unpaint" and repaint the mask to erase mistakes or fine-tune. Before I fully understood layers and layer masks I'd spend hours selecting people or objects with the lasso tool, or fiddling here and there with the eraser. I'd often end up with something completely undoable that looked most unnatural compared to the rest of the photo. No more!

• Record your frequently-used sequences as actions and assign them to a function-key.

• Do any repairs first. If you need to fix scratches on the negative, or clone out that high-tension cable that is spoiling your shot of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, do it before you make any other adjustments.

On to the tips!

Tip 1: Reducing flash glare.

On close up indoor shots, flash glare on forehead, nose and cheeks is unavoidable with a point-and-shoot digital camera. Here's how to paint it out.

1. Use the eye-dropper tool to select a skin tone from the subject you're working on. There's often a spot between the glare and the darker area on the forehead where you can get a good sample.

2. Create a new empty layer, set its blending mode to "Darken" and its opacity to 50%.

3. Use a soft-edged brush to paint the skin tone onto this "Darken" layer: the underlying texture will still show through. The soft edge will blend the paint into the surrounding area and avoid a sharply-delineated edge. The aim is to diminish the glare just enough to get rid of that sweaty, waxy look. If you overdo it the face will look very flat and unnatural - letting a little of the glare shine through provides depth and contour. You can adjust the opacity or re-sample the skin tone to get the effect perfect. If there's more than one person to retouch it's best to make a new layer for each.

Tip 2: Increasing exposure using a "Screen" layer and a layer mask.

With outdoor shots on a sunny day you might find that someone wearing a hat ends up with a dark face while the rest of the scene is bright. This tip is one of a few that uses layer masks. A layer mask either shows or hides the layer that it's attached to. If you paint on the mask with black paint you hide the layer and let the underlying picture show through. If you paint on the mask with white paint you reveal the layer, and the picture underneath is hidden. Of course, this technique is not confined solely to people with hats. Use it anywhere you want to bring out shadow detail.

1. Duplicate your background layer and set the duplicate's blending mode to "Screen". Name this layer "Brighten" or similar. The whole photo will now be very bright.

2. Add a layer mask in "Hide all" mode to the Brighten layer. Do this by selecting the menu item Layer> Add Layer Mask> Hide All, or opt/alt clicking on the "Add layer mask" button on the Layers palette. Your photo will look like it was before because the layer mask is now hiding the Brighten layer.

3. Set the foreground and background colours to their default (black & white) by pressing "D", then swap them around by pressing "X". You'll now be painting with white.

4. Double check that you're painting on the Brighten layer's mask and not the layer itself. Select a soft-edged brush of appropriate size and paint away the mask over the area you want to brighten. Now you're letting the Brighten layer do its stuff on just that one spot. If you make a mistake press "X" to swap the colours and paint the mask on again. By using a soft-edged brush the effect gets blended in to the surrounding area - there's no need to make a selection exactly around the face and treat that selection separately.

5. If the effect is too much, reduce the opacity of the Brighten layer. If it's not enough, duplicate the duplicate. Or maybe Uncle Arthur's face is now light enough but it looks washed out. Duplicate the Brighten layer again but set its blending mode to Soft Light. Adjust opacity to suit.

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