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Task Guide: Retouching a Pottery Studio Glaze Test Board

Scenario

A ceramics materials studio photographed a grid of 24 stoneware test tiles fired at Cone 10 reduction. Kiln shelf dust left white specks on several celadon and tenmoku tiles, the studio camera was slightly angled, and each tile needs a clean firing-code callout badge.

Step-by-Step Workflow

1. Correct Perspective and Crop the Tile Grid

  1. Open the studio photograph (Ctrl+O / Cmd+O).
  2. Press C to select the Crop Tool, or choose Edit ▸ Perspective Warp to align the four corners of the wooden test board with the horizontal and vertical guides (Ctrl+;).
  3. Commit the transform (Enter) and check the tile edges against the canvas grid (Ctrl+').

2. Remove Kiln Specks Non-Destructively

  1. Duplicate the photo layer with Ctrl+J (Cmd+J), name the copy Dust Retouch, and preserve the original underneath.
  2. Press J to select the Spot Healing Brush Tool and retouch the working copy.
  3. Click over isolated kiln dust specks on the smooth celadon tiles. For specks near a glaze drip edge, switch to the Clone Stamp Tool (S), Alt-click (Option-click) along the adjacent rim to set the source point in the Clone Source panel, and paint across the blemish.

3. Place a Smart Object Firing Chart and Add Styled Callouts

  1. Choose File ▸ Place Embedded… to insert the kiln firing schedule diagram as a Smart Object. Because it is a Smart Object, you can scale it with Free Transform (Ctrl+T / Cmd+T) and apply Smart Sharpen while retaining the placed source; inspect the result at the intended output size.
  2. Select the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and add tile codes (C10-Celadon-04, C10-IronRed-11) beneath each row.
  3. Open Layer ▸ Layer Style ▸ Drop Shadow… and Stroke… to give the labels a subtle dark backing that remains legible over both pale porcelain and dark iron glazes.

Sources