55 free skies to download for Photoshop Sky Replacement

Sunday 22 August 2021, 20:20 by Elja Trum | 10,391 views | 6 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

In Photoshop, you can now use artificial intelligence to replace skies in your photos very easily. Photoshop already comes with a fair number of skies, but you can currently download 55 more for free.

» Download the free skies

The skies were shot by Cliford Mervil, Rick Mandia, Ryan Longnecker and Russel Brown.

After downloading them, you can add the skies to your Photoshop installation by opening a photo and going to the Edit menu. Choose Sky Replacement here.

In the Sky Replacement window that opens, click the small arrow next to the photo beside 'Sky:'. Then click the cog, choose Import Skies and then From Presets....

Next, click one of the .sky files you have just downloaded. Photoshop will then add a new folder to your list of skies. Do this for each .sky file you have downloaded.

And remember to take a photo yourself when you see a beautiful sky. It is of course much more fun to carry out your sky replacements with photos of skies that you have taken yourself.

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About the author

Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.

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6 comments

Donald Willemsen wrote on Monday 23 August 2021 at 15:51 | reply
Thanks for the tip. I think Luminar AI does sky replacement much better than Photoshop.
Translated from Dutch.

Lauran wrote on Tuesday 24 August 2021 at 18:27 | reply
This sounds the end of photography.
Translated from Dutch.

Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 24 August 2021 at 20:45 | reply
@Lauran, with all due respect for your opinion. I don't think your doomsday scenario will come true. Editing photos is as old as the road to Rome. This already happened in the analog era too. The big difference is that it has now become a lot easier digitally. Well, easier? Replacing a sky isn't enough. You have to adjust the light in the photo, change the shadows. Just try doing that correctly. Besides, those standard skies that come with Ps are so recognizable when you use them often.
The serious photographer won't be quick to want to use those replacement tricks. So your doomsday scenario will probably fizzle out.
Translated from Dutch.

Stefanie wrote on Wednesday 25 August 2021 at 07:30 | reply
My opinion is that even if you tinker with your photos, you should do that as much as possible with your own material and what could be easier than building up your own library of skies
Translated from Dutch.

Mac wrote on Wednesday 25 August 2021 at 07:30 | reply
@Donald,

I did indeed once see a presentation by a photographer who, among other things, replaced skies (back when photography was still analogue) And that was still the easy thing he did in terms of combining images.
And what Luminar and Photoshop do now, he did just as well in the darkroom. Only he was sometimes working on it for a few weeks instead of now just pressing a button (simply put).

But nowadays it seems as if for many people photography is the representation of reality (whatever that may be in photography) instead of an art form.
Translated from Dutch.

Donald Willemsen wrote on Wednesday 25 August 2021 at 10:54 | reply
@Mac,

Photography has long since ceased to be a representation of reality. In the past and now as well, photos are always edited.
The only description that still fits the word photography well is: 'writing with light'.
If, for example, you replace the sky so well that it isn't visible anywhere in the photo, then you're ace at editing. But I'll bet you that most photographers can't do it flawlessly. The big professional photographers employ editors who do nothing but edit photos, day in, day out. They have so much experience that you and I can't match it.
I have nothing against heavily editing a photo, even the most famous photographer does it. What matters is that you're satisfied with the photo yourself and that your audience enjoys it too.
Translated from Dutch.

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Elja Trum

Photofacts; everything to do with photography!

Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about Photofacts

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