The goal of this tutorial is to reduce the "barriers of entry" for cognitive scientists interested in studying perceptual/cognitive processes with complex, real-world stimuli - and in doing so with confidence in their underlying techniques and conceptual approach. The content of this session will span basic topics in the selection/creation and (crucial) pre-processing of complex images; powerful stimulus manipulation techniques, including image degradation and filtering methods; and important considerations in experimental presentation (e.g., display choice and calibration, web-based studies) and design of perceptual-cognitive tasks/paradigms.