Professional Information Technology-Programming Book part 22 pdf

The Layers palette after running the Workflow Action.. Choose Workflow Layers and click the Play button forward arrow icon at the bottom of the Actions palette.. Using Layer Options You

5.4 The Magic Action for Layered Workflow

It takes only minutes to record this "magic" Workflow Action, but if you're too lazy, you can download it from from www.kenmilburn.com The magical part comes when you realize that you can include the layers in the workflow for almost every image automatically It also ensures that you'll follow a properly layered workflow for at least the most basic steps Figure 5-3 shows the Layers palette Figure 5-3 The Layers palette after running the Workflow Action

NOTE

Actually, there's nothing magical about this Action My friend Doug Sahlin

suggested it and I thought it a brilliant idea So he said I could use it if I put his name in a prominent place in the book Fair enough

To install the Workflow Layers Action:

1 Go to the folder you downloaded it to, select the Action, and press

Cmd/Ctrl-C to copy it to the clipboard

2 Navigate through your systems folders to Program Files Adobe Plug-ins Once in the Plug-ins folder, press Cmd/Ctrl-V to paste the Action into this folder If you have Photoshop on other machines in your office, repeat the process on all those computers as well

To use the Workflow Action:

1 Use Bridge to open the image you're going to process If the image is a RAW file, make sure you've preprocessed it in Camera Raw

2 Open the Actions palette (Window Actions) and click the small palette menu in the upper righthand corner Choose Doug's Actions (he didn't invent them, just recorded them under that heading) Several new Actions will appear in the palette, which are self-explanatory Choose Workflow Layers and click the Play button (forward arrow) icon at the bottom of the Actions palette

3 Faster than you can blink, all the new layers will appear Select the

Background Layer and choose the Spot Healing brush Make sure the

Sample All Layers box is checked Now spot out all the zits, trash, stray phone lines, and dust marks The spotting will all appear on the clear layer

just above the Background layer

4 Select the Burn and Dodge Layer If there are large areas that you want to brighten or lighten, select them with the Lasso tools Then choose Edit

Fill and select a percentage of white to lighten or a percentage of black to darken You can do the same for small areas by simply painting with the Brush tool set for a percentage of black or white

5 Select the Levels layer Double-click the Levels icon and the Levels dialog will open Set the Levels dialog to your desired settings

6 Select the Curves layer Double-click the Curves icon and the Curves dialog will open Set the Curves dialog to your desired settings

5.5 Using Layer Options

You should understand all the options in the Layers palette for making layers

"behave" in different ways These options are employed when you click icons at the top of the Layers palette, as shown in Figure 5-4

Figure 5-4 The Layers palette Options Icons

5.6 What You Can Do with Adjustment Layers

Adjustment layers are one of the most important types of layers Their big benefit

is that you can adjust them at any time you like For example, suppose your Curves adjustments look perfect when you apply them right after they come out of Camera Raw However, after changing the Hue and Saturation on another layer, adding some brushstroke effects, and then adding an overall Solid Color layer, you then need to change the contrast in certain brightness levels of the original image No problemjust double-click on the Curves icon in the Curves Adjustment layer and the Curves dialog opens to allow you to make any changes You could even make some radical changes by changing the layers blend mode

Adjustment layers are created by choosing them from the Adjustment layers menu

at the bottom of the Layers palette Adjustment layers do exactly the same thing as the commands of the same name under the Image Adjustments menu The following is a list of each type of Adjustment layer on that menu and the basic purpose of each:

Solid Color

Brings up the standard Color Picker dialog and lets you pick any color in the palette As soon as you click OK, the layer is filled with that color You may then apply any of the Blend Modes to that layer for a blended color effect You could also experiment with the Fill and Opacity sliders for even more variety Try Darken, Lighten, Hue, Saturation, and Soft Light

Gradient

Fills the layer with any gradient in the Gradient's palette You can even

make your own The layer is opaque, but like Solid Color, you can use Blend Modes and the sliders to create a wide variety of effects

Pattern

Fills your image with any pattern you've made or any of the dozens of

patterns that come with Photoshop Used with colored and textured paper patters, this can be a great way to make an aged photo Use the Overlay mode Also, feel free to experiment Different colors in the image will blend differently with different colors in the patterns

Levels

Ensures that the white, black, and midpoints of brightness range are set properly You can also set color balance by adjusting individual channels If this layer is masked, it can be used to control tint in specific areas of the image

Curves

Controls contrast in specific ranges of brightness Very useful when masked for setting contrast to targeted areas of the image

Color Balance

Corrects color balance, unless you had a color or grayscale card in the

picture (see the "Shooting a Calibration Target or Gray Card" section in Chapter 2)

Brightness/Contrast

Changes the layer or targeted area's brightness, darkness, and contrast but has very little control over interpretation Can be useful as a quick way to darken or lighten an area, such as the periphery of a vignette

Hue/Saturation

There are actually three sliders in this layer Hue lets you interactively

change the overall tint of the image If you exaggerate the Hue setting, you can even create something that looks like a tinted photo Adjusting

Saturation affects the intensity of the colors; if you remove all saturation you'll have a monochrome Lightness just makes the image lighter or darker

Selective Color

Helps prepress folks adjust the amount of process colors to be dedicated to any primary color, which ensures the final output turns out as expected

Channel Mixer

Creates special color effects

Gradient Map

Creates various color effects This is an amazing tool for creating

psychedelic-toned color effects, monotones, and duotones The effect you get is completely dependent on the gradient used The tones on the left end replace the shadow tones, and those on the right replace the highlights So, for instance, if you had a gradient that went from white to black, you'd get a negative image You could vary tones with the smoothness of the gradient, too Experiment with a few of the standard gradients Then, based on what you learn, make and save some gradients of your own

Photo Filter

The standard photo filters used in color photography, as well as some

standard black and white filters To get the same effect with the black and white filters as you would with black and white film, create a Hue/Saturation layer clipped to the Photo Filter layer, then drag the Saturation slider all the way left

Invert

Switches the image from positive to negative

Threshold

Sets a brightness point at which colors fall on one side or the other of the black/white dividing line

Posterize

Lets you limit the number of shades of color and brightness in the image with a result that looks a bit like a hard-edged and flat-color poster