The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 4 PHẦN 5 ppsx

Onequick method of blending is to flatten the image Layer ➔Flatten Image, duplicate theBackground Layer ➔Duplicate Layer, apply the Unsharp Mask filter, and reduce theOpacity of the Back

Generally, you will want to choose a setting with a low threshold, which is measured in

levels This means Photoshop Elements will look at the number of levels of difference in

the surrounding pixels, and if the number of levels is greater than the threshold, it will

apply sharpening based on the settings for Radius and Amount

You should usually keep the Threshold setting between 0 and 5 levels—toward the

lower end of this range In fact, you will often want to use zero tolerance Low tolerance

levels (1 or 2) can keep Photoshop Elements from sharpening what is otherwise image

noise Sharpening noise will only make the image noisier With that in mind, a good rule

of thumb is to raise the threshold more for images with more image noise This will keep

you from enhancing image noise The only time you will set the threshold higher than 5

is when you want to limit the filter’s effect to high-contrast areas of the image to play up

existing contrast and separation of image elements

Radius and Amount might be set quite differently depending on what you are trying

to achieve and the ppi and content of the image In many cases, you might apply the filter

twice: once with a low radius for general sharpening and once with a higher radius for

broader enhancement of image contrast The following sections cover these techniques

Affecting Sharpness with the Unsharp Mask Filter

Sharpening an image with the Unsharp Mask filter depends on Elements recognizing and

enhancing existing edges in an image In other words, if the image is too soft or blurry to

have defined edges, the filter can’t tell where the edge is, so it can’t tell what to enhance

This is why the filter works best to sharpen images that are already characteristically sharp

Although settings can vary depending on the type of image, the size of the image, and

the desired result, you will normally maintain the following settings in 300 ppi, 5 × 7"

images that have average busyness and contrast:

Radius: 0.5 pixels to 3 pixels

Amount: 50% to 100%

Threshold: 0 levels

Note that these are rough guidelines, but they work for a variety of situations If the

con-tent of the image is not busy, lacks focus, and/or is lower contrast, you can tend toward the

high end of the ranges; if the image is busier, is relatively sharp, and has high contrast, you

would probably tend toward the low end If the image has more resolution, you would tend

toward the higher end of these ranges; less resolution, tend toward the lower

The name Unsharp Mask comes from the traditional darkroom process in which an inverted,

blurred (unsharp) duplicate of the original image was sandwiched to mask the exposure

dur-ing printdur-ing This helped target and adjust (sharpen) contrast differences.

Figure 5.21 shows an image before and after sharpening Before sharpening, the imageappears slightly soft and perhaps a bit lacking in contrast A single application of theUnsharp Mask filter in the midpoint for the suggested range increases the contrast andboosts the sharpness (see Figure 5.21).

A halo effect occurs when the Unsharp Mask is applied too strongly over areas where

flatly dark portions of an image meet flatly light portions, forming a high-contrast edge(see Figure 5.22) Often, a halo effect is more apparent when the applied Radius is short—

or not long enough to dissipate the edge of the sharpening effect without being obvious.Not only will the halo tend to blow out (or clip) areas of images, but the image will alsodistort, and the effect will become unpleasant

You can reduce the halo effect by first undoing the Unsharp treatment and then plying it with either a broader Radius, a lower Amount, or a combination of these or byblending the result Methods of blending are discussed in later parts of the book Onequick method of blending is to flatten the image (Layer ➔Flatten Image), duplicate theBackground (Layer ➔Duplicate Layer), apply the Unsharp Mask filter, and reduce theOpacity of the Background copy layer in the Layers palette

Sharpness and

con-trast in this image

improve with an

application of

Unsharp Mask.

Another option for blending the sharpening effect is to use the Fade tool in the Hidden

Power tool set You can find the Fade tool in the Power_Extras category under Effects on

the Styles and Effects palette Just undo the sharpening (press Command+Z/Ctrl+Z) and

double-click the Fade tool Instructions will appear on-screen

Staying within the guidelines helps you avoid oversharpening and creating halos in

high-contrast areas of your images Better to sharpen a little several times, sharpen a

duplicated layer, or try other measures than to sharpen hastily and heavily and damage

the image

Raising Local Contrast with Sharpening

Adjusting contrast with the Unsharp Mask filter has a much different effect on an image

than applying Curves or Levels, because the effect actually compares adjacent pixels rather

than adjusting based on a more predictable scheme The results of the application will be

unique as they are dependent on the differences that already exist in the image Applying

Unsharp Mask to increase contrast works well with low-contrast images or images that

seem to lack dynamics that increasing dynamic range (with Levels) or contrast (with

Curves or Gradient Maps) doesn’t fix

When you are adjusting local contrast with the Unsharp Mask, the Radius might be

much higher than suggested for sharpening (50 pixels or more) and the Amount much

lower (between 10% and 50%) Again, these are just suggested ranges The goal of these

broad settings is to increase the radius beyond the distance where a halo is noticeable and

to force objects in the image to play against one another

Figure 5.23 shows a somewhat low-contrast image of a boat (a) and corrections using

the Unsharp Mask filter (b and c) Although it looks okay in color, the image lacks a little

pop in black-and-white By using Unsharp Mask to raise the local contrast, the image

ele-ments have more separation from one another Two applications of Unsharp Mask—one

to build local contrast (b) and one to sharpen (c)—make quick work of what would

other-wise be an arduous task in masking to separate this boat from its surroundings, creating a

result based on existing image differences

The third image (c) includes slight Levels and Curve preset adjustments Curve presets

were used to enhance the contrast that Unsharp Mask brought out, and Levels was used

to adjust the final brightness Some tone was replaced quickly by duplicating the original,

moving it to the top of the stack, setting it to darken, and lowering the Opacity to 10%;

this filled in areas that sharpening had forced to clip (go to 0% gray) So you see that

tech-niques of using Levels, Curves, and Unsharp Mask work together—rather than separately—

to produce enhanced results

Manual Unsharp Masking: Calculations in Action

While calculations were briefly introduced in the last chapter, they have many creative andinteresting uses, most of which are not immediately obvious One of the first really usefullayer calculations I worked with was manually creating unsharp masking effects Unsharpmasking, as mentioned earlier, was a darkroom process before it was a filter The photog-rapher doing the developing would sandwich a blurred film negative copy of the imagewith the original to burn in (increase exposure of) the image shadows The blur would target the contrasty edges, and the result after the application would be increased shadowdetail and a sharper look to the image This Hidden Power application of unsharp is a littledifferent but builds on the same concept

Imitate a modified version of the darkroom sharpening effect by using the following steps:

1 Open a flattened image to which you’d like to apply an unsharp mask calculation

2 Duplicate the Background layer

3 Invert the Background Copy layer (press Command+I/Ctrl+I or choose Filter ➔

Adjustments ➔Invert), and rename the layer Unsharp Mask.

a

Figure 5.23

The original boat is

a little dull (a) After

raising the local

contrast with the

Unsharp Mask

(using a broad

radius and low

per-centage), the boat

stands out better

from the

surround-ings (b) The filter is

then applied again

(c), but this time to

sharpen the image

(using a short

radius and higher

percentage).

4 Blur the Unsharp Mask layer using Gaussian Blur The size of the blur will depend

on the resolution of the image and the amount of detail The more detailed the image,

the less blur; the higher the resolution, the greater the blur Start with 5 pixels for a

3 ×5" image at 300 ppi; use more pixels in the radius for larger images

5 Change the Layer mode of the Unsharp Mask layer to Overlay

6 Reduce the opacity of the duplicate layer to 50%; adjust the opacity as desired

The result of these steps is a sophisticated mask based on the content of your image

The Unsharp Mask layer you have created ends up working much like the sandwiched

negative in the darkroom process, in pretty much the opposite way than the unsharp mask

filter does, reducing image contrast and pulling details from shadows and highlights

Because the effect is nearly the opposite of the Unsharp Mask filter, the two sharpening

effects can often be used together to greatly intensify image sharpness Alternately, you can

apply curves or other adjustments to increase contrast to offset the manual unsharpening

The best results for the unsharp masking will often be had by applying the change just

to the image tone (or separated Luminosity) If you apply the changes to the color as well,

the change will enhance color noise By targeting tone, color won’t be altered, and you

may achieve better results than applying sharpening to tone and color at the same time A

means of doing this in reverse is to add back the color from the original image, which you

could do by duplicating the Unsharp Mask layer before making any changes and setting

that layer to Color mode Other adjustments, such as increasing saturation and making a

tone adjustment, may be necessary to compensate for alterations that the Unsharp Mask

inflicts

The Hidden Power Sharpen tool included with the Hidden Power tools (in Power_

Adjustments) will go through the simple sharpening process described above in steps 1

to 6, allowing you to select the intensity of the blur The tool goes several steps further, to

include the option for Hue/Saturation and Levels corrections, apply the Unsharp Mask

filter to tone, and group all of these corrections into a clipping mask To use this tool,

open the image on which you want to use the tool, and double-click the Hidden Power

Sharpen tool You will be able to adjust the intensity of the separate sharpening

applica-tions by using layer opacity after the tool runs you through the process You can view

Before and After images of the effect by toggling the view for the Snapshot Composite

layer, and you can adjust the whole effect by lowering the Opacity for the Snapshot

Composite

This is layer masking and calculations working together to create a powerful tool and

repeatable result

Managing Image Noise

Management of noise in your images is another way to adjust tone Having noise in animage can mean a number of things, from having many objects in an image to somethingmore akin to random digitized information—like you might get when turning on your

TV without a cable connection or antenna The concepts in this section deal mostly withthe latter and will help you to reduce or eliminate undesirable patterning, digital imagenoise, and texture in an image by controlling image noise

At times you may want to edit out, reduce, or even add image noise to achieve lar results in your images To do this, you will use Blur and Add Noise filters, often in con-junction with other image editing functions, such as layer blending, selection, masking,and perhaps a few Hidden Power tools

particu-The Gaussian Blur filter (Filter ➔Blur ➔Gaussian Blur) can blur images or image areas

It does this by averaging the effects of pixels over a radius, which you define by using aslider on the dialog box: the greater the radius, the more intense the blur As a result ofaveraging pixels, blurring removes or lessens image noise by lowering the contrast of adja-cent pixels This averaging softens image edges, smoothing hard lines between areas ofcontrast, and can mitigate or obliterate image details Essentially, this is the opposite ofsharpening, which enhances existing contrast

The Add Noise filter (Filter ➔Noise ➔Add Noise) generates image noise by ing color assignments for pixels There are several choices in the Add Noise dialog box forcontrolling the filter The Amount is related to Percentage, and it defines the range of vari-ation possible in creating the noise distribution As the Amount goes up, the application

randomiz-of the noise is potentially more radical Very strong applications randomiz-of noise, like blur, canobliterate detail—in this case by wiping it out with random behavior rather than averag-ing Noise applications can swiftly become something of a special effect, depending on theppi of the image An image with a higher ppi, containing more pixels and resolved detail,will be able to withstand stronger applications of the filter

Generation of noise is affected by the Distribution Type A Uniform distribution

changes the values of individual pixels by selecting a random number within the rangedefined by the Amount This number can be the original value plus or minus the amountfor each color component For example, applying an Amount of 25 to a 50% gray image(128 levels) in Grayscale will result in values between 103 and 153 levels of gray for anypixel, each value generated at random You can see this effect by creating a new image,filling with a 50% gray background, and applying the Add Noise filter

A Gaussian distribution changes the values of individual pixels by selecting a random

number based on a Gaussian function The function creates a tendency to select fromthe center of the range, but the results can also deviate more strongly from that norm.While the quantitative effects to each pixel can extend beyond what is dictated by Amount,

the total effect is the same as uniform distribution—just with greater peaks and valleys

in the deviation Because deviations can be broader, Gaussian noise can appear to be a

stronger effect than the Uniform distribution with the same Amount setting, as shown

in Figure 5.24 Compare this to the Uniform effect by creating another gray image of the

same size, applying the Add Noise filter using the Gaussian setting, and comparing the

images side by side

The Monochromatic option applies the filter to only the tonal elements in the image

without changing the color For example, this would keep an RGB image that has been

desaturated from generating color noise when the filter is run

So far, neither adding noise nor blurring may sound desirable, because either could be

damaging (or at least compromising) to an image However, used in a controlled fashion,

both can enhance an image and make the results look more realistic For example, an

image or image area that is damaged by JPEG compression can be restored, somewhat, by

selective blurring In this case, blurring could potentially dissipate artifacts generated by

compression In a similar way, some types of digital noise can be lessened or removed, as

might be effects of film grain, halftone printing, and paper texture Selective blurring can

also help in isolating image subjects by imitating effects of focus, such as depth of field

On the other side of the coin, most image tones that look natural in an image are notcompletely flat when you look at them close up When you attempt to add new objects orelements to an image, such as by painting them in with flat tones or creating an area with

blends (for example, to replace a sky), the elements can tend to look too perfect The result

is that the repair will look like a repair: skin tones will look more like a mannequin or caricature; a replaced sky will look like a fill or gradient Applying noise can mimic a morenatural look by randomizing and effectively dithering image information In addition, youcan use Add Noise to create texture or graininess (for example, to mimic film grain)

As strange as it may seem, sometimes when blurring won’t solve a problem that youmay have thought required noise reduction, applying noise can Even more often, apply-ing both blur and noise can do the job, adding variation while mediating extremes.Blur and Add Noise filters can be used along with other functions to produce the bestresults For example, you might make a selection of a particularly noisy area of an image

to isolate it before applying a blur After using Blur, you may need to use the Add Noisefilter to fix the blurred areas so that they don’t seem flat You also might use a layer mode,mask, or other features to isolate the application so the fix is applied only to the areaswhere it is intended

Both Add Noise and Blur are best when applied lightly and in combination Figure 5.25shows a repair in which noise was used to make an image correction blend better after ablur was applied The skin on the subject is not bad in the original, but it could appearmuch more youthful with smaller pores

A selection was made of the subject’s face (mostly using the red channel as a mask—atechnique we will look at more later) With the selection loaded, the area of the subject’sskin was copied and pasted to its own layer to isolate it Once isolated, the copied skin was blurred The results smoothed the skin, but left it too flat Noise was added, usingUniform distribution with the Monochromatic check box selected This returned some

of the texture to the skin without leaving it looking too flat and fake The appearance ofthe pores was softened first, using the Blur filter to remove noise Next, the Add Noise filter was used to gently replace some of what was lost in the texture The result is muchsmoother skin and a somewhat more youthful smile

Several techniques, including erasing information on the new layer or masking, couldhave been used to bring back the details that were getting covered However, Blend Mask,

a Hidden Power tool, was applied to the layer to enable the character of wrinkles to blendthrough based on tone Again, combinations of tool applications and functions generallywork best in achieving goals in an image because no one tool can do it all You’ll see more

of Blend Mask in the following section We’ll also talk more about noise reduction inChapter 6 in a section called “Quelling Color Noise.”

Masking with Image Tone

Masks are very much like selections, in that they can help you

isolate image areas and work on them without changing other

parts of the image Masks can be based on tone (as we will look

at in this section), color, saturation, manual selection, or other

calculated results Masking is quite flexible The greatest

advan-tage of masking is that it is not permanent; masking allows you to

temporarily hide parts of specific layers in the image rather than

erasing or otherwise permanently altering the layers If you want, you can adjust the

masking to add and subtract layer content at will by adjusting the layer masks to reveal

or hide more of the layer

One frustration with using Photoshop Elements is that it natively uses masks only in

conjunction with adjustment layers, and it does not freely allow you to mask any layer

in an image It also doesn’t allow you to work fluidly with alpha channels, which is

where Photoshop can store masks and selections Although you can save a selection

in Elements 4, you still can’t attach a mask to any old layer—that is, you can’t unless

you have Hidden Power

The Hidden Power tool set can help by offering several tools for working with masks.We’ll explore native possibilities and the Hidden Power enhancements for masking in thenext few sections.

Native Layer Masking

Layer masks are available natively when you are using Adjustment layers (such as Levels orGradient Maps, found on the Layer ➔New Adjustment Layer submenu) A layer mask is a

mask attached to a specific layer that applies to that layer only.All this means is that the content of that layer will be targeted

at the areas that remain unmasked Masks created with ment layers reveal all the content of the layer by default How-ever, you can control layer masking of adjustment layers bymaking a selection before you create the layer Instead of trying

adjust-to explain this technique, it is best shown in an example

1 Open a new image at 500 pixels × 500 pixels, 72 ppi, RGB, and use a white background

2 Change the foreground color to red (R: 255, G: 0, B: 0)

3 Fill the Background layer with red Use the Paint Bucket tool (press K)

4 Create a new Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer (Layer ➔New Adjustment Layer ➔

7 Paint in an M shape (for “mask”) over your image As you paint, the black will be

applied to the layer mask for the adjustment layer, and you will reveal red from thelayer below See the thumbnail change in Figure 5.27

If you want, you can adjust the Hue/Saturation sliders (double-click the Hue/Saturationlayer icon to open the Hue/Saturation palette) to see how the image is affected The black

portion of the mask will block the corresponding portion of thelayer with which it is associated

While masking is a neat trick, it actually has many ing applications Open any image, and then double-click theHighlight Mask tool from the Power_Masking category of theHidden Power tools This will make a selection of the shadowareas in the image Now make a Levels adjustment layer

interest-Figure 5.26

The layer mask for

the adjustment layer

is represented in the

Layers palette by

the thumbnail to the

right of the layer

will now have a

black M The image

will show a red M

surrounded by blue.

Black masks out the

effect of the layer.

(Layer ➔New Adjustment Layer ➔Levels) The selection will be automatically transferred

to the mask for the layer, and corrections you make with the Levels sliders will apply to the

shadows in the image If you wanted to darken the highlights in the current image, now is

your chance! Just move that middle slider to the right That’s just one simple example of

how masking can help you accurately target corrections

As far as what you can mask, you are really limited only by your imagination As long

as you can envision the result and create a selection to target an area, you can convert it

into a layer mask You might, for example, mask a layer with a separation component, or

a specific area of one of the components by altering the component with curves presets or

calculations We’ll look more specifically at this type of targeting in creating the CMYK

separation in Chapter 10

Adding Layer Masks to Any Layer with Hidden Power

It is nice that Adobe provides layer masking for the adjustment layers, but you may find

it comes in handy to apply masking directly to other layers as well Elements 4 doesn’t

allow you to do this directly with the standard Elements tools, but Hidden Power

pro-vides more than one solution In the Power_Masking category of the Hidden Power

tools, you will find the Layer Mask tool and the Selection to Layer Mask tool The Layer

Mask tool allows you to apply a blank layer mask to any layer in your image Just choose

the layer where you want to apply the mask, and double-click the Hidden Power tool If

you have a selection that you want to apply as a layer mask, use the Selection to Layer

Mask Hidden Power tool rather than Layer Mask The Selection to Layer Mask tool will

take care of converting the selection to mask content for you

One thing to note about the layer masks applied via the Hidden Power Layer Mask tool is

that selections will not be converted into masks as a matter of course as they are with

adjust-ment layers You will have to manually apply selections, adjust mask content with other

tools (such as painting in black or white on the mask to hide or reveal layer content), or use

the Selection to Layer Mask tool To apply a selection as a mask manually, just make your

selection, invert it, create the layer mask, and fill with black That is what the Selection to

Layer Mask tool does for you

Hidden Power Blend Mask

The Blend Mask Hidden Power tool is a unique solution to masking based on layer

clip-ping and layer transparency Essentially, it does the same thing as a layer mask, but

does it in a different way It was originally included in the Hidden Power tools as a

work-around to layer masks in earlier versions of the program (when it seemed likely Adobe

would eliminate masking entirely) It is included here to provide another masking

tech-nique that can be used in conjunction with or instead of layer masks

Blend Mask converts a layer into semitransparent pixels based on the brightness ofeach pixel The darker the pixel, the more opaque the result will be when converted to amask These Blend Mask layers can then be grouped with other image content to be used

as high-tech cookie cutters to isolate the masked area in a separate layer This allows you

to make changes either to the masked area or to all other areas of the image separately.Figure 5.28 shows an image that could benefit from correction in just the shadow area

To mask just the shadow, you can use the Blend Mask Hidden Power tools Several powertools converge in this exercise to create your image editing advantage

1 Open the sample image (horsehead.psd) from the CD

2 Create a Blend Mask layer that includes the tone on which you want to base the mask

In this case, we will use a curve preset adjustment to isolate shadows Double-click theLuminosity Only tool in the Power_Separations to separate out the luminosity for theimage Change the Luminosity layer mode to Normal Open the Hidden Power Curve Presetsfile, drag the Mask Shadows layer to the Horsehead image, merge the Mask

Shadows layer with the Luminosity layer, and then change the layer name to Blend

Mask The image should look like that shown in Figure 5.29.

3 Double-click the Blend Mask tool in the Power_Masking category of Effects This willconvert the layer created in step 2 to a transparency mask and make a clipping layerfrom that with a copy of the original image Nothing on-screen will change, but thehighlights will be masked off from the shadows See Figure 5.30

Figure 5.28

This image of a giant

bronze horse was

taken with the

sun as a backlight,

without

compensa-tion, leaving the

detail of the shadow

flat and dark.

The content of the layer created in step 2 can be anything, from a shape-based fill to an image component or a calculated result/black-and-white conversion You want to shift the area you are interested in masking toward white and darken or even make black the rest of the image Remember that this is a mask—not a permanent adjustment to the image.

If you toggle the visibility for the Background layer at this

point, the shadows will show without the shadow portions of

the image You can adjust the color or tone in the shadow area

by applying changes—either grouped layer adjustments or

changes directly to the layer content—to the Mask Content

layer Commit the changes by flattening the image

To quickly create masks that are based on shadows, you

can use the Transparent Grayscale Hidden Power tool Some

users may find this more straightforward because you are creating the transparency mask

first Just double-click Transparent Grayscale in the Power_Masking tools, and a new layer

will be created as a transparent mapping based on the image grayscale To base the mask

on highlights, use the Inverted Transparent Grayscale tool Each of these tools will run

through the process and create a Transparent Grayscale layer (like the Mask layer) and the

Mask Content layer The only difference with Blend Mask is the ability to further define

what component/grayscale you want to use with the mask

If you tried to make a transparency mask on your own in Elements without Hidden

Power tools, you would indeed have a problem That is because the Hidden Power tools

make use of conditional blending (Blend If in Photoshop), which is a feature that is not

accessible in the Elements interface I have included several tools in the Power_Masking

category that allow you to control layer visibility based on conditional blending These are

listed in Table 5.2 Some will be discussed and used later in the book All can be found in

the Power_Masking category of Effects

Figure 5.29

After step 2, the image should look like the original except in black- and-white with the contrast greatly enhanced, as shown here This is a tem- plate for the shadow mask Alternatively, you could mask the highlights for a very similar (but oppo- site) effect.

Figure 5.30

When steps 1 to 3 are complete, your Layers palette should have just three layers (as shown) and the image should look like the original Make changes to the Mask Content layer to adjust the isolated area of the image.

Remove Transparency Revert transparency of

a layer where the Clear White, Clear Black, Clear Grayscale, or Drop Black tools have been used.

While the content of a conditional blend will become transparent, you can still applychanges to the content of the layer When you apply changes, all of the content of the layerwill change, even if you can’t see it, and transparency will change accordingly Try thisquick experiment:

1 Create a new image 400 pixels × 400 pixels, RGB color mode with a white background

2 Create a new layer and fill it with a black-to-white gradient using the Gradient tool

3 Apply the Clear Black tool to the gradient layer The absolute black area of the gradientwill become white, while the content of a conditional blend will become transparent,you can still apply changes to the content of the layer When you apply changes, all

of the content of the layer will change, even if you can’t see it, and transparency willchange accordingly Try this quick experiment

4 Create a Levels Adjustment layer (Layer ➔New Adjustment Layer ➔Levels) When theNew Layer dialog appears, check the Group With Previous Layer button before click-ing OK

5 Move the middle, gray Input Levels slider on the Levels dialog to the right while ing the image An increasing amount of the black area should become white as youmove the slider

watch-If you move the slider back to the left, the area that became white should graduallybecome black again Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s gone and isn’taffected—effectively, it is masked When you get used to using conditional blending,

it ends up functioning just like another mask, but a fluid one that will change according

to changes in content

Changes layer properties to remove conditional blending that has not already been applied.

Changes the content of the layer so that transparency is applied to the pixels.

Makes absolute black pixels transparent and pixels between 87% and 99% black increasingly opaque.

Makes pixels in a layer transparent based on brightness White pixels (0% black) become transparent, and black pixels (100% black) remain opaque 50% gray (50% black) become 50% opaque.

Makes pixels that are absolute black (100% black) transparent.

Makes pixels that are absolute white (0% black) transparent.

Table 5.2

Power_Masking

Tools

This is just a little trick and by far not what you will generally do with masking We’ll

take a quick look at a tone-based masking effect for soft focus in the next section

Soft Focus Effects Using Masking

An interesting effect that is easily achieved using masking in more than one way is soft

focus Soft focus effects usually attribute a sort of glamour glow to an image, reducing the

appearance of wrinkles and flaws in portraits and imparting a dreamy quality Soft Focus

is traditionally done during the capture, using a soft focus filter Soft focus filters diffuse

light The more light, or the brighter an image area, the more the light becomes diffused

and glows, softening edges; the less light, the darker and sharper the image area Because

we can identify and isolate the highlights and shadows, we can mimic the effect

1 Open the twins_on_beach.psdimage on the CD

2 Isolate the highlights in the image using the Shadow Mask tool in the Power_Masking

category of Effects

3 Copy and paste to place the highlights on their own layer, and name the layer Glow.

This effectively masks the highlights into their own layer

4 Adjust the highlights to be brighter by opening the Levels (press Command+L/Ctrl+L;

if you use an adjustment layer, group it with the Glow layer), and shift the black

Out-put Levels slider to the right See Figure 5.31

5 Apply a Gaussian Blur to the Glow layer

using a radius of 30 pixels You will

imme-diately see the glow effect

6 Create a new layer at the top of the stack,

and name it Sharpen Merge all to the

Sharpen layer (press Shift+Command+

Option+E / Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E)

7 Apply the Shadow Mask tool to the Sharpen

layer This masks the shadows from change

8 Create a layer mask for the Sharpen layer

using the Layer Mask tool

9 Fill the layer mask for the Sharpen layer with

black This will fill the highlight area with

black and mask the highlights in the layer

10 Apply a Levels correction to the mask to

enhance the tonal range See Figure 5.32

11 Apply the Unsharp Mask filter to the

con-tent of the Sharpen layer Be sure you are

Figure 5.31

This Levels ment will shorten the range of tones

adjust-in the Glow layer so that everything is 50% gray or lighter.

Figure 5.32

This Levels ment to the mask will make sure that darker portions

adjust-of the image in the masked layer appear in the image.

applying the sharpening to the content of the layer and not themask by clicking the content thumbnail in the Layers palette toactivate it Use an Amount of 140% and a Radius of 2, whileleaving Threshold at 0.

When you are all done, the layers should look like they do

in Figure 5.33 Compare before and after by toggling the viewsfor the Glow and Sharpen layer simultaneously You will see amarked increase in the softness of the image, without losing a lot of detail This is becausethe masking dissipates the highlights, and masks sharpening to target the shadows.You can do many variations of this effect, including simply changing the Glow layer toScreen mode, which leaves a more contrasty result You can add and adjust in many dif-ferent ways, using different types of masks, but the key to this effect is that the highlightsget blurred or dispersed while the shadow detail remains intact to hold the shape ofobjects in the image

Shaping Image Elements with Light and Shadow

As you just saw in the previous section, light and shadow affect the shape of objects andhow they appear relative to one another You can use shading and highlighting to provideseparation between objects, for example, by adding a slight drop shadow or glow behind

an object to create separation It is light and shadow that affect depth and texture in animage and light that gives shape and color to everything in your image

The following provides a good, simple example of how light and shadow can createshape The following steps will turn a flat gray square into a shaped button that appears

to be elevated from the background:

1 Create a new grayscale image (File ➔New) that is 500 ×500 pixels

2 Make a marquee by using the Fixed Size option for the Marquee tool on the optionsbar Set the size to 300 ×300 pixels and click the tool at 100,100 (x,y) If you clickexactly on that point (use the rulers; if the rulers are set to inches, change the prefer-ences to pixels), the selection will be centered exactly on the image In this case, itdoesn’t matter if you are off by a few pixels

3 Create a new layer named Button, and fill the selection made in the previous step

with 50% gray

4 Select the Background layer Create a new layer named Drop Shadow, and set the

mode to Multiply Creating the new layer just above the Background in the layer stack will keep the drop shadow behind/below the button

5 Feather the current selection 20 pixels, and fill the selection with black Change thelayer Opacity to 75%

Figure 5.33

This Levels

adjust-ment to the mask

will make sure that

darker portions

of the image in

the masked layer

appear in the image.

6 Deselect by pressing Command+D/Ctrl+D.

7 Offset the shadow layer down 20 pixels and right 20 pixels To do this, choose the

Move tool, hold down the Shift key, and press the Right arrow and Down arrow keys

on your keyboard two times each

8 Activate the Button layer by clicking it in the Layers palette

9 Create a new layer, and name it Highlight Check the Group With Previous check

box, set the layer mode to Screen, and change the Opacity to 50%

10 Reload the previous selection by pressing Shift+Command+D / Shift+Ctrl+D Invert

the selection (Shift+Command+I / Shift+Ctrl+I), and fill it with white

11 Create a new layer, and name it Shadow Check the Group With Previous check

box, set the layer mode to Multiply, fill the layer with black, and change the Opacity

to 50%

12 Choose Select ➔Deselect

13 Activate the Highlight layer, choose the Move tool, and offset the layer down 20 pixels

and right 20 pixels To do this, hold down the Shift key and press the Right arrow and

Down arrow keys two times each

14 Activate the Shadow layer, and offset it up 20 pixels and left 20 pixels To do this, hold

down the Shift key, and press the Left arrow and Up arrow keys two times each

This leaves you with a square button that appears to be slightly raised and separate

from the background Figure 5.34 shows the results: the flat square is transformed into a

shaped button with apparent contour The drop shadow between the button and the

background creates distance between those objects; the Highlight and Shadow layers

cre-ate object shape by mimicking how a raised button might look if a light were coming from

the upper-left corner of the image The more extreme the offset effects, the greater the

depth or distance appears

Simple highlight and shadow creation of this sort happens when using layer effects The

way you choose to handle shadows and highlights controls the shape of the object, but the

final image has to show some consistency with the scene

to portray the desired result and the direction of the light

All this is to say you can create some cool effects with

light and shadow, but you can’t just drop a shadow into

an image willy-nilly and have it look correct You have to

take existing lighting into account and adjust for angle

and direction You also have to adjust the landscape to

make the shadow fall correctly This attention to the

direction of light becomes imperative when you want

to composite objects from different images

Figure 5.34

A flat area of flat tone can be both raised from the background and shaped with simple application for high- lights and shadows.

Other uses for adjusting highlights and shadows are dodging and burning effects whereyou brighten or darken areas of an image to add or reduce emphasis, create framing, etc.Try the following:

1 Open Twins_on_beach2.psd

2 Create a new layer at the top of the layer stack and name it Vignette.

3 Select All (press Command+A/Ctrl+A)

4 Modify the selection, and make it a Border (Select ➔Modify ➔Border) Use a Radius

of 150 pixels

5 Fill the resulting selection with black

6 Deselect (Command+D/Ctrl+D) and apply a Gaussian Blur using a Radius of 100

7 Reduce the Opacity for the Vignette layer to 15%

While the character of the image may not seem to change a lot, toggle the view for theVignette layer to compare before and after images Similar framing vignettes have oftenbeen used in the darkroom to make subtle frames around images In this case, it may alsoimitate vignetting of the image frame These are the types of subtle changes and correctionsyou may want to make in your images to keep the viewers’ focus on the subject

There are many, many more ways to use masking, selection, and transparency to effectchange in image tone, and we will discover some of those as we move through the remain-ing exercises At this point, it is time to look at adjustments to color