The Adobe Photoshop layers book PDF
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The Adobe Photoshop Layers Book The fish in the seas, and the poor furry things that end up on my doorstep. The Adobe Photoshop Layers Book Richard Lynch AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier The fish in the seas, and the poor furry things that end up on my doorstep. Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1GB 225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451, USA First published 2012 Copyright © 2012 Richard Lynch. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved The right of Richard Lynch to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangement with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein). Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Number: 2011937322 ISBN: 978-0-240-52252-4 For information on all Focal Press publications visit our website at www.focalpress.com Printed and bound in Italy 12 13 14 15 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Acknowledgments Focal Press continues to make writing and publishing worthwhile and enjoyable, which is not the general experience in the industry. Though the crew has changed, excellent staffing continues, and projects that I was ready to abandon continue with Focal Press. Wow, Stacey… Indescribable gratitude. Thanks to the management at PPSOP.com and PhotoshopCafe.com for hosting my online courses. And thanks to the hundreds of students who keep my eye on the ball as to what people learning the program really need (and not just what is conceptually cool). Much appreciation to many who contribute directly and indirectly by actually being interested or pretending to be: Greg Georges (gregorygeorges. com) and Al Ward (actionfx.com), Todd Jensen (thefineartoriginals.com, toadprint.com), Fred Showker (60-seconds.com), Barbara Brundage, Luke Delalio (lukedelalio.com), Lisa, Julia, Isabel, Xoe, Elsa, and various Lynches, Nardecchias, and Hongs. Lingering thanks … Mitch Waite, Stephanie Wall, Beth Millett, Bonnie Bills, Pete Gaughan, Dan Brodnitz, Robert Blake, Alan R. Weeks, Kevin Harvey, Larry Woiwode, Tony Zenos, Joe Reimels, Hagen-Dumenci, Dr. Fun, Murphy (1988–2007), Sam (1989–2009), Adobe, Apple, Sigma, AT, VDL, VOL, VT, TV, SB, P-G, TCK, DL, JK, SC, LM, Anna B., and other pairs of initials, divorced initials, and seconds. ix Introduction Any time you try to develop a skill, you want to make sure that you take advantage of the basic tools of the trade. If you were a bus driver, you would want to be sure you knew how to use the key, gas pedal, brake pedal, clutch, shift-stick, turn signals, and steering wheel, and where the gas goes to be sure you were going to be able to navigate the bus successfully. Knowing where the lighter is, or the location of the switch for the personal fan, is helpful, but not really necessary for getting the job done. Likewise, when using your camera, you want to understand focus, shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, and know how to use the viewfinder to frame the shot, how to hold the camera, and how to use the shutter release. There are extras like the shutter timer, depth of field viewer, exposure modes – all arguably options for shooting good images, but less important than the essentials. If you have bought Photoshop to edit images, there are basic tools and concepts that you need to know to get the best results. Of these, one of the most important is layers. Layers are the key to success. They are the gear- shifter, gas pedal, brake pedal, turn signal, and steering wheel that help you navigate corrections successfully. If you think of correction tools and functions as the fuel in this scenario, the bus goes nowhere without that. It is the harmony of the workings that allows the driver to get the bus from stop to stop, and, in turn, gets the passengers to their destinations. The Benefits of Layers The benefits of layers include: Non-destructive image editing l Isolating image changes so they can be reversed or further manipulated l Storing image versions in a single file l Organizing your approach to image correction l Creating your own repeatable image editing style l Adding elements from other images for flexible compositing, collage, l HDR, and panoramas Leveraging the content of your images to help target change. l Layers are the center of the image editing process and non-destructive editing workflow. This book, like no other book, will broaden your image editing horizons by helping you leverage the power of layers in a unified approach to editing. We start by getting familiar with basic layer concepts, and move quickly into practical exercises to demonstrate the capabilities. I say “capabilities” and not “possibilities” as layers are so powerful that trying to exhaustively cover possibilities just isn’t possible! The possibilities have to be left up to you and your creative exploration and exploitation of layer power. xi Introduction This book is not a substitute for a good basic understanding of Photoshop’s fuel: the functions and features of the rest of the program that affect changes. The primary focus of the book is layer features and functions, so some understanding of the program is assumed. However, if you have questions about what you think may not be covered here, feel free to ask the author in the online forum for the book: http://photoshopcs.com/forum. Layers, An Extremely Brief History Layers were remarkably well matured in their initial release with Photoshop 3 in 1994. Even so, layer functionality – then and now – includes some extraordinary powers that are still barely seen mentioned in tutorials and books. Even when they are, the features are never explored in a way that makes them valuable tools as part of a workflow. In this book we take a look at a layer-integrated workflow, and focus on layer features you will find useful every day. An attempt is made to cover all features that will affect your daily, non-destructive, image-editing workflow involving layers. Having worked with Photoshop nearly from its inception, I consider layers as the one feature enhancement that totally changed my approach to image editing. I use layers extensively, and use them in every image, with every correction, in just about every step of the process. Despite being what I consider the most powerful tool in all of Photoshop, layers had never been the subject of a book until the first edition of this book appeared in 2007 (though there are other fallacious claims from authors who would be more honest to thank me for the idea). The absence of a book on layers was even more surprising considering that more esoteric features such as Channels and Actions have books written about them. Every Photoshop book worth the paper it’s written on at least mentions layers – some have dedicated chapters to them – but no other book focuses on using layers as the core of your methodology for obtaining the best images, every time, with the least amount of work. This book paves that new direction and continues to lead the way. The Goal of This Book The goal of The Adobe Photoshop Layers Book is to give the reader a complete approach to editing images using layers as a springboard to better corrections and to define a complete non-destructive workflow. Layers are the catalyst to organizing corrections, solidifying workflow (the holistic process of editing images) and acting as the central component to controlling every image change. Readers will learn professional correction techniques that are viable in working with any image, and they will become familiar with the power of layer features as an organizational, correction, and revision tool. The ultimate goal is to portray layers as the heart and soul of image correction and build a foundation of good practices to help approach correction and xii Introduction enhancement of any image. The book focuses on the correction of photographic images rather than using layers for general graphics; the name of the program is, after all, Photoshop. Although the focus is on image correction, the exploration of layer functions and features is comprehensive within that scope. Layers can have an immediate, profound, and long-term effect on the overall quality of your images. This book shows the nuts and bolts of what layers do, as well as how they envelop the entire process of image correction and control. Methods The process of discovering layers starts with the essence of learning what layers are and exploring the most important features within the context of editing. But the more essential view looks at layers as the command center that drives your organization and correction in real-life image editing situations. This is what we do in progressing through the book along with examples using images found in the downloads. Non-destructive techniques enable users to make image changes that in no way compromise original image information: layers build on top of the original source to alter it, rather than changing it directly, which could lead to losing or permanently altering valuable details. The methods take your corrections to a professional level without hocus- pocus or steps that are impossible to comprehend and apply to your own images. You’ll see what happens behind the scenes in step-by-step procedures, and, when appropriate, you’ll be given the tools – customized actions created just for this book – to move through those steps quickly to set up image editing scenarios. This book will divulge: a process of approaching non-destructive image corrections (a workflow) l centered on layered development, using proven methods and a proven, core tool set high-powered editing techniques and scenarios that leverage the power l of layers to enhance your ability to make any image adjustment realistic image editing situations with real images by using realistic l expectations to get real results timeless techniques that span many versions of Photoshop based on good l core fundamentals and essential understanding that can be used with any image and in virtually any version of Photoshop. The book will not: show you fleeting techniques that emphasize the newest tools just l because they are new examine a plethora of rarely used tools in excruciating detail just because l they are there show you how to create effects that you may use once in a lifetime – if l ever. xiii Introduction Who Should Read This Book If you are serious about enhancing your Photoshop skill, this is the book you need. It applies to those who work with digital images (digitized via scanning or taken with a digital camera). The methods work on a Mac or PC computer. Those reading this book should probably not be absolute beginners with Photoshop. A general familiarity with the program landscape and basic understanding of tools, functions and palettes is assumed – at least in as far as the features are covered in the program’s Help resource. For additional information please feel free to ask questions directly on the reader forum for the book (http://photoshopcs.com/forum). Basic general computing skills are also assumed. For example, there is nothing in this book about program installation, troubleshooting your computer, or the like. If you have trouble with basic computer skills, it is better to take a course on computer skills before attempting to use this text. On the other hand, if you can manage your computer, you should be able to manage the instructions in this book. The Content As you go through the book, you will discover a mixture of practical theory, examples of the types of changes you’ll make in images daily, and exercises to work on to help you understand the process as well as why it works. Exercises are devised so that you see what goes on behind the scenes to help understand what you have done, not so that you just complete an exercise or press a button and ogle the result. When you understand concepts and techniques, you can apply that understanding to other images predictably – either by using tools provided to drive the processes or by manually applying learned techniques. The book helps establish a routine so that you set clear goals for editing your images and establish a method of approaching your images consistently. The examples provided ensure that you can see the changes when they have achieved the desired result. This understanding will enable you to apply the techniques you learn to other images so that your images can be improved consistently. Changes in this Edition Virtually every part of this book was revised in an attempt to make the book less about a program version, and more about images, process, and layers. Changes include, but are not limited to: Re-vamping and revising the organization to focus on process. All boring l intro content has been sent to the back of the book. xiv
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