Photoshop - Perfecting your image, layer by layer
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by: DavidPeters
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To capture a perfect image, a photographer needs to understand the delicate balance between the light conditions, the precise amount of exposure that his image needs and also the precise lenses and filters which will deliver him the final, flawless photograph. However, it so happens that despite these measures, the image does not always figure the way you imagined it to be. Re-shooting the image is not a very viable option, given the large investments in terms of time and money the process calls for. And hence we are lead to the art of editing. A device widely used by conventional and digital photographers, alike, editing software allows you to rework your image until you achieve the exact results you were aiming for. And as time and technology have advanced, many new kinds of software have been developed, of which Adobe Photoshop is undoubtedly one of the most prominent names.
Many a times, editing software does produce the desired effect, but significantly lowers the image quality. As a result, many photographers choose not to experiment with editing software but try the more conventional "darkroom techniques." With Photoshop, this hurdle is vanquished as you can work on your image without altering the original content itself. And this can be accomplished by using "Layers" which are similar in nature to transparencies, each of which consists of a part of the image. When stacked over each other, these layers collectively form the complete image. Hence, by using layers, you can work on only a particular part of the image to which you can apply your choice of effects while leaving the rest of the photograph unchanged.
Thus, you can work on the overexposed part of your image, building density and correcting the color until you are completely satisfied with the results. What's more, if you aren't too happy with the final outcome, you can even undo the specific effect on the explicit part of the image, as you are not modifying the image itself, but rather only the part which is superimposed on the screen or 'Layer'. Here, the multiple undo option proves invaluable, as it allows you to experiment with as many effects as you wish and retain only the ones that enhance your final product.
If your editing skills go haywire, and you end up with something you didn't quite expect, you can also undo all the changes you've made and start all over, without even the slightest bit of change to the original image quality. You can also gauge if your editing is proceeding the right way by turning off the visibility of the layer you are working on, to view the overall effect and then turning the visibility back on to proceed with your editing.
To create your customized adjustment layer, you can either opt to work with the Layer Menu, and choose an adjustment layer which is suited to your requirements from the New Adjustment Layer Sub Menu, or refer to the layer Palette Icon which lets you choose an adjustment layer type from the pop up menu. And once you have crated the perfect Adjustment layer which brings about the exact effect you wish to use, you can even save your layer adjustments to use them on future images, which will save you a lot of time and effort when the need arises.
It also helps if you label each layer with a distinctive name, so that shifting from one layer to another is not a very bothersome task. To do this, you can double click on the Layer you are working on where you can enter the title you've selected for your layer in the Name field and then click OK to save the name. You may also want to hide all the other layers except for the one you are working on, to help you focus better, to do which, you need to click on the eye icons next to each unwanted layer to make them disappear. To bring them back on, click on the eye icon again and there you go! You're all set to work on your next layer.
If you find yourself flooded with more layers than you can handle, you can delete the ones you don't need, while keeping the others which you plan to work on just as they are. If you like, you can also merge layers into a single layer by clicking on the layers you want to merge and then choosing the Merge layers option in the Layer Menu. If you plan to master Photoshop, it is vital you learn the finer nuances of layers to make the most of your software as the clich goes, the results will be for all to see!
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