Photoshop® CS3 Channels and Masks Bible

Photoshop® CS3 Channels and Masks Bible

Released May 2007
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780470102640

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Book description

Add sizzle to your images with these invaluable tools.

If you're using Photoshop without working with channels and masks, you're missing out on some of the most powerful and creative features Photoshop CS3 has to offer. Let this comprehensive reference teach you to use these valuable tools the way professionals do. Create dazzling composites, speed your workflow, get awesome color--it's all here and more with step-by-step instructions, techniques, and examples. If you want to tap the full potential of Photoshop channels and masks, this striking full-color Bible is the book you need to succeed. You'll learn to:

  • Harness channels and masks for faster workflow.

  • Unravel the secrets of creating, mixing, and converting digital color.

  • Add lighting effects, 3D, and other channel pyrotechnics.

  • Create composite layer content with advanced blending.

  • Reveal, conceal, and refine your images with layer masks.

  • Combine selections from single and multiple documents.

  • Posterize, create textures, correct faded images, and more.

  • Use type masks to add an artist's sparkle to the text.

  • Work with soft-edged selections.

  • Select and composite transparent shadows.

  • Blend layers.

Inside, you'll find brilliant full color throughout, including hundreds of color screen shots and examples. Order your copy today!

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. About the Author
  3. Credits
  4. Preface
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. I. Image Basics
    1. 1. Building Images
      1. 1.1. Distinguishing Between Vector and Raster
        1. 1.1.1. Vector graphics
        2. 1.1.2. Raster images
      2. 1.2. Understanding Bit Depth
        1. 1.2.1. Bitmaps
        2. 1.2.2. Grayscale
        3. 1.2.3. RGB color
        4. 1.2.4. 64-bit CMYK
        5. 1.2.5. HDR images
      3. 1.3. Understanding File Formats
      4. 1.4. Determining Resolution and Size
        1. 1.4.1. Resolution
          1. 1.4.1.1. Image resolution
          2. 1.4.1.2. Monitor resolution
          3. 1.4.1.3. Printer resolution
          4. 1.4.1.4. Halftone resolution
          5. 1.4.1.5. Stochastic screen resolution
          6. 1.4.1.6. Determining resolution
        2. 1.4.2. Sizing images
        3. 1.4.3. Constraining proportions
        4. 1.4.4. Scale styles
        5. 1.4.5. Getting help with resizing images
        6. 1.4.6. Setting interpolation for the program
        7. 1.4.7. Sizing channels and masks
        8. 1.4.8. Transforming images
        9. 1.4.9. Other rotations and flipping
      5. 1.5. Using the Crop Tool
        1. 1.5.1. Cropping to size
        2. 1.5.2. Perspective cropping
        3. 1.5.3. Sizing the canvas
        4. 1.5.4. Rotating the canvas
      6. 1.6. Working with Layers
        1. 1.6.1. The Layers palette
        2. 1.6.2. Working with the background
        3. 1.6.3. Naming layers
        4. 1.6.4. Viewing layer content
        5. 1.6.5. Choosing thumbnail size
        6. 1.6.6. Highlighting layers
        7. 1.6.7. Understanding transparency
        8. 1.6.8. Controlling opacity
        9. 1.6.9. Understanding fill opacity
        10. 1.6.10. Changing stacking order
        11. 1.6.11. Working with multiple layers
          1. 1.6.11.1. Linking layers
          2. 1.6.11.2. Grouping layers
          3. 1.6.11.3. Layer Groups and color channels
        12. 1.6.12. Locking layers
        13. 1.6.13. Creating new layers
        14. 1.6.14. Transferring layer content
          1. 1.6.14.1. Copying individual layers
          2. 1.6.14.2. Copying multiple layers
          3. 1.6.14.3. Dragging selected content
        15. 1.6.15. Duplicating layers
        16. 1.6.16. Discarding layers
        17. 1.6.17. Blending layers
        18. 1.6.18. Applying layer styles
        19. 1.6.19. Saving layer styles
        20. 1.6.20. Consolidating layers
        21. 1.6.21. Flattening an image
      7. 1.7. Masking Concepts
      8. 1.8. Summary
    2. 2. Exploring Tools, Palettes, and Menus
      1. 2.1. Displaying the Image
        1. 2.1.1. Using the Zoom tool
        2. 2.1.2. Using the View menu
        3. 2.1.3. Choosing a screen mode
        4. 2.1.4. Sizing by percentage
        5. 2.1.5. Scrolling images
        6. 2.1.6. The Navigator
      2. 2.2. Examining the Image Window
        1. 2.2.1. The Title bar
        2. 2.2.2. The Status bar
      3. 2.3. Accessing Menus and Dialog Boxes
      4. 2.4. Using Palettes
        1. 2.4.1. Palette clusters
          1. 2.4.1.1. Joining palettes
          2. 2.4.1.2. Organizing palettes
        2. 2.4.2. Restoring and changing palette locations and workspaces
      5. 2.5. Using the New CS3 Tools
        1. 2.5.1. The Tools palette
        2. 2.5.2. Tool tips
        3. 2.5.3. Tool icons
        4. 2.5.4. The Options bar
        5. 2.5.5. Tool presets
      6. 2.6. Summary
  7. II. The Zen of Color
    1. 3. Understanding Color Modes
      1. 3.1. Understanding Digital Color
        1. 3.1.1. Light capturing devices
        2. 3.1.2. Turning colors into numbers
      2. 3.2. Choosing Color Modes
        1. 3.2.1. Bitmap mode
        2. 3.2.2. Grayscale mode
        3. 3.2.3. Indexed Color mode
        4. 3.2.4. Duotone mode
        5. 3.2.5. RGB Color mode
        6. 3.2.6. CMYK Color mode
        7. 3.2.7. Lab Color mode
        8. 3.2.8. Multichannel mode
        9. 3.2.9. HSB color model
      3. 3.3. Converting Color Modes
      4. 3.4. Creating Colors
        1. 3.4.1. Sampling colors
        2. 3.4.2. Working with the Color Picker
          1. 3.4.2.1. Hue
          2. 3.4.2.2. Saturation
          3. 3.4.2.3. Brightness
        3. 3.4.3. Picking color
        4. 3.4.4. Active parameters of color
        5. 3.4.5. Choosing RGB color
        6. 3.4.6. Choosing Lab color
        7. 3.4.7. Specifying CMYK colors
        8. 3.4.8. The CMYK gamut warning
        9. 3.4.9. Specifying Web colors
        10. 3.4.10. Specifying color from Color Libraries
        11. 3.4.11. Using Color palettes
        12. 3.4.12. The Swatches palette
      5. 3.5. Summary
    2. 4. Managing Color
      1. 4.1. Understanding Color Working Space
        1. 4.1.1. ICC profiles
        2. 4.1.2. The glass window
      2. 4.2. Calibrating Your Monitor
      3. 4.3. Choosing the right working space
        1. 4.3.1. Deciding which color working space to use
        2. 4.3.2. Converting and embedding profiles
      4. 4.4. Using Basic Color Settings
        1. 4.4.1. Color Management Policies
        2. 4.4.2. Opening images with mismatched profiles
        3. 4.4.3. Opening images with missing profiles
        4. 4.4.4. CMYK color working space
      5. 4.5. Working with Advanced Color Settings
        1. 4.5.1. Color management engines
        2. 4.5.2. Conversions with rendering intent
        3. 4.5.3. Advanced controls
        4. 4.5.4. Creating custom profiles
      6. 4.6. Printing Your Image
        1. 4.6.1. Using the print dialog boxes
          1. 4.6.1.1. Page Setup
          2. 4.6.1.2. Print
        2. 4.6.2. Output options
        3. 4.6.3. Color management options
        4. 4.6.4. Printing composites, separations, channels, and layer content
          1. 4.6.4.1. Composites
          2. 4.6.4.2. Separations
          3. 4.6.4.3. Individual channels or layers
      7. 4.7. Summary
    3. 5. Adjusting Color
      1. 5.1. Understanding Adjustment Dynamics
        1. 5.1.1. Recognizing color deficiencies
        2. 5.1.2. Viewing histograms
        3. 5.1.3. Measuring color by using the Info palette
        4. 5.1.4. Using the Eyedropper tool
        5. 5.1.5. Using the Color Sampler tool
      2. 5.2. Using Auto Adjustments
        1. 5.2.1. Applying auto adjustments
        2. 5.2.2. Controlling clipping
        3. 5.2.3. Adjusting brightness and contrast
      3. 5.3. Working with Levels
        1. 5.3.1. Input levels
        2. 5.3.2. Output levels
        3. 5.3.3. Reassigning pixel values
        4. 5.3.4. Adjusting channel levels
        5. 5.3.5. Determining and setting white and black points
        6. 5.3.6. Saving and loading levels
      4. 5.4. Adjusting Curves
        1. 5.4.1. Basic curve adjustments
          1. 5.4.1.1. Using the Presets
          2. 5.4.1.2. Using the Brightness bar
          3. 5.4.1.3. Choosing Graph tools
          4. 5.4.1.4. Changing Input and Output values
        2. 5.4.2. Adjusting channels
        3. 5.4.3. Making a lock-down curve
        4. 5.4.4. Making a spot adjustment
      5. 5.5. Balancing Color
        1. 5.5.1. Using the Color Balance command
        2. 5.5.2. Using Selective Color
      6. 5.6. Remapping Color
        1. 5.6.1. Altering Hue and Saturation
        2. 5.6.2. Affecting specific colors
        3. 5.6.3. Sampling with the eyedroppers
        4. 5.6.4. Adjusting saturation
        5. 5.6.5. Adjusting lightness
        6. 5.6.6. Colorizing an image
      7. 5.7. Creating Adjustment Layers
      8. 5.8. Summary
  8. III. Color Channel Techniques
    1. 6. Exploring the Channels Palette
      1. 6.1. Opening the Channels Palette
        1. 6.1.1. Concealing and revealing channel content
        2. 6.1.2. Looking at color channels
      2. 6.2. Working with Alpha Channels
        1. 6.2.1. Saving selections as alpha channels
        2. 6.2.2. Loading selections
      3. 6.3. Changing Channel Preferences
      4. 6.4. Performing Channel Operations
        1. 6.4.1. Viewing channels
        2. 6.4.2. Viewing alpha channels
      5. 6.5. Specifying the Channel Options
        1. 6.5.1. Duplicating channels
        2. 6.5.2. Deleting channels
        3. 6.5.3. Other channel operations
        4. 6.5.4. Splitting channels
        5. 6.5.5. Merging channels
        6. 6.5.6. Converting to Multichannel
        7. 6.5.7. Mixing channels
      6. 6.6. Looking at Other Types of Channels
        1. 6.6.1. Spot Color channels
        2. 6.6.2. Layer masks
        3. 6.6.3. Quick Masks
      7. 6.7. Summary
    2. 7. Mixing Color Channels
      1. 7.1. Swapping Color Information
        1. 7.1.1. Working with the Channel Mixer
        2. 7.1.2. Swapping colors within channels
      2. 7.2. Blending Channels
        1. 7.2.1. Using the Apply Image command
        2. 7.2.2. Reducing glare
      3. 7.3. Excluding Color
      4. 7.4. Offsetting Color Channels
        1. 7.4.1. Creating two-level 3D images
        2. 7.4.2. Creating 3D images with continuous depth
      5. 7.5. Summary
    3. 8. Creating the Perfect Monochrome
      1. 8.1. Choosing the Best Channel
      2. 8.2. Using the Channel Mixer to Create a Monochrome
      3. 8.3. Creating a Monochrome in Lab Mode
      4. 8.4. Desaturating Color with Calculations
      5. 8.5. Working with Sepia Tones
        1. 8.5.1. Using a photo filter
        2. 8.5.2. Channel curve technique
      6. 8.6. Using Black and White
      7. 8.7. Summary
    4. 9. Specifying Duotones
      1. 9.1. Exploring at Duotones, Tritones, and Quadtones
      2. 9.2. Choosing Duotone Colors
      3. 9.3. Adjusting Duotone Curves
        1. 9.3.1. Bending the curve
        2. 9.3.2. Saving and loading curves
        3. 9.3.3. Separating color
        4. 9.3.4. Multichannel mode
        5. 9.3.5. Overprint colors
      4. 9.4. Summary
    5. 10. Applying Spot Color
      1. 10.1. Working with Spot Color Channels
      2. 10.2. Differentiating between Solidity and Opacity
      3. 10.3. Viewing Spot Colors
      4. 10.4. Creating Knockouts and Traps
        1. 10.4.1. Knocking out and trapping solid colors
        2. 10.4.2. Creating tonal Spot Color channels
      5. 10.5. Printing Spot Colors
      6. 10.6. Summary
  9. IV. Color Channel Pyrotechnics
    1. 11. Working with Lab Color
      1. 11.1. Understanding Lab Color
      2. 11.2. Sharpening Images with Lab
        1. 11.2.1. High radius Lab sharpening
        2. 11.2.2. Two pass Lab sharpening
      3. 11.3. Making Colors Pop
        1. 11.3.1. Using the Apply Image technique
        2. 11.3.2. Applying the Curves technique
      4. 11.4. Adding Noise to Lab Color Images
      5. 11.5. Reducing Noise
      6. 11.6. Black and White to Color in Lab
      7. 11.7. Summary
    2. 12. Enhancing Details with Channels
      1. 12.1. Enhancing Flesh Tones
      2. 12.2. Sharpening Your Image
        1. 12.2.1. Unsharpening to sharpen
        2. 12.2.2. Unsharp masking techniques
        3. 12.2.3. Smart sharpening
      3. 12.3. Using Lighting Effects
        1. 12.3.1. Lighting controls
        2. 12.3.2. Using a Texture channel
      4. 12.4. Mapping Images with Channels
      5. 12.5. Summary
    3. 13. Creating Light and Shadows
      1. 13.1. Creating Drop Shadows with Layer Styles
      2. 13.2. Creating Cast Shadows
      3. 13.3. Compositing Shadows
      4. 13.4. Creating a Beam of Light
      5. 13.5. Summary
  10. V. Mask-Making Basics
    1. 14. Exploring Masks
      1. 14.1. Understanding Masks
      2. 14.2. Types of Masks
      3. 14.3. Creating and Editing Virtual Masks
      4. 14.4. Saving Masks
      5. 14.5. Summary
    2. 15. Making Selections
      1. 15.1. Finding Out About Selection Tools
        1. 15.1.1. Using Selection tools
        2. 15.1.2. Using the Options bar
          1. 15.1.2.1. Working with Boolean icons
          2. 15.1.2.2. Feathering borders
          3. 15.1.2.3. Anti-aliasing edges
        3. 15.1.3. Using Shape Selection tools
          1. 15.1.3.1. Working with the Rectangular and Elliptical Marquee tools
          2. 15.1.3.2. Selecting with the Single Row Marquee
          3. 15.1.3.3. Working with the Single Column Marquee tool
        4. 15.1.4. Using Free-Form Selection tools
          1. 15.1.4.1. Selecting with the Lasso tool
          2. 15.1.4.2. Selecting with the Polygonal Lasso tool
          3. 15.1.4.3. Selecting with the Magnetic Lasso tool
        5. 15.1.5. Using Auto Select tools
          1. 15.1.5.1. Using the Magic Wand tool
          2. 15.1.5.2. Using the Quick Selection tool
      2. 15.2. Modifying Selections
      3. 15.3. Transforming Selections
      4. 15.4. Working with Selection Techniques
      5. 15.5. Summary
    3. 16. Using Alpha Channels and Quick Masks
      1. 16.1. Saving and Loading Selections
        1. 16.1.1. Viewing alpha channels
        2. 16.1.2. Changing alpha channel options
        3. 16.1.3. Loading selections
      2. 16.2. Editing Channels
        1. 16.2.1. Fine-tuning alpha channels
        2. 16.2.2. Duplicating alpha channels
        3. 16.2.3. Deleting alpha channels
      3. 16.3. Working with Alpha Channels
        1. 16.3.1. Creating borders with alpha channels
        2. 16.3.2. Applying effects through gradient masks
        3. 16.3.3. Combining selections
      4. 16.4. Entering Quick Mask Mode
      5. 16.5. Painting and Editing Quick Masks
      6. 16.6. Changing Quick Mask Options
      7. 16.7. Applying Filters to Quick Masks
      8. 16.8. Summary
  11. VI. Masking Layer Content
    1. 17. Masking Ambiguous Edges
      1. 17.1. Making Selections with Color Channels
      2. 17.2. Working with Color Range
      3. 17.3. Selecting Fine Detail with Adjustment Layers and Color Range
      4. 17.4. Extracting Images
        1. 17.4.1. Previewing the extraction
        2. 17.4.2. Refining the extraction
        3. 17.4.3. Extracting the image
      5. 17.5. Summary
    2. 18. Working with Layer Masks, Clipping Masks, and Smart Objects
      1. 18.1. Working with Layer Masks
        1. 18.1.1. Controlling layer masks
        2. 18.1.2. Making layer masks
      2. 18.2. Seamless Blending with Gradient Masks
      3. 18.3. Masking Color Adjustments
        1. 18.3.1. Selective adjustments
        2. 18.3.2. Controlling contrast
      4. 18.4. Masking Solids, Gradients, and Patterns
        1. 18.4.1. Creating a solid Fill layer
        2. 18.4.2. Creating a Gradient Fill layer
        3. 18.4.3. Creating a Pattern Fill layer
      5. 18.5. Clipping Images
        1. 18.5.1. Defining areas to be clipped
        2. 18.5.2. Creating a "virtual tattoo"
        3. 18.5.3. Combining clipping masks and layer masks
      6. 18.6. Working with Smart Objects
      7. 18.7. Creating and Editing Smart Objects
        1. 18.7.1. Creating Smart Objects
        2. 18.7.2. Editing Smart Objects
        3. 18.7.3. Duplicate a Smart Object
      8. 18.8. Creating and Editing Smart Filters
        1. 18.8.1. Applying Smart Filters
        2. 18.8.2. Applying blending modes
      9. 18.9. Masking Filter Effects
      10. 18.10. Summary
  12. VII. Working with Type Masks and Vector Masks
    1. 19. Working with Type Masks
      1. 19.1. Examining Type Features
      2. 19.2. Using the Type Controls
      3. 19.3. Using the Type tools
      4. 19.4. Creating Type
        1. 19.4.1. Creating point text
        2. 19.4.2. Creating paragraph text
          1. 19.4.2.1. Type on a path
        3. 19.4.3. Warping text
        4. 19.4.4. Rasterizing type
      5. 19.5. Generating and Editing Type Masks
      6. 19.6. Summary
    2. 20. Masking Paths and Shapes
      1. 20.1. Understanding Vector Objects
      2. 20.2. Drawing Paths
        1. 20.2.1. Path-drawing and editing tools
        2. 20.2.2. Using the Pen tool
          1. 20.2.2.1. Straight paths
          2. 20.2.2.2. Curved paths
        3. 20.2.3. Changing the direction of a curved path
        4. 20.2.4. Combining straight and curved paths
        5. 20.2.5. Closing a path
        6. 20.2.6. Making Freeform paths
        7. 20.2.7. The Magnetic Pen option
      3. 20.3. Editing Paths
        1. 20.3.1. The Path Selection tool
        2. 20.3.2. The Direct Selection tool
        3. 20.3.3. Adding and deleting anchor points
        4. 20.3.4. Converting anchor points
        5. 20.3.5. Transforming paths
        6. 20.3.6. Combining paths
      4. 20.4. Working with the Paths Palette
        1. 20.4.1. Using work paths
        2. 20.4.2. Saving paths
        3. 20.4.3. Displaying paths
        4. 20.4.4. Deleting paths from the Image window
        5. 20.4.5. Deleting paths from the palette
        6. 20.4.6. Filling a path
        7. 20.4.7. Stroking a path
        8. 20.4.8. Converting paths
        9. 20.4.9. Converting a selection into a path
      5. 20.5. Masking Vector Images
        1. 20.5.1. Creating vector masks
        2. 20.5.2. Using clipping paths
        3. 20.5.3. Saving clipping paths
      6. 20.6. Masking Shapes
        1. 20.6.1. Creating shape layers
        2. 20.6.2. Working with Shape tools
      7. 20.7. Using the Shape Tool Options bar
        1. 20.7.1. Drawing shapes
        2. 20.7.2. Creating rectangles and ellipses
        3. 20.7.3. Creating polygons
        4. 20.7.4. Creating lines and arrows
        5. 20.7.5. Creating custom shapes
        6. 20.7.6. Defining custom shapes
        7. 20.7.7. Masking shapes
      8. 20.8. Summary
  13. VIII. Compositing with Channels and Layers
    1. 21. Blending Layers
      1. 21.1. Compositing Color
      2. 21.2. Blending Layers
        1. 21.2.1. Combination blend modes
        2. 21.2.2. Darken blend modes
        3. 21.2.3. Lighten blend modes
        4. 21.2.4. Contrast blend modes
        5. 21.2.5. Comparative blend modes
        6. 21.2.6. Component blend modes
        7. 21.2.7. Additional blending modes
        8. 21.2.8. Blending layers with similar content
      3. 21.3. Blending with Tools and Commands
      4. 21.4. Using Advanced Blending
      5. 21.5. Replacing Backgrounds
        1. 21.5.1. Defringe
        2. 21.5.2. Removing White or Black Matte
      6. 21.6. Summary
    2. 22. Compositing with Channels
      1. 22.1. Applying Images
        1. 22.1.1. Using Apply Image to make a difficult selection
        2. 22.1.2. Enhancing images
        3. 22.1.3. Combining multiple images
      2. 22.2. Using Calculations
        1. 22.2.1. Calculating one image
        2. 22.2.2. Calculating two images
      3. 22.3. Summary

Product information

  • Title: Photoshop® CS3 Channels and Masks Bible
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: May 2007
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470102640