Photoshop CS6 All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 1: Using Channels

In This Chapter

Understanding what a channel is

Working with the Channels panel

Editing channels

Creating alpha channels

Using the Channel Mixer

If you’re reading this, it probably means that you didn’t quickly thumb through this chapter, say “Yuck, boorrrrringgg!” and move on to sexier topics such as blending, filtering, and retouching. You knew that would be a huge mistake.

The wonderful thing about channels is that they offer you greater control and selectivity when doing those very things — blending, filtering, and retouching. Channels give you one more level of control when editing your images. You can use individual channels for layer-blending options and filters, as well as starting points for masks.

Channels also come into play when saving selections for later use or for adding spot (custom) colors to your image. You can also use channels to turn color images into nicely contrasted grayscale images. And finally, you can play around with the colors ...