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The Adobe Photoshop Layers Book: Harnessing Photoshop's Most Powerful Tool, covers Photoshop CS3

The Adobe Photoshop Layers Book: Harnessing Photoshop's Most Powerful Tool, covers Photoshop CS3

by Richard Lynch
Publisher: Focal Press
Release Date: August 2007
ISBN: 9780240520766
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Book Description

Create, correct, and control with layers,
the most powerful tool in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements

Imagine yourself in total control of every adjustment to your photos. You've seen the illustrations in glossy magazines, the fine art reproductions in museum catalogs, the award-winning pictures of professional photographers. To produce this kind of magic, understanding how to use layers for your entire breadth of image correction is key.

Discover the best ways to showcase your talent with the full power of layers from best-selling author/digital image specialist Richard Lynch. Learn what layers can do for you as an integral part of organizing image development, creating and storing image versions with nondestructive editing, and promoting a positive workflow.

Timeless, not version specific, this book will help you take layers to a new level to increase your efficiency and produce better end results, whatever release of the software you use. Step-by-step instructions and practical examples illustrate how to.

Don't make your work harder than it needs to be when you can use layers to control any adjustment using multiple forms of blending concurrently - transparency, clipping, opacity/fill, masking, modes, channel targeting, Blend If, and styles.

Author Richard Lynch is a photographer, designer, editor, web developer, and author of the popular "Hidden Powers” series on Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. He also writes for PCPhoto, Popular Photography, Digital Photographer, and Digital Photography Techniques.

Table of Contents

  1. Cover
  2. Halftitle
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Introduction
  9. Chapter 1: The Basics of Layers: Layer Functions and Creation
    1. What is a Layer?
    2. Layer Palettes and Menus
    3. Types of Layers
    4. Layer Viewing Preferences
    5. Getting Started Creating Layers
    6. Exercise
    7. Summary
  10. Chapter 2: Layer Management: Concepts of a Layer-Based Workflow
    1. The Outline for Image Editing
      1. Setup
      2. Capture
      3. Evaluation
      4. Editing and Correction
      5. Purposing and Output
    2. Photoshop’s Essential Tools List
      1. External Applications
      2. Commands
      3. Functions
      4. Freehand Tools
      5. Filters
    3. The Logic of Layers
      1. When to Create a New Layer
      2. Naming Layers
      3. Grouping Layers
      4. Merging Layers
      5. Clipping Layers
      6. Linked Layers
    4. Summary
  11. Chapter 3: Object and Image Area Isolation in Layers
    1. Isolating Correction in Adjustment Layers
      1. Applying Levels for Color Correction
      2. Detailing the Levels Slider Changes
    2. Isolating Image Objects
    3. Adding Layers for a Change
      1. Simple Layer Repair Example
    4. The Art of Color Balance
    5. Summary
  12. Chapter 4: Masking: Enhanced Area Isolation
    1. Expanding on Process
    2. Clean Up
    3. Reducing Image Noise
    4. Enhancing Natural Color and Tone
    5. Add Soft Focus
    6. Color Enhancements
    7. Sharpen and Enhance Contrast
    8. Additional Manual Sharpening
    9. Summary
  13. Chapter 5: Applying Layer Effects
    1. The Basics of Effects and Styles
      1. Saving Styles
      2. Managing Styles
    2. Manual Effects
      1. Automated Manual Effects Tools
    3. Combining Manual Effects and Styles
    4. Summary
  14. Chapter 6: Exploring Layer Modes
    1. Layer Mode Behavior
      1. Normal
      2. Dissolve
      3. Darken
      4. Multiply
      5. Color Burn
      6. Linear Burn
      7. Darker Color
      8. Lighten
      9. Screen
      10. Color Dodge
      11. Linear Dodge
      12. Lighter Color
      13. Overlay
      14. Soft Light
      15. Hard Light
      16. Vivid Light
      17. Linear Light
      18. Pin Light
      19. Hard Mix
      20. Difference
      21. Exclusion
      22. Hue
      23. Saturation
      24. Color
      25. Luminosity
    2. Separating Color and Tone
    3. Sharpening Calculation
    4. Summary
  15. Chapter 7: Advanced Blending with Blend If
    1. Blend If: An Overview
    2. Heavier Lifting with Blend If
    3. Blend If as a Mask
      1. Creating a Color-Based Mask
    4. Summary
  16. Chapter 8: Breaking Out Components
    1. An Historic Interlude
    2. Creating Color from Black and White
      1. An Alternative: Creating Filtered Color
    3. Separating a Color Image into RGB Components
    4. Using Separations
    5. Summary
  17. Chapter 9: Taking an Image through the Process
    1. The Image
    2. General Image Editing Steps: A Review
    3. Applying the Image Editing Checklist
    4. Summary
  18. Chapter 10: Making a Layered Collage or Composite Image
    1. What Is a Collage?
    2. Guidelines for Collage
    3. An Example Collage
    4. Creating a Panorama
    5. Summary
  19. Index