Photoshop 6 for Windows Bible- P21 potx

571 Chapter 12 ✦ Working with Layers If you encounter unrealistic edge pixels and the automatic matting commands don’t solve your problem, you may be able to achieve better results by fixing the edges manually. First, switch to the layer that’s giving you fits and Ctrl-click its name in the Layers palette. This creates a tight selection around the contents of the layer. Then choose Select ➪ Modify ➪ Contract and enter the width of the fringe in the Contract By option box. Next, choose Select ➪ Feather (Ctrl+Shift+D) and enter this same value in the Feather Radius option box. Finally, press Ctrl+Shift+I to inverse the selection and press Backspace to eliminate the edge pixels. Figure 12-14 shows the results of applying this technique to my television. By set- ting the Contract and Feather commands to 1 pixel, I managed to remove the edges without harming the layer itself. And the effect looks better than that produced by the Defringe command (as you can compare for yourself with Figure 12-13). Figure 12-14: Here I removed the edges manually using the Contract, Feather, and Inverse commands. This looks way better than anything Photoshop can do automatically. Blending layers Photoshop lets you blend layers like no other program in the business. In fact, Photoshop does such a great job that it takes me an entire chapter — Chapter 13— to explain these options in detail. I offer this section by way of introduction so that you’re at least aware of the basics. If you have bigger questions, Chapter 13 is wait- ing to tell all. The Layers palette provides three basic ways to blend pixels between layers (see Figure 12-15). None of these techniques changes as much as a pixel in any layer, so you can always return and reblend the layers at a later date. Tip 572 Part IV ✦ Layers, Objects, and Text ✦ The Opacity value: Enter a value in the Opacity option box near the top of the Layers palette to change the opacity of the active layer or floating selection. If you reduce the Opacity value to 50 percent, for example, Photoshop makes the pixels on the active layer translucent, so the colors in the active layer mix evenly with the colors in the layers below. If any tool other than a paint or edit tool is active — including the selection and navigation tools — you can press a number key to change the Opacity value. Press 1 for 10 percent, 2 for 20 percent, up to 0 for 100 percent. Or you can enter a specific Opacity value by pressing two number keys in a row. For example, press 3 and then 7 for 37 percent. ✦ The blend mode pop-up menu: Choose an option from the blend mode pop-up menu — open in Figure 12-15—to mix every pixel in the active layer with the pixels below it, according to one of several mathematical equations. For example, when you choose Multiply, Photoshop really does multiply the brightness values of the pixels and then divides the result by 255, the maximum brightness value. Blend modes use the same math as the brush modes covered in Chapter 5. But you can accomplish a lot more with blend modes, which is why I spend so much time examining them in Chapter 13. As with Opacity, you can select a blend mode from the keyboard when a selec- tion or navigation tool is active. Press Shift+plus to advance incrementally down the list; press Shift+minus to inch back up. You can also press Shift+Alt and a letter key to select a specific mode. For example, Shift+Alt+M selects the Multiply mode. Shift+Alt+N restores the mode to Normal. Figure 12-15: The blend mode pop-up menu and the Opacity option box enable you to mix layers without making any permanent changes to the pixels. Tip Tip 573 Chapter 12 ✦ Working with Layers ✦ Layer Options: Choose Layer➪Blending Options or double-click a layer name to display the Layer Style dialog box. The General Blending area of this dialog box provides access to a Blend Mode pop-up menu and an Opacity value, but it also offers a world of unique functions. As discussed in Chapter 13, you can hide one or more color channels, specify which colors are visible in the active layer, and force other colors to show through from the layers behind it. Select an item from the left-hand list to apply a layer style, as discussed in Chapter 14. Although far short of the whole story, that should be enough to prepare you for anything I throw at you throughout the remainder of this chapter. Fusing several layers Although layers are wonderful and marvelous creatures, they have their price. Layers expand the size of an image in RAM and ultimately lead to slower performance. And as I noted in Chapter 3, only three formats—PDF, TIFF, and the native PSD format— permit you to save layered compositions. In the interest of slimming the size of your image, Photoshop provides the following methods for merging layers together: ✦ Merge Down (Ctrl+E): Choose Layer ➪ Merge Down to merge a layer with the layer immediately below it. When generating screen shots, I use this com- mand 50 or 60 times a day. I paste the screen shot into the image window, edit the layer as desired, and then press Ctrl+E to set it down. Then I can save the screen shot to the smallest possible file on disk, essential when e-mailing the screens to my editor. If the active layer is part of a clipping group or is linked to other layers —two conditions I discuss later in this chapter — the Merge Down command changes to Merge Linked or Merge Group, respectively. Again, these commands use Ctrl+E as a shortcut. Merge Down is forever changing to suit the situation. ✦ Merge Visible (Ctrl+Shift+E): Choose the Merge Visible command to merge all visible layers into a single layer. If the layer is not visible — that is, if no eye- ball icon appears in front of the layer name—Photoshop doesn’t eliminate it; the layer simply remains independent. To create a merged clone, press Alt when applying either Layer ➪ Merge Down or Layer ➪ Merge Visible. Pressing Alt and choosing Merge Down (or pressing Ctrl+Alt+E) clones the contents of the active layer into the layer below it. Pressing Alt and choosing Merge Visible (or pressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E) copies the contents of all visible layers to the active layer. More useful, I think, is the ability to copy the merged contents of a selected area. To do so, choose Edit ➪ Copy Merged or press Ctrl+Shift+C. You can then paste the selection into a layer or make it part of a different image. Tip Tip Note 574 Part IV ✦ Layers, Objects, and Text ✦ Flatten Image: This command merges all visible layers and throws away the invisible ones. The result is a single, opaque background layer. Photoshop does not give this command a keyboard shortcut because it’s so dangerous. More often than not, you’ll want to flatten an image incrementally using the two Merge commands. Note that Photoshop suggests that you flatten an image when converting from one color mode to another by choosing a command from the Image➪ Mode submenu. You can choose not to flatten the image (by pressing D) but this may come at the expense of some of the brighter colors in your image. As discussed in Chapter 13, many of the blend modes perform differently in RGB than they do in CMYK. Dumping layers You can also merely throw a layer away: Drag the layer name onto the trash can icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. Or click the trash can icon to delete the active layer. When you click the trash can icon, Photoshop displays a message asking whether you really want to toss the layer. To give this message the slip in the future, Alt-click the trash can icon. Saving a flattened version of an image As I mentioned, only three file formats—PDF, TIFF, and the native Photoshop format — save images with layers. If you want to save a flattened version of your image — that is, with all layers fused into a single image — in some other file format, choose File ➪ Save As (Ctrl+Shift+S) and select the desired format from the Format pop-up menu. If you select a format that doesn’t support layers — such as JPEG, GIF, or EPS — the program dims the Layers check box. The Save As command does not affect the image in memory. All layers remain intact. And if you select the As a Copy check box —which I recommend you do—Photoshop doesn’t even change the name of the image in the title bar. It merely creates a flattened version of the image on disk. Nevertheless, be sure to save a layered version of the composition as well, just in case you want to edit it in the future. Selecting the Contents of Layers A few sections back, I mentioned that every layer (except the background) includes a transparency mask. This mask tells Photoshop which pixels are opaque, which are translucent, and which are transparent. Like any mask, Photoshop lets you convert the transparency mask for any layer—active or not—to a selection outline. In fact, Tip Caution 575 Chapter 12 ✦ Working with Layers you use the same keyboard techniques you use to convert paths to selections (as explained in Chapter 8) and channels to selections (Chapter 9): ✦ Ctrl-click an item in the Layers palette to convert the transparency mask for that layer to a selection outline. ✦ To add the transparency mask to an existing selection outline, Ctrl+Shift-click the layer name. The little selection cursor includes a plus sign to show you that you’re about to add. ✦ To subtract the transparency mask, Ctrl+Alt-click the layer name. ✦ And to find the intersection of the transparency mask and the current selection outline, Ctrl+Shift+Alt-click the layer name. If you’re uncertain that you’ll remember all these keyboard shortcuts, you can use Select ➪ Load Selection instead. After choosing the command, select the Transparency item from the Channel pop-up menu. (You can even load a trans- parency mask from another open image if the image is exactly the same size as the one you’re working on.) Then use the Operation radio buttons to merge the mask with an existing selection. Selection outlines exist independently of layers, so you can use the transparency mask from one layer to select part of another layer. For example, to select the part of the background layer that exactly matches the contents of another layer, press Shift+Alt+[ to descend to the background layer and then Ctrl-click the name of the layer you want to match. The most common reason to borrow a selection from one layer and apply it to another is to create manual shadow and lighting effects. After Ctrl-clicking on a layer, you can use this selection to create a drop shadow that precisely matches the con- tours of the layer itself. No messing with the airbrush or the lasso tool — Photoshop does the tough work for you. Now, you might think with Photoshop 6’s extensive range of layer styles, manual drop shadows and the like would be a thing of the past. After all, you have only to choose Layer ➪ Layer Style ➪ Drop Shadow and, bang, the program adds a drop shadow. But the old, manual methods still have their advantages. You don’t have to visit a complicated dialog box to edit a manual drop shadow. You can reposition a manual shadow from the keyboard, and you can expand and contract a manual shadow with more precision than you can an automatic one. On the other hand, this is not to say the old ways are always better. A shadow cre- ated with the Drop Shadow command takes up less room in memory, it moves and rotates with a layer, and you can edit the softness of the shadow long after creating it. 6 Photoshop 6 576 Part IV ✦ Layers, Objects, and Text What we have is two equally powerful solutions, each with its own characteristic pros and cons. Therefore, the wise electronic artist develops a working knowledge of both. This way, you’re ready and able to apply the technique that makes the most sense for the job at hand. The following sections explore the manual drop shadows, highlights, and spot- lights. For everything you ever wanted to know about the Layer Styles commands, read Chapter 14. Drop shadows In these first steps, I take the dolphin from Figure 12-16 and insert a drop shadow behind it. This might not be the exact subject you’ll apply drop shadows to—sea critters so rarely cast such shadows onto the water’s surface—but it accurately demonstrates how the effect works. Figure 12-16: A dolphin in dire need of a drop shadow. STEPS: Creating a Drop Shadow 1. Select the subject that you want casting the shadow. In my case, I selected the dolphin by painting the mask shown in Figure 12-17 inside a separate mask channel. These days, I add a mask to nearly every image I create to distin- guish the foreground image from its background. I converted the mask to a selection outline by Ctrl-clicking on the mask name in the Channels palette and then pressing Ctrl+tilde (~) to switch back to the composite view. 2. Send the image to a separate layer by pressing Ctrl+J. Now that the selec- tion is elevated, you can slip in the drop shadow beneath it. Cross- Reference 577 Chapter 12 ✦ Working with Layers Figure 12-17: This mask separates the dolphin from its watery home. 3. Retrieve the selection outline for your new layer and apply it to the back- ground layer. To do this, Ctrl-click the new layer name (presumably Layer 1) and then press Shift+Alt+[ to switch to the background layer. (Because I saved the mask to a separate channel, I could have instead Ctrl-clicked on the Mask item in the Channels panel to retrieve the selection. Or I could have pressed Ctrl+Alt+4.) 4. To create a softened drop shadow — indicative of a diffused light source — choose Select ➪ Feather (Ctrl+Alt+D). The Radius value you enter depends on the resolution of your image. I recommend dividing the resolution of your image by 20. When working on a 200-ppi image, for example, enter a Radius value of 10. My image is a mere 140 ppi, so I entered 7. Then press Enter to soften the selection. 5. Press Ctrl+J to send the feathered selection to a new layer. 6. Fill the feathered area with black. If necessary, press D to make the fore- ground color black. Then press Shift+Alt+Backspace to fill only the area inside the transparency mask. A slight halo of dark pixels forms around the edges of the image. 7. Press Ctrl with the arrow keys to nudge the shadow to the desired location. In Figure 12-18, I nudged the shadow 12 pixels to the right. (Press Ctrl+Shift+arrow key to nudge the shadow in 10-pixel increments.) 8. Lower the Opacity setting. If the shadow is too dark — black lacks a little sub- tlety — change the Opacity value in the Layers palette to change the opacity of the shadow. Or press M to make sure a selection tool is active and then press a number key to change the opacity. I typically press 7 (for 70 percent), but I’m probably in a rut. 578 Part IV ✦ Layers, Objects, and Text Figure 12-18: I nudged this drop shadow 12 pixels due right from the dolphin head, which is situated on the layer above it. If you don’t like a black drop shadow, you can make a colored one with only slightly more effort. Instead of filling the shadow with black in Step 6, select a different fore- ground color and press Shift+Alt+Backspace. For the best result, select a color that is the complementary opposite of your background color. Next, choose Multiply from the blend mode pop-up menu in the Layers palette (or press Shift+Alt+M). This burns the colors in the shadow into those in the lower layers to create a darkened mix. Finally, press a number key to specify the opacity. Halos Creating a halo is similar to creating a drop shadow. The only differences are that you must expand the selection outline and fill the halo with white (or some other light color) instead of black. The following steps tell all. STEPS: Creating a Downright Angelic Halo 1. Follow Steps 1 through 3 of the preceding instructions. You end up with a version of the selected image on an independent layer and a matching selec- tion outline applied to the background image. (See, I told you this was like creating a drop shadow.) 2. Expand the selection outline. Unlike a drop shadow, which is offset slightly from an image, a halo fringes the perimeter of an image pretty evenly. You need to expand the selection outline beyond the edges of the image so you can see the halo clearly. To do this, choose Select ➪ Modify ➪ Expand. An “Expand By” option box greets you. Generally speaking, you want the expan- sion to match the size of your feathering so that the softening occurs outward. Tip 579 Chapter 12 ✦ Working with Layers Therefore, I entered 7. (The maximum permissible value is 16; if you want to expand more than 16 pixels, you must apply the command twice.) 3. Choose Select ➪ Feather and enter the same value you entered in the Expand By option box. Again, you decide this value by dividing the resolution of your image by 20 (or thereabouts). 4. Send the selection to a new layer. Press Ctrl+J. 5. Fill the halo with white. Assuming the background color is white, press Ctrl+Shift+Backspace. That’s it. Figure 12-19 shows an enlightened looking dolphin set against a halo effect. I also drew a conventional halo above its head, added some sparklies, and even changed my finned friend’s eye using the eyeball brush shape included in the Assorted Brushes document. I mean, if this aquatic mammal isn’t bound for glory, I don’t know who is. Figure 12-19: Few dolphins reach this level of spiritual awareness, even if you do set them apart from their backgrounds using the halo effect. Incidentally, you needn’t create a white halo any more than you must create a black drop shadow. In Step 5, set the background color to something other than white. Then select the Screen option from the blend mode pop-up menu in the Layers palette (Shift+Alt+S), thus mixing the colors and lightening them at the same time. If you don’t like the effect, select a different background color and press Ctrl+Shift+Backspace again. With the halo on a separate layer, you can do just about anything to it without running the risk of harming the underlying original. Tip 580 Part IV ✦ Layers, Objects, and Text Spotlights Now, finally, for the spotlight effect. I use spotlights about a billion times in this book to highlight some special option I want you to look at in a palette or dialog box. I’ve received so many questions (from fellow authors mostly) on how to per- form this effect, I’ve decided to write the information in this book and be done with it. So here goes. STEPS: Shining a Spotlight on Something Inside an Image 1. Draw an oval selection inside your image. The best tool for this purpose is the elliptical marquee tool. The selection represents the area where the spot- light will shine. If you don’t like where the oval is located, but you basically like its size and shape, drag the outline to a more satisfactory location. 2. Choose Select ➪ Feather and enter whatever Radius value you please. Again, you may want to follow the divide-the-resolution-by-20 rule. (Although there’s no such thing as a wrong Radius value.) To create Figure 12-20, I doubled my Radius value to 14 pixels to create a soft effect. 3. Press Ctrl+Shift+I. Most likely, you really want to darken the area outside the spotlight, not lighten the spotlight itself. So choose Select ➪ Inverse (Ctrl+Shift+I) to swap what’s selected and what’s not. 4. Send the selection to a new layer. That’s Ctrl+J, of course. 5. Fill the transparency mask with black. With the foreground color set to black, press Shift+Alt+Backspace. 6. Lower the Opacity setting by pressing a number key. To get the effect in Figure 12-20, I pressed 6 for 60 percent. Actually, the image in Figure 12-20 isn’t all that convincing. Although the preceding steps are fine for spotlighting flat images such as screen shots, they tend to rob photographs of some of their depth. After all, in real life, the spotlight wouldn’t hit the water in the same way it hits the dolphin. There is a way around this. You can combine the oval selection outline with the mask used to select the foreground image, thereby eliminating the background from the equation entirely. First establish the selection and feather it (Steps 1 and 2). Assuming your image has a mask saved in a separate channel, Ctrl+Shift+Alt- click the mask name in the Channels palette. This retains just the intersection of the mask and the spotlight selection. Then perform the preceding Steps 3 through 6 — that is, inverse the selection (Ctrl+Shift+I), send it to a layer (Ctrl+J), fill the transparency mask with black (Shift+Alt+Backspace), and change the opacity. For my part, I first rotated the oval selection using Select ➪ Transform Selection. I found the intersection of the mask and rotated oval to achieve the more natural spotlight shown in Figure 12-21. Tip [...]... Transform nor any of the commands in the Edit ➪ Transform submenu are available when a layer is locked, either with the Lock Position or Lock All check box If a transformation command appears dimmed, therefore, the Lock check boxes are very likely your culprits Numerical transformations Photoshop To track your transformations numerically, display the Info palette (F8) before you apply the Free Transform... chapter For example, I could have linked the TV and camera layers to transform the two in unison back in Figure 12-30 Tip To replay the last transformation on any layer or selection, choose Edit ➪ Transform ➪ Again or press Ctrl+Shift+T This is a great technique to use if you forgot to link all the layers that you wanted to transform You can even transform a path or selection outline to match a transformed... the ruler origin, by default in the upper-left corner of the image For example, enter “1 in” for 1 inch, “2.5 cm” for 2.5 centimeters, or “200 px” for 200 pixels Photoshop ✦ You can show and hide all guides by choosing View ➪ Show ➪ Guides When the guides are hidden, layers and selections do not snap into alignment 6 ✦ In Photoshop 6, you can hide or show guides by pressing Ctrl+H But be aware that... just trust in Photoshop It does the math so you don’t have to Applying Transformations Photoshop treats some kinds of edits differently than others Edits that affect the geometry of a selection or a layer are known collectively as transformations These transformations include scaling, rotating, flipping, slanting, and distorting (Technically, moving is a transformation as well.) Transformations are... bad, but one command — Free Transform — is infinitely better With Free Transform, you can scale, flip, rotate, slant, distort, and move a selection or layer in one continuous operation This one command lets you get all your transformations exactly right before pressing Enter to apply the final changes To initiate the command, press Ctrl+T or choose Edit ➪ Free Transform Photoshop surrounds the layer or... Transform, you can access the Info palette by choosing Window ➪ Show Info 6 You can also track the numerical equivalents of your transformations in the Options bar Shown in Figure 12-31, the Options bar contains a series of numerical transformation controls anytime you enter the Free Transform mode These values not only reflect the changes you’ve made so far, but also permit you to further transform... reapply the transformation ✦ Cancel: To cancel the Free Transform operation, press Escape Tip To transform a clone of a selected area, press Alt when choosing the Free Transform command, or press Ctrl+Alt+T This only works with selected areas — you can’t clone an entire layer any more than you can by Alt-dragging with the move tool If no part of the image is selected, you can transform multiple layers... than snapping by the top or bottom edge of the layer, Photoshop snaps a text guide by its baseline It’s just what you need when aligning type Photoshop Guides are straightforward creatures I mean, you don’t have to study them rigorously for years to understand them — a few minutes are all you need to master them But there are a few hidden treats: 6 ✦ If you know the exact position where you want to... moving is a transformation as well.) Transformations are a special breed of edits inside Photoshop because they can affect a selection, a layer, multiple layers, or an entire image at a time 593 594 Part IV ✦ Layers, Objects, and Text Transforming the entire image Photoshop has two varieties of transformations Transformation commands that affect the entire image — including all layers, paths, channels,... set, just select that layer and go about your business as you normally would Locking layers 6 Photoshop 6 lets you protect a layer by locking it But unlike other programs that lock or unlock layers in their entirety, Photoshop lets you lock some attributes of a layer and leave other attributes unlocked Figure 12- 26 labels the four Lock check boxes available in the Layers palette Here’s how they work: . outlines, paths, and notes. To hide and show just the guides, press Ctrl+quote ('). 6 Photoshop 6 6 Photoshop 6 Note Ruler New guide Snap cursor 590 Part IV ✦ Layers, Objects, and Text ✦ You can. after creating it. 6 Photoshop 6 5 76 Part IV ✦ Layers, Objects, and Text What we have is two equally powerful solutions, each with its own characteristic pros and cons. Therefore, the wise electronic. black. With the foreground color set to black, press Shift+Alt+Backspace. 6. Lower the Opacity setting by pressing a number key. To get the effect in Figure 12-20, I pressed 6 for 60 percent. Actually,