Part III: Selections, Layers, and Channels 356 FIGURE 11.17 The selections created have been added as alpha channels in the Channels panel. On the Web Site The project file used in the example of this section can be found on this book’s Web site as Figure 11-17.psd. You can open it in Photoshop and play around creating selections using different color channels. n The Alpha Channel In the previous section, we discussed storing a selection in an additional channel called an alpha channel. The alpha channel describes additional information used when processing the actual pixel data. The alpha channel does not provide any data about the color content of a pixel but rather how to process the data. The main purpose of the alpha channel is to provide transparency information that can be applied to an image. As with the other channels, each pixel in the alpha channel can have a value from 0 to 255 where 0 represents that the pixel is 100 percent transparent and 255 represents that the pixel is 100 percent opaque. Another useful feature of alpha channels is that you can use them to store and retrieve selections for later use. The alpha channels allow you to have quick access to previous selections and even share them between documents by dragging the alpha channel from one document to another. Creating alpha channels Alpha channels are created from selections. The simplest way to create an alpha channel is to make a selection and then save the selection as an alpha channel using these steps: 1. Open an image in Photoshop. 2. Select Window ➪ Channels from the main menu to open the Channels panel. 17_584743-ch11.indd 35617_584743-ch11.indd 356 5/3/10 10:26 AM5/3/10 10:26 AM Chapter 11: Channels 357 3. Select an area of the photo that you want to use for alpha channel data, as shown in Figure 11.18. 4. Click the Save Selection as Alpha Channel button in the Channels panel, to convert the selection to an alpha channel. 5. An alpha channel is created containing the current selection. FIGURE 11.18 Selecting the sky in an image and converting it to an alpha channel Create Channel from Selection On the Web Site The project file used in the example of this section can be found on this book’s Web site as Figure 11-17.psd. You can open it in Photoshop and play around the alpha channels using different color channels. n Loading selections from alpha channels One of the best features of alpha channels is the ability to retrieve the selection information used to create them. This allows you to work with several selections in one or in multiple files without having to constantly save and reload them. Selection data can be retrieved from an alpha channel by selecting the channel in the Channels panel and clicking the Load Channel as Selection button at the bottom of the panel. This clears the current selection if there is one and creates a new one from the selection data in the selected alpha channel. 17_584743-ch11.indd 35717_584743-ch11.indd 357 5/3/10 10:26 AM5/3/10 10:26 AM Part III: Selections, Layers, and Channels 358 Modifying alpha channels A great thing about alpha channels is that they are actually channels with real data that can be adjusted using filters and painting tools. This allows you to modify the alpha channel in a variety of ways. One of easiest ways is to simply use a paint tool to paint directly on the channel. The following example uses the paint tool to quickly modify the existing alpha channel created in the preceding section: 1. Select the alpha channel in the Channels panel. The image display shows the alpha channel, as shown in Figure 11.19. 2. Then select the Brush tool from the Toolbox. 3. Change the foreground color to white. 4. Use the Brush tool to paint white over any pixels you would like to include in the selection. In the example in Figure 11.19, the boy on the right is removed. FIGURE 11.19 Modifying the content of an alpha channel is as simple as painting away the areas of the channel that you want to exclude or painting in the areas that you want to include. Alpha channels versus layer masks A layer mask is similar to an alpha channel; in fact, when you link a layer mask to layer, the layer mask appears in the Channels panel. However, a layer mask applies to a specific layer and not the entire image. The alpha channel applies as a separate channel to the entire image. The difference between alpha channels and layer masks is most apparent when you are viewing the image in Photoshop. When you create an alpha channel, the view doesn’t change, as you can see in Figure 11.20. However, when you create a layer mask using the same selection, the pixels in the layer mask are masked from the layer and from the image view, as shown in Figure 11.20. Note When you save a file in a format that supports the alpha channel, the alpha channel data is stored as a separate channel and does not affect the pixel values in the rest of the channels. When you save a file with layer masks, the layer mask is flattened and the pixels in the channels of the image are altered. n 17_584743-ch11.indd 35817_584743-ch11.indd 358 5/3/10 10:26 AM5/3/10 10:26 AM Chapter 11: Channels 359 FIGURE 11.20 When you add a layer mask to a document, the pixels in the layer are altered, but when you add an alpha channel to a document, the pixels in the other channels are not altered. Alpha channel Layer mask Changing the channel options for alpha channels You can change what the data contained in the alpha channel means by setting the channel options. The channel options are set by selecting Channel Options from the Channels panel menu to display the Channel Options dialog box, shown in Figure 11.21. From the Channel Options dialog box, you can set the following channel options: l Name: This allows you to select a name that appears in the Channels panel for this chan- nel. It’s useful if you are working with several alpha channels. l Masked Areas: When this is selected, the masked areas are highlighted by the overlay color selected in the Color field. This helps when determining the nature of the selection. Use this option when you want to see the actual pixels of the data that is not being affected by the alpha channel. 17_584743-ch11.indd 35917_584743-ch11.indd 359 5/3/10 10:26 AM5/3/10 10:26 AM Part III: Selections, Layers, and Channels 360 l Selected Areas: When this is selected, the selected areas are highlighted by the overlay color selected in the Color field. Use this option when you want to see the actual pixels of the data that is being affected by the alpha channel. l Spot Color: When this is selected, the alpha channel is converted into a spot color chan- nel and Opacity option is changed to a Solidity option. Spot colors are discussed in the next section. l Color: This specifies the color of the channel overlay. The overlay is displayed in the doc- ument window when the alpha channel visibility is on in the Channels panel. This allows you to view more easily the alpha channel selection because either the selection or the mask is overlaid with the specified color. When you click the color, a color chooser win- dow is displayed, allowing you to specify the color. l Opacity: This specifies the opacity of the overlay channel. Turning up the opacity allows you to better see the pixels behind the overlay. You may need to play around with this set- ting to see enough of the background image to determine the exact selection. l Solidity: This specifies the Solidity of the spot color channel. Turning up the solidity adjusts how much tint of the spot color is applied to the image or other channels when merged with the spot color channel. FIGURE 11.21 Setting the alpha channel options allows you to specify the color of the overlay and whether the selection or the mask is overlaid with color when the alpha channel is visible. Spot Color Channels Spot colors are used for offset printing. A spot color is simply a single color that is impressed on the paper in a single pass through the printer. Offset printing is the process of printing in multiple passes using one spot color per pass. You use spot colors when printing images for two main reasons. First, it is much less expensive to use spot colors when printing than mixing the standard CYMK inks to create the colors needed. Second, you may want to add a color to your image that cannot be created using a mix of the CYMK inks. 17_584743-ch11.indd 36017_584743-ch11.indd 360 5/3/10 10:26 AM5/3/10 10:26 AM Chapter 11: Channels 361 Creating a spot color channel The process of creating a spot color channel is similar to that of creating an alpha channel with a few extra steps. The following steps take you through an example of creating a spot channel: 1. Open the image in Photoshop as shown in Figure 11.22. FIGURE 11.22 A selection in an image in Photoshop can be used to create a spot channel 2. Use the Magic Wand tool to select the area of the image that you want to turn into a spot channel. In the case of Figure 11.22, you would want to select the outside of the martial artist. 3. Press Ctrl/Ô+C to copy the contents of the selection into the clipboard. 4. Select Window ➪ Channels to open the Channels panel. 5. Select New Spot Channel from the Channels panel menu to open the New Spot Channel dialog box as shown in Figure 11.23. FIGURE 11.23 When creating a spot channel, you need to specify the color and solidity to use for the ink tone. 6. Click the Color field to open the Select Spot Color dialog box. 17_584743-ch11.indd 36117_584743-ch11.indd 361 5/3/10 10:26 AM5/3/10 10:26 AM Part III: Selections, Layers, and Channels 362 Choose the color you want to use for the spot color. In this case, Pantone 2717 EC was chosen. 7. Set the Solidity of the spot color. In this case, we used 50%. 8. Click OK to create the spot color channel. The new channel is displayed in the Channels panel, as shown in Figure 11.24. FIGURE 11.24 The spot channel is created from the selection; however, it is a solid spot channel with no detail. 9. Select the new spot channel in the Channels panel. 10. Click the Load Channel as Selection button in the Channels panel to load the selec- tion used to create the spot channel. 11. Press Ctrl/Ô+V to paste the contents saved to the clipboard into the spot channel. The spot channel becomes a tonal spot channel, shown in Figure 11.25, instead of a solid. When printed, the spot color selected in Step 6 is used to print the pixels in that area of the image. 17_584743-ch11.indd 36217_584743-ch11.indd 362 5/3/10 10:26 AM5/3/10 10:26 AM . channels You can change what the data contained in the alpha channel means by setting the channel options. The channel options are set by selecting Channel Options from the Channels panel menu to display. pixels of the data that is not being affected by the alpha channel. 17_584743-ch11.indd 35917_584743-ch11.indd 359 5/3/10 10:26 AM5/3/10 10:26 AM Part III: Selections, Layers, and Channels 360 l. selected areas are highlighted by the overlay color selected in the Color field. Use this option when you want to see the actual pixels of the data that is being affected by the alpha channel. l Spot