keys: Cmd/Ctrl-J. This is the routine to re-size, sharpen, and match noise for the image in Figure 9- 27: Figure 9- 27. The Transform command used to cast the shadow as the light from the front of the tunnel would cast it. 1. Open the background and knockout images at the same time. Cut and copy the knockout image's layer, then Paste it into the background image where it becomes a new layer. 2. Free Transform (Cmd/Ctrl-T) the knockout to fit the size, angle, and perspective you want it to have. Ideally, you shou ld have to reduce its size or keep it the same size, rather than enlarge it. 3. Create the shadow: duplicate the layer and then drag it below the original. This is going to be the Shadow layer. Lock the layer's transparency by clicking the Transparency Lock icon near the top of the palette. Choose Edit Fill Black. You now have a black silhouette of your knockout. 4. Now transform the shadow silhouette layer so that the shape of the truck is projected away from the source of the light. In this particular shot, the light source has to be behind us because the truck is in a tunnel that's lit by sunlight. You can see how I shaped the Transform marquee in Figure 9-27. 5. Make a gradient selection for the entire image. This is going to allow you to make a shadow that becomes more diffuse as it recedes from the light source. To do this, go to the Channels palette and click the New Channel Icon. A black channel named Alpha 1 will appear. Rename it Truck Shadow. Now choose the Gradient fill tool, a rectangular fill, and a black to white gradient. Fill the channel with the black to white gradient, spreading the gradient portion as far as possible. 6. Return to the Shadow Layer and turn off all the other layers so that you can clearly see what you're doing. Choose Select Load Selection. In the Load Selection dialog, choose Truck Shadow (or whatever you've called the layer and channel you're turning into a shadow). Drag the resultant marquee so that its lower line (which happens to be the center of the gradient) is slightly below the bottom of the shadow silhouette. 7. Use the Gaussian Blur filter to soften the edges of the shadow, while the gradient mask makes the shadow more diffuse as it is projected further from the light source. For that reason, you want to diffuse the whole thing to an extreme so that it can graduate to that extreme. You may have to reapply the Gaussian blur filter several times to blur it enough for a realistic effect. In Figure 9-28, you see not only the marquee line mentioned in the step above, but the Gaussian Blur dialog and the preview of the result. Figure 9-28. The Gaussian Blur filter has been used in conjunction with a feathered selection to make the shadow diffuse over distance. 8. Match color balance, noise, and sharpen the downsized image to match the sharpness of its surroundings. Choose a Color Balance adjustment layer. When its dialog opens, don't do anything, just click OK. Then, while the layer is still selected, right-click and select Create Clipping Mask. 9. Match the noise and sharpening. Double-click the Zoom icon so you can see detail clearly. Now match the noise. Choose Filter Noise Add Noise. The Add Noise dialog, shown in Figure 9-29 appears. Drag the Amount slider to the left. You will probably need a very small number, so when you get the grain st ructure that comes closest to matching the Background image, type in the exact percentage you think is most likely to work. When you've got it, click OK. Figure 9-29. The Add Noise dialog. 10. Add the sharpening to the same layer orif you're concerned that you might have to sharpen to a different degree latercopy the noise matching layer first and put it on top of the stack. Then choose Filter Sharpen Smart Sharpen. The Smart Sharpen dialog will open, as shown in Figure 9-30. Choose the settings you see in the figure. You need to be careful not to oversharpen because you will have to do final sharpening for the printer you are using and that could cause dramatic oversharpening. Figure 9-30. The Smart Sharpen dialog box. Chapter 10. Creating the Wow Factor This chapter is about special effects, such as art and photo filters, warping, and Liquify, Lens Flare, and Lighting Effects filters. Also included are a number of scripts, both free and third-party that let you imitate some of the special films, over-the-lens filters, and processing routines that have been traditional in silver- halide (film) photography. The one thing we won't make the room for here is trying to cover every filter made by every manufacturer or even every single filter in Photoshop. This chapter is about effects for photographers, since they're the focus of this book and because no book has room for everything in or that can plug-in to Photoshop. Destruction Is Inevitable Most, but not all, of the effects in this chapter will destroy the original image, which is why they come so late in the workflow. Besides, you probably want your special effects to affect everything that the image needed up to this point. Before you do pretty much anything in this chapter, there's a hotkey that you should drill into your head: Cmd/Ctrl- Opt/Alt-E. Before using it, convert your Background layer to a regular layer, then select all the layers you've created up to this point and press that key hotkey: Cmd/Ctrl-Opt/Alt-E. All the layers will be copied and then merged to become a new layer at the top of the stack. You can now do any destructive thing you want to that layer. If you know you're going to use several effects and don't want them to react directly with other effects, simply make several copies of the effects layer before you beginor repeat the Cmd/Ctrl-Opt/Alt-E trick when the time comes. After that, even if you forget to undo until even History can no longer save you, all you have to do to return to where you were (before you found something you tried in this chapter didn't make the cut) is turn off or delete the merged and copied layer. Then you can merge and copy an unaltered version with a few keystrokes and try again. 10.1. Organizing Your Layers to Apply Effects Here's the routine you should employ for organizing your layers for applying effects to an image you haven't already been processing. If you have already done considerable processing, use the Cmd/Ctrl-Opt/Alt-E hotkey to create a new unified layer and then apply these steps to that result: 1. Open the image to which you want to add effects. 2. Run the Action called Workflow Layers that you were introduced to the "The Magic Action for Layered Workflow" section in Chapter 5. Temporarily turn off all layers except Spot Retouch and the Background. Then do any cloning, healing, or spot healing needed to touch up the image, making sure to check the Sample All Layers box in the Options bar for those tools. Then turn the other layers back on. 3. If you need to add any composite layers, add them now. You'll usually want to place these layers between the Burn and Dodge layer and the Spot Healing layer so that all the layers above can affect the entire composition. However, your composite item could have its own workflow layers in a Group. 4. Use the Burn and Dodge, Level, and Curves layers as appropriate. 5. Make the Background layer an ordinary layer by renaming it. 6. Select all the layers and press Cmd/Ctrl-Opt/Alt-E. The image you have been working on will appear as a flattened layer at the top of the layer stack. Be sure to create any layers for any of the processes in this chapter on top of and from this combined layer. The end result will look something like Figure 10-1. Figure 10- 1. Merging all the layers before creating an effect in the Layers palette at left. You should also rename the merged layer for the effect(s) you're going to impose on them. 10.2. Applying Filter Effects The most commonly used type of effect is probably filters. These include all the highlighted items in Figure 10-2 on Photoshop's Filter menu, plus any third-party filters you might have installed. You can either apply these effects filters one at a time, apply different filters to different layers, and then use Blend Mode, Fill, and Opacity to mix them, or use an interface that mixes them for you. Figure 10-2. The filters in the menus that are highlighted are totally destructive, as are those in the top section. The other menus are mostly photographic processes that are typically a little less destructive and are usually used in a different layer set or group that usually falls just below the highlighted effects in the layers hierarchy. . This chapter is about effects for photographers, since they're the focus of this book and because no book has room for everything in or that can plug-in to Photoshop. Destruction Is Inevitable. Flare, and Lighting Effects filters. Also included are a number of scripts, both free and third-party that let you imitate some of the special films, over-the-lens filters, and processing routines. silhouette layer so that the shape of the truck is projected away from the source of the light. In this particular shot, the light source has to be behind us because the truck is in a tunnel that's