The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers by Derrick Story

Author:Derrick Story
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: COMPUTERS / Computer Graphics
ISBN: 9780596156640
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Published: 2008-10-23T00:00:00+00:00

Figure 6-2. The new Adjustments panel. Notice that when you select an adjustment, such as Levels, Photoshop automatically creates a new layer for you.

QUESTION: Do I Really Need to Use Layers When Working in Photoshop

The short answer is: Yes, you do. By taking advantage of the ability to work inside layers, you give yourself the option to return to your image and rework an aspect of it, without losing the good work you’ve already one.

The Adjustments panel addresses this concern by providing you with a “best practices” approach to making these edits. Not only does it create the adjustment layer for you, the panel includes presets that will also make the actual adjustment. So, executing a nondestructive Levels Adjustment Layer could be as easy as opening the image in Photoshop CS4, clicking the Adjustments panel, and choosing the Midtones Brighter Levels preset. Easy, and no more guilt about not using layers.

In this chapter, I’ll show you how to do that, and more. By the time you finish the chapter, you’ll be doing things in Photoshop that you’ve only dreamed of. You’ll have a multi-layered document and even apply a mask to one of those layers. As your confidence grows, so will your willingness to experiment more with layers. And that’s exactly what the engineers at Adobe (and I) are hoping will happen.

But this scenario gets even better. Once you’ve created a layer or two, you’ll learn how to create a Smart Object. Smart Objects are what Photoshop expert Deke McClelland calls “magic layers.” And he’s absolutely right. I’m going to show you how to use Smart Objects for one of my favorite filters: Smart Sharpen. It’s a winning combination. And once you master that, you can use the steps I outline for other filters, such as Shadow/Highlight.

I think Smart Objects are particularly useful for sharpening, so that’s why I’m starting there with the Smart Sharpen filter. Many photographers save sharpening for the final step of the process, often on a flattened image. However, I think a more modern workflow incorporates sharpening in three places. The first is to compensate for the digital imaging process. That’s why I covered the concept of image sharpening in Chapter 5 when we discussed ACR. You need to restore some of the crispness you lost during the digital capture process.

Then, there is creative sharpening. What I mean by that, is you often need to sharpen while performing the various adjustments on your picture. Lots of things degrade the sharpness of a photo, one of which is downsampling. Or you may want to make an artistic choice to adjust the sharpness of an image while you’re perfecting its other aspects. For example, say you’re making a tonal adjustment, and suddenly you think, “Wow, this would look really cool if it were just a bit crisper.” This is where using a Smart Object to apply this filtering really shines. Because unlike sharpening a flattened image, you can go back and change your sharpness settings at any time without harming the photo.

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