Blending Modes & Opacity Part 2

Following on from Monday's Post..

The Multiply mode is quite probably one of the most frequently used blending modes. It blends layers to create a darker color, except where there are white pixels. The white pixels will disappear.

When you have found a blending mode that creates the effect you are looking for, select the Stairs palette. Click on the “Create a New Layer” button at the bottom of the Layers palette.

You now have a new empty layer which appears in the Layers palette just above the Stairs layer, but nothing should have changed on your image in the document window.
When you add a new layer the layer is empty and transparent by default.

We want to use this new layer to draw a border around the image you've been working on. The advantage to drawing on this new layer, as opposed to drawing on any of the other layers, is that it can be isolated on its own - turned on or off, transparency adjusted and other adjustments applied to the layer.

Again, make sure that the new empty layer is selected. Grab the Brush tool from the Toolbox (or hit B on the keyboard). On the tool options bar, click on the Brush Preset Picker and select a rough looking brush. (I picked a Dry Brush Light Flow) and set the master diameter to about 100 pixels. On the toolbox, set the foreground color to black by hitting “D” on the keyboard – this sets the foreground and background colors to their default – black and white. Start drawing around the edge of the image to create a rough border.

Rename the layer as “B order”. If you need to remember how to do that read back over step 1.

The main benefit to drawing on this new empty layer is if you don't like your work you can turn it off without having it affect your entire image. You can also play with the opacity to see how that looks.

Now that you have the basics of blending down try to play around with your image and add additional layer to your image, perhaps draw some more. Choose different brushes and colors and change the blending modes.

So that's it for our tutorial on blending modes and opacity. Obviously the best way to find out how they work is to experiment and check out all the different effects you can achieve.

Blending Modes & Opacity Part 1

When you blend layers you are adjusting the way pixels on the different layers combine with each other and this will give us some cool, and remarkable, results. Blending modes are a fabulous way to create multiple-image artwork.

I start out a Photoshop file that has two layers. One layer is an image of an old building with a yellow wall and the other layer has a staircase on the outside of an apartment block. When you're trying this out yourself, just use any Photoshop image with two different layers, with something on each layer.

Please note that it's easier to work with layers if you give each layer a descriptive name. Don't just leave each layer with its default of Layer 1, Layer 2, Layer 3, etc.
When you're dealing with an image with 20 layers this will become very tiresome when you're trying to figure out what's on each layer.

Step 1 – Rename your Layer
Double-click the layer name in the Layers palette. A bounding box will appear around the words Layer 1. Type a new name and Press Return or Enter.

Note: You want to make sure you click directly on the layer name, otherwise you will open the Layer Style dialog box and you won't be able to rename the layer.

Step 2 – Select your Layer
Click on the eye icon on the newly-named Stairs layers. The image of stairs appears in the screen and the Yellow Wall is hidden.

Step 3 – Change Opacity
With the Stairs layer selected in the Layers palette, click on the arrow beside the opacity field and drag the slider to 40%. Notice that everything on this layer - the stairs and the wall they are attached to becomes less opaque (more see-through).

Step 4
Lowering the opacity of a layer makes the artwork on that layer more translucent, so that the layers beneath it show through.

Step 5
Drag the opacity slider back to 100% so that you can see the Stairs normally.

Step 6
On the layers palette, click on the down arrow beside the field that says “ Normal”. By default, layer appear with a blending mode of Normal.

Step 7
From the drop down menu that appears, choose Hard Mix.


You should notice that the image changes quite dramatically.

Take a few minutes to try out different blending modes and see how the image is affected.

More Announcements from Adobe

The company also recently announced that it was entering into a partnership with image- and video-hosting web site Photobucket in order to give the site's 35 million users free access to Adobe's web-based video editing tools.

At that time the company said that it expects to announce more partnerships with Internet companies over the coming months, and that the ventures would be driven by Adobe’s pursuit of higher advertising revenue and increased software upgrades from existing customers.

The timeline for Photobucket features to become available to the site's users is sometime in March. Adobe's shift to free online applications follows similar moves by other software makers. Google (Charts), for instance, has released online word processing and spreadsheet software under the Google Docs banner.

Free From Adobe Photoshop

Recently Adobe announced that it will release a free online version of its popular Photoshop image-editing software within six months. The online version of the program will be a stripped-down version of the application that has become an industry standard for graphics professionals.

The move to online usage is part of a larger effort by the company to bring key aspects of its software portfolio - which includes audio, video and graphics applications - to bring in advertising dollars and attempt to persuade users into purchasing software upgrades. Prior to this move Adobe's business has always been based on packaged software.

A sneak peak at Adobe’s photography's future: Currently the company offers four versions of its Photoshop software, beginning with the high-end CS2 package which is targeted to creative professionals all the way to the free Album Starter Edition which is used by the casual photographer. According to Adobe, the online offering will be more like the consumer products.

Overexposed Images Quick-Fix

Photoshop can help provide a solution for those overexposed photos.

The easiest way to do this is to open it in Photoshop and select Image> Adjustments> Shadow/Highlight. While you will see an immediate difference in your photo, it will probably be too intense but this can be used as a starting point.

The defaults pre-set in Photoshop are usually extreme. Simply adjust the Amount Slider and the Tonal Width Slider in both the Highlights and Shadows until balanced to your liking.

Fixing Overexposed Photos, Pre-CS - The Layer Sandwich Trick

If you don't have CS, then this trick will help you accomplish similar results.

Step 1 - New Layer
Open your photo and choose Layer> Duplicate Layer to make a copy of the Background Layer, or by dragging it to the New Layer Icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Step 2 - Change the Blend Mode
From the Layers palette change the Blend Mode of the new layer from Normal to Multiply. This will darken the photo uniformly.

Step 3 - Repeat
Now repeat the entire process again. Create a new layer, change the blend mode to multiply, and watch the result. Continue doing this over and over until you go from "it's almost just right" to "it's awful!"

Step 4 - Lower the Opacity
Now leave the last layer active even though it is much too extreme and lower the Opacity using the slider at the top right of the layers palette. This lowers the strength of the effect. Once you have found the right amount, you can flatten your image.

Step 5 - Flatten And Save
Choose Layer> Flatten or use the palette’s flyout menu and choose Flatten Image. Now you are done! Don’t forget to save your file (File> Save).

More Photoshop Special Effects

Soft glow effect:
Creates a 'romantic' look for portraits. Here's what you have to do:

1. Duplicate layer.

2. Apply 'Gaussian blur' to the new (top) layer. Make it blurry, but leave a little detail.

3. Play around with the blend modes and opacity till reaching desired effect:

'Darken' or 'Multiply' blends darkens image details while softening features and adding a halo. Good for soft, expressive shadows.

'Lighten' or 'Screen' blends lightens the image instead. Good for adding high key or highlight glows.

'Soft Light' and 'Overlay' adds contrast and saturation. Particularly useful for landscapes and still life photos.

Black-and-white-ish:
Creates a metallic black-and-white'ish look, great for for documentary work and subdued portraits, and is achieved by setting the contrast high (curves) and color saturation low.

Color grading:
You can get the same effect in your photos as in some ‘color washed’ movies. The easy way is to go to 'Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation', click 'Colorize' and use the slide bars to choose your favorite grading. If your goal is well-defined color, it's better to use the 'Edit > Fill' function. Simply select the color you want and set the 'Blending mode' to 'Color'.

Whichever way, it's advised first to duplicate your layer before you start. This will allow you to safeguard some of the original colors by turning the color grading down. Use the 'Opacity' slider in the layer box to do this. If you want a duotone image, just make 2 duplicate layers and give them different color gradings. Mix them together, again with the 'Opacity' slider and the different 'Layer blending mode' options in the layer box.

One example: To give your image a cool green-blue color tone, first create two duplicate layers. Use 'Edit > Fill' to make the first one green and the second one blue. Set opacities to 30 and 60% respectively and select the 'Multiply' blending mode for the top (blue) layer. Adjust levels to get it exactly like you want. Also try adding a soft glow, as described above.

Micro contrast:
This is a fun technique to improve your contrast and draw out texture details in your photos. You can even use it when your overall contrast is already maxed out, using all tonal ranges from pure black to pure white.

The process is comparable to the normal 'Unsharpen Mask', but with some special settings. Go to 'Filter > Sharpen > Unsharpen Mask' and set the 'Amount' to around 20-30%, the 'Radius' to 50-100 pixels and zero on the 'Threshold'. You will get a understated contrast enhancement that, for some pictures at least, works well.

Using any of the above outline effects can enhance your photos and make them works of art. Knowing when to use them however, and when not to use them is just as important as learning how to use them. When to use special effects in your photos is a matter of personal taste and opinion. Many times less is best, so just make sure not to over-do what you do.

Photoshop Special Effects - Masking

You might find it helpful to apply a masking on your photo to choose which areas you want to change and leave untouched before you apply any of these special effects. You can create a soft fade between the areas with effects added and those without.

This is called masking and can be done in a variety of ways. One method is called the ‘quick mask mode’. This is quick and easy to do and results are typically acceptable.

Quick masking:
Locate the button called 'edit in quick mask mode' in Adobe Photoshop. It is located near the bottom of the main tool bar and appears as a circle in a rectangle. There's also a short-cut key: Q. Once in quick mask mode, you can select and deselect areas by painting them with white and black respectively, using the standard brush tool.

Zoom to 100 or 200 % for best precision. A soft-edged brush can be used to avoid hard edges. When done, exit the masking mode and go to 'Select > Feather' and set the feather radius somewhere in the range of 5-10 pixels. A nice feature is that you can set the opacity to anywhere between 0 and 100%, allowing you to apply the effect stronger or weaker in one part of the image than another.

Layer masking:
Somewhat more complicated, you can add a layer mask. This permits you to apply any effect gradually from any point in your photo. Follow these steps in Photoshop:

1. Select 'Windows > Layers'.

2. Right click on your layer and choose 'Duplicate layer'.

3. Click on the little icon in the bottom of the layer box called 'Add layer mask'.

4. Choose the 'Gradient tool' on the main tool box.

5. Select a gradient style from the top 'Options' bar (linear, radial etc.).

6. Click on your image on the point you don't want to change, and drag the mouse away to the point where you want the full effect to take place. The effect will be applied gradually more and more along this line you've now created.

7. Last, return to your original background layer and apply any effect you want. This will apply the effect in a soft, gradual way. Use opacity to turn the effect down to less than full strength if you want.

Lens-like effects:
Using the same layer masking explained from above, you can apply 'Gaussian blur' which will make the selected areas appear soft-focused, a bit like if you had used a large-aperture lens. With 'Curves' you can make your corners darker than the center, replicating the lens effect called vignetting.

In principle, vignetting is considered a lens dysfunction, but subjectively it can add an extra feeling to your photo. It will create a kind of frame that will have a 'sucking' effect, drawing more focus to the center of your photo. You can also just lower the contrast and/or color-saturation around your main subject, helping to divide it from the background clutter. Be creative with the many options you have available!

Files and Formats in Photoshop Part 2

Continuing from Monday's Post, what image file formats Photoshop will open or save in. What are the advantages or disadvantages of each?


5) .png

This is a new format for use on the web that is intended to replace both gif and jpeg with its ability to compress, have millions of colors, and support transparencies. It compresses differently from jpeg, and has advanced possibilities, such as alpha channel (opaque or partly transparent colors). The only problem is that Internet Explorer does not support this format. In 8 bit (256 colors) mode it compresses better than gif.

6) .bmp

This is a windows bitmapped image. It is used by Microsoft Windows applications and provides good quality but large file size. Not for use on the web.

7) .wmf

Windows MetaFile. Useful for clipart, and can be used to make large area, small sized background files.

8) .pcx

An older general purpose format that is virtually obsolete now. Also not for use on the web.

9) .psp

Internal format for Paint Shop Pro and is useful if you want to swap files between these two programs.

10) .pcd

Kodak PhotoCD format, used with Photo Developing but most photo processors will save your photos as jpegs if you ask.

11) .pdf

Portable Document File. Adobe's file system that allows electronic cross platform sharing of documents.

Files and Formats in Photoshop Part 1

You might find yourself wondering what image file formats Photoshop will open or save in. What are the advantages or disadvantages of each?

Simply put, Photoshop has the ability to open and save a variety of graphic files.

One thing to remember is that when you open an image file other than a Photoshop one, the image will default to the background layer.

1) .psd, .pdd, .eps:

These are Photoshop files. This format saves all of the information found in all of the layers. This format works best if you are going to continue to work with a picture. A downside can be that the file size may be quite large. You should save your work in the most recent Photoshop format available. An example would be is you have Photoshop CS and are sent a Photoshop 7 file, you would want to save it as a Photoshop CS file to maintain any elements that may not be supported in Photoshop 7.

2) .jpg, .jpeg .jpe

This format compresses images in a way that information such as color subtleties and other details are lost. You can select to what extreme you want to compress the image. This is the most suitable format for use on the web. Consists of small file sizes and millions of colors.

3) tif, .tiff

Early scanners typically used this format. It will generate high quality images, but very large files making it inappropriate for use on the web.

4) .gif

This format can be pronounced both "Gif" and "Jif". This file is one of the most popular for web graphics as it loads quickly. Has an 8 bit format (256 colors max.). It can support transparent color and animation.