Photoshop Lesson # 3 Lesson Plan: 1) Adjustments: Curves Saturation Desaturation Levels Threshold Brightness/Contrast 2) Layer Effects. 3) Layer Modes.

We will be discussing various color adjustment techniques. Most of these tools are available as an adjustment layer. The majority of the image adjustments that are available at Image/ Adjustments/ are also available as adjustment layers.

Those adjustments are very powerful, however every time you apply them, you are permanently changing the information of the image. Once that change is made, the old information is gone, and new interpolated information is used instead. If you ever want to get back to the original information you will have to interpolate it back. Interpolation means the Photoshop mathematically compresses or contracts the old information, and decides what the new values will be. Every time that interpolation occurs, the info is of a lesser quality, and numerous "generations" result in poorer

images. To prevent this from happening we will use Adjustment layers. Adjustment layers do the same thing as a normal image adjustment, however they are separated from the original image, so they will never truly alter the original information. This is achieved by creating a layer mask that is attached to the individual adjustments. To bring up a specific adjustment layer, either go to Layer/ New Adjustment Layer/, or select the adjustment layer icon from the Layers Palette, and choose one:

Whatever adjustment you choose will show up as a control panel that you can adjust, and once applied it becomes a layer such as the highlighted one in the image above.

Layer Effects:

Layer blend modes give us different ways for a layer to interact with, or "blend" with, the layer or layers below it. Without layer blend modes, the only real way we have of blending layers together is by reducing the opacity (or fill) of a layer, which usually doesn't give us very interesting results. But with blend modes, not only do they unlock a world of creative possibilities, especially when we combine them with layer masks, they can also be extremely helpful when it comes to editing, retouching and restoring photos, and they can save us a whole lot of time!

Layer Styles

A layer style is simply one or more layer effects and blending options applied to a layer. Layer effects are things like drop shadows, stroke, and color overlays. Here is an example of a layer with three layer effects (Drop Shadow, Inner Glow, and Stroke).

You can turn off a layer style by clicking on the eye icon beside Effects so that you can see how the original layer looks without its layer style.

Similarly, you can turn off the visibility of each layer effect. In the following example, the Drop Shadow layer effect was disabled.

You can tell that a layer has a layer style because of the fx icon on its right side.