Adjustment Layers

If you have already completed the previous lesson on layer basics, then you are ready for this lesson. If you've
a bit of Photoshop mileage 'under your belt' then this may show you a few nice things too.

If you have had any time 'playing' with Photoshop, then I'm sure that you may have adjusted/coloured/deleted
something and been annoyed at either loosing 2 hours work, or worse still ruining ALL the work.
Did some one say "backup"? Remember work on the COPY!!!

OK, so what's the point of all this? Well Photoshop offers you the ability to alter things, once, twice - for ever!
Nothing you do HAS to be permanent. Let's see ...

Here's the original 400px X 400px @72dpi.

Often in retouching work, or creative work the models hair (or any object) may need to have the colour altered. This lesson will show you a simple technique to accomplish this.

As I promised in the page intro, it's not permanent. You can come back to this and change it again and again.

As we are going adjust the model's hair colour it makes sense to 'isolate' it in some way, so that any adjustments ONLY happen to the hair.

This process is called 'creating a selection'.

Open the graphics file you want to work on, or use this one (right click - save as ...)

File>open

Locate the toolbar. Here's the top 'bit' of the toolbar. The tool we are going to use to create a selection is called the Lasso (the icon even looks like a lasso). It's the one the red arrow is pointing to. Click on it once.

When you put the cursor over the graphics file it will look like the icon on the toolbar - Nice!

If you click and drag a circle(ish) shape you should end up with a set of 'marching ants', this is your SELECTION. Everything inside the circle is selected. If you now use the keyboard and use CTRL & D together, then you will DESELECT your selection.

This is part of the Lasso tool options bar, seen at the top of the screen.

The small icons (labeled 1,2,3,4) enable you to alter what the lasso tool actually selects.

Top tip.
The symbols +  -  x  appear next to the lasso icon.

Use the lasso tool to create a selection similar to the one shown. If you are a beginner, then you'll find this quite difficult (ha ha - understatement!), but it does get easier - trust me!

Notice that the line around the facial area is quite accurate, but the area outside the head is wild and loose. This is because the model is on a nice white background - details in a while...

Also notice that the area above the model's left eye (on your right) has a little 'cutout' so that we can see the forehead. Guess which option to use on the Lasso tool?

Correct! No. 3 (subtract from selection) also it was actually selected in the previous picture, were you paying attention at the back of the class?

Finally, if you want a nice result check the anti-aliased box and use a 2 px Feather. (What are those? - answers in another lesson)

All these setting are in the previous picture.

Now use these menu commands

Layer >New Adjustment Layer ...>Curves...

The box on the left will pop up.

Click on OK

Several things will happen at once, but don't panic!

Let's deal with the box on the left first.

At this time simply click on OK.

We will be revisiting this box, or "Curves Dialog" if you prefer to use techno babble, at a later stage.

So, having closed the Curves Dialog, what else has happened? The actual graphic looks the same!

Remember I said several things have happened...

Take a look at the Layers Palette.

Here's our old friend the Layers palette.

We now have a nice new layer, but it's know as an ADJUSTMENT LAYER.

Starting from the left we have these icons - the eye, the circle, the graph, the link (its very small) and the tiny image that's like a negative of the hair shape (actually your selection)

The eye you have seen before, in the previous lesson, and it controls the layer's visibility. You can turn layers on & off by clicking on the eye. Now you see it - now you don't!

With Adjustment Layers you'll always get a circle icon. (Yes! It does indicate something- but not now OK?)

The red arrow is pointing at the graph.

If you were to click on this, then our good buddy the Curves Dialog would pop up... don't click on it yet, keep reading please.

Between the graph icon (Curves dialog) and the negative (Layer Mask - see below) there is a tiny little icon. It is a link in a chain. It means that the item on the left (graph) is 'linked' to the item on the right (negative). At this time please ignore it. I'll be going into linking stuff later.

The red arrow is now pointing to the small negative icon, this is really know as the LAYER MASK.

*** LEARN THIS ***

THE WHITE AREAS ARE 'SEE-THROUGH' OR TRANSPARENT

THE BLACK AREAS ARE 'NOT-SEE-THROUGH' OR OPAQUE

IF YOU WERE TO 'SHINE' A 'COLOURED LIGHT' THROUGH THIS MASK, THEN ONLY THE WHITE SHAPES WILL ALLOW THE LIGHT TO PASS THROUGH TO THE LOWER LAYERS.

Guess what? The Curves Dialogue can be a 'coloured light'

NOW you can click on the curves dialogue, and if you look to your left you can see that I have CURVED the line (just click and drag).

Take a look at your main graphic file now!

Have fun pulling the curve all over the place! You can get very strange results, don't be afraid to try experimenting.

But there's more! After clicking and dragging ONE point, you can then click and drag others, hence making the Curve into an 'S' for example.

Click on OK - don't like that? Then you can reopen the Curves Dialog and adjust again and again!! Even after closing/restarting Photoshop. But ...

You must save the graphics file as a PSD (Photoshop) and NOT a JPG/JPEG, otherwise you'll lose the layers.

A variation!

Quite normal hair colour!

A few thing to try/note...

At the top of the Curves Dialog is a Channel box, that usually has RGB in it, try clicking on the small arrow, and selecting an individual channel.

WOW! Funky space chic!

Notice how the hair colour variations are 'in step' the bright sections (highlights) are still bright.

The dark bits (shadows) are still dark.

The middle bits are still middley (made up word)

Hope you had fun with this lesson.

Any questions?

Email me!

Next lesson - Layer masks