Digital Camera - Ken Gilbert

84 PhotoshopSchool
ADVANCEDSKILLS
EXPERT TIP
“Working on layers
means youwon’t
directly affect the
integrityofthe original
layer(your original
image).Not only will
this preserve your
original for future use,
it’llalso allowyou to
go back at alater date
andre-edit your image
should you decide
that youwanttomake
further tweaks to
exposure or colour.”
Ben Brain, deputy editor
Did you know?
JPEG, PSD or TIFF
S hould you save your
final image as a PSD
(Photoshop Document)
or TIFF, the layers will
remain intact. However, if
you save the file as a JPEG
the image and its layers will
be flattened and you won’t
be able to re-edit it. Save a
master copy with the layers
intact, then Save As a JPEG
to share your shot online.
DigitalCamera July2010
Open your images
2Open the files on your disc called advanced_
before.dng and advanced_texture.jpg. Go to the
former and press Ctrl+A to select all of the image
and Ctrl+C to copy it. Next, return to your main image
and press Ctrl+V to paste the texture into it. This will
automatically create a new layer in the Layers palette.
Hide some texture
4Create a Layer Mask by clicking on the Add Layer
Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.
Next, select a medium-sized soft brush from the
Tools palette and ensure your foreground colour is
set to black. Use the brush to gently paint over the
model’s face and hide a little of the texture.
Create a border
6Go to Image>CanvasSize, check the Relative
box and enter a Width and Height of 9cm in the
boxes provided to create a thick white border. Now
open the image called advanced_border.jpg from
your disc, select the Grab tool from the Tools palette
and drag and drop the border into the main image.
Change the Blending Mode
3Select Hard Light from the Blending Mode
menu at the top of the Layers palette. Different
Blending Modes will affect how the textured
layer behaves with the main image, so it’s worth
experimenting. Change the Opacity of the layer to
70%. See page 85 for more on Blending Modes.
Reduce the saturation
5Create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer and
reduce the Saturation to about -60%. This will
remove most of the colour from the layers. The
effect of this step is subjective, so if you want your
image to be more or less colourful, just change the
slider and its effect to suit your tastes.
Changethe shape
7Use the Free Transform tool (Edit>FreeTransform)
to reshape the border so that it fits around the
edges of the main image. This time, change the
Blending Mode of the layertoDarken. Save acopy
of the image as a PSD so you can re-edit it at a later
date, and as a JPEG you can upload and share online.