Adobe Photoshop CS6 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks by Lynette Kent

Control the colors to POSTERIZE A PHOTO
Photoshop includes a Posterize command in the
Image ➪ Adjustments menu that automatically
posterizes an image by mapping the Red, Green, and
Blue channels to the number of tonal levels that you
set. Although it requires more steps, you can control
the posterization and get more creative results by
using three adjustment layers in succession rather
than the posterization command.
Use a Black & White adjustment layer to convert the
photo to a grayscale image. Then apply a Posterize
adjustment layer, specifying the levels that
correspond to the number of colors you want in the
final image. A lower number of levels limits the
number of colors that will be included, making the
image more stylized. Finally, use a Gradient Map
adjustment layer to map a color to each of the levels
of gray. You can edit any of the adjustment layers to
change the colors or levels until you get the look that
you want. For the best result, select a photo with a
main subject on a plain background, or extract the
subject and place it on a black background.
1 Press Ô+J (Ctrl+J) to duplicate the
Background layer.
2 Click the Black & White button in
the Adjustments panel.
2
1
6
3
4
5
The image turns to grayscale and
the options in the Properties
panel change.
3 Click and drag the Properties
panel title bar so you can see the
photo.
4 Click Auto or click the Preset
drop-down menu and select a
different preset to see if the
contrast improves.
5 Move the color sliders to enhance
the contrast.
6 Click the Posterize button in the
Adjustments panel.
218