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Photoshop: 1st Grade Primer On Layers: Page 2

By Cheryl Johnson

Industry Observer

August 21, 2007 02:02 AM

As you are creating a image using layers, each layer will be listed in the Layer Palette --

Bryce gave us a screen shot of a layer palette for one of his images here. Notice how he has applied different special effects to each layer. And he has named each layer according to the effect ... an excellent practice that helps you keep track of your workflow.

Here is a close up of the layer palette for my Sun-Mountain-Man-Dog image. The currently active layer is the one highlighted dark blue. You can make a layer invisible and visible again by clicking the little eye icon on and off. You can apply special effects or edit each layer individually. (And of course, all this "Primer" stuff is leading up to what those special effects are all about.)

Here's page 1 in the Primer: Photoshop: 1st Grade Primer On Layers

Here is page 3: Photoshop: 1st Grade Primer On Layers: Page 3

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Maureen Maureen

Orangeburg, NY

Cheryl - Thanks for posting this. I never name my layers, it is a great idea. Wow, Bryce has a lot of layers on that pic. I would not have thought to isolate so many different areas and edit them separately. Thanks for pointing it out.

Aug 22, 2007 12:08 PM

Bryce Mohan

Bryce Mohan Photography - Bellevue, WA

I think my record is something like 20-ish layers for an image. Hmm, now I'm curious...I'm going to have to poke around and see if I can find the most (legitimate) seperate layers I've put in one images. My largest image is a composot of a lot of different shots and tops out at over 800 megs (only 17 layers however). :P

BTW I'm sloppy about naming my layers. It's a very good habit to do so and will save you a lot of headache later on if you are trying to get a sense for which layer carries which edit. Even if you just have a few layers it's a good habit to name them.

Along the same lines, photoshop has a lot of different adjustment layers that will accomplish the same or nearly the same thing. It's a good idea to try to 'standardize' your usage of them. In other words if you want to boost the color in your image you might (as a habit) use 'hue / saturation' versus switching from that to curves, to color balance. This will also help you develop a great sense of control and enhance your ability to make use of photoshop as an editing tool.

-B

Aug 24, 2007 12:51 PM

Lisa Hill

Florida Property Experts - Daytona Beach, FL

Daytona Beach Real Estate

I am WAYYY confused. As I said on Bruce's post, I'm going to have to print these instructions for future references. I'm too tired to think right now O_o

Aug 24, 2007 03:22 PM

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Cheryl Johnson

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