Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers 380 3 So far so good. Now I want to add some glow to the foliage. It is important that the underlying image has remained in RGB (because it is the adjustment layer which is making the monochrome conversion). I went to the Channels palette and highlighted the green channel and applied a Gaussian blur filtration to that channel only. The result of the full blur is shown opposite. This isn’t the desired result, so I followed that with an Edit > Fade Filter command, reducing the blur to a 26% opacity and Screen blend mode. 4 This is the final result after applying the Channel Mixer adjustment and green channel blur on the Background layer. To further simulate the infra- red emulsion, try adding a hefty amount of Gaus- sian noise filtration to either all three color chan- nels or the green channel only. Adding a photographic rebate This final example combines several of the black and white techniques discussed in this chapter. If I want to mimic the effect of a photographic type rebate, like that associated with a Polaroid™ negative emulsion, I will go about this by opening a prepared scan of such a rebate, add this as an image layer and set the blend mode to Multiply. The rebate image must have clear 100% white areas. That way, only the dark areas will show through using the Multiply blending mode. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Black and white effects 381 The Levels adjustment layer above it darkens the image, but I made a rectangular selection feathered of about 150 pixels and filled with black. Only the inside edges of the image are now affected by this adjustment. The third layer is a specially prepared image layer made from a Polaroid™ processed shot. This layer is set to Multiply mode which will successfully merge the border rebate to blend with the un- derlying background image. Lastly, a Curves adjustment layer is added. The red and blue color channel curves were adjusted to alter the color balance. In this example we can see how the combination of an image layer and three adjustment layers produce a sepia toned print effect. The back- ground image has remained in RGB throughout. The first adjustment layer is a Channel Mixer adjustment – this layer converts the RGB color image to monochrome, using a custom mix of the RGB channel contents. Client: Tresemme. Model: Stevie at Nevs. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers 382 Coloring Effects Chapter Fourteen A t a recent exhibition of digital photography, a visitor was heard to remark: ‘It’s all cheating isn’t it?’ A fair comment I suppose, although one should realize that photographers and printers were manipulating their images (or cheating) in darkrooms long before computers came along. The quest for new photographic styles has always inspired image makers to seek out and develop fresh techniques like processing films in the wrong chemistry. It’s all a matter of using any means at your disposal to achieve your ends, which is why computer manipulation should be seen as just another aspect of the image mak- ing process. The following techniques begin by emulating the results achieved with chemicals, but as will be seen, there is ample room for exploration to go further and create many types of color shifted results. Use the basic formula as a springboard for new ideas and variations beyond the scope of a wet darkroom. Photoshop is especially able to handle wild distortions thanks to extended 16-bit channel support with color adjustments This is now available for a limited range of Photoshop functions, including basic filters. Extreme or repeated color changes com- pound the data loss in each color channel – you may not necessarily notice this unless you later inspect the color channels individually. A Levels histogram readout will certainly show where gaps in the levels occur. Data gets lost when working at 16-bit too, but crucially when you revert or compress to 8-bit color there is more than enough data to fill in the gaps. Close analysis will show the difference between a series of color adjustments made in 16-bit and 8-bit. An 8-bit image may result in some signs of posterization at certain delicate parts of the image. You will see better preserved image detail in the 16-bit color manipulated image. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Coloring effects 383 Cross-processing There are two types of cross-processing, both of which gained popularity towards the late eighties. There was the E-6 transparency film processed in C-41 color nega- tive chemicals technique and C-41 film processed in E-6. For the latter effect, you used Kodak VHC film, overexposed by 2 stops and overprocessed by 1 stop. The highlights became compressed in the yellow and magenta layers, so pure whites appeared pinky orange and shadow tones contained a strong cyan/blue cast. Most of the mid to highlight detail (like skin tones) got compressed or lost. It was a very popular technique with fashion and portrait photographers who were fond of bleach- ing out skin tones anyway. In fact, Kodak designed this emulsion specifically for wedding photographers. This was in order to cope with the high contrast subject tones of black morning suits and white bridal gowns. The sales of VHC rocketed. Kodak must have assumed the new demand was coming from their traditional wed- ding market base, so set about improving the VHC emulsion after which VHC did not cross-process so effectively unfortunately. From a technical standpoint, the manipulation of silver images in this unnatural way is destructive. I have had to scan in cross-processed originals and typically there are large missing chunks of data on the histogram. The digital method of manipulating images to such extremes carries its own risks too. It is all too easy to distort the color in such a way that image data slips off the end of the histogram scale and is irrevocably lost. Having said that, the digital method has the added benefit that you can be working on a copy file and so therefore the original data is never completely thrown away. Secondly, you are in precise control of which data is to be discarded, taking the hit or miss element out of the equation. I have looked at several methods of imitating the cross-processed look in Photoshop and concluded that Curves adjustments are probably the best method with which to demonstrate these particular techniques. Figure 14.1 replicates the C-41 film pro- cessed in E-6 effect. Notice the adjustment of the highlight points in the red and blue channels – this creates the creamy white highlight and the curve shape of the lower portions of the red and blue channels produces the cross-curved color cast in the shadows. The curves in Figure 14.2 show that the tonal range is uncompressed. A contrast increasing curve is introduced to both the red and green channels, while the blue channel has a complementary shaped contrast-reducing curve – this again creates a cross-curved color cast, as in Figure 14.1. But overall Figure 14.2 produces a more contrasty outcome, similar to the effect of processing E-6 transparency film pro- cessed in C-41 color negative chemicals. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers 384 Figure 14.1 The C-41 film processed in E-6 chemicals cross-processing color effect. Client: West Row, Leeds. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Coloring effects 385 Figure 14.2 The C-41 film processed in E-6 chemicals cross-processing color effect. Model: Ane Linge. Photograph by Thomas Fahey. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers 386 Channel Mixer adjustments As the Photoshop program develops, so you adapt your way of working. The Chan- nel Mixer can achieve the sort of coloring effects that once could only be done with the Apply Image command. The Channel Mixer is an interesting image adjustment tool, which alters the image by swapping color channel information, sometimes pro- ducing quite unique and subtle color adjustments which cannot necessarily be achieved with the other color adjustment tools. Controlling the Channel Mixer is no easy task. The example here shows you how to make a photograph appear to have been taken at sunset and make the scene appear to have richer, golden colors. 1 This image is correctly color balanced, but it lacks the drama of a golden warm sunlit image. One answer would be to adjust the overall color balance by applying a curves correction. The Channel Mixer, however, offers a radically different approach, it allows you to mix the color channel contents and does so on-the-fly. 2 Examine the Channel Mixer settings shown be- low. The main color enhancement occurs in the red channel. I boosted the red channel to 125%, mixed in a little of the green channel and sub- tracted 34% with the blue channel. Very slight adjustments were made to the green and blue channels, but you will notice how the green and blue channel percentages remained anchored close to 100%. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Coloring effects 387 Color overlays There are various ways you can colorize an image in Photoshop and my favorite method is to add a solid color fill layer from the adjustment layer menu in the Layers palette and alter the layer blending mode to either Color or Overlay mode. The Overlay blend mode generally produces the most satisfying results. Try adding a solid color fill layer, set the blend mode to Overlay (or Color for a slightly more washed-out look) and reduce the opacity to 20–30%. The Color blending mode is grouped with Luminosity, Hue and Saturation. Each of these blending modes oper- ates along a similar principle: an HSB component of the pixel values of the blend layer replaces those of the underlying pixels. HSB refers to Hue, Saturation and Brightness (luminosity). The following technique illustrates how you can combine a color gradient fill in an Overlay blend mode to simulate the effect of filtering the light that is used to light the subject in a photograph. 1 This is a fairly simple technique to reproduce, which uses a Gradient Fill layer to simulate the effect of lighting a subject with strong colored gels. To reproduce the technique shown here, the subject has to be shot against a white back- ground. Go to the Layers palette and click on the Adjustment layer button and choose Gradi- ent Fill. It doesn’t matter which gradient loads to start with. Close the gradient dialog and change the blend mode for the Gradient Fill layer to Overlay and maybe reduce the Opacity per- centage down to 66%. Now double-click the Gradient Fill layer (I also selected the radial gra- dient option) and choose a suitable color gradi- ent. In this example I chose Blue, Red, Yellow and I checked the Dither checkbox. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers 388 2 If the gradient was seen in Normal blend mode it would look like this. But because it is set to Overlay blend mode we get a nice colorized effect as shown in the next diagram. 3 When the Align with layer checkbox is left unchecked and you move the cursor over to the document window, it will change to become a move tool and en- able you to position the gradi- ent anywhere you please in the image. To change gradient set- tings, click on the gradient bar in the Gradient Fill dialog. You can use the Scale setting to scale the proportions of the gradient. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Coloring effects 389 Color mode: The hue and saturation values of the blend layer are combined with the luminosity of the underlying layers. The effect is to colorize the layers below. Hue mode: Only the hue values of the blend layer are combined with the underlying saturation and luminosity values. The layers beneath are colorized, but the saturation of the base image is retained. Saturation mode: The saturation values of the blend layer replace those of the un- derlying layer. A pastel colored overlay layer will cause the underlying layers to become desaturated, but not alter the hue or luminosity values. Luminosity mode: The brightness values of the blend layer replace those of the underlying, but do not effect the hue and saturation. Retouching with overlays Let’s look at more ways these and other overlay blending modes can be applied when retouching a photograph. Suppose you have a landscape picture and are look- ing for a simple method to remove the clouds from the sky. Cloning with the clone stamp tool or cutting and pasting feathered selections could possibly work, but you would have to be very careful to prevent your repairs from showing. For example, how will you manage to clone in the sky around the branches and leaves? The sky is graduated from dark blue at the top to a lighter blue on the horizon. The easiest way to approach this task is to fill the sky using a gradient set to the Darken blending mode. The foreground and background colors used in the gradient are sampled from the sky image. Darken mode checks the pixel densities in each color channel. If the pixel value is lighter than the blend color it gets replaced with the blend color. In the accompanying example, the clouds (which are lighter than the fill colors) are removed by a linear gradient fill. The trees, which are darker than the fill colors, are left almost completely unaltered. To apply a gradient fill, I clicked the fill layer button at the bottom of the Layers palette and chose Gradient. The Gradient type was Foreground to Background, and I changed the fill layer blending mode to Darken. Before I did this, I loaded the blue channel as a selection. The Blue channel contains the most contrast between the sky and the trees. When a selection is active and you add a new fill or adjustment layer, or you click on the Add layer mask button, a layer mask is automatically added which reveals the selected areas only. As with adjustment layers, fill layers can be adjusted on-the-fly while retaining the layer masking. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. [...]... remove this watermark Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers 3 To repeat this transformation, I made use of the repeat transform feature, I kept duplicating the last transformed layer by dragging the last transformed layer down to the New Layer button in the Layers palette and chose Edit > Transform > Again, or the shortcut Command/ Ctrl+Shift-T I ended up with six repeating transformed layers as shown... www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark Layer effects Transforms and alignment Any transform you carry out can be repeated using the Edit > Transform > Again command (Command/Ctrl+Shift-T) The transform coordinate change is memorized in Photoshop, so even if other image edits are carried out in between, the Transform > Again command will remember the last used transform When more than one layer is present, the... functionality to the Photoshop program In turn this ongoing development has boosted the status of Photoshop as a professional image manipulation program Even high-end retouching systems cannot match this versatility and will rely on accessing Photoshop for its plug-in rich features Most filters have a dialog box interface with variable settings The dialog previews in Photoshop 7.0 are now twice their former size,... follow the mask outline 399 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers Painting effects Take a look at the illustrations below to see how this can work The potential is there to have three-dimensional painting brushes in Photoshop For example, if you have an empty layer with the Drop Shadow layer effect applied to it, whenever you... distortion sliders below 409 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers Figure 15.5 A magazine cover like this could now be designed entirely within Photoshop The masthead was a path I copied from Illustrator and pasted into Photoshop I then chose Edit > Define Custom Shape, to add it to the Shape presets When saved as a Shape,... attributed to Photoshop s success has been the program’s support for plug-in filters A huge industry of third-party companies has grown in response to the needs of users wanting extra features within Photoshop John Knoll, who together with his brother Thomas Knoll originally wrote the Photoshop program, was responsible for creating many of the plug-ins that shipped with the earlier versions of Photoshop. . .Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers 1 The before picture contains a cloudy sky Sample colors from the top of the sky and from the horizon to set the foreground and background colors 390 2 Load the blue channel as a selection and click on the Create new fill button at the bottom... and they would easily send colors way out of the CMYK gamut So to unleash the full creative power of Photoshop plug-ins, this is a good argument for having to work in RGB mode and convert to CMYK later 413 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers 1 Here in the final stages of adding a color overlay to an image on a white background,... Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers Chapter Fifteen Layer Effects T his chapter shows you some of the special things you can now do in Layers and how these features will be of use to image makers as well as designers working in graphics or web design Layer effects enable multiple (and reversible) Photoshop layering actions This is a wonderful tool... different filter settings There is not enough room for me to describe every filter present, but in this chapter, we shall look at a few of the ways filters can enhance an image, highlighting the more useful creative filters plus a few personal favorites 411 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers Blur filters The Radial blur does . Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Adobe Photoshop 7. 0 for Photographers 3 90 1 The before picture contains a cloudy sky. Sample colors from. www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Adobe Photoshop 7. 0 for Photographers 386 Channel Mixer adjustments As the Photoshop program develops, so you adapt