The Photoshop Layers And Selections Workshop

Learn to harness the full power of layers and selections in Photoshop—and let your creativity soar!

Learning the basics of Photoshop is an admirable feat. Unfortunately, that’s exactly where most people end their Photoshop journey: with a fundamental appreciation of the program and the ability to execute a few helpful techniques. But without a full understanding of and capability with layers and selections—arguably Photoshop’s most powerful tools—you’re leaving the vast majority of Photoshop’s power and potential untapped.

The Photoshop Layers and Selections Workshop is here to change all that. In this book, photographer and bestselling author Glyn Dewis focuses on these two key features of Photoshop, knowing that if you can learn and master them, you’ll have everything you need to maximize Photoshop’s potential, bring out the best in your work, and harness your full creativity.

In this book, you will:

• Start off with a detailed breakdown of the Photoshop Home screen and Workspace, including how to best set it up for your way of working.

• Grow your understanding of layers and learn how to maximize their potential in your selections workflow.

• Conquer selections and cutouts by mastering the use of tools including Select and Mask, the Pen Tool, Channel Pulls, Vector Masks, Color Range, and more.

• Learn how to make and fake the best possible hair and fur selections.

• Work your way through three selections workflows, combining tools and techniques to get the very best possible results.

• Learn some of Glyn's favorite Photoshop techniques in a bonus chapter.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Photoshop Workspace
Chapter 2: Layers
Chapter 3: Selections and 101
Chapter 4: Selection Tools
Chapter 5: The Pen Tool and Vector Masks
Chapter 6: Select and Mask
Chapter 7: Sky Replacement
Chapter 8: Cleaning Up Selections
Chapter 9: Selection Workflows
Chapter 10: Bonus Content

Adobe Photoshop is one of the most powerful image-editing applications ever created, but it is also widely thought to be difficult to learn, infinite in scope, and nearly impossible to master. For these reasons, many photographers choose to stay exclusively with Lightroom for all their photography needs. But for those photographers who subscribe to the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan—which includes both Lightroom and Photoshop—to leave Photoshop unopened and unexplored is to deny yourself the ability to take your creativity and expression to a whole new level.

In The Photoshop Toolbox, photographer and bestselling author Glyn Dewis breaks down Photoshop into just three main features: layer masks, brushes, and blend modes. Glyn has taught thousands online, in person, and through his bestselling books The Photoshop Workbook and Photograph Like a Thief. Over and over, he has recognized that once a user truly understands these three tools, there is nothing holding them back from achieving whatever they want to accomplish in Photoshop. With Glyn explaining not only the “what” but also the “why” behind layer masks, brushes, and blend modes, you’re empowered to think beyond each specific example and to ask that all-powerful question, “What would happen if I used that technique on this other image?”

Written expressly for photographers with little knowledge of Photoshop, in The Photoshop Toolbox you’ll learn:

• Photoshop basics: Explore Photoshop’s Workspace, Tool Bar, Options Bar, Properties, and Layers

• Layer masks: Learn the basics of layer masks, as well as specific techniques that incorporate cutouts, removing halos, Content Aware Fill, Look Up Tables (LUTs), and more

• Brushes: Brushes are useful for everything from cutouts to creating special effects like snow, debris, grass, and even your own signature

• Blend modes: Use blend modes for tricky selections, brightening and darkening an image, and tidying up a layer mask

• Additional tips, tricks, and techniques: Glyn devotes an entire chapter to “extra” techniques such as removing reddening skin, creating smoke, matching color, and building depth in your image with contrast, light, and sharpness

Finally, in the last chapter of the book, Glyn brings it all together with a start-to-finish project concentrating on photo retouching skills.

Professional commercial photographer and digital imager Jeff Schewe (based in Chicago, USA) has teamed up with best-selling Photoshop author Martin Evening to create this goldmine of information for advanced Photoshop users. Building on Martin Evening's successful Adobe Photoshop for Photographers series of titles, this new guide takes the same winning approach and applies it to a professional Photoshop workflow. Highly visual, with clear, step-by-step tutorials, this advanced guide will really appeal to those who want to see how the experts approach Photoshop, producing consistent top-quality results on time and to budget. The authors describe in detail how to carry out some of their favorite Photoshop image editing and retouching techniques using examples taken from real-life professional shoots. The techniques described here don't just show you clever things you can do in Photoshop, they show how you can use Photoshop in a professional context, meeting the demands of art directors and fulfilling tricky briefs. Highly practical, unique and inspiring, this is essential reading for all professional and aspiring professional photographers, and anyone else looking for high-quality results using Photoshop. * Gain a unique insight into a professional Photoshop workflow, with industry experts Martin Evening and Jeff Schewe * Become a retouching master with advanced masking and compositing techniques * Prepare your images for the best possible output.

Covering Photoshop CS3, this work shows designers how to create, correct, and control with layers, the most powerful tool in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Featuring step-by-step instructions and practical examples, this guide includes a CD-ROM with a robust library and presets of practice images.

As the feature list of Adobe Photoshop continues to grow, even users with years of experience can feel overwhelmed by the many tools and methods for selecting or isolating parts of an image. Layers, channels, paths, clipping masks, layer masks, vector masks, the Pen tool, Magic Wand, and so on — all let users work on specific regions of an image, but in fundamentally different ways. Making clean, efficient selections are essential skills for any Photoshop user, whether a graphic designer, professional photographer, or hobbyist. Graphic designer, teacher, and Photoshop expert Nigel French saves you hours of frustration by illuminating the best selection tools and techniques for specific tasks, and the most flexible approaches to correcting and editing images in Photoshop. Using step-by-step examples, this book clarifies often-misunderstood selection methods, shows which masks best select a range of tone or color, and demonstrates how the right tools and techniques can help transform even the most mediocre picture into a polished image, saving you hours of time. • Learn the fundamentals of making selections, and when to choose which method • Blend images and replace backgrounds using layer, vector, and channel masks • Correct color and exposure using adjustment layers • Make next-to-impossible hair selections with channel masks • Create a non-destructive workflow, giving you total creative freedom

Photoshop CS5 is more amazing than ever, but it can be overwhelming if you're just getting started. This book makes learning Photoshop a breeze by explaining things in a conversational, friendly style -- with no technical jargon. After a thorough introduction to the program, you'll delve deep into Photoshop's secrets with expert tips and practical advice you can use every day. Learn your way around. Get a guided tour of Photoshop's efficient new workspace Unlock the power. Learn the best ways to use layers, channels, masks, paths, and more Bring images to life. Discover how to effectively retouch, resize, and recolor your photos Be artistic. Create beautiful illustrations and paintings, and use text effectively Share your work. Produce great-looking photos for print and the Web Work smarter and faster. Automate common chores and install plug-ins for complex tasks Get bonus online content. Find more great material on the Missing CD page Written with the clarity, humor, and objective scrutiny, Photoshop CS5: The Missing Manual is the friendly, thorough resource you need.

Layers are the building blocks for working in Photoshop. With the correct use of the Layers Tool, you can edit individual components of your images nondestructively to ensure that your end result is a combination of the best parts of your work. Despite how important it is for successful Photoshop work, the Layers Tool is one of the most often misused and misunderstood features within this powerful software program. This book will show you absolutely everything you need to know to work with layers, including how to use masks, blending, modes and layer management. You'll learn professional techniques as you become completely familiar with the power of layers as an organizational, correction, and revision tool that will quickly become an essential part of your overall Photoshop workflow.