Quick guide to mucking around with adjustment layers

[vonnagy]

This tutorial is more to show what adjustment layers can do, rather than how to accheive desired results. Why use adjustment layers? Well, the changes are done in a layer, instead of the image itself. Therefore, once you save your file, you can always go back on tweak it! yay! Beware of large file sizes!! One note here, i exaggerated outcome of this result so hopefully it more a demonstrates of possibilties:

Original image:
Darn, colours a bit flat :scratch:

:idea: I'll pump of the saturation! however, i just don't feel like the colour blue today :scratch:

:idea: Ah reds and yellow are the order of the day with colour balance! the image is still a bit dark :scratch:

:idea: I'll just play around with the levels!. Darn foreground is still a bit dark. :scratch:

:idea: ok so its not an adjustment layer here. What I did was duplicate the main image. On the duplicated layer I right clicked and choose layer options->screen->85%. After that i erased the sky so it would not be blown out but i can now see whats going on with the foreground :cheer:

When i wake the next day and think whooah, what was i thinking :shock: , with adjustment layers i can always go back and change 'em. Ya gotta love it!!

 

[Osmer_Toby]

Outstanding.
i can see the teacher in you, dude. once a teacher, always a teacher, eh?

 

[drlynn]

Nice tutorial, Mark. Always nice to learn different ways to do things in PS. The last step of duplicating and screening was new to me. I do contrast masking a similar way, but had not seen that particular technique before.

Thanks!!