Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
POWER USERS' CLINIC: BLEND MODES INSTEAD OF DODGE AND BURN
You can do a lot in Elements without ever touching blend modes. But if you take time to familiar-
ize yourself with them, you might find they become a regular part of your image-editing toolkit.
For instance, you may prefer the effect you get using a layer in Overlay mode to that of the Dodge
and Burn tools.
To adjust a photo using a layer in Overlay blend mode, first make basic adjustments like Levels or
Shadows/Highlights. Then, when you're ready to fine-tune the photo by enhancing details, here's
what you do:
1. Create a new layer . Go to Layer→New→Layer or press Shift+Ctrl+N/Shift- -N.
2. In the New Layer dialog box, choose Overlay from the Mode menu, turn on the “Fill
with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray)” checkbox, and then click OK . You won't see
anything happen to your photo just yet.
3. Set your foreground and background colors to black and white, respectively . Press D
to set the foreground and background squares to black and white.
4. Activate the Brush tool . Choose a brush (set to Normal mode) and set its opacity very
low, maybe 17 percent or less. (You'll need to experiment a bit to see how low a setting is
low enough.)
5. Paint over the areas you want to adjust . Paint with white to bring up the detail in dark
areas and with black to darken overly light areas. (Remember that you can switch from
one color to the other by pressing X.) The details in your photo magically become clearer.
Figure 12-16 shows the results of using Overlay mode on the image from Figure 12-13 so you can
compare the results. This method has the added advantage of being adjustable—simply change
the opacity of the Overlay layer to tweak the results. You can carry this technique to extremes for
really interesting effects when you want an artistic (rather than realistic) result.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search