Levels Adjustment Layers and Layer Masks - Step by Step

Step 1: Open an image that is either too dark or too light in different parts of the picture. Now make a new levels adjustment layer by clicking the button on the very bottom of the layers pallet that looks like a circle that is half black and half white. Then select the levels option.



Step 2: A new levels dialog box will open. You should see a graph with three arrow points underneath. A black one on the left a grey one in the middle and a white one on the right. Now since I am trying to make my subject brighter, I’m going to grab the white arrow and pull it to the left keeping an eye one the picture to see how the change looks on my subject. I might also move the middle grey arrow a bit to the left as well. Now, if you were trying to make your subject darker you would move the left or black arrow to the right.

Now as I move the slider my whole picture is getting much lighter because I'm effectively adding more white to the whole image. This is making my already bright background very bright, but I’m not worried about that right now. I am just looking at my subject that I want to lighten up a bit.



Step 3: Once you find the settings that make the subject look good click ok. Now we will fix the other parts of the image with a layer mask. Make sure your new adjustment layer is selected in the layers pallet then click the paintbrush tool. Set your brush to paint with black. You can do this quickly by pushing the d key on your keyboard followed by the x key. Now just paint any area in your image that you don’t want the adjustment layer to change. The brush won’t actually paint black on your image, it will just mask the adjustment layer. In my case I would paint the background leaving my subjects unpainted. As you paint you should see that the parts of your image that you have painted are reverting back to the state they were at before you made the adjustment layer. If you mess up a spot just push the x key on your keyboard to set the brush to paint white. This will remove the mask.

If you would rather just paint the part you wanted to be lighter or darker just fill the adjustment layer with black then paint your subject white.

Remember you can change your brush size, hardness, and opacity to paint more accurately. Now save a copy of your image and enjoy.

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Remove Color Cast - Step by Step

Step 1: Open up a color image in Photoshop that has a color cast or tint.



Step 2: click the Image menu and select the adjustments option then the levels option.



Step 3: This will open the Levels dialog box. If this box is coving much of your image try to move it off to one side if you have room. Now look at the bottom right hand corner of the levels dialog box and you should see 3 buttons in a row with a picture of an eyedropper. One black, one grey, and one white. Double click the white one.



Step 4: A new box should open up. Again if it is covering much of you image try to move it to one side. Now Look at your image and find a spot on it that should be white but isn’t due too the color cast. Good places to look for white in images are peoples socks, white t-shirts, pieces of paper, but really any spot that should be white will work. Now the ideal spot shouldn’t be 100% pure white, but just a tiny tiny bit darker but still fairly white. Now click that spot with your mouse.
Now don’t touch your mouse! You need to leave the mouse in the exact spot that you clicked for this trick to work.



Step 5: Now look for three little boxes in a group in the color picker dialog box that have the letters R G and B to the left of them. These boxes all have numbers in them that represent the color you clicked with the mouse. Look to see which of these three boxes has the highest number in it. We need to input this highest number into the other two boxes so that they all have the same number. But we need to do this without touching the mouse. To do this simply push the tab key till the box you want to change is highlighted then type in the number to match the highest number of the three. Do this to the two boxes that didn’t have the highest number then push the return key. The color picker box should close leaving only the levels box and your image.

Step 6: Now with out moving your mouse click the mouse button in the same spot it was originally clicked. Your image should change and the color should look much more neutral. You can now move your mouse again. Click ok.



Step 7: If a box comes up asking if you would like to change the default target color simply click no. Now you can save a copy of this image and enjoy.

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Extract Objects - Step by Step

Step 1: Open an image that has the object you want to extract in it. Select the extract option from the filter menu and a large dialog box will pop up.



Step 2: Highlight all of the edges of the object with the highlighter tool leaving no gaps. If your brush is too small or too big, adjust the size of your brush with the brush size tool option. You want to be able to easily highlight the edges with out too much excess highlighting on the object or the background. If your object has well defined lines, you should click the smart highlighting option, this will automatically adjust your brush size and usually works great.



Step 3: Switch to the fill tool (it looks like a paint bucket) and click in the middle of your object. Your object should now be highlighted and filled with a transparent blue color. Now click the preview button, this will show you how your extracted object will look. If you’re happy with the results just click ok.



Step 4: If not try experimenting with the smoothness slider in the options side of the dialog. You will need to hit preview again after you change the slider. Also try experimenting with the edge touchup and cleanup tools found on the left.



Step 5: When you get your object looking just right click ok. Photoshop will extract your object leaving a transparent background. You can now put the object on any kind of background you like.

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Convert to Black and White Using Adjustment Layers - Step by Step

Step 1: Open up a color image in Photoshop and make sure you have your layers pallet visible. If it isn’t visible just click on the window menu in Photoshop and select the layers option.



Step 2:Next we will create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. To create this layer just click the button on the very bottom of the layers pallet that looks like a circle that is half black and half white. Then select the Hue/Saturation item.



Step 3: Now you will see a dialog box with sliders for hue saturation and lightness. For now we will leave all of those settings alone and just click OK. You will notice there is a new layer in the layers pallet.



Step 4: Now create another hue saturation adjustment layer the same way we just did, only this time when the dialog box opens adjust the saturation slider all the way to the left. You should notice your image has turned black and white. Click ok. Now there should be a total of three layers in the layers pallet.



Step 5: Select the middle layer clicking on it once. Now we need to change this middle layer’s blending mode to Color. To change the blending mode look near the top of the layers pallet for a little drop down menu that currently says “normal” click on this menu and select the “color” option near the bottom of the list.



Step 6: Now if you look at the layers pallet you should notice that the middle layer is split into two sections, the one on the right should be a box that is just white. The one on the left looks like a bunch vertical of grey smudges with a slider below it. Double click the left and the hue saturation dialog box should come up. Now comes the magic. Try sliding the hue slider around and watch your image. Your image should be changing. Some parts will get lighter while others will get darker. This works by changing what colors Photoshop sees as black and which is sees as white. When you have found a setting you like for the hue slider, try adjusting the saturation slider to fine tune your image. Click ok when you are happy with your image. The good thing about using adjustment layers is your original image is still sitting untouched under the two adjustment layers and you can get back to it deleting or hiding the other two layers.

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Level Photos - Step by Step

Step 1: Find a tilted photo and open it in Photoshop.



Step 2: Select the Ruler tool from behind the eyedropper tool by clicking and holding on the eyedropper icon then selecting the ruler from the menu.




Step 3: Find a line in your image that should be level (horizontal) but isn't due to the tilt of your picture.



Step 4: Click on one end of your line with the ruler tool and drag along the line that should be horizontal. Release your mouse button to set the ruler tools's line.



Step 5: Select the "Image" menu in Photoshop then the "Rotate Canvas" option then the "Arbitrary..." option.



Step 6: Simply click OK when you see this dialog box. The correct angle should automatically be entered in the "Angle" box.



Step 7: Photoshop will then rotate your image and add some white space around the edges to accommodate the entire image.



Step 8: Select the crop tool from your tool pallet and crop out the extra white around your image.



Step 9: Your picture should now be perfectly level. Just save and enjoy.

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