Multiplier Layers?

[DavidUK]

A friend at work today who works in our marketing department was taking a look at one of my photos on his Macintosh using Photoshop CS.

He was clicking away so fast I didnt get chance to see what he did, but he applied something to the photo which instantly darkened the sky, almost like an electronic version of an ND Grad...

..question is, how did he do it? I'm sure he's mentioned multiplier layers before now..

I've been considering buying a book to help me for a while.. any suggestions? I'm using Photoshop 7 on the PC...

 

[Bachs]

Probably duplicated the layer, changed the blend mode on the layers palette to 'multiply', added a layer mask to it and applied a white to black gradient from top to bottom

 

[DavidUK]

Probably duplicated the layer, changed the blend mode on the layers palette to 'multiply', added a layer mask to it and applied a white to black gradient from top to bottom

...now why does that sound a lot simpler that it is!

I did actually see him create another layer, and he clicked on the photo and drag down about an inch or so.

 

[Bachs]

I did actually see him create another layer, and he clicked on the photo and drag down about an inch or so.

That was him applying the gradient..it doesn't have to be from the very top from the very bottom, you can narrow it and start/end it at various points in the image.
It doesn't even have to be black to white...it could be darker grey to a lighter shade of grey for a more subtle effect.
You can also lower the opacity of the duplicate layer to lessen the effect.

 

[DavidUK]

That was him applying the gradient..it doesn't have to be from the very top from the very bottom, you can narrow it and start/end it at various points in the image

.. I really need to get to grips with PS, think its time to hit the books. I never would have worked that out in a million years.

I'm still getting my head around colour management. :nut:

 

[Bachs]

.. I really need to get to grips with PS, think its time to hit the books. I never would have worked that out in a million years.

I'm still getting my head around colour management. :nut:

The Martin Evening and Scott Kelby books are the leaders. Don't know if the v7 books are still available though.
I'm reading the Martin Evening book and once you learn the basic principles, you can use your imagination to implement them.
The example I gave wasn't learned from a specific tutorial...I just applied the theory.
I just tried it on an image I had open and it worked.

 

[DavidUK]

The Martin Evening and Scott Kelby books are the leaders. Don't know if the v7 books are still available though.
I'm reading the Martin Evening book and once you learn the basic principles, you can use your imagination to implement them.
The example I gave wasn't learned from a specific tutorial...I just applied the theory.
I just tried it on an image I had open and it worked.

..might take a look at this ;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...2725/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_11_5/026-5280874-2286822

 

[noah]

i use the scott kelby book as it made me laugh.

the technique i learnt was a little different from bachs'

-go to layers palette, create new adjustment layer
-in the gradient dialogue box click the 2nd one in from the right in the top row (foreground to transparent), also check the 'reverse' box.
-go back to the layers palette and set the blend mode from normal to overlay.
-clicking on the gradient layer will bring up the dialogue box again. clicking on the box labelled gradient will bring up another box in which you can adjust the graduation of the gradient, you do this with the white slider.
-back under the original gradient box you can adjust how far the gradient extends using the scale box and slider.

i like this method because of all the fine tuning available. it becomes very straightforward after youve tried it once.

HTH

 

[DavidUK]

i use the scott kelby book as it made me laugh.

the technique i learnt was a little different from bachs'

-go to layers palette, create new adjustment layer
-in the gradient dialogue box click the 2nd one in from the right in the top row (foreground to transparent), also check the 'reverse' box.
-go back to the layers palette and set the blend mode from normal to overlay.
-clicking on the gradient layer will bring up the dialogue box again. clicking on the box labelled gradient will bring up another box in which you can adjust the graduation of the gradient, you do this with the white slider.
-back under the original gradient box you can adjust how far the gradient extends using the scale box and slider.

i like this method because of all the fine tuning available. it becomes very straightforward after youve tried it once.

HTH

..thanks Noah, I'll give that a try. Ordered myself a book from Amazon yesterday so hopefully that will help me too.