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I’d like to briefly follow up on my last post that had to so with adding or removing contrast and exposure via the Levels adjustment in Adobe Photoshop. The reason I’d like to discuss the topic again is twofold. First, I have a photograph this time and the photo has an awesome bell curve that I want you to see, and second, I’d like to talk about the Red, Green and Blue variables that are available for adjustment in the respective Properties panel as well. These three additional opportunities can add a completely new look to any image or video clip and it’s important you know they’re there.

In today’s post, I’d like to work toward correcting an image using a Levels adjustment layer in Adobe Photoshop. This won’t be an in-depth post; it’ll merely be a review of a topic we’re already familiar with. All I’d like to do is follow the necessary steps that will give the photo I’m working on some more contrast and exposure. I’ll also explain how to go about making adjustments to each separate color as well.

Today’s Demo Photo

Believe it or not, this image has lots of potential. While it looks somewhat washed out here, I believe that I can breathe some life into it. Although, it is beautiful the way it is and I’m sure many folks out there would agree with that sentiment.

Applying the Levels Adjustment Layer

Okay, the image has already been opened up in Photoshop and I’m ready to apply the Levels adjustment layer. As I demonstrated in my last post, all I need to do is head up to the Adjustments panel and click the Levels icon. Doing so will add a new adjustment layer directly above the image layer in the Layers panel.

As you can see from the above screenshot, the new layer has appeared and the accompanying Properties panel has appeared as well. Next, I’ll make the adjustments.

Adjusting the Image via the Properties Panel

Inside of the Properties panel is that curve I referred to above. It’s pretty nice and it’s going to be easy to fix the contrast and exposure.

We know the rule. Place the center point under the center of the curve and then move the two outer points towards the middle. I’ll do that now. Let’s see the results.

Moving the gray center point to the left brightens the midtones and moving it to the right darkens them. Moving the black left point to the right darkens the shadows white moving the white right point to the left brightens the highlights. Here’s the image after this simple adjustment.

This is great, but is there more I can do to make the photo look even better?

Further Adjustments to the Red, Green & Blue Colors Separately

If I click the RGB drop-down box that sits right above the curve in the Properties panel, I’ll have the ability to isolate each color for individual adjustment.

To let you know, as I click through the colors, the curve in the panel changes. The rules hold true for each color as well, regarding the movable points. If I go ahead and choose a color and then slide the center point to the left, I’ll see that color added to the image. As I move the other points, I’ll see changes as well. This is the perfect way to add warmth or coolness to a photo. Also, it’s a great way to correct an image that has too much of one color or another.

I just made some slight adjustments with these colors and this is the final output. While it does look almost identical to the last photo I posted above, it is slightly more saturated with color.

My point with this post was to show you how much you can accomplish with one straightforward adjustment layer. As long as the image you’re working on is in fairly good shape, you can add a lot of interest to it via the Levels adjustment.

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I hope I clearly explained how to use the Levels adjustment layer in Adobe Photoshop to enhance the look of an photograph. If you have any questions regarding this post, please leave them for me in the comment section down below. Thanks for reading!

As I mentioned in my previous post about editing video in Adobe Photoshop, many of the actions an editor can take to correct the color or exposure for photos can be taken when working with video as well. The process is exactly the same for both, which makes the transition from photo editing to video editing rather seamless.

One common area of correction when it comes to video editing has to do with exposure. Oftentimes with video, as is true with photos, the exposure simply isn’t bright enough. Some clips look dark, dull and drab. The good thing is, this type of deficiency is so easy to correct. If you’ve ever worked with adjustment layers in Photoshop, you likely already know what to do.

In today’s post, I’d like to discuss how to correct a video clip that’s too dull for anyone’s liking. The clip I’ll use isn’t bright enough and there’s not enough contrast in it. To make this correction, I’ll use the Levels adjustment. I do want you to be aware of something before I begin though. Each adjustment layer that’s applied to a layer in a group while editing video in Photoshop gets applied to the layer directly below it. Oftentimes, when putting together many video clips for edit in Photoshop, layers get stacked on top of one another in the Layers panel. If these layers weren’t in groups and an adjustment layer was applied to one of them, that adjustment layer will have an effect on all layers beneath it. When layers are in groups though and an adjustment is applied to a layer, that adjustment will only have an effect on that layer directly below, not all the others as well. This is something to keep in mind. I wanted to mention it here because in today’s example, I’ll be using only one layer in its own group. This is the default that Photoshop offers when a video file is initially opened. If you look closely, you can see a small arrow in the adjustment layer that points to the layer directly below.

Today’s Demo Video Clip

For this example, I needed to find a video clip that wasn’t too dark. Although I want to demonstrate how to brighten exposure, I needed the exposure histogram curve to be somewhat centered so the actions I take are easy to see. I think I located a good video. It’s got a decent curve that’ll lend itself well to some brightening and some sweet contrast. Here’s a screenshot. Mind you, this is a screenshot of the train station after it’s been corrected.

Applying the Levels Adjustment Layer

Okay, I’ve gone ahead and opened up the video clip into Adobe Photoshop. The clip’s layer is in a group as can be seen in the screenshot below.

And here’s a screenshot of how dark and dull this clip really is. Very uninspiring.

To brighten this video clip up and to add some contrast, I’m going to apply the Levels adjustment from the Adjustments panel. To do this, I’ll head up there and click on the Levels icon.

After I apply that adjustment layer, I’ll see it sitting right on top of the video clip layer, with that down facing arrow I spoke up earlier.

Remember, that arrow indicates that the adjustment layer will be applied only to the layer directly below.

Correcting the Exposure

In one of the above screenshots, you saw the Properties panel for the Levels adjustment. The trick with making adjustments in this panel is that the center point needs to find a new home under the peak of the curve, or thereabouts. So, if I move the center point to the left, that will brighten up the midtones in the video. Then, to add some contrast to the clip, I’ll push the white point to the left and the black point to the right. This squeezes the dynamic range and makes for a very nice image. After moving those two outer points, I’ll need to adjust the center gray point again, because that one moves on its own when the others are pushed. Here’s the resulting positions.

The final result will be something like the leading image in this post. A clip that offers nice exposure with some good contrast.

So, the loose rule for making levels adjustments is to center the midpoint under the peak of the curve and then push the black and white points to they sit at the bottoms of the left and right curves. You want these points to hug the bell shape.

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I hope I clearly explained how to apply a Levels adjustment layer to correct an underexposed video clip in Adobe Photoshop. If you have any questions regarding this post, please let me know in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!

The really cool thing about using Adobe Photoshop for video editing is that much of what you know about editing photographs in this application can be used for editing video. Really, if you think about it, all a video is is multiple photographs that are being displayed across a timeline. Just as you can crop, lighten, darken, rotate or apply an adjustment layer to a photo, you can do the same to a video. And the process is exactly the same. Many people I know are completely aware of how to enhance their photos, but have no idea how to edit videos. Luckily, Photoshop makes the process extremely simple.

In today’s post, I’d like to bring two things to your attention. These two things may prove useful when editing video in Adobe Photoshop. The first one is the use of blending modes for video and the second one is the use of layer masks for the same type of editing. As I mentioned above, your knowledge of these two features for photography can be transferred over to videography. I really like the fact that Adobe has made the transition as seamless as they have.

Today’s Demo Video

While I’ll be using a video clip for this post, I’m not even going to show you any moving scenes. What I’d like to demonstrate below is how to go about using both of the tools I just mentioned while doing your editing. It’s not necessary that you see any movement in this post. That said, here’s a still shot of the video I’ll be using.

The reason I chose this particular video clip is because there’s lots of white in its background. I’m going to use that white to show you how blending mode can affect the clip in relation to a background layer.

Applying a Blending Mode to a Video

For this example, the first thing I’m going to do is remove the video clip from the group is was automatically put in. To do this, I’ll right click on the Video Group layer and then select Ungroup Layers from the menu that appears.

The reason I’m doing this is because I’m going to add a background layer next and having a group for the video layer and the background layer isn’t necessary.

Next, I’ll add that background layer. The reason I’d like to add this is because I’m going to be applying a blending mode and I’d like the video clip to have something to contrast.

To add the background layer, I’ll head down to the bottom of the Layers panel and click on the Create New Layer button.

From there, I’ll drag that new layer down in the Layers panel so it’s underneath the video layer. I’ll also be sure to stretch its timeline so it matches the video’s length down in the Timeline panel. Finally, I’ll use the Paint Bucket Tool to pour a nice light yellow into the background layer. Here’s what I have so far.

Mind you, this is all just setup to show you a very simple concept.

To apply a blending mode, all I need to do is click on the appropriate drop-down box in the Layers panel. First, I’ll make sure the video clip layer is selected in the Layer panel. After I click one blending mode, I can use my down and up arrow keys on my keyboard to quickly filter through the list.

If I choose the Lighten blending mode, I’ll see something like this.

And if I choose the Luminosity blending mode, I’ll see something like this.

If I choose the Difference blending mode, I’ll see something like this.

My point here is that these blending modes can add some cool effects to video that shouldn’t be dismissed. They also apply to every single frame of the clip they’re applied to, which is sort of hard to wrap your head around at first. These blending modes are quite powerful.

For the next step though, I’d like to apply the Multiply blending mode. The reason for this is because I’m going to apply a layer mask to brush away some of the video clip layer. Notice how all the white has disappeared with this mode. The background layer shows through.

Applying a Layer Mask to a Video Clip

Layer masks with video work the same exact way they work with regular photos. To apply one, all I have to do is make sure the video layer is selected in the Layers panel and then head down to the bottom of that panel. From there, I can click on the Add Layer Mask button.

Once I click on that, the new layer mask will appear inside of the video clip layer.

So here’s the point with this section. If I go ahead and use my Brush Tool to paint the color black anywhere in the video, I’ll essentially hide that part of the video from view – for the entire duration of the video clip. This is like masking a photo on steroids. As an example, I’ll soften up my brush and size it a bit and then paint away the right top part of the video. Let’s see a still shot of that.

Do you see how the right side is now hidden? It’s sort of tough to explain all this here, but I want you to understand the possibilities. If you mask out part of a video, you’ll have tremendous flexibility when it comes to your editing. In this post, I’m merely demonstrating that something is possible and leaving the creativity up to you.

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I hope I clearly explained how to go about applying a blending mode and a layer mask to a video clip in Adobe Photoshop. If you have any questions regarding this post, please let me know in the comment section down below. Thanks for reading!

As I’ve said a number of times, working in the Layers panel can sometimes get confusing. I know that in some of the examples I give, there aren’t many layers at all. In real projects though, there can be an enormous number of them. I mean hundreds. They’re tucked in areas every which way. And when there’s that many layers, things can get confusing – quick. Also, working in the panel with this much volume can become cumbersome, so anything that can be done to help out is certainly welcome.

In my last post about Adobe Photoshop, I talked about some pretty neat keyboard shortcuts that have to do with the Layers panel. In today’s post, I’d like to continue on that path, but switch gears a bit and discuss some tricks that can help out when dealing with layer effects. I don’t want to cover too much here, so this post will be quick. I merely want to show you a few tips you might not know exist.

Demo Photo

I probably used this photo already, but I don’t mind. It’s got some nice room up top for me to place some text in, so I think this will work out just fine.

Adding Effects

To prepare for the tips I’d like to share, I’ll need to add a few more layers and then add some effects to each one. I think I’ll type out “The Open Road” (each word on its own layer) and then add some strokes and drop shadows to each text layer. Actually, let me just start off by adding those effects to the word “The” because that will give me a chance to show you something in just a moment.

After adding the layers and the effects, this is what the Layers panel will look like.

And this is the image so far.

Copying Layer Effects From One Layer to Another

Okay, here goes. I’d like to now copy the effects I applied to the word “The” to the remaining words. How can I do that? Well, if I simply hold down the Alt key (Option on Mac) on my keyboard and drag those effects down to any layer I’d like to apply them to and then drop, I’ll basically be copy/pasting. I’ll do that right now.

I placed a red arrow in the above screenshot. That’s to show you that I didn’t click and drag the entire layer down to the other layers, I actually clicked and dragged the effects down to the other layers. That arrow is pointing to where I clicked.

Replacing One Layer’s Effects with Another Layer’s Effects

This tip is very similar to the last one. Now that I have all three type layers with the same exact effects, what if I wanted to adjust one because I just don’t think it looks right? I’ll go into to the Layer Style palette and make the Drop Shadow a bit larger for the word “Open” and I think I’ll make the Stroke a hair thicker as well. It will look like this when I’m finished. You can compare the word “Open” with the other words and see the difference in effects applied to all those words.

See the difference? Now I’d like to apply those same changes to the word “Road,” but I don’t want to have to open the Layer Style palette again and do all that work. I wonder if there’s a way to copy those changes over from one layer to another, where the other layer already has similar effects. Basically, I’d like to replace some existing layer effects with some others.

To replace layer effects with existing ones, all I have to use is the same exact command I just used above. If I hold down the Alt key on my keyboard and drag the effects from one layer to another, that target layer’s effects will be updated with the source’s effects.

Collapsing Layer Effects in the Layers Panel

If I was interested in hiding the layer effects in the Layers panel, I could click on the small upward facing arrow that’s located at the right side of each layer that has effects applied to it. Take a look at what I’m referring to.

Now, when I say “hide,” I don’t mean make the layer styles hidden in the actual image. I mean to just hide the effects in the Layers panel itself. The words.

Okay, clicking on that arrow is how you collapse one set of effects at a time. If I wanted to collapse all of the layer effect areas at once, I can hold down the Alt key again and click on any one of those arrows in any layer I wish. Doing so would collapse all of the effect areas simultaneously, effectively hiding them from view. Imagine how helpful something like this can be if you had hundreds of layers.

Hiding an Actually Effect From View

I know you already know this, but I’ll just repeat it here anyway. To hide an actual effect from view in the image itself, to make it as if it were never applied, simply click on the small eye icon that sits to the left of that effect in the Layers panel. Here, I’ll circle on of those eyes in this next screenshot.

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I hope I clearly explained how to use some layer effect keyboard shortcuts in Adobe Photoshop. If you have any questions regarding this post, please let me know in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!

I’ve got lots of great tips for you today. Most of them have to do with working with layers and various functions in the Layers panel. I’m not sure if these tips would fall under the “advanced” category because they’re so simple to execute. They’re powerful though and trust me when I say this; If you’re an Adobe Photoshop power user, you definitely want to know what I’m about to share down below. Your workflow will be altered for the better and quite a few of those more annoying aspects of the Layers panel will disappear.

In today’s post, I’d like to discuss a few keyboard shortcuts that can assist when changing the order of layers in the Layers panel of your projects, changing which layer is active and how to select and work with layers in a much more efficient manner than you have ever before. I’ll also throw in some good information that has to do with layer opacity and fill. All of this will occur in Adobe Photoshop and it’s really too good to miss.

Today’s Demo Photo

I decided to go with a summer theme for today and sunflowers are on my mind. We have about five of these things that, I swear, are at least ten feet tall, right outside our front door. They’re enormous and beautiful.

What I plan on doing is adding three text layers, a custom shape and a few layer styles to this image. I’ll also unlock the background image layer so it’ll work better with the examples I share below.

Adding the Text, Shape & Styles

Since I’ve already covered how to add the items I’ve added to this image on this website, I’ll just tell you what they are. I typed out three text layers with one word per layer. I also applied a white Outer Glow to those layers and applied the Linear Burn blending mode to them as well. Then, I drew a custom shape that reminded me of a sunflower. I didn’t apply any blending mode to this layer, but I did apply a white stroke. Take a look at the finished product.

Here are the layers in the Layers panel. Notice how four of them have down facing arrows to the right of the Fx symbol. Those arrows indicate the presence of layer styles. If I clicked on those arrows, I would be able to see which effects I applied. I’ll keep them hidden for now.

Changing Layer Order

While my project for this post is very small and relatively simply to deal with, projects in Photoshop often become absolutely huge as they’re being worked on. Layers get created and moved around and the Layers panel can actually become quite confusing. It’s for this reason that clicking and dragging layers around with a mouse sometimes ins’t the best route to take. Even with a few layers, moving them with a mouse is cumbersome.

If you select a layer with your mouse and then use the Ctrl+[ or Ctrl+] keyboard shortcuts, you can move that layer without touching it with your mouse at all. That’s Ctrl (or Command for Mac) and the left and right bracket keys. The left bracket key moves the layer down while the right bracket key moves it up in relation to other layers in the project. This type of shortcut becomes extremely helpful when dealing with text layers, as they’re often overlapping and need a certain “look.”

To move a layer all the way to the top of the stack, skipping all the layers in between it and the top position, add Shift to the mix. So if you had a layer that’s located down near the bottom and it would be a pain to click and drag up multiple positions, you could use your mouse to select it in the Layers panel (or select it using the next tip I’ll share below) and then use the keyboard shortcut of Shift+Ctrl+]. That’s Shift plus Ctrl plus the right bracket key. Mind you, you can do the same thing if you want to move a layer all the way down to the bottom of the stack. Just use the left bracket key instead of the right one.

Automatically Selecting a Layer With Your Mouse

Out of all the tips I’m going to share today, this one is the coolest. I love it because it helps so much when there are many layers to deal with. Instead of bringing your mouse pointer over to the Layers panel to select a layer and then move it around in your workspace, all you need to do is (using the Move Tool) press and hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and then hover your mouse over the layer in question in your work area. When you hover the mouse over the layer, it will become outlined in pink, indicating that it’s the layer that will be selected.

Once the layer is outlined in pink, you can click on it to select it. You’ll notice that the layer in the Layers panel will become highlighted as well.

An Alternative For Selecting Layers

If you’re not great at remembering keyboard shortcuts, I’ll show you something that’s really easy to remember. If you want to select a particular layer in your workspace, all you have to do is right-click on the layer and Photoshop will show you a small menu that names each layer that’s below that position. Let me show you what I’m talking about.

I right-clicked on top of the “Store” layer. When the menu appeared, it showed me that the Store layer as well as the “Layer 0” layer (the image itself) was below. If I rolled over and clicked on the Store option, that layer would be selected in the Layers panel.

Changing Layer Opacity With Your Keyboard

This trick is so simple. As you may already know, there’s an Opacity slider located at the top of the Layers panel that can change the opacity of a layer. To do this, all you need to do is click on that slider and drag it to the left or to the right. Did you know that you don’t have to drag that slider at all to change opacity? If you simply click a number between zero and 100 on your keyboard, the layer opacity will change just the same. You may have experienced this by mistake, as I have many times through the years.

Changing Fill Opacity With Your Keyboard

You may already know this, but I’ll repeat it here. While the Opacity slider alters the opacity of the entire layer, styles included, the Fill slider alters the opacity of just the original object in the layer and not the styles at all. So, as I mentioned above, I have a few effects that I added early on in this post. For the text, I added a white outer glow. If I went ahead and dragged the Fill slider that’s located at the top of the Layers panel to the left, I’d reduce the opacity of the text, but not the glow. Take a look.

Do you see that white glow outline?

So the question now is, how can we alter the fill of a layer with a keyboard shortcut? Well, all we need to do is hold down the Shift key and then press a number, just as we did above. Doing this will accomplish the same thing as pushing the slider would.

I was actually going to cover a few more neat shortcuts in this post, but I think I’ll leave them for the next one. They’re sort of on a different topic, so I think it would be better that way.

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I hope I clearly explained how to go about using various keyboard shortcuts that help make working with the Layers panel in Adobe Photoshop a bit easier. If you have any questions regarding this post, please let me know in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!

There are many reasons someone might want to load multiple images or objects into one file as independent layers in Photoshop. Off the top of my head, I can say that the idea of doing something like this would simply be a time saver. Instead of opening each file independently and dragging the layers over into a master file, you could quickly select the files you’d like to include in the project and open them as layers – all together. Doing things this way skips the tedious chore of dragging and dropping.

Another scenario might be when you’re creating an Image Stack, which I’ll discuss much more in later posts. Image Stacks are incredible little things that can lead to the removal of noise, people, objects and so much more (unwanted things) from a set of images. I really don’t want to get into this topic too much now because I’ll be discussing it ad nauseam later on. Rest assured though, opening individual images as layers in a project can be extremely helpful, especially when you begin tackling more advanced scenarios.

In today’s post, I’m going to demonstrate the very simple method for accomplishing what I just mentioned above in Adobe Photoshop. I’ve gone ahead and modified three images of a cityscape. I kept one image neutral, darkened one and lightened one. This is the type of thing someone might face when working with the commands I’ll show below. Typically though, a photographer would most likely take the same shot with different exposure settings. Today, I’ve imitated that by adjusting the exposure after the fact.

Today’s Demo Image

Here’s the original photo I’ll be using for today’s post.

And this is the photo updated three ways. The fact that I altered the exposure for each of these three images isn’t important now. I merely wanted to make them distinct from one another as I work with them.

Opening Multiple Photos as Layers

This process is really easy to follow. It takes only a few steps.

I’ll start off with heading up to the File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack menu item.

It doesn’t matter if you take this action in an active tab or if no files are opened at all in Photoshop. This process creates a completely new tab with the new layers in it.

I’ll click that menu item and when I do, the Load Layers palette will appear.

I’ll click the Browse button, search my computer for the multiple images I’d like to load (must be at least two files) and then click OK to accept the files. Once I do that, the list of files I’ve chosen will appear in the center box of the Load Layers palette. If the files are unique, I can simply click the OK button to open them as layers in the same file. If the images are the same, but with subtle differences such as people or objects in them or with different exposures, you can check the Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images box and each layer will be aligned with the rest. This is another helpful time saver.

When I’m ready, I’ll click OK and watch as Photoshop does its work. After a few seconds, a new tab will appear and the three images I chose will be shown as separate layers in the Layers panel.

I actually created the composite image above using this method for importing the images. It saved some time and I loved every minute of it. At this point, I could do whatever I want with these layers and continue on with my project.

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I hope I clearly explained how to load multiple layers in the same file in Adobe Photoshop. If you have any questions regarding this post, please let me know in the comment section down below. Thanks for reading!

Adjustment layers are the go-to items for making adjustments to images inside of Adobe Photoshop. Back in the day, we used to rely on the Image > Adjustments menu to alter image brightness, contrast, hue, saturation and just about everything else in that realm. But since Adobe came up with a way to apply adjustments in their own layers in a non-destructive manner, adjustment layers have become the standard. The Image > Adjustments menu area should be abandoned and replaced by this new toolset.

With this in mind, allow me to answer the question I posed in the title of this post. When should we use adjustment layers? All the time. Or, whenever adjustments are called for. Personally, I primarily use them to create black and white images and to alter a specific selection. I’ve done this so many times, it’s getting difficult to keep track. I’ve also written about making selections and modifying the area inside of the selection via adjustment layers on this blog before, but honestly, the topic never gets old because there are so many variations one could choose to engage in.

In today’s post, I’m going to go through one more example for when someone might want to utilize an adjustment layer or two. I’ll make a rough selection of an object and then apply the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to that selection. I’ll then clean the resulting mask up with the Brush Tool. Finally, I’ll reselect the original selection (or the modified mask) and use that new selection to apply the Curves adjustment layer for further modification. This will be a fun project and just one more example of how adjustment layers work in Adobe Photoshop and why you should be using them instead of the old tools we used to use (but are still available).

The Demo Photo

I tried to find an image that contained an object in it that wouldn’t take me all day to select. I think this Volkswagen Beetle will do just fine. I’ll tell you though, as I was experimenting with this photo, I found that it’s not the easiest thing in the world to accurately select, so that’s why I’m going to include the section about cleaning up the mask. My hand was forced on that one.

Making the Selection

I’m going to fly through these sections because I’ve already written about these topics a number of times on this blog. If you’re interested in learning about how to make accurate selections in Adobe Photoshop, you can use the search bar up top to locate any number of posts that contain those topics. On those pages, I talk about making selections, modifying those selections, applying the adjustment layers and then modifying their masks. Everything in this post has been done before and each lesson is contained fairly thoroughly on this website.

Anyway, I’ll go ahead and click to activate the Quick Selection tool over in the left toolbar. I’ll size the selection brush and then attempt to select the blue in the car. My goal is to change the color of the car’s paint, so I don’t want to select a window, bumper or anything like that. Here’s my rough selection.

Even though the selection isn’t great, I’m going to keep it as is and apply the adjustment layer.

Applying the Adjustment Layer

My next step will be to apply an adjustment layer. I’ll click on the Hue/Saturation icon in the Adjustments panel and from there, I’ll push the Hue slider to the right until the blue from the car turns pink.

This is the resulting image. I’ll play with the color a bit later on after I clean up the selection. I’ll do that now. There’s a lot of stuff in this photo that’s pink and those things shouldn’t be.

Painting the Mask

Since the edges of this selection weren’t great, I’ll fix them now. To do this, I’ll use the colors black and white with the Brush Tool to remove and add areas of the adjustment layer effect. Because of the intricacy of this task, it’ll take a little while. I’ll click on the mask thumbnail in the Layers panel and begin painting.

Here’s the result of my efforts. It didn’t take as long as I suspected it would. Perhaps ten minutes. I zoomed in a lot to really hit the details. Also, as a quick tip, when you’re doing something like this, you can use the keyboard shortcut of the letter X to switch between black and white colors in the left toolbar. This is so handy to know.

Okay, that looks very good. After brushing the mask somewhat, I held down the Ctrl key on my keyboard and clicked once on the mask thumbnail in the Layers panel to reselect the area.

Modifying & Applying Another Adjustment

Now, the beauty of adjustment layers is that once a perfect selection is made, any number of adjustments can be applied to that selection. For instance, I’ve already gone ahead and created one selection. That wasn’t great, so I cleaned it up via the Brush Tool and the adjustment layer mask. At this point, I could modify the current adjustment layer any way I wish. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll change the color of the car slightly. As a side note, when modifying an adjustment layer, it doesn’t matter if the original selection is active or not.

I went ahead and added some purple to the paint color. Next, since I’ve got an active selection again, I’ll head back up to the Adjustments panel and click on the Curves adjustment icon. After that, I’ll click and drag the center of the curves line upward and to the left to add some mid-tone brightness.

As you can see from the above screenshot, I now have two adjustment layers. I’m happy with how the selection turned out and how the adjustments turned out, so here’s the finished product.

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Pretty cool, right? And that’s just one example of when and how you might want to use adjustment layers in Adobe Photoshop. In later posts, I’ll show you tons more in all different styles and fashions. If you have any questions regarding this post, please let me know in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!