G&T

Did you ever use a Photoshop feature on a regular basis---perhaps with the guidance of Deke in a book exercise or video? And although you get the results you want, you have no earthy idea why they're working the way their working? Or maybe a slightly earthly idea, but much remains a mystery. Possibly this has happened to me with regard to the Levels command. So this week, comfy in the lounge, I dared to reveal my almost complete ignorance and asked Deke to introduce me personally to Photoshop Top 40, Feature #9, aka: the Levels command.

What are "levels" exactly? You find it under the Image > Adjustments menu in Photoshop, so you know it's one of those global tonal adjustments. But what is it controlling? Well, luminance, yes. But luminance on a channel-by-channel basis. And what does that mean? And how can we harness that control to fix an image? Even those of you who already know what you want to do with levels will have a better idea of why you want do it after this conversation.

Here's what you'll learn from this week's show: Read more » 

My Lovely Lounge Lizards, so glad to have you back again. Are your shoes off yet? Because we have an episode chock full of classic lounge segments sure to lull you into a relaxed state of graphic education. We start with a question from our Viewer Mail hotline, in which Deke not only distinguishes between Opacity, Fill, and Flow, but also throws a spontaneous secret handshake into the mix and graciously puts up with my ineptitude at using text in Photoshop. We follow that excitement up with an unusually amiable He Said She Said regarding whether it's easy to "write" in words or pictures first.

Here are the specifics on my cryptic allusions above the graphic: Read more »