Levels

Some of you have been asking when my Photoshop CS5 One-on-One: Advanced series is coming out. And I was all prepared to tell you this Friday. But lynda.com, being the incredible juggernaut of a video publisher that they are, began releasing it today. Chapters 13 thru 18 are up this very second. That's more than 100 movies, so it should keep you occupied for now. (If not, I totally suck.) The remaining Chapters 19 thru 24 will be up in 10 days.

Here's a live-action frame from the series. My director told me that, in retrospect, my spendy Elie Tahari shirt "looked a little disco." Let me assure you that this is one of the best shirts I've ever owned. It's a matte forest green with some excellent under-collar and inner-sleeve highlights. In the video, I don't look disco, I look positively wet. Meaning that I glisten. Like someone is misting me. Which is not necessarily what you want in a training video. But it's what you get.

That said, who gives a tinker's gumph what I look like? Read more » 

You may recall a few weeks back, I had to put my unshod foot down and get Deke to stop talking about the Levels command. (I'm just trying to keep Martini Hour somewhere in the not-exactly-an-hour space, dekeOphiles.) But I'm a woman of my word, so this week I let Deke resume that discussion, this time addressing the ability that Photoshop gives you to adjust levels on independent color channels. Although it sounds complex, you know Deke will walk you through with patience and compassion. And knowing how to do this will allow you to use the Levels command to remove a color cast while your fixing contrast problems. Efficiency and martinis, that's what we provide in the dekeLounge. Here's where Deke went when I let the reins loose: Read more » 

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 »