Photoshop CS3 Channels & Masks

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Essentially a collection of luminance data that controls the transparency of an image, the modest alpha channel informs just about everything you do in Photoshop. and coming to terms with alpha channels (a.k.a. masks) is the most sure-fire way to boost the quality of your work in Photoshop. But masking isn’t easy. In fact, the elusive alpha channel has been described as the least understood feature in Photoshop’s enormous arsenal. Until now, that is. In Photoshop CS3 Channels and Masks, expert Deke McClelland blows the lid off the topic. Over the course of more than 300 movies, Deke not only taps the vast capabilities of such popular tools as layer masks, luminance blending, and the Paths palette, but also takes on such little-known but hugely capable features as Calculations, blue-screen masking, high dynamic range, and the displacement maps. Along the way, you’ll learn how to select and composite highlights, shadows, clouds, fabric, feathers, glass, flame, lightning, eyes, and all varieties of hair. Winner of three industry awards: The DV Award, the Ava Platinum Award (both 2007), and the Horizon Interactive Silver Award (2008). Exercise files accompany the tutorial.

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