Photoshop Top 40, Feature #19: Luminance Blending

Well, well. I'm back from my week in the Golden Age City of Canals, Amsterdam. And although it was great to be there, I must say, it's good to be back. Even if it's a mere 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15 Celsius) here in the malevolently icy embrace of Boulder, Colorado. By which I mean, actually, I'd rather be in Amsterdam. With kindly old Sinterklaas waving from his steam boat and blackfaced, red-lipped, clownishly festooned Zwarte Pieten tucking me in at night. Ah, those zany Dutch! Don't they know Santa's slaves are miniature, felt-dressed Vulcans?

Then again, if I were still in Holland, I might be too distracted by all things poetic and profane to post today's Photoshop Top 40 video. And what a shame that would be because this week, I've got a doozy.

This video is all about two slider bars, This Layer and Underlying Layer, that allow you to drop out or force through pixels based on their luminance levels. You sometimes hear folks call these the Blend If sliders, after a neighboring but ultimately independent option. What they really are is the luminance-exclusion slider bars, or just plain luminance blending options for short. They rank among Photoshop's oldest and most powerful nondestructive features, predating even layers. And when you see those slider triangles peel in half, you might just weep with joy.

The image of the fiery martini glass (ooh, it looks so warm!) comes to us, as always, from image vendor Fotolia. This one is image #147470 from photographer Alex Bramwell. Click this link for a special deal.

(For a list of all Photoshop Top 40 videos thus far, click here.)

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