Using Adobe Photoshop CS, Part 2 - Adjustment Layers
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All the adjustments we've spoken about until now are what we call "destructive adjustments," because after these adjustments are applied, the actual pixels in the file are changed and there's no way to go back to the original version of the file.
Although there are times when you know that what you're doing is final (or you have the original backed up if you need it), there are plenty of times when you are required to make multiple adjustments (for example, each time you go back to visit the clients, they change their mind-although I'm sure that never happens to you).
So Adobe created something called an adjustment layer that allows you to keep certain adjustments "live" and editable-even long after you've saved and closed the file. This is accomplished by adding the adjustment itself as a special kind of layer. To add an adjustment layer for Levels, for instance, click on the Adjustment Layer button at the bottom of the Layers palette and choose Levels (see Figure 5.101). You'll see the normal Levels dialog, as you've seen earlier, but when you click OK, you'll notice that a new layer has been added to your file. Any layer that falls below this adjustment layer will be affected by it (see Figure 5.102).
Tip -Adjustment layers are great when you want to make adjustments to only certain layers in your file. Any layers that appear above the adjustment layer won't be affected.
At any time, you can double-click on that adjustment layer to edit it or make changes to it. Of course, you can also drag it to the trash icon in the Layers palette if you want to get rid of it altogether.
Figure 5.101 Applying an adjustment layer.
Figure 5.102 The applied adjustment layer, as it appears in the Layers palette.
Match Color
It always ends up that you have several photos from a photo shoot and the lighting and color are good in some photos, but the person's expression and face are better in another. Using the Match Color feature, you can pull the color from one image and apply it to another one.
First, open both images-the one you want to change, and the one that has the color that is perfect, which we'll call the source image (that's where the color data will be coming from). From the document that has the bad color, choose Image, Adjustments, Match Color (see Figure 5.103) to open the Match Color dialog box. The first step is to look at the Image Statistics area and, from the Source pop-up, choose the source file (see Figure 5.104). Now that you can see the new color applied, you can tweak the settings using the sliders in the Image Options section of the dialog. When you're done, click OK.
Figure 5.103 Choosing the Match Color command from the Image, Adjustments submenu.
Figure 5.104 Choosing the source file in the Match Color dialog.
 This chapter is from Adobe Creative Suite, by Mordy Golding (Sams, 2003, ISBN: 0672325918). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
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