Scott Valentine - The Hidden Power of Photoshop: Mastering Blend Modes and Adjustment Layers for Photography

Mastering Blend Modes and Adjustment Layers for Photography

Scott Valentine

Foreword by Meredith Payne Stotzner, Photoshop Sr. Product Manager, Adobe

The Hidden Power of Adobe Photoshop:
Mastering Blend Modes and Adjustment Layers for Photography
Scott Valentine

Adobe Press

www.adobepress.com

Copyright 2021 by Scott Valentine. All Rights Reserved.

Adobe Press is an imprint of Pearson Education, Inc.
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Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise. For information regarding permissions, request forms and the appropriate contacts within the Pearson Education Global Rights & Permissions department, please visit www.pearson.com/permissions.

Notice of Liability

The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Pearson Education shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.

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Executive Editor: Laura Norman
Development Editor: Victor Gavenda
Technical Editor: Rocky Berlier
Senior Production Editor: Tracey Croom
Copy Editor: Linda Laflamme
Proofreader: Becky Winter
Compositor: Kim Scott, Bumpy Design
Indexer: James Minkin
Cover Design: Mimi Heft
Cover Image: RAUSHAN MURSHID/Shutterstock with Scott Valentine
Interior Design: Kim Scott, Bumpy Design

ISBN-13: 978-0-13-661282-7

ISBN-10: 0-13-661282-2

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For Carla and Austin, who never give up and remind me to be my best self.
And for Echo and Summer, who remind me to get up from the desk and feed them.
Never underestimate the power of little reminders.

Foreword

I have spent more than half my life in a relationship with Photoshop. Its a pretty healthy one, and we discover new things about each other even now. Like other couples we argue from time-to-time you know how it is. But at the end of the day, we end up bringing out the best in each other.

It all started while I was studying for a degree in Imaging and Photographic Technology at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). My track had plenty of MATLAB, optics, and digital image processing, but I wanted to play in the pixels like they were finger paint. So I managed to get into the not-in-my-major class to use this awesome software called Photoshopnever imagining Id spend my career at Adobe with the honor of representing Photoshop users.

Id always considered myself creative, an artist. When I was 10 my dad got a free 35mm camera with his subscription to a magazine. I later used that same camera (covered in electrical tape to stop light leaks) in my high school photography class. That class was where I first began experimenting with imaging. I only had a standard lens, so I improvised macro shots with a magnifying glass in front of my 50mm. A classmate discovered reticulation by accident, but I liked the shattered look of the warped emulsion and replicated the process. I did a lot of creative experimentation before moving to the scientific side of imaging. Photoshop was the perfect medium for me to bring the two sides of my imaging experience together.

Scott Valentine also has a relationship withand helps bring out the best inPhotoshop. Hes been a key beta tester of the application and an advisor to the engineering team for more than a decade. Actually, as long as I can remember, Scott has been our partner.

One aspect that makes Scott unique and valuable to the team is that he is both artistic and intellectual. He makes his own beautiful creations to walk through the new Photoshop code and even creates test images to exercise and dissect features. The team has come to count on Scotts dexterity of science and art to help discuss and debate the direction of the application.

Im pleased to see that this book, The Hidden Power of Photoshop for Photographers, stays true to Scotts balance of art and intellect to take readers on a journey of experimentation, discovery, and mastery. The symmetry of the conversational, approachable style of Scotts writing with his deeply inquisitive nature make this must-read material. I expect by the end, readers will be able to power their own tools the way the Photoshop team does.

Meredith Stotzner,
Photoshop Product Manager, Adobe

Preface & Acknowledgements

When you spend enough time with someone or something, you start developing a relationship. Such is the case with this book, and it has not been the most pleasant, supportive relationship. We loved, we fought, we talked about trial separation and who would get the dogs but in the end, we stuck together.

My wife and son were infinitely patient, the dogs less so. My first round of acknowledgement and thanks go to my family for knowing when not to ask hows the book coming? They showed amazing restraint and kept providing encouragement.

The reason youre reading this, however, is due entirely to the staff at Peachpit. Victor and Laura believed enough in this title and in me to keep at it long after they probably should have walked away. This pair of amazing professionals shifted between roles of friend and business partner seamlessly and smoothly, and Ive learned a lot from them. These few words are not thanks enough for their efforts which started quite literally from the inception of this book and continued through it resting in your hands.

Longtime friend and Photoshop mentor Rocky gave his expertise for a fourth time, catching my errors and teaching me some new tricks along the way. Any technical faults in these pages exist because Rocky let me win an argument. Hes the best that way!

Id be remiss if I did not include Meredith Stotzner and Chris Main in this list, as well. Meredith, whose fabulous foreword makes me go aw, shucks! has taught Photoshop a thing or two about supporting creative visions and has a genuine love for the tool. Chris gives me space to write in front of a great big audience every month to talk about how Photoshop works, and I love that.