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Adjustment layers

A special type of layer in image-editing software which is designed to hold adjustments rather than other image layers. It's a way of 'stacking' a series of adjustments to an image without affecting the image layer itself.

Capture One 23 review

December 3, 2022 by Rod Lawton

Verdict: 4.8 stars Capture One 23 is a professional Lightroom rival that offers a step up in both image quality and editing tools, and supports a greater variety of professional workflows. The RAW processing is excellent, the editing tools are powerful and the new Cull view, layered Styles and improved Variant handling alone make the upgrade look worth it. Capture One is not cheap, but it’s designed for professional, quality-orientated workflows.

Filed Under: Best software, Capture One, Featured, ReviewsTagged With: Adjustment layer, Asset management, Capture One, Cataloguing software, Culling, DAM (Digital Asset Management), Masks, RAW processing, Session (Capture One), Style (Capture One), Tethered shooting, Variant (Capture One)

Selections and masks: what do they do, what’s the difference?

April 22, 2022 by Life after Photoshop

Selections and masks are subtly different, and the ‘parametric’ masks in non-destructive editors give more flexibility than ever.

Filed Under: Editing A-Z, FeaturedTagged With: Adjustment brush, Adjustment layer, Brush, Feathering, Gradient mask, Lasso tool, Luminance mask, Magic wand, Magnetic Lasso, Masks, Polygonal lasso, Radial mask, Selection, Selection brush

Local adjustments explained

March 10, 2022 by Life after Photoshop

Local adjustments

‘Local adjustments’ is a bit of a catch-all term. It means picking out an area of an image for adjustment while leaving the rest unchanged. So how do local adjustments work and which software does them best?

Filed Under: Editing A-Z, Featured, GeneralTagged With: Adjustment brush, Adjustment layer, Brush, Burning in, Control point, Dodging and burning, Feathering, Gradient mask, Local adjustments, Luminance mask, Masks, Non-destructive editing, Radial mask, Selection brush, Sensei (Adobe), Subject recognition

How to use masks in Luminar

June 8, 2020 by Life after Photoshop

Often you want to apply an effect or adjustment to a whole picture, but not always. Sometimes you only want to apply it to part of the picture, and this is where the Luminar mask tools become really useful.

Filed Under: Featured, Luminar, TutorialsTagged With: Adjustment layer, Masks

Non-destructive editing and how it works

May 28, 2020 by Life after Photoshop

Traditional photo editing is ‘destructive’. That means every adjustment you make permanently changes the pixels in the photo and there’s no way back unless you’ve saved a copy of the original and you’re willing to start again. ‘Non-destructive’ editing is fully reversible. You can go back and undo or redo all of your editing work at any point in the future. Naturally, there’s a catch

Filed Under: Editing A-Z, Featured, GeneralTagged With: Adjustment layer, Cataloguing software, Non-destructive editing, Presets, RAW processing, Virtual Copy (Lightroom)

Dawlish Beach in black and white, with Exposure X5 adjustment layers

May 16, 2020 by Life after Photoshop

Exposure X5

This project turns a regular color RAW file into a strong black and white image in Exposure X5. It uses a number of different tools so it’s a good chance to see how these work and how they can be used together. It’s also a good example the kind of image which works well in […]

Filed Under: Exposure X, Featured, TutorialsTagged With: Adjustment layer, Black and white, Borders and frames, Curves, LUTs, Split toning

The power of adjustment layers and masks

February 14, 2019 by Rod Lawton

Adjustment layers started out in Photoshop as a way of altering the look of an image without actually changing its pixels. It was the start of non-destructive editing. Now, adjustment layers are everywhere, not just in Photoshop, and for me they are the key to successful image enhancements. There’s a second factor, though – layer […]

Filed Under: Exposure X, General, TutorialsTagged With: Adjustment layer, Graduated filters, Layers, Masks, Presets

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