TECHNICAL TIPS

Using Layer Styles Blending

BY JOHN REUTER
PUBLISHED WINTER 2004

Part 3: Finishing Up

Once the missing information is restored to your satisfaction, look at the composite and see if it needs any other adjustments. I usually use Adjustment Layers to tweak tone and color. (An adjustment layer allows you to make significant and multiple changes to an image or specific layer, without permanently altering your pixel information. This means you can always go back to where you were, one of the most important strategies I can suggest in Photoshop.) For this example, I created an adjustment layer to lighten the tones and slightly increase the contrast. In addition, I made a slight color balance adjustment to the top layer.

I save and archive the fully layered versions of my digital imagery. These files both help me remember what I did and are great for teaching these techniques later. It may not always be practical to save large files in their layered form, but I recommend it in this day and age of huge hard drives and DVD burners. I think these files are the equivalent of an artist's notebook, sketches of your thought process as you work and refine your image.