Online Photography Course
Leveraging Layers: Photoshop's Most Powerful Tool

What You Get

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	Benefits: You get direct feedback on your photos from world-acclaimed, professional photographers. You can learn photography in this way from anywhere in the world.
Learn at your pace, with structure. Be guided by a real pro instructor. Get your photos critiqued every week. Join students from around the world. Go far beyond any book or DVD. Make great pictures, again and again!

Instructor

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Richard Lynch

After years of pushing pixels for fun, and with a long history of amateur photography and darkroom experience that stretched back to grade school, Richard Lynch began his professional image editing career as the editor of a photography book publisher in 1991. Starting in the late 90s, he began writing and publishing books on digital image editing with Photoshop. His books teach intermediate and advanced image editing techniques to Photoshop and Photoshop Elements users, also providing custom-made tools for Elements and Photoshop users that simplify difficult image editing processes.

Richard has been a columnist for Digital Photography Techniques, and has written for Popular Photography, PCPhoto, Photo Techniques, Advanced Photoshop and many other design and photography magazines. He teaches digital imaging and design at Daemen College in New York. His newest book, The Adobe Photoshop Layers Book, is a great companion to his Leveraging Layers course here on betterphoto.com.

Richard's photography tends toward the abstract, often using extreme editing processes and unusual equipment. His Sigma SD14 sports a range of common Sigma EX lenses, but can be fitted with an old bellows, extension tubes and an assortment of vintage M42 lenses from 10mm to 2300mm.

See more about Richard's books and tools on his Web site for Photoshop Elements users: http://hiddenelements.com and Photoshop: http://photoshopcs.com.

Richard’s four courses on betterphoto.com serve as a series:

1. Photoshop 101: A beginner-level introduction to Photoshop.
   
2. Correct and Enhance Your Images: An intermediate-level course dedicated to core imaging correction techniques
   
3. From Monitor to Print: An intermediate-level course for mastering Photoshop / Photoshop Elements color management
   
4. Leveraging Layers: Photoshop's Most Powerful Tool: An advanced-level, specialized focus on using layers

Though it is suggested they be taken as a series, you can start anywhere depending on your level of expertise, or follow it from beginning to end as designed! Contact Richard if you have any questions.

Richard has a free Newsletter/Blog to all who are interested in bettering their skills with Photoshop.

Listen to Richard talk with Jim Miotke in a two-part interview covering his perspective on image editing: Part 1, Part 2

A Couple of Photos by the Instructor

© Richard Lynch

© Richard Lynch

A Couple of Student Photos

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View photos by previous students. You can make pictures like this too!

© Judith F. Stone

© Judith F. Stone

Course Outline

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Lesson 1: The World of Image Layers
Understanding how to work with layers starts with understanding some basics about what layers are, what their capabilities are, what functions are in the layers palette, and how to locate all that you need to apply basic layer power.  Assignment: Scour your image libraries for images that you may want to work on throughout the course. I will review these images and select those I think will best suit the purpose of the class.

Lesson 2: Layer Management
Before you really become enamored with layers and the flexibility that they offer, you need to know their practical application - and then how to use them most effectively. Effectively managing layers and layer content will help keep your corrections on track, will allow you the flexibility to step back in corrections, and will also keep your images from bulking up to ridiculous size unnecessarily. Then we'll look briefly at layer types, such as type and adjustment layers. Assignment: Testing the process: layer creationg, grouping and combining features by doing an exercise described in this assignment. Review images the instructor has selected for use in this class!

Lesson 3: True Value of Layers: Object and Image Area Isolation
Layers enhance your freedom to correct image areas by isolating areas completely from the rest of the image. Once areas are isolated, you can make adjustments, and then fine-tune adjustments in ways that are impossible with simple selective change. We'll look at using layers to isolate image areas and objects using copy and paste, and applying a simple layered effect using layer styles and manual effects. We'll also look at blending layers using Opacity. Assignment: Choose one or more of your images that we've discussed and test out selective enhancements using layers in this lesson. You don't have to do everything from this lesson to every image, but you should make an attempt to try out everything.

Lesson 4: Masking: Enhanced Area Isolation
Even more advanced realms of isolating image areas exist in the form of masking. Masking is making adjustment to the visible image without actually removing image areas; areas are hidden in the image. We'll look at masking as it applies to layer transparency, layer clipping, Adjustment layers, and proper layer masks. Elements users will be provided custom-made Hidden Power tools to allow certain functionality. Assignment:  Looking over the corrections lists you have created for your images, it is time to step back and look at how the techniques we have seen with layers can apply to your images and working with them in an orderly fashion.

Lesson 5: Exploring Layer Modes
Not all layer modes are really useful for every-day correction, but some are and they are very powerful tools. We'll look at ways that you can use layer modes every day for image enhancements and improvements. Making Calculations can also be explored. Assignment:  Choose an image, test out enhancements discussed in the lesson for adjusting color separately from tone and applying manual sharpening. Submit a copy of the before and after results for the adjustments and a screen shot of the layers you made to achieve the effects.

Lesson 6: Advanced Blending Modes
Photoshop has several advanced blending modes that allow users to blend layers based on components/channels, qualities in the current layer, and qualities in layers below the current layer. This is mostly encompassed by Blend If and component targeting. Photoshop Elements does not have these features, but custom tools will be provided for Elements users so they can affect similar changes.  Assignment: Choose an image, test out enhancements discussed in the lesson, and submit a copy of the adjustment (before and after) and a screen shot of the layers you made to achieve the effect.

Lesson 7: Breaking Out Into Components
We will look at ways to leverage the power of layers to separate out image areas by tone or color. These powerful methods of separating images into components can lead to a plethora of advantages in creating layer-based masks based on specific image qualities, and can open the door to a world of creativity in manipulating tone, color, shape and composition. Custom tools will be provided for users to create involved image scenarios. Assignment: Choose one of your images and go through the process of separating out color components and then re-color the image using filtering as described. Upload a screen shot of your final result showing the separated components and filter layer placement.

Lesson 8: Making a Layered Collage
This lesson will be an exercise in creativity and breaking out all the tools that you have encountered in the course to produce one final fun collage work. The emphasis will be on considering the idea of collage, and then how creative students can be in implementing changes and additions to their images using the power of layers. You can use images you have set aside for use in the class. Assignment: Create a collage using your own images and techniques that show your layers panache. Upload the images you used for the assignment along with the layers screenshot of the final result, and the result itself. Put the emphasis on fun! 

Review: Voting on Best Work

© Richard Lynch

© Richard Lynch

Requirements

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Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Photoshop. The instructor prefers later versions, though any version (after Photoshop 3!) is acceptable (suggested: Elements 3, 4, 5, 6 or Photoshop 7, CS, CS2, or CS3 on Mac or PC). A good understanding of your computer and mouse,  and experience with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements tools and functions. Richard's earlier courses (or equivalent) are recommended (Photoshop 101, Correct and Enhance Your Images, From Monitor to Print). Please check with the instructor if you have questions. A cache of images that you have already shot and archived that you will be able practice image editing on. Richard's book, The Adobe Photoshop Layers Book, is suggested but not required.

FAQ

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As long as you have heard of layers and are curious about how you can use them to enhance your images, you should consider this course. We will begin with Layer basics, like finding the Layers palette and describing use of each tool, but we’ll ramp up quickly to advanced topics. If you are confident in using your computer, are serious about editing images, and you know you can get more from Photoshop or Elements, then this course can mean a lot to improving your images.  

The answer to that question is covered in depth in the course, but here is a quick overview:

• You get ultimate ability to adjust or undo changes you make with almost any tool, even after you make them.
• You can use layers to isolate changes based on tone, color, area or any other distinct image quality.
• You can harness the power of channels, color modes, masking, blending, compositing and collage all in one place.
• By the end of this course there will be no tool that you will use more in Photoshop or Elements than layers.

 

It will start with an overview to be sure everyone is up to speed with what layers are, what they do, and how to use them in lessons #1 to #3 and then will move to advanced lessons. Lessons #4 to #8 all cover advanced layer topics, including modes, masking, blending, color and tone separations, and making a collage. If you have a layers question from the most basic to the most advanced, it will be answered here.  

While this course will not make you an expert image editor overnight, it will help you understand even the most advanced layer functions, what they are, and how to use them to improve your images. With time, this understanding can be the cornerstone of becoming an image editing expert.  

Yes! While the course is intended mostly for Photoshop users, it is adapted to Elements as well. Beside having written books on Photoshop, the course instructor, Richard Lynch, has written books about Elements 1 & 2, 3 and 4 for Mac and PC, and will include some tools for Elements users taking the course to add custom functions otherwise not available to Elements users.  

© Richard Lynch

© Richard Lynch

No, you do not need to be online at any specific time. The lessons are sent to your email and you are also provided the Campus Square - where you interact with your classmates and instructor. This is also where you upload your photos to be critiqued by your instructor. The instructors are very punctual and respond quickly.

Absolutely! Students can ask questions in the special Q&A forum set up in the course's Campus Square, or can ask the instructor via email.

Yes. We are confident that you will fully enjoy our courses. All the same, for our 8-week classes, we offer a 100% money-back guarantee before the Wednesday that Lesson #3 is sent out. If for any reason, you are not satisfied and let us know that you would like to withdraw before the Wednesday that Lesson #3 is sent, you will be promptly refunded.

For our 4-week courses, we offer a 100% money back guarantee before the Wednesday that Lesson #2 is sent out from BetterPhoto. If for any reason you are not satisfied and you let the ordering department know that you would like to withdraw before the Wednesday that Lesson #2 is sent, you will be refunded within 7 days. After the second lesson has been sent out, no refunds will be given.


If you have further questions about this course, feel free to contact us via the Contact link below.

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