What does Photoshop’s Layer Comps feature do and why you may need it…

Layer comps will store different layer visibility, position and appearance (layer styles):

Here’s an example (with layered PSD file below)…

4 layer comps used for 4 different states of neon sign I designed for a film introduction title back in 2003:

All with one PS file and fewest layers possible. It’s super useful for building various states of user interface design so you can switch to specific layer comp and show it to your client right away. For example, if you’re building a default/press/disable interface button with multiple layers and styles, you don’t have to turn on/off some layers/styles to get the press effect, you could just switch to different layer comp. You can download an example PSD layered file of Neon Sign to give you a better idea of how layer comps work:

One downside to Layer Comps is that it’s pain in the ass to update the comps often if you’re not close to finishing the work. You’ll have to resync the changes by clicking on Update Layer Comp button () otherwise all layer comps will not recognize additional layers and styles.

If you’d like to see the result of this work, here’s an animation created by my brother Wayne Betts, Jr. using Final Cut Pro: Rangeland Romances (QT mov.)

© adambetts for The Art of Adam Betts, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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In Photoshop, go to Edit > Fade… or Command-Shift F

Of millions tools you can use in Photoshop, Fade is my third most used tools for one simple reason: it will make your work look subtle and professional. When you does an one time change to your layer that you liked but felt that it was too strong and bold, you can get it to halfway between original one and changed one by just setting Fade opacity to 50% in Fade window pictured below.

The best example I can give you about the effectiveness of this tool is by comparing two same images, one’s original and other one’s sharpened (PS Filter). Sharpened one is too much to my eyes so I went for 50% to get details to stand out while not looking too abused:

It doesn’t have to be for pixel art only, it can be for anything such as digital photograph:

Or more extreme example using Texturizer (Burlap) Filter to create crumpled photograph paper:

Fade opacity is set to 30% and Mode is set to Overlay.

You can use Fade tool with almost every filters, adjustments, etc. Mode option found in Fade window is rarely useful for me since I prefer to do it via separate layers with layer mode on so I can change layer mode anytime I want to in the future instead of it being permanent.

One thing worth noting is that the usefulness of this tool will be less with upcoming Smart Layer in Photoshop CS3 but Fade will always have its place in Photoshop for a quick and dirty job.

© adambetts for The Art of Adam Betts, 2007. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
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Requires Photoshop CS

So you want to brighten your photo without doing complex manipulations?

Meet Shadow/Highlight. You can call him “The Light Man”. He can create lights out of nowhere and like to eat shadows for breakfast. Got some dark photo? ‘The Light Man’ to the rescue…

1. Choose Image > Adjustments > Shadow/Highlight…

2. In the Shadow/Highlight dialog box, set Shadows Amount to around 30%. Darker photo = higher Shadows Amount.

Highlights is not always necessary but it’s good for reducing the amount of whiteness in photo.

I don’t use this feature that often but it’s essential to all kinds of photographers.

© adambetts for The Art of Adam Betts, 2004. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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So you want to perfectly crop the document without damaging the graphics or transparency mask?

Meet Trim. She’ll be your official haircutter. She can trim away blank areas on top, bottom, left or right. The image isn’t transparency? No problem, she has experiences in trimming away plain color. Textured background, on the other hand, is out of her résumé.

1. Choose Image > Trim

2. In the Trim dialog box, choose either:

3. If you don’t want to trim one or more of the sides, unselect the checkboxes in Trim Away.

Your document is now perfectly cropped up. No more wasted space and file size

© adambetts for The Art of Adam Betts, 2004. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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They’re free for you to download, view and modify but they cannot be redistributed in any form without written permission from me.

Open Source PS Files

File Size: 2.0 MB

The main purpose of open-sourcing the photoshop files is that you can see how I did the work with layers and layer effects. However they’re pretty old and doesn’t represent my current skills anymore, I just thought that I should share some of my works.

If you’ve modified the file to make it look better or something, I’d really love to see the result :)

© adambetts for The Art of Adam Betts, 2003. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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