Photoshop CS Timesaving Techniques For Dummies [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Applying a Fill Layer

A fill layer can be applied to an entire layer or a selection on a layer. If you’re going to apply the fill layer to a selected area, really take the time to make a good selection with the various selection tools. Be careful about the edge of the selection. If the edge is high-contrast, meaning that there’s an abrupt color change from the selected to unselected area (for instance, dark blue to light tan), you might want to feather the selection by one or two pixels. To feather a selection, choose Select>Feather. (For a complete rundown of the selection tools and selecting, take a look at the selections chapter in Photoshop cs For Dummies by Deke McClelland and yours truly, published by Wiley.)

The other thing that you should be aware of when using fill layers is blending modes. Blending modes affect the way the fill layer’s color blends with the layer underneath. If the new color that you’re using in the fill layer is similar in saturation to the old color, the Hue, Soft Light, or Color blending modes may work best. If the new color is significantly darker, experiment with the Multiply blending mode. Try the Screen blending mode if the new color is quite a bit lighter. Work with the blending modes until you achieve the color that you’re looking for. (For a complete discussion about blending modes, turn to Technique 17.)

Here’s how to apply a fill layer:

In the Layers palette, select the layer to which you want to apply the fill layer.

However, if you want to recolor only a portion of a layer, select the area on the layer. For this example, I selected the white blouse worn by the woman in Figure 21-1. Using a fill layer, I’m changing the blouse color to medium blue.




Figure 21-1: I selected the white blouse with the Magnetic Lasso and Lasso tools.






Click the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button at the bottom of the Layers palette and choose Solid Color from the menu, as shown in Figure 21-2.




Figure 21-2: Choose Solid Color from the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer menu.


When applying a fill layer to an image, you can also use a gradient or pattern. If you want to do so, select either Gradient or Pattern from the menu.





Use the Color Picker to select a color.

If you want to use the Color Picker to select a specific spot or process color, click Custom, use the Book drop-down list to select a color swatch book, such as PANTONE Solid Coated, and then select the specific color. (See Figure 21-3.)




Figure 21-3: You can use the Color Picker to select a custom color.


As you select the color, notice that it appears in the image window, though it may not blend in well. (Don’t worry — you can fix that with a blending mode.)





When you’re finished selecting a color, click OK to close the Color Picker.

The fill layer appears in the Layers window and the new color appears in the image window, as shown in Figure 21-4.




Figure 21-4: The new color appears in the image window, though it may not blend well, yet.






In the Layers palette, use the Blend drop-down list to select a blending mode.

After you select the right blending mode, the fill layer’s pixels blend with the underlying layer. For this example, I used the Multiply mode to blend the pixels. The result is shown in Figure 21-5.





Figure 21-5: The right blending mode makes the fill layers pixels blend with the image pixels.