AFTERGLOW | Night 8 | Thu Oct 15

Mood Swing

Adjustments night. One photo, three completely different moods, and you never touch a single original pixel.

Adjustments vs adjustment layersCurves & LevelsHue/SaturationClippingLimit to a selectionLimit to a groupPresetsSmart Filters

What a complete project looks like

Picture one photo, three times, like three different movie posters for the same scene. One is warm and golden. One is cold and blue. One is black and white with only one thing left in color.

All three moods live in one PSD, each in its own group. Click a group's eye on, and that mood appears.
Every change is an adjustment layer. The original photo layer is untouched.
The "one color" mood uses a mask from a selection (Night 7 pays off here).
The photo is a Smart Object with at least one Smart Filter on it.
You hand in .psd plus three .jpg exports, one per mood.

Layers panel, top to bottom: GOLDEN group, COLD group, ONE COLOR group, then your Photo (Smart Object, with Smart Filters under it).

Grab one photo

Free, no account. Pick something with a clear subject and some color in it: a street, a car, a person with a bright jacket.

Photos on Pexels Photos on Unsplash

Cold open: the one rule

Photoshop has two doors to the same tools:

Image > Adjustments burns it into the pixels. Close the file and it's permanent. Clients change their minds. You're stuck.
Layer > New Adjustment Layer puts the change on its own layer. Hide it, tweak it, delete it, mask it. Forever.

Tonight's rule: never use Image > Adjustments. Every change is a layer. That difference is on the exam.

The build

Done with this step

Self-check before you turn it in

In or out. Every box gets a check, or it's not done yet.

Every change is an adjustment layer. Nothing came from Image > Adjustments.
Three moods, each in its own group, named GOLDEN, COLD, ONE COLOR.
The tint in ONE COLOR is clipped to the Black & White layer.
ONE COLOR uses a mask made from a selection, so one thing keeps its color.
You used at least one preset.
The photo is a Smart Object with a Smart Filter on it.
Saved as LastName_MoodSwing.psd.
Three JPGs: LastName_Golden.jpg, LastName_Cold.jpg, LastName_OneColor.jpg.

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