when i flatten my image, i lose contrast. Why?

Carl Zeiss Planar T 50mm f/1.7

04/17/2006 07:02:18 PM · #1

Ok, here's a poser. I'm finished my something old entry, and went to flatten it for the final prep for saving for web, and the contrast on the background just died. from crisp and punchy to greyed out and blah. i've tried giong back and forth, and experimenting with different things, and it doesn't seem to help! i've done a copy with cut layer, does this make a difference?

o, yeah, I have PS CS2

tryals15

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

04/17/2006 07:04:52 PM · #2

I only seem to have that problem when I use contrast masking.... I'm not sure why, though...

Geez, I guess that probably wasn't much help.. lol.

Carl Zeiss Planar T 50mm f/1.7

04/17/2006 07:06:10 PM · #3

contrast masking????

tryals15

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

04/17/2006 07:14:53 PM · #4

Yup. As per Bear_Music:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Contrast Masking

In PS CS2: use the shadow/highlight dialogue box and play with it. Can't help you there, don't have it.

In PS 7.0 (and maybe CS, if no shadow/highlight there) do this:

1. Open image and save-as a psd file.
2. Key "cntrl-alt-tilde" (tilde is ~) to create a feathered highlights selection
3. Key "cntrl-J" to create a new layer with only the selected areas on it. Name this layer "highlights"
4. Click BG layer to make it active again
5. "cntrl-alt-tilde" again, then "cntrl-shift-I" to invert the selection, and "cntrl-J" to make another new layer with the shadow selection loaded; call this layer "shadows".

To decrease contrast to preserve highlight detail and shadow detail both, in the layers dialogue box set the layer mode of the "highlight" layer at "multiply" and of the "shadow" layer at "screen". Adjust the relative opacities of both layers so it looks the way you want it to.

To increase contrast, screen the highlights and multiply the shadows; this isn't something I do very much, this can be best accomplished in levels and curves usually. However, sometimes I multiply BOTH layers and vary the relative opacities. I'm still playing with this. Also, sometimes I will set the shadow mask at "soft light" instead of "multiply". You need to play around with these settings to find what works and what does not work.

Robt.

What I don't know, is why it messes with the flatening...

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

04/17/2006 07:23:47 PM · #5

It shouldn't affect the contrast, but there are ways to do it that screw it up. Sometimes if you merge each layer into the one below it, one by one, bad things happen. Try this:

You have a number of layers above the base layer; make the base layer active, and duplicate that â�� it's a "background copy". Then make the base layer invisible, and use shift-cntrl-E to merge the visible layers. As long as you merge them all at once, everything should stay the same. Now you have a version of the BG layer with all the adjustments merged into it, and the BG layer itself untouched. You can now play with layer modes and opacity of the duplicate layer before finally merging it into the bG layer for your final version.

As an example of what does nOT work, you can't take a hue/saturation layer at 50% opacity, multiplied, and merge it with a levels layer at 75% opacity, soft light, and still have the same result; but you CAN dupe the BG layer, make the BG invisible, and "merge visible" into the dupe layer and it will look the same as what you saw before. These things are all interrelated in a complex way, and they can be hard to figure out.

Robt.

04/17/2006 07:33:22 PM · #6

could it be because i did a few filters on one layer? should i just start again and use a different layre for each effect? and how is the best way to do that? should i just do a new adjustment layer, then not do any adjusting, but do filters to the layer? or can i do copies of the background (very sharp back/foreground delineation) and do a filter for each one?

Message edited by author 2006-04-17 19:50:38.

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

04/17/2006 07:51:20 PM · #7

now i'm trying agaoin, and can't rfigure out what i did the first time. gah.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

04/17/2006 08:00:53 PM · #8

In general, each adjustment you make should be done on a new layer. That's a given. You should experiment with an unimportsnt image, really, and try this: make a hue/sat adjustment layer, and a levels adjustment layer, and a curves adjustment layer, and a selective color adjustment layer, and then in the layers palette drag these layers to different positions in relation to each other and watch what happens. It's a real eye-opener. The ORDER in which layers are stacked can make a huge difference in the final result.

R.