| » Forum Index » Problems and solutions » Topic: nOOb layer question... |
|
Posted on 11/11/05 03:30:46 AM |
|
mr.pbody
*** Posts: 138 Reply  |
nOOb layer question...
hi all! i just got this program and have steve's book and another book (adobe photoshop/one on one) and to say the least...i am overwhelmed! 
i am an artist and know exactly what i want to do, just am having troubles getting the damn thing to do it! 
-anyways, i have a background psd file as a layer, it's a light grey color. i also have a blood splatter psd file (the splatter is isolated w/ a checked background, meaning it's isolated) that is blood red. when i select the blood splatter and pull it into the grey background, the splatter color turns grey...like the background. not what i want at all. what am i doing wrong here? -i have another text file that will be going on top of all of that, it's jet black. so you would think that it would be easy to make a layer of that wouldn't you? lol! i'm having problems. i invert the color scheme (ie; background now black and text white) magic wand it, inverse it, then control-j...but when i try to bring it up as a layer and view it i can't fill the text w/ colors(???) someone please help. and yes, these are the first question of zillions to come...oh joy! 
edit: okay got my last layer isolated but am still having problems with my red splatter over the grey background...red splatter keeps turning grey! thinking i'll have a simular problem with the texy over all of that. |
Posted on 11/11/05 09:01:29 AM |
|
Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply  |
Re: nOOb layer question...
First of all, welcome to the forum! Glad you're enjoying the book. OK, first problem. The blood is looking grey when it's on top of the background. There are several possibilities. Have you inadvertently lowered the opacity of the blood layer? Take a look at the top of the Layers palette, and it should show 100%. If it's lower than this, then you're seeing through the blood to the grey. Otherwise, it could be that you've changed the mode of this layer from Normal to, say, Multiply or Hard Light. Again, look at the top of the Layers palette, where it will show you the current Layer mode. If it's neither of these things, then it's most likely that the blood layer itself has a lot of transparency in it. The simplest way of making it solid is to duplicate the layer, to double up the pixel strength: you may need to do this a couple of times in order for it to achieve the opacity you want. You can then merge all the duplicated layers together. The second problem is easier. Can't really think why you'd want to invert the text in order to select it with the Magic Wand - you can just as easily select the text when it's black. I think the problem is that you're selecting the text and, when you inverse it, you're selecting everything else; Ctrl-J then makes a new layer from the space around the text, rather than the text itself. Either (a) don't inverse the selection, or (b) inverse it, then simply hit Backspace to remove the background from around the text. Hope this helps! Steve |
Posted on 11/11/05 09:11:04 AM |
|
maiden
Golden Gif Gagster Posts: 471 Reply  |
Re: nOOb layer question...
There is also a third possibility, Steve. that the light grey.psd file is set to Grayscale Mode and the Blood splatter.psd is set to RGB or CMYK mode, if that is the case you can either convert the light grey layer to RGB or CMYK via Image/Mode/ or you can try dragging the Light Grey layer into the blood splatter.psd instead. _________________ mad as a badger and twice as furry |
Posted on 11/11/05 4:04:15 PM |
|
mr.pbody
*** Posts: 138 Reply |
Re: nOOb layer question...
yes steve/maiden pic was set to greyscale...set it to rgb and presto-chango! but when i converted it it asked me abount merging, blah, blah, blah...i didn't understand any of it so i just said ok. is there something there that i need to comprehend? magic wand/select/backspace = remove! how easy is that! 
i'm looking for: magic wand/select/entercrypt/dodgearrows/killspiders/fillsandbag/ exchangesandbagforgoldenskull/runlikehell! most excellant. one other question on the newly converted greyscale/rgb...it's a little light. how to darken it up a little? |
Posted on 11/11/05 4:09:27 PM |
|
Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply |
Re: nOOb layer question...
By default, when you change a document's mode from RGB to Greyscale (or the other way) it will ask if you want to merge the layers together - in other words, flatten the file to produce a single layer. You should say No to this! Otherwise, you can't then go on to manipulate the layers independently. As for darkening the image, I'd suggest either Levels or Curves: in Levels (Adjustment menu) click on the middle triangle and drag it. Much more about Curves in the book! |
Posted on 11/11/05 4:20:49 PM |
|
mr.pbody
*** Posts: 138 Reply |
Re: nOOb layer question...
ahhhh...i see. so sorry for the very basic questions here. also, i want you to know that i am "not" just asking a question(s) without actually trying to find the answer myself first...though it may sound that way! lol! 
thanks again! |
Posted on 12/11/05 08:21:55 AM |
|
maiden
Golden Gif Gagster Posts: 471 Reply |
Re: nOOb layer question...
Hey we have all been there and thought we had tried everything but nothing works only to find that someone else knows a quick fix trick or something. What this forum is all about and what makes it so useful to all of us is that we are all willing to share our knowledge, I'm learning new stuff all the time here and I'm sure the same applies even to someone of Steve's experience. So don't worry about asking questions we are all more than willing to help out. _________________ mad as a badger and twice as furry |