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When you’re building complex Photoshop files, Layer Comps are a great way to store the visibility of layers that constitute versions of the image. For example, if Layers 1, 3, and 5 are Version A, Layers 2, 4, and 6 are Version B, and Layers 7, 8, and 9 are Version C, you can create three layer comps that let you access each version of the image with a single click. A Layer Comp can also store the position of layers, as well as the visibility of Layer Styles (such as drop shadows, inner glows, bevel & emboss, etc.). Layer Comps make it easy to keep track of versions while you’re experimenting, and when you want to quickly show a client those versions without trying to remember which eyeballs to turn on/off. 

Layer Comps can also be invoked by InDesign’s Object Layer Options feature, to control the visibility of layers and effect in placed PSD files; this is especially handy when you’re creating different appearances for interactive buttons. It was while creating buttons that I discovered a bug in the way InDesign handles Layer Comps. If you use Object Layer Options to manually turn layers off and on, all is well. My images had just one layer, but multiple effects (aka fx, aka Layer Styles) applied to the single layer. So I couldn’t invoke separate layers in InDesign, and had to rely on Layer Comps to control the visibility of effects that constituted each version of the button art.

I discovered that, unless you have the first Layer Comp in the Layer Comps panel list selected when you save the file out of Photoshop, you’ll never be able to reveal that first Layer Comp in InDesign. It allows you to select the Layer Comp, but ignores its settings and instead displays the layer comp that was selected when you saved the file. So you can never invoke the first layer comp in InDesign, unless it’s the selected comp when the image is saved.

As you can see in the image above, the first layer comp should just be the plain green text. But InDesign displayed the “Add Rocks” layer comp when I invoked the plain green text comp. Aaarghh (and, of course, it was late at night).

Moral of the story? If you’re relying on Layer Comps in InDesign, make sure the first layer comp in the Layer Comps panel is selected when you save the image, even if you think you won’t use it. It’ll save you the confusion and frustration that had me banging my head on the keyboard at midnight!

If you’ve ever had to silhouette a girl with windblown hair, you know what a challenge it can be to create the perfect mask. I’ve always used channels, duplicating the best one and using Levels, Curves and judicious handwork to create a mask. As long as the subject has some contrast with the background, there’s hope, but, even then, it can be time-consuming.

The ideal masking solution faithfully captures the shape of the subject, maintains translucency and soft transitions, and can be used non-destructively. It’s not a simple problem to solve, which is probably why I haven’t found a product that fit all requirements — until now. All of the other products I’ve tried erase background pixels rather than creating a separate mask. Some do a better job of maintaining transparency, some aren’t much better than using the Magic Wand. But I’ve found only two products that create non-destructive masks with nice, transitional edges: Power Mask, and EZ Mask, both from Digital Film Tools.

Both products do a great job; EZ Mask is just a bit, ah, easier (natch). When you see a product named “EZ Mask,” it’s tempting to think… well, you know. But trust me: it’s wonderful! Let me show you…

With EZ Mask, you start by converting your background layer to a floating layer, then adding an empty layer mask (the tutorials explain all this), then use highlighting tools to indicate background and foreground areas by painting across them (below).

The red highlights indicate background colors, and the green highlights have been painted over foreground colors (i.e., the color areas constituting the subject). There is also a third highlighter, for unknown transitional areas, but it wasn’t necessary in this image. Once you think you’ve indicated the areas correctly, have EZ Mask show the mask results:

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If you’re not satisfied, you can further modify your highlighted areas until you like the results. Then, when you click the Process icon, EZ Mask generates the final mask in what was your blank layer mask.

Fake sky inserted behind masked runners. Yes, it's garish and obvious. But, hey, look at that great mask!

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Once you’ve generated the mask, you can’t return to EZ Mask to modify it; however, you can work on it as you would any other layer mask, using painting tools, selections, Levels, Curves, etc. to modify its effect.

Power Mask uses similar principles, but as you paint clockwise along the edge of the subject, you can see the mask taking shape. You can still use foreground/background painting tools to modify the results before the mask is finalized.

Tutorials and examples on the Digital Film Tools site explain all of this in much more depth, and there are trial versions for you to play with. Currently, EZ Mask is $195, and Power Mask is $150, but there is a bundle containing both products for only $245. In addition, Digital Film Tools develops a number of plug-ins for Avid, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, and Aperture. Very cool stuff.

In case you’re wondering, I don’t get a kickback. In fact, I didn’t even get free software. I bought the products because the trials convinced me I couldn’t live without them.

]]> http://www.claudiamccue.com/2010/01/ez-does-it-really/feed/ 0 http://www.claudiamccue.com/2009/11/please-dont-put-it-on-my-tab/ http://www.claudiamccue.com/2009/11/please-dont-put-it-on-my-tab/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:21:25 +0000 Claudia http://www.claudiamccue.com/?p=713

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Don’t you just love the tabbed document display in Creative Suite 4 applications?

If you do, you’re in the minority, judging by the number of people who ask “How do I change that?” often followed by “What were they thinking?!” I can help a bit with the first question, but I can’t answer the second one. I guess it’s part of the increasing Macromediafication of the application interfaces: perhaps the flat gray architecture is meant to be chic and soothing, and maybe the tabs are intended to conserve screen real estate. Whatever the explanation, here are some tips for returning to the Land of Floating Windows, as nature intended.

Photoshop

Open Preferences > Interface. UNcheck “Open Documents as Tabs” and “Enable Floating Window Docking.” If you just uncheck “Open Documents as Tabs,” document windows will still insist on docking if they’re dragged near each other.

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InDesign

As in Photoshop, open Preferences > Interface and uncheck “Open Documents as Tabs” and “Enable Floating Window Docking.” Heave great sigh of relief.

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Illustrator

Alas, Illustrator only lets you get halfway there: You can turn off the option to open documents as tabs, but you can’t prevent documents from docking if you move them too close together. Some strange magnetic force compels them to huddle together for warmth.

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Feature Requests

Here’s an idea: if you dislike the tabbed interface, put a note in the suggestion box. Fill out the Feature Request form on the Adobe website and ask that this compulsive behavior be an option, not the default.

]]> http://www.claudiamccue.com/2009/11/please-dont-put-it-on-my-tab/feed/ 10 http://www.claudiamccue.com/2009/04/adobe-could-save-taxpayers-thousand/ http://www.claudiamccue.com/2009/04/adobe-could-save-taxpayers-thousand/#comments Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:02:30 +0000 Claudia http://www.claudiamccue.com/?p=599 I’m sure you’ve seen and heard the flap over the Air Force One NYC flyover photo-op. It may merit the creation of an entirely new word for “stupid.”

But don’t you think it’s a great opportunity for a Photoshop ad?

Also, you may not have noticed, but if you go to the Control panel menu, at the very bottom, there’s an option: “Customize.” You can totally customize the contents of the Control panel, controlling which field are displayed, and thus utterly befuddle the poor guy who uses your computer on night shift. Don’t do this.

At least, not yet: April Fool’s Day is coming up, you know

By the way, Photoshop CS4 also offers an “Essentials” workspace, but it’s not the dumbed-down one! In Photoshop, “Basic” is the oversimplified workspace, and “Essentials” is the usable, fully-stocked Workspace. Go figure.

PDF Package and Web Gallery are now accessed through Bridge. I guess that makes sense, but you have to play detective to find the features. Choose the Output icon at the left end of the Bridge Application bar (the strip just under the menu items), or select the “OUPUT” workspace at the far right end of the Application bar to access the “Output to Web or PDF” function:

Output to Web or PDF

You’re probably expecting a dialog box, but instead, the righthand panel of Bridge changes to give you the Output options. At the top of the panel, choose the appropriate option, PDF or Web. The panel changes to display your options for PDF or Web output; they’re fairly intuitive.

At the end of the year, all the travel starts to wear me down: I pack robotically, the flights seem longer, and the hotel food gets steadily worse. But this is my last trip of the year, and it’s a nice way to end the year. I’m doing 4 days of Acrobat training for the United Nations — I’ll bet you didn’t know that there’s a complete printing plant in the basement of the U.N.! They’re a great bunch of people, from all over the world, and they have to run 24 hours a day to keep up with the avalanche of words generated by all the diplomatic missions every day.

I’ll be working in rotating shifts to train everyone, so I’ll be a bit crispy around the edges by the end of the week. But that’s offset by the fun of being in New York City near Christmas. No snow yet, but it’s quite cold. That hasn’t deterred the tourists and locals crowding the streets to ooh and aah at the decorations, the imaginative store windows, and — of course — The Tree at Rockefeller Center.

Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, 2008

It odd when you see something that you’ve seen countless times on television or in movies — it’s a sort of artificial déjà vu. It somehow seems “realer” in person because it’s already familiar. The tree is huge, but the surrounding buildings dwarf it, and you sort of lose your sense of scale. Suddenly, the skaters on the rink below seem miniature.

On another note, I don’t understand the jokes about “rude New Yorkers” — I’ve never had that experience. If anything, I find it a very comfortable city, and never more so than at this time of year. The decorations sort of soften everyone up, and the kids’ excitement is contagious.

Angel decoration (left); giant drummer (right)

Hope that seasonal feeling is starting to take hold where you are, too. We all need a little winter cheer to warm us against the cold (well, not so much in Miami…) and to act as an antidote for the increasingly bitter economic weather.

Onward to Spring.

The PDF is fully bookmarked; open the Bookmarks panel (View>Navigation Panels>Bookmarks) to reveal the extensive list of hyperlinked topics. Additionally, the Table of Contents is hyperlinked to internal content, so it’s easy to find your way around.

Designers will find lots of useful content, too. You can select a low-res or high-res version of the 139-page guide, and you’ll also find the CS3 version of the printing guide on the same page. Both offer insights into print-specific features in the Suite applications, and provide cautions and workarounds for each application.

I’m proud to say that I’m responsible for both the CS3 and CS4 revisions, starting with the CS2 version and building on its content. Consequently, some of the content is legacy, some was contributed by other revisers during the early CS3 phase, but the final versions of both are my doing. It was a labor of love, and I’m proud of the finished pieces. I hope you find the guides a valuable resource.

Given recent upheaval at Adobe (600 layoffs yesterday, including some very dear friends), I don’t know if there will be more versions of this resource. If Adobe doesn’t spearhead an update for future CS versions (assuming there will be future CS versions, and I can’t imagine there won’t be), I’ll do it myself.

Additionally, you can use Filter>Convert for Smart Filters to use the Smart Object approach while you apply endless filters to transmogrify a layer (and not always for the better).

But keep in mind that all the original pixel or vector content is stored for future reference: If you crop an image containing a Smart Object layer, you might notice that there’s no reduction in file size (see below).

That’s because the whole shebang is still lurking behind the scenes. The good news is that you can crop or transform, and you still have all the original material to play with.

Above, you see a cropped “plain old” image on the left, and a cropped Smart Object on the right. They look the same, but the image on the left is 1.8MB on disk, whereas the image containing the Smart Object displaces a whopping 31MB.

You get a surprise when you use the Crop tool on these images.Two surprises, if you didn’t know that you can actually drag outside the image limits with the Crop tool to increase the canvas size. Click and drag with the Crop tool, and it seems that you’re limited to the edges of the image. But grab one of the crop marquee handles, and you discover that you can drag beyond those limits. Whee! Quick way to add canvas.

With non-Smart image content, the “de-crop” move just adds pixels of the background color (top image, above). But try this move with an image containing Smart content (bottom image, above), and this is when you discover that all of the original image is still there. Ahhh… that explains why the file size is unchanged when you crop an image with Smart content: it’s all waiting in the wings, in case you might need it.

You can sign up here.

This is not, however, a shipping announcement, just a glimpse of upcoming wonderfulness. The announcement of that announcement will come later.