channels

[k^2]

hey everyone. ive heard a lot about channels and used photoshop for a long time but never got into channels. can someone explain them to me. and possibly like give me a tut on how to use them. thanx.

[daedal.]

You know, I've never really used them except to round off my corners.

[fever]

I use to know some good tuts that I learned from. But channels could be used to cut things out of images, smooths curves, and other things...


this is the only tut I could find: http://www.planetphotoshop.com/PeteBauer20.html

[digitalmind]

I couldnt go without channels. Basically what a channel is is a selection with you can draw and use all the filters on. In a new channel, fill a piece with white. Now do all sorts of stuff to it, wind, blurs, etc. Then, ctrl + click the channel and go back to a layer. Then just fill :)

[Koobi]

channels is one of the sweeetest things in PS if youre into making 3D looking stuff in a 2D prog like PS

using channels you can make objects partially trasnparent or make them have a 3D bevel using a combination of the lighting effects, blur and curves(some people hjate me for usign the curves :( )....so...yeah its pretty indispensible :) sorry i cant give you any tutes now though...im at work...maybe when i get home i can find some :)

[k^2]

Originally posted by digitalmind
In a new channel, fit a piece with white. Now do all sorts of stuff to it, wind, blurs, etc. Then, ctrl + click the channel and go back to a layer. Then just fill :)

okay i don't understand what you were sayin. i made a new channel, which was called alpha channel. not you say "fit a piece with white". whats that supposed to mean. i filled it with white and then did the effects and tryed to select it but it wouldn't... :confused:

[Mitchacho]

if you fill the canvas with white, what can you do to it as far as filters go? nothing really. Make a shape, a square, a circle, or a custom shape, and then mess with it =)

[digitalmind]

Originally posted by k^2
okay i don't understand what you were sayin. i made a new channel, which was called alpha channel. not you say "fit a piece with white". whats that supposed to mean. i filled it with white and then did the effects and tryed to select it but it wouldn't... :confused:

Oh darn, sorry, a typo. .I ment Fill.

CTRL + Click the channel name to sellect the channel.

[Samuel]

Good thread on channels guys.

As long as I've used photoshop formerly it's nice to see something directly addressed by people with direct skills to a feature some people haven't quite grasped.

"Props to GF!"

Also, thanks for the link fever, and digital, nice explanation. I'm adding your comments, this thread and a link to that tutorial to my local design resources page.

Thanks again

[digitalmind]

Glad I could help, that's what a community is for. :)

[coloredbean]

K^2 - If the way channels work is still a bit unclear, here's an easy way to think of it. First off, the main channels are of course your image information split up into it's separate components (i.e. - in a CMYK image it represents which parts of the image go on each printing plate).

The kind of channels you're wanting to work with are alpha channels (although that's just what they are - their actual name in the channels list can be whatever you want it to be). Alpha Channels are just saved selections, where white represents something being completely selected, black means something is completely UNselected, and shades of grey mean partially selected (kind of like a selection you would be able to see part-way through if you filled it in, or copied and pasted it onto something else.)

I would recommend trying Quick Mask mode to make your selections (the shortcut is just pressing the letter "Q"). Quick mask mode essentially lets you create a selection for your alpha channel while looking at the image at the same time. You create your quick mask by painting in black or white, just like an alpha channel, but the mask is represented by a red overlay. When you're done, hit "Q" again to return to normal mode, and VERY IMPORTANTLY save your selection as a channel. A Quick Mask is simply another way of viewing a selection, and is just as temporary as a selection, so unless you save it as a channel (Select > Save Selection) it'll be gone.

Safest way to make sure your Alpha channels get saved with your image is to save a master copy of your image as a PSD (which you should always always do anyway). You can load the alpha channel as a selection by simply Ctrl (or Command) clicking on the channel thumbnail.

[k^2]

thanks guys for the channel stuff, although some of you made it sound like i didn't know a thing about photoshop, lol. no i really have used photoshop for a long time just never got around to really using channels. i used masks and quick masks all the time, couldn't do without them. anyway though, thanks everyone for the great channel thread, this shoud prolly be saved i think. it was a great help.

[Cryptkeeper]

damn... I woulda posted my first post ever at GF :) it was a long post about channels :( lost forever.

[Arendje]

tuts that made me understand channels are: http://www.phong.com/tutorials/lightingeffects
http://www.phong.com/tutorials/wire

hf

[Harp2]

K^2,

CHOPs (Channel Operations) have been a main cornerstone for much of my work in PS over the years. Without them I'd have been hard pressed to do much of the stuff that is now done with layer styles and plug-ins. Back in the day, you did it organic (or not at all), as plug ins came later on and early ones ran hot and cold, so why spend the money and still have to tweek the filter's work? (Sounds like MS Frontpage, doesn't it?) Who else here remembers making "chrome" from a rotated picture with a gussian blured alpha channel and render>>lighting? :stunned: Besides, it's always good to know how to do and effect from scratch, IMHO. If you dig even deeper into this and you'll find quite a few jems.

Harp!

[Media44]

Originally posted by NijDOOM
tuts that made me understand channels are:
http://www.phong.com/tutorials/wire

hf

This is a great thread I think it should get stickied. Anyways I'm following the above tutorial that was posted but having trouble understand.... between steps 4 and steps 5.... when I return to layers it doesn't have the bevel look it just looks like the original curve. Also what does it mean ctrl+sel and then just press D? when I press D it doesn't SEEM to do anything.

Also these tutorials are great because they help with making bevel look.... are there any tutorials out there for using channels to make transparent effects?

[monk]

sticky it is, a lot of good info, deserves to be saved :)

[Koobi]

Originally posted by Media44 1
Anyways I'm following the above tutorial that was posted but having trouble understand.... between steps 4 and steps 5.... when I return to layers it doesn't have the bevel look it just looks like the original curve. Also what does it mean ctrl+sel and then just press D? when I press D it doesn't SEEM to do anything.


At steps 4-5 only the channels palette willl have the "bevel look" and not the layers...the layers will have the look once you apply the Lighting effects filter.just make sure you select the Texture Channel as Wire Bevel at the end of step 5

Also i dont see Ctrl+Sel typed anywhere...what i THINK you mean is Ctrl+click on layer? Ctrl+Clicking on a layer simply loads a selection of the contents of that layer

and when you hit "D", it resets your colour palette to default
Try clicking on your colour palette and change the foreground and background colours to some colour other than black and white, now hit D and notice the change.....also, if you hit "X", it switches the foreground and background colours

we shuld have a thread with a list of all the shortcuts....shortcuts rule! w00t!

[monk]

printable pdf's (http://user.fundy.net/morris/photoshop1.shtml) of all the shortcuts, for 6 and 7 win and mac, very handy and they print well too, all on 2 pages

[Koobi]

shuhweeeet! i lost the link to that and the PDF's when my HD messed up

Thank you Martin heh

*edited by monk* abusing my powers hehe, you got my name wrong:)

[Media44]

Are there any tutorials on using channels for transparancies rather than bevels? (that someone can link me to)

[Koobi]

argh monk!

/me reports Martin to the international moderators moderation unit
:teehee:

and media44, i think i saw something on channels for transparencies on www.thewebmachine.com

youll have to look through it, its a pretty big one

[bathroomsurgery]

The main reason I use channels is to save selections.

And in some cases: if you have a cmyk image, you can select the channels containing most contrast, copy it and use it as a PATTERN.

for example: you have a pool of water with a nice texture and you want text on the water like it's being reflected in it from the sky.

*copy the channel with most contrast, and gaussian blur it slightly. click back on cmyk or rgb. then, on your text layer (rasterized) use FILTER > LIQUIFY. there: go to the pattern icon on the left (the one with the little squares). at the right, in 'freeze' area select the channel you've copied and blurred. below at 'view options' select frozen areas. then, with a brush of about 24px (in a 72dpi image) and brush pressure of 30, brush your letters in left to right strokes, from bottom to top. click 'INVERT' in 'freeze area' and brush your letters again from right to left strokes, from top to bottom. click ok

doesnt that look wonderful... you can mess around with the blending settings now. also: you should mess around with the brush settings when you stroke your letters.


I hope this was a good explanation, you can use this in lots of stuff like putting an image or letters on a waving flag,...

channels kick ass


I forgot to mention: this trick can only be done in photoshop 7.
later!

[Koobi]

I forgot to mention this earlier but i use channels to clear up bad scans too
actually it was this thread:
http://www.graphic-forums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1761&highlight=scan

that reminded me of this. Suppose i make a bad scan...i.e. it has multicoloured bands running accross it with that bas

relief look, i usually:
# goto the channels palette and click on each channel to find out which channel has the most contrasting "multicoloured

bands" running accross it
#apply a gaussian blur on it. Of course you're going to loose some detail on overall colour depending on the channel you

used the blur on but that can always be corrected by a combination of blending modes (i.e. you duplicate the layers

and depending on the image you set it to a certain blending mode to accent the colours lost due to the

blurring...sometimes you might need to use the smart blur filter) and the colour balance tool (ctrl+b)

once thats done youre good to go.:) I havent used this method much so im not sure how effective it will be on different

types of images but the best thing to do is:

/me hits the play button and listens to the drum roll

!EXPERIMENT!

NOTE: when you lose detail in one particular channel, you will gain a colour opposite to that colour...i.e.:

(assuming youre working on RGB mode)
If you loose any blue on your image, you will gain some yellow as yellow is the opposite of blue

likewise if you loose on yellow, you will gain some blue


Just remember this:

Red is the opposite of Cyan
Green is the opposite of Magenta
Blue is the opposite of Yellow
And since RGB is an additive colour mode (the combined colours of light make WHITE) and CMYK is a substractive

colour mode, Black is the opposite of white :doh: lol

To test this theory out, use the colour Balance tool (Ctrl+B) and mess with it and you will understand what i mean by

what i mean to say....just in case my explanation isnt too clear

:)

[SuperSonic]

I think channel cant be learn from tutorials. You need exprience and time...

[prashantpoladia]

nice explanation!!!

nice explanatio!!!

[renapunx]

Well.. I just can't live with out channels.. hehe..

One thing I like to do sometimes to get nice lighting fx is to pic one channel (ex. Red channel) an apply some curves or levels...

You can get some really psycodelic fx.. hehehe

[vzero]

Another great thing about channels is using them to create better looking black and white images. I think there was a tut in macworld or macaddict.

Basically you can use the individual color channels to make certain elements pop out in black and whites.

just another grea thing about channels;)

[levi]

Here a link to Kai's Power tools. This guy is the final word on CHOPs. If you take your tiime going through these, until you understand them, you'll come out the other end, technically, ahead of 90% of people using PS.

http://www.artis.uni-oldenburg.de/books/Kai_Krause/

[steeldolphin]

I dont know what I would do without channels. They are essential to alot of the work I do.

editing and cleaning up photos, digital coloring, and many other things can be done in them. Using channels also helps save on memory...they use less. :)

[WebLogiK]

what the >>???!!! my lighting effects dont work, it says its missing a requested property value...??? any idea how come???

[solographic]

Also, if you're working on a spot color image you can add new spot color channels, basically like making an image a duotone (or tritone or quadtone, etc..) but by adding the spot colors in channels you can use different spot colors in different parts of the same image (you can't do that if you make it a duotone).

[::ID::]

http://www.russellbrown.com/images/tips_movies/AdvancedMasking.mov
Good channel masking guide

[Builtdown]

Damn that guys voice.... pretty irritating... :)


- b