Photoshop for beginners - the 6 foundations of channels

The 6 basic things you need to know are:

(1) Channels are simply special layers, the information store

A channel is simply a level which is on the stored information about the image. They are called channels to confusion with normal levels. To start with any RGB color image has three channels: one for the red color information, for the Green information and one for the blue color information. If the image in a different color format is it can more or less channels. For example, four channels using the lab mode.

(2) Each channel is a grayscale image

Channels only save grayscale images. This means that a channel is the same as an 8-bit black white photo. The channel can store all the values from 0 (black) to 255 (white), but no color. Therefore, a colour image has three channels, one for the three primary colors of the image.

(3) Channels are a place to store selection

If you select a part of the image with one of the selection tools in Photoshop you can save (select menu in the menu) this selection in a channel selection... so it can be used again in the future. This is especially important if you have created a complex selection can have taken quite some time. The channel in which the selection is stored, is often referred to as an alpha channel. You can convert an alpha channel back to a normal selection with the load selection... Select command on the menu or by using CTRL + click (Cmd + click on Macs) on the channel icon in the channels palette.

4. Can you want as many channels as you

You can as many choices as you like and each store to its ' own alpha channel in the channels palette. To see the superimposed a saved selection as a red mask to your image, click on the channel visibility box next to the channel in the channels palette you can also see the red mask displayed a saved selection as a grayscale image by clicking on the field of visibility of the required channel and then hide the RGB channel, by you to remove box to the eye icon on the RGB channel visibility. The eye icon appears in the field when the contents of a channel are visible.

5. You can handle a channel as a grayscale photograph.

Because a stored selection in a channel is a grayscale image you can almost everything, what with this picture do you, with a normal black / white photography can do. You can change gray the stored information by painting with a brush on the image is black, white with the color or each sound. If you paint with a tone of grey you made when you load the saved selection to use transparency.

6. You can apply filters to channels.

If you want to create unique or unusual selection, you can apply a filter to a channel that work with 8-bit gray level images. Blur that is used a lot, to the edges to blur the saved selection include Gaussian. This would be similar with the feather option, if you use the selection tools.

These 6 fundamental concepts will give you a head start in understanding the role of channels and what you used in your Photoshop image editing for are.

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Copyright (c) Les Meehan 2010.

Les Meehan is the author of seven published digital photography books and as a qualified teacher workshops taught for over 20 years.