Basics of Photoshop: Adjustment Layers

In today’s article, I will speak about the layers, but I will focus on possibly more layers used. We will see what they are, how they work, what they are and how to work with them. Are you ready?, Forward!

What are adjustment Layers? and what types of adjusting we’re talking about?

As its name suggests, adjustment layers are layers that allow you to adjust various properties of a base image (the layer or layers that are under it). In our case, the base image is the picture you intend to process.

These adjustments can be performed are:

Types of Adjustment Layers

• Uniform Color


• Degraded


• Reason


• Brightness / Contrast


• Levels


• Curves


• Exposure


• Intensity


• Hue / Saturation


• Color tone


• White and Black


• Photo Filter


• Channel mixer


• Consultation colors


• Invest


• Posterize


• Threshold


• Gradient Map


• Selective Color

I have highlighted in bold the most commonly used. Although I recommend you try the application of all of them for you to discover how they work and know if a future requirement to use any of them.

What are The Top Adjustment Layers?

Main adjustment layers as you saw are 19 types of adjustment layers. Too much to talk about each and every one of them. So we will focus on the most important, right?

Brightness / Contrast. Through brightness is possible to extend the range of lights, moving the slider to the right, or by expanding the range of shadows, moving the slider to the left. Meanwhile, the distance increases the contrast between light and shadow or the reduced (ultimately increases or decreases the contrast).

Levels. Allows definition of black point, white point and middle gray point in the image. Based on this definition, lights and shadows the images are distributed.

Curves. Offers a finer light and shade provided by the Levels adjustment, not limited to three set points, but 16. Also possible work on the luminance of the image in the three channels (RGB) simultaneously, or in each of them separately.

Exhibition. Allows a shift to the left or right of the histogram, causing an increase or decrease in the value of overall global exposure of the image.

Intensity. Increases overall saturation Photo preserving the colors present in the skin of possible subjects that appear in the image. (The increase in saturation, rather than intensity, which is brings out too reddish skin).

Hue / Saturation. Allows adjusting hue and saturation of a given color to correct.

Color Balance. Extremely helpful to adjust the white balance.

White and Black. Allows converting to black and white, controlling participation of reds, oranges, greens, cyanes, blue and magenta. So the black and white fits the desired result.

Photo Filter. Simulate the result would be achieved by bringing different photographic filters (colors).

Gradient Map. Another interesting conversion to black and white option.

With respect to the other adjustment layers, as I said above, my recommendation is to try them to see what they are and you evaluate whether they can serve you in the future.

How to Apply an Adjustment Layer?

Adjustment Layer almost forgot. I’ve talked about what are the types of adjustment layers that exist, but I have not told you how to create and apply adjustment layers.

It’s simple, as usual; you have several options to create a new adjustment layer:

• Make click on the button in the form of black and white circle at the bottom of the Layers window (F7) and select the type of layer. Identified in the image on the right with the number “1″.


• Make click Layer> New Adjustment Layer and choose the kind of layer.

Once followed these steps you will see that the Layers window is not updated with the new created layer. In the example image to the right you can see how to create a Curves adjustment layer type was created a new layer called “Curves 1″.

In addition, one can see something characteristic of all adjustment layers: the possibility, at any time, to modify the parameters of the fit (via the button “2″) and the ability to define the region over which applies the adjustment by a layer mask (via the button “3″).

Precisely potential of these adjustment layers, and the variation of opacity ( like the other layers ) and the possible change blending mode, are responsible for the full potential of adjustment layers and therefore, its enormous importance in the photographic processing flow.

Basics of Photoshop: Adjustment Layers