› › PHO T OSHOP TIPS> KELBY ONE.COM
[ 117 ]ALL IMAGES BY COLIN SMITH(I think you get the point.) One of the things I often do to
paint with a different transparency is to click on the Fore-
ground color to open the Color Picker, and change the B
setting in the HSB section (B is the lightness value). I can
set the B to the value of transparency I want; for example,
40% will give me 40% transparency. (Keep in mind that
transparency is different from opacity; for example, set-
ting B to 40% is actually like setting the Brush tool’s Opac-
ity to 60% in the Options Bar; setting B to 60% is like
setting the brush to 40% Opacity. You’ll be able to tell by
the shade of gray that appears in the Color Picker when
you change the B value.)
I’ve been asked many times, “Why don’t you just
change the Opacity of the brush?” Here’s the thing: If you
were to paint with 40% Opacity, and then paint again,
the overlap area will become 80%, making it difficult to
get a smooth blend. If you set the gray color of the brush
to 60%, it doesn’t matter how many times you overlap
a painted area; it will always remain at a transparency of
60%. Ahh.