http://www.digitalcameraworld.com MARCH 2021 DIGITAL CAMERA^81
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Presets
It can be fiddly to work
through the Gradient
Map settings and pick
colours every time you want to
use the command. If you hit upon
a toning treatment you like, take
a few seconds to save the settings
as a preset. Simply click the Add
Preset button, give it a name and
click Save. The new preset will
appear in the Adjustment Panel
under Gradient Map, ready to
be applied to other images.3
Adjustment
Layers
After adding a Gradient
Map layer, you can take
advantage of all of the benefits of
working with layers. If the colours
look a little strong, for example, you
can lower the layer opacity to tone
it down. You can also add a mask
to make it work selectively in areas
of the image. (Click the mask icon,
then paint with black over the
image to hide any area.) You
can also apply Blending Modes.2
Gradient Maps
To add a Gradient Map,
click the Adjustment
icon at the bottom of
the Layers Panel. The command
lets you map colours to different
parts of the tonal range. You can
choose any blend of colours you
like and add them to shadows,
midtones, highlights or any other
part of the tonal range. The left
of the gradient shows the colours
added to the shadows; the right
side displays the highlights.4
Colour stops
Click on a colour stop (a
circle over the gradient)
to select it, then click on
the colour box below to choose a
colour. You can add as many colour
stops as you like by double-clicking
along the line; your gradient will
adapt to include the new colours
in the blend. It’s usually best to
use the H (hue) and S (saturation)
sliders to pick a colour and leave L
(luminance) as it is, otherwise you
might find the effect introduces
unwanted changes in brightness.6
Black &
White layer
Before tinting your
image with a Gradient
Map, it’s a good idea to first
convert it to mono using a Black
& White Adjustment Layer; click
the adjustment icon in the Layers
Panel to add one. Its sliders let
you control the brightness of
different colour ranges. Building
up your adjustments on different
layers is a great way to work, as
you can go back to each layer
and fine-tune the settings later.5
Blend Options
Blend Options can be
used in combination
with any Adjustment
Layer; click the cog icon in the
bottom-right of the dialog to open
it. The two graphs let you finesse
the toning effect by fading it out in
different parts of the tonal range.
The left graph controls the source
layer, while the right graph controls
what shows through from layers
beneath. By dragging the right side
down here, we can fade out the
effect in the brightest areas.SPONSORED BY