Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace

The Canyon Conundrum......Page 2
The Rules of the Game......Page 4
A 30-Second Definition of LAB......Page 5
Assembling the Ingredients......Page 7
Finding Color Where None Exists......Page 9
A River Runs Through It......Page 11
A Closer Look......Page 15
Going Too Far, and Then Coming Back......Page 19
LAB by the Numbers......Page 23
Three Pairs of Channels......Page 25
The Role of Each Channel......Page 27
The Easiest of the Three......Page 29
A Closer Look......Page 32
An Introduction to the Imaginary......Page 33
So Hurry Sundown, Be on Your Way......Page 36
Vary the Recipe, Vary the Color......Page 39
Three Channels, One Image......Page 41
Flight Check: The Photoshop Settings......Page 42
The Recipe and Its Ramifications......Page 45
LAB and the Greens of Nature......Page 47
The Artificial Tanned Look......Page 49
A Closer Look......Page 52
It’s All About The Center Point......Page 59
What Should Be Gray?......Page 61
Its Fleece Was Green as Snow......Page 63
0A0B Isn’t the Holy Grail......Page 65
A Walk in the Park......Page 66
A Horse Is a Horse, of Course, of Course......Page 68
The White Point That’s Not White......Page 72
A Tour with Eight Stops......Page 74
Finding the Impossible Color......Page 75
The Whole is More Than the Two Halves......Page 76
The Return of the Canyon Conundrum......Page 80
Sharpen the L, Blur the AB......Page 81
The Second Stage Is Sharpening......Page 82
Selecting a Single Channel......Page 84
Photoshop CS2 Launches a Winner......Page 87
A Small Step for a Man......Page 89
We Have Liftoff......Page 91
Making RGB Behave Like LAB—Almost......Page 93
Houston, We Have a Problem......Page 95
A Burst of Gamma Radiation......Page 96
The Clues That L Sharpening Is Better......Page 99
The Blur Is Not Just an Average......Page 100
The Blurring Problem in the Digital Age......Page 105
Entering the Forest: Myths and Dangers......Page 107
More Than Once Upon a Time......Page 108
A Closer Look......Page 119
And Why Not Look, If You Please?......Page 122
Of Salaries and Pixels......Page 126
Of Translations and Transfers......Page 128
The Odds Are Against It......Page 129
The Tale of the Tape......Page 131
A Bit About Bits......Page 132
Ton Nom Est Dans Mon Coeur......Page 134
Summing Up: LAB and the Workflow......Page 135
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words......Page 136
When Speed Is All-Important......Page 137
The Going Gets Tough......Page 139
Mandatory Steps, Optional Steps......Page 141
Which One Works Best Where?......Page 142
The Get-Halfway-There Principle......Page 143
Will There Be a Step Three?......Page 144
The Channel Structure Bites Back......Page 146
A Comprehensive Approach......Page 148
When to Go Too Far......Page 151
The Partial Cast and Its Cure......Page 153
The Minute Waltz at the Masked Ball......Page 155
An Up-to-the-Minute Use of Layers......Page 157
It Only Takes a Minute......Page 159
The Imaginary Color, The Impossible Retouch......Page 161
Enter, Stage Left, the Ghost of Color......Page 164
The Theater of the Absurd......Page 165
It Would Be Argument for a Week......Page 167
We Shall Have More Anon......Page 170
Methinks It Were an Easy Leap......Page 172
The Better Part of Valour Is Discretion......Page 174
Thou Hast Damnable Iteration......Page 177
A Deal of Skimble-Skamble Stuff......Page 179
And So Ends My Catechism......Page 180
The LAB AdvantageIn Selections and Masking......Page 181
Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose......Page 183
Roses White and Roses Red......Page 184
So Fair Art Thou, My Bonny Lass......Page 186
A Rose by Any Other Name......Page 187
Each Morn a Thousand Roses Brings......Page 190
But Where Is the Rose of Yesterday?......Page 194
Lighting Through Rose-Colored Glasses......Page 197
The Outlook Is Rosy......Page 200
The Product Is Red But the Client Wants Green......Page 201
Three Steps to a Color Change......Page 204
Blending Options and Layer Masks......Page 206
From One Channel to the Next......Page 208
Three Sets of Sliders......Page 210
When the Colors Aren’t Opposites......Page 212
When Three Layers Are Needed......Page 215
The Best Retouching Space......Page 217
Color and Contrast, Again......Page 219
The Rays Are Not Coloured......Page 221
Channels That Don’t Have to Line Up......Page 223
Four Generations and Still Feisty......Page 226
The Sponge on Steroids......Page 230
The Best Way to Experiment......Page 233
How to Eliminate Moiré......Page 234
The Fabric and the Photographer......Page 239
Introducing the Man from Mars......Page 243
Why the Recipe Works......Page 244
The Invisible Background......Page 246
And That’s No Fish Story......Page 247
The Search for the Scapegoat......Page 248
Warm Things Are Doubly Positive......Page 251
Too Many Choices, Not Enough Time......Page 256
How Horses Look on Mars......Page 257
A Simple Field of Sunflowers......Page 260
The Universal Interchange Standard......Page 265
Of Reds and References......Page 266
The Ref Needs a Pair of Glasses......Page 267
The Search for Perceptual Uniformity......Page 269
To Each His Dulcinea......Page 271
Matching Unmatchable Pantone Colors......Page 273
Maintaining the Distinction......Page 275
The Knight of the Unambiguous Transfer......Page 277
To Run Where the Brave Dare Not Go......Page 278
Of Children and Colorspaces......Page 280
To Dream the Impossible Dream......Page 282
Once for Color, Once for Contrast......Page 283
You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet......Page 284
Detail, Range, and a Letterform......Page 285
When to Do the Averaging......Page 286
Older Yes, Wiser Maybe......Page 289
Finding the Right RGB Channel......Page 293
The Language of Layers......Page 294
Better Color Through Better Gray......Page 298
A Vote for Fluency......Page 301
Blending With the A and B......Page 303
When Zero Equals Fifty Percent......Page 304
The Easy Way to Brighter Color......Page 307
Of Blues and Butterflies......Page 309
The Art of Selective Lightening......Page 312
Separating Greens Conventionally.........Page 316
...and Unconventionally......Page 318
Whites and Blacks Are Both Grays......Page 320
A Face Is Like a Canyon......Page 323
Building Contrast with the Green......Page 324
Making the Jump to LAB......Page 326
The Question of Sharpening......Page 328
Three Faces, One Recipe......Page 330
But Here Is the Best Part......Page 335
You Have a Head Start......Page 339
If You Are Among the Very Young at Heart......Page 342
First, Analyze the Image......Page 343
Second, Set the Contrast......Page 346
Third, Add the Color......Page 348
Fourth, Save and Close......Page 349