CS2 - confused?

im new to digital photography & photoshop. been going along with a few different books on CS2 and

just experimenting with various images i have. one problem that keeps arising is, adjustments etc, dont

always apply... so i realize i have to click on the background level for certain edits to take place. one of

the books, explains ONE of the many ways to turn an image into sepia - and once again, changes are not

applying . hoping someone can help. what it says is to open an image in photoshop, then click on

Window, then Actions.. in the actions Option menu, scroll down to Sepia and click on the Play icon - and

that should apply the change. Nothing happens! Should i duplicate the initial layer when i first open an

image? what is the reason that some changes dont take place - even when im working on the background

layer? thank you

another simple example i experimented with - also not working. opening an image in CS2,

Filter, Gaussian Blur, then in the History palette, i click in the small box to bring up the

History Brush - i go over certain parts of image to bring it out, and not have it blurred - also,

doesnt apply. Is my layer locked - am i missing a step when i first open and start editing an

image?

I can answer the sepia image question for you. Here is my method of creating a sepia image. I'm a little unsure of the method you mentioned, but I think you may like this other method better anyway, because it allows you to create the exact sepia look that YOU want.

 

Start by opening your image. Then, in the layers menu, click on the half black/white circle at the bottom of the window (adjustment layer button) and select Hue/Saturation. When the adjustment box comes up, slide the "Saturation" slider all the way left to -100. This should desaturate your entire image leaving you with a black and white picture and a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer in your layer window.

 

Next, create another adjustment layer, but this time select "Color Balance." Now slide the top slider to Red and the bottom slider to Yellow. This will give you a sepia-type picture. If you slide the sliders in the opposite direction you will get a "Cool Blue" type picture. You can adjust them anywhere in the middle, and you can create whatever look you want.

 

The benefit, in my opinion, to this method is that you can go back and readjust these settings at any time if you'd like, or even turn them off.

 

Let me know if you have any problems.

 

As for the History brush problem you mentioned...I haven't used the history brush too often to be honest. But, I believe that in order to let the history brush know where in history you're going to paint to, you have to click in the little box next to the item that you want to paint back to in the history list. There should be a history paint brush symbol that shows up in the box.

 

I'm pretty sure this is how it works, but if you have any more problems, I'm sure there are lots of people on here that can help.

 

Phil

An okay rule of thumb is to always copy the background to a new layer, and work on the new layer. YMMV.

 

Chances are you are either trying to apply something to a locked layer or you are not applying against the proper layer.

 

BTW - I think there is a sepia action included in CS2. Alternately, you might consider the DIY approach and change mode to Duotone (or tritone) so that the colors are applied with different curves; that's closer to how actual wet process behave.

Change Mode to B&W. Then select Mode - Duo tone. Select any one of hundreds of second colors. You have now toned your image!

 

Stick with the yellows-oragges for sepiatone.

Uh, make that yellows and oranges.

When you selected the history brush, did you remember to select a `state`in the History that you wanted the history brush to return to? I`m talking about where all your edits show up, in the right-hand window. The one with the two tabs on top that say History and Actions. Anyway, each adjustment you made that`s listed in that window has a small box to the left of it. Pick the one that you want the History brush to return to. (It`s easier to try it than to explain it.)

Aw hell, here you go. This is what I was trying to explain.

 

In this example, if you select the History Brush Tool, and then click on the square with the red `X` in it, everywhere you paint with the History Brush will look as your picture did before you made all the adjustments after the ``X``.<div></div>

thank you all so much for the various ways of doing sepia toning, which have generally

worked out fine. my concern is why sometimes my changes are not being applied - so i gave

an example of instructions i've been following. Frank, yes, i have click the box in the History

palette - all as instructed in the book. Perhaps my layer is locked? how do i UNLOCK a layer

and where can i tell that its locked?

I'm not aware of an included sepia action with PS CS2. That aside, it may be that the action isn't compatible with your image. It may be that the image will need to be in Grayscale mode and 8 bit. Check those two things to see if that makes a difference. I run into the problem when I try to create duotones because I scan all my b&w film in 16 bit RGB mode and sometimes forget to convert them before trying to do a duotone.

You can tell if your layer is locked by looking in the layer window to the right of the layer. There would be a symbol of a lock. If it is locked, then you can unlock it by selecting the locked layer, then clicking on the lock in the upper part of the layer window.

 

I suggest that with whatever filetype you're working with, I'm guessing a JPG, you select the background layer, then press CTRL-J or Command-J on the MAC. This should jump the entire background layer to its own layer. The layer will be unlocked, and you can make any modifications you want, but you'll always have the ability to erase back to the original background layer.