Week 1 is about to begin but this will be an interesting challenge...

[ggroess]

My explanation for the work flow I described above. 

For this image I tried something a bit different...
I took the original image   and I opened it in PS.  I then switched to channels in RGB and used the "split channel" command to make 3 separate images out of the original.  One B&W image of each channel.  This will close the original image but you can re-open it in PS.

Some of this might not be possible in Photoshop Elements.....

1) Open the image in PS and select "channels"  Shot1 / Shot2
2) Select "Split channels" from the pull down menu. To access the menu left click on the Icon on the right of the channels /path tab  Shot3.
3) Three separate images each from 1 channel of the RGB starting image.

This allows me to pick and choose elements from each image I want to use in the final version.  If I like the clouds from 1 version I can use a mask to isolate them in one of the versions and copy them to a final version.  More to come....

Greg

[ggroess]

Here is the rest of the story
Please ask questions....This one got a bit long....

Greg

[mikemeister_admin]

Hi Greg

re your last comment, I don't know anything about masks.  I see they come up in weeks 6 & 7 of the course so I'm happy to wait until then.  However if you think it would be helpful to have some grounding before then and feel like pointing out a tutorial/examples, please do so.

Also, I have been using PSE for many years but have never got the hang of Layers, so I don't use them, (lol).  I know this is not specifically a CM issue, but would you expect Layers to be an important element in the CM workflow?

Regards

Richard

[ggroess]

I would say that Layers actually make your work easier.  I started out not using them and now I use them and throw them away constantly.  The best part is that you can make a layer and make your changes to the layer and then if you do not like it you can delete the layer and no harm was done...sharpening is a great example of a fast use of a mask.

Masking is a way of limiting the changes you are making to specific areas of the image...Masks can be created many different ways.  CM just makes masking easier from the color channels. So by extension it makes it available to the general users rather than being a tool only the "experts" use. 

I like to think of layers and masks kind of like the old clear cellophane cut away pictures in your biology text book when you were in school; where the first layer is the skin, under that you had the muscles, then the organs, then the bones....

This is not a huge part of the class but it opens many doors to you once you learn a bit about them...

Greg

[ulfstr]

Thanks a lot for your pdf workflow! The result was great.
Regards Ulf