How to Use Luminous Selections in Adobe Photoshop

If you wanted to make adjustments only to the highlights of an image, or only to the very darkest areas, how would you do that?

In this video tutorial from my recent course on selections and masking, I'll show you how touse the luminous values of the image to craft perfect selections of the highlights, midtones, and shadows.

This technique is sort of like the secret handshake of elite compositors. There’s no menu item for it—you have to do it through a series of keyboard shortcuts. Watch the video below to see how it's done!

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The concept of editing selected pixels is considered a core capability of AdobePhotoshop. It’s found in almost every workflow for almost any kind of project. It’s also a critical skill for all digital artists to be able to successfully realize their own visions. This is particularly true when it comes to compositing one element with another.

In the full course, Selections and Masking in Adobe Photoshop, I'll show you how selections and masking fit hand in hand in Photoshop. We'll work through a wide variety of selection tools and techniques, from the extremely basic and simple to the profoundly challenging. Then we will cap it all off with a project where we apply the techniques on a real world problem: selecting wispy, flyaway hair!

I'm also available for hourly one-to-one tuition right now through Tuts+ Experts. So if you need help with anything design-related, from mastering a particular skill in Photoshop to getting feedback on your portfolio, just book some time with me!