Masters Academy

Detail Visualizations

In this lesson I demonstrate some new techniques I’ve been incorporating into my image optimization workflow to ensure that my images end up bright and with sufficient contrast. I’ll share an action that will automatically create a special Gradient Map adjustment layer that will highlight solid white areas in yellow, areas that will lack detail in orange and areas that will have sufficient detail in green. It will also highlight solid black areas in red and dark areas that will not show much detail in dark blue. That view can help you visualize where detail will be easy to see and determine if your images might benefit from brightening.

Note: This lesson does not include any downloadable practice images, but does include an action. You’ll need to double-click on the action after downloading to compress it since it was saved as a .ZIP archive. Double-clicking the resulting file should then load it into Photoshop’s Actions panel.