Photoshop Channels?

[GreenLantern]

I have tried searching, but channels is hard thing to search for!

I need some kind of explanation as to what channels in adobe photoshop actually are? I am a novice to photoshop. I have noticecd that I can do most things without them. But, I have been running through a lot of tutorials lately and mention of "channels" becomes more and more frequent.

[.soulty]

go to window / channels.

This will open up a pallette showing you the channels in your document. depending on your documents colour setup, it show the primary colours used in the document.

Say you had a document set up as RGB, the channel pallette would show 4 layers one representing the RGB together and the rest showing indivually Red , Green , Blue.

There are many users for channels, when graphics are the point of interest, things include, saving alpha channels. selecting a range of colour for a selection.

For the more professional user, they would use it more for spot colours (pantone) and colour correction.

[GreenLantern]

So basically they are for dealing with color.

In a few of the tutorials I have seen, it seems like they are used almost exactly the same as layers.

[.soulty]

from photoshop help files

About channels--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Channels are grayscale images that store different types of information:

Color information channels are created automatically when you open a new image. The image's color mode determines the number of color channels created. For example, an RGB image has four default channels: one for each of the red, green, and blue colors plus a composite channel used for editing the image.
You can create alpha channels to store selections as grayscale images. You use alpha channels to create and store masks, which let you manipulate, isolate, and protect specific parts of an image. In addition to supporting alpha channels from Photoshop, you can save, load, and delete selections as alpha channels in ImageReady.
You can create spot color channels to specify additional plates for printing with spot color inks.
An image can have up to 56 channels. The file size required for a channel depends on the pixel information in the channel. Certain file formats, including TIFF and Photoshop formats, compress channel information and can save space. The uncompressed size of a file, including alpha channels and layers, appears as the rightmost value in the status bar at the bottom of the window when Document Sizes is chosen from the pop-up menu.

Note: As long as you save a file in a format supporting the image's color mode, the color channels are preserved. Alpha channels are preserved only when you save a file in Adobe Photoshop, PDF, PICT, Pixar, TIFF, or Raw formats. DCS 2.0 format preserves only spot channels. Saving in other formats may cause channel information to be discarded. (See About file formats.)

About color channels--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every Photoshop image has one or more channels, each storing information about color elements in the image. The number of default color channels in an image depends on its color mode. For example, a CMYK image has at least four channels, one each for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black information. Think of a channel as analogous to a plate in the printing process, with a separate plate applying each layer of color.

In addition to these default color channels, extra channels, called alpha channels, can be added to an image for storing and editing selections as masks, and spot color channels can be added to add spot color plates for printing. (See Storing masks in alpha channels and Adding spot colors (Photoshop).)

An image can have up to 56 channels. By default, Bitmap-mode, grayscale, duotone, and indexed-color images have one channel; RGB and Lab images have three; and CMYK images have four. You can add channels to all image types except Bitmap-mode images.

Maybe check the help files out. ;)

[GreenLantern]

Wow thanks a lot! That was very helpfull. I would have checked the help files, but I hope be back on a computer that has photoshop until Thursday. That question was just burning in my head, and I had to know.

Thanks again for your help.

[.soulty]

no probs dude ;)

[Coolidge]

Soulty-
That was a pretty sweet explanation.

Seriously, you should see about getting that as a sticky or a tutorial on Kirupa.

[.soulty]

Coolidge you talking about the second post ? i cant take credit for that , thats was found in the photoshop help files. i said that in the quote.

thanks anyway :)

[Coolidge]

oops. Then let me say you have great copy and pasting skills.

Well, I read somewhere else that you were considering writing an After Effects tutorial. I'm still hoping that will happen. :D

[.soulty]

Originally posted by Coolidge
oops. Then let me say you have great copy and pasting skills.

Well, I read somewhere else that you were considering writing an After Effects tutorial. I'm still hoping that will happen. :D lol.

i was .. i did.. its done ;)

just working it out with kirupa... ill let people know when its out.


.s

[DDD]

Hey soulty weren't we conspiring to do some 3d tutorial collab? Let me know wassup with that while ya'll talking about tuts.

[.soulty]

no time at the moment dude, i had started it, up to texturing if i remember correctly... too busy atm. we will talk when work slows down.