From the course: Photoshop Layers: Working with Multiple Photos (2018)

Using nests and groups - Photoshop Tutorial

From the course: Photoshop Layers: Working with Multiple Photos (2018)

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Using nests and groups

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- There are two very useful options when working with layers. Nests allow you to take an effect and apply it only to specific parts. We can essentially group this with the previous layer, or nest it so it isolates the adjustment. Additionally, we can combine multiple layers into a group. Now these two get a little confusing, because the word group and nest is often used interchangeably, but let me show you how Photoshop handles it. Let's say, for example, we want to apply an adjustment. I can come in here and say let's apply a Curves adjustment, but I only want it to apply to this one layer. So with that layer selected what I'm going to do is choose Layer, Create Clipping Mask. This also is sometimes called Group with Previous in earlier versions of Photoshop. And you see it indents. Now what we can do is apply a Curves adjustment just to that layer. I'm going to Option or Alt + click on the word Auto, and tell it to fix the Per Channel Contrast and Snap the Neutral Midtones. Well, the Neutral Midtones is actually not helping me here, but let's try Find Dark & Light Colors, or Enhance Brightness and Contrast. Those are all helping actually to bring out some of the details. Let's go with the Find Dark & Light Colors and that's a nice jump. Now let's Option or Alt + click on the word Auto and I'm going to tell it to try Enhancing the Brightness and Contrast. That looks better, and I'll click OK. I can also use the On Image tool here to refine this. Pulling down on areas that I want darker and up on areas that I want brighter. And now that adjustment is only applied to the mountain. That looks good. Now let's affect the sky. Well, in this case I want to affect both layers of the sky, so an easy way of doing that would be to select both layers and to choose Layer, Group Layers. And you'll see that they're put inside of a folder. This treats it like a combined image. Now what I can do is easily apply an adjustment just to that. Let's apply a Vibrance adjustment and bring up the richness in color of that sky. That looks a lot better. A little more Saturation. And now a Curves adjustment, and I'll use that same On Image tool there to pull down the blues a little and to bring up this area for a little more contrast. That looks great. Now what we've done here is by using a series of layers, as well as grouping with previous, or creating a group or a nest here we were able to actually control where the different layers were applied. This Curve only affects the foreground. These layers only affect what's below them. And for safety I could easily select both of those layers in fact and say Layer, Create Clipping Mask, and you see that they indent and only affect that group directly below. All right, now that we've got this more organized let's take a look at one more technique.

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