Get nine looks from four techniques

Progressively build a look before taking advantage of Layer visibility to enjoy even more potential effects with minimal effort

- James Abbott

It’s quite common to approach photo editing and the application of effects as a means to an end where you arrive at a final visual destination. This works extremely well – and, for the most part, can’t be faulted – but when a series of effects are applied, these can be made visible in different combinations that allow you to edit a single image in even more ways than the applied effects seemingly allow.

For this set of four techniques, we’re going to replace the sky in the landscape, convert to moody black and white, lift the shadows to reveal detail and apply sepia toning. These will be applied progressively, so you can see the result being built. However, by selecting only certain Layers or techniques, a total of nine potential looks can be applied to the original image. Not only does this illustrate the versatility of Layer-based effects in Photoshop, but it also shows how a pick-and-mix approach to Layer visibility can extend your creative options.

Get five extra looks