[NanaB99]

Back again, just like a bad penny! LOL

My question this time: is there are way to save a "template" or some kind of file where I can keep the saturation, hue and light/dark infomation for a color I want to use over and over on different overlay layers?

Bobbi

[Glorie]

Gosh Bobbi, I'm not sure on that, I am always writing it down on a piece of paper...LOL!
Sorry, no great info from me but, it'll bump this back to the top!

[BarbaraC1977]

I hadn't thought of the question, but could immediately see the value of saving Hue/Saturation/Lightness (HSL) settings I've tweaked and want to re-use.

Here's how you do it in PS CS4: Create the HSL layer and tune as desired. Click the tiny dropdown arrow at the upper right of the HSL window, and choose "Save Hue/Saturation Preset..." Name it; it will be saved in the Adobe Photoshop CS4/Presets/Hue and Saturation folder. You probably want to make a copy to keep elsewhere, too.

You can't explicitly save Hue/Saturation presets in PSE, but I figured out a workaround.

Create a document entitled something like "HueSaturationPresets.PSD." In your image document, create your HSL layer as desired; you can name it now or later. Add a BLANK layer below the HSL adjustment layer (why comes a little later.) Set the real document and the HSL.PSD document to "normal" windows (NOT maximized.) The HSL adjustment layer document can be very small (16x16 pixels is fine.)

It turns out you can't drag only an HSL later from one document to another. Select the HSL layer and the BLANK layer together and drag them from the real document to the HSL document; you CAN drag the HSL layer with a standard layer. Add other layer pairs as desired, naming each explicitly. Save the HSL document and close it until you need it again.

When you need the HSL adjustments, open the new document and the HueSaturationLightness.PSD file. Set to non-maximized, and drag the HSL adjustment layer and its blank layer partner to the new document. You can delete the blank layer at will. Voila' -- You have a new, original preset in PSE!

[Pab]

Wow I will definitely have to save these instructions!! How helpful.

[tinkerbell11]

That is amazing Barb how did you figure such a thing out! Thanks for asking this question so we could yet again learn something new and useful!

[BarbaraC1977]

Hmmm, not sure how, but it was one of those immediate "flashes of light."

And... I hate being told "can't."

By the way, I believe this trick is probably also useful for other things, such as styles. Here's an example: apply a style to a layer, modify it, and copy the layer to another document "Styles.PSD." Name the layer with the style and save it. Later, copy the layer with the style applied to a new document of interest. Then you can Copy Layer Style and Paste Layer Style. Since styles often include patterns, you probably need a bit larger document, e.g. 800x800 or more.

I'm sure some other PSE experts will figure out some additional ways to take advantage of this idea.

[NanaB99]

Awesome! two great new things to try! Thanks, Barbara!
Bobbi

[CRS]

Wow, I never thought about this but it makes sense. Thanks for the instructions Barbara!

[Smiles]

Barbara, you are amazing!
thanks!