How do i get my PS Channel to show in Layers?

[Smithy]

I have managed to do some blending in my Alpha Channel to the coast/sea of my map but cant seem to get it to show through on my Layers page. I am new to Photoshop and got distracted half way through the process and think i have missed a few steps.
I tried creating a Layer mask, but this "overpowers" the rest of the map when i turn it on?
Any ideas?

Thanks,
Smithy

[Smithy]

OK guys, 2 days and 71 views and not even a "give us more information to help you, noob".
I would gladly accept a berating for my lack of Photoshop knowledge, if someone can give me advice on how to sort this out. Help please!

[torstan]

Can you take a screenshot of your layers set-up and go into a little more detail of your problem? If you just need to see the Channels - then Window->Channels will open the Channels panel. In your Layers dialog you'll just layers, not channels, so I'm not quite sure what you're asking.

[Smithy]

Thanks Torstan. Here's some screenshots...
Sea Layer.jpg
This is my Layers - with the flat blue sea.
I did some coastal colour changes in my Channel and dont know how to show it blending in the Layers?
Channel....
Sea Channel.jpg
Got a feeling i am being really stupid here?

[ravells]

Hi Smithy I'm not sure what it is you're trying to do here. If what you are after is lessening the opacity of the sea around the coast in a feathered style, then the quickest way I can think of (there are probably a host of other ways) to do that would be to select the land mass, expand the selection by the number of pixels you want the feather to operate, (Select/modify/expand), then feather the selection (Select/modify/feather) and hit delete.

I'm not sure if that's the effect you are after?

[Smithy]

Hi Smithy I'm not sure what it is you're trying to do here. If what you are after is lessening the opacity of the sea around the coast in a feathered style, then the quickest way I can think of (there are probably a host of other ways) to do that would be to select the land mass, expand the selection by the number of pixels you want the feather to operate, (Select/modify/expand), then feather the selection (Select/modify/feather) and hit delete.

I'm not sure if that's the effect you are after?

I am more after two colours of blue in the sea - lighter around coast and dark in deep water. Can't get the blending to show on my main Layer. Was trying to use the channel for this effect.

[Meshon]

I am pretty iffy on making channels do fancy things other than height maps for lighting effects. What I would do to accomplish what I think you're after is:
1. Create a new layer to hold the lighter colour. Ideally this would be above the layer of dark ocean but below the layer that holds the landmass.
2. Fill that layer with the colour you want.
3. Get a selection of the land-mass pixels (ctrl-click or cmd-click on the layer thumbnail for the landmass).
4. Expand that selection by about twice the number of pixels you want the lighter coloured area to be. So if you want 20 pixels of lighter blue around your continent, expand the selection by about 40 pixels.
5. Make sure the new fill layer is active, and click the Add Layer Mask button.
6. Blur the layer mask until it looks the way you want it. You can also play with the opacity and blending mode of the layer.

Edit: Simpler
Okay, after having written that I played around a bit. I think you can simplify what I said.
The first two steps are the same. Then just create an empty layer mask on the fill layer. Now go into channels. You should see a new channel for the new layer mask. Copy the channel you've made for blending and paste it into the new layer mask channel. I think that should work.

Let us know if there's something else that needs doing. I'm looking forward to seeing your map!

cheers,
Meshon

[Smithy]

Tried your simpler version and with a bit of jiggin about i got this....
Untitled.jpg
Its almost the right idea but unfortunately the colours are back to front. I wanted light around the coast. Also there appears to be much lighter patchy areas in the dark bit right next to the land? Dont know if u can see that?
Any tips on how to invert colour choices?

[Meshon]

It looks like you have just one layer for the ocean and I think you might need two. One background layer that has the darker colour and then another layer above that one that has the lighter colour and the mask.

If you're referring to the lighter areas in the fjords and channels, I'm guessing that has to do with the fidelity of your mask. When I look at the channel you posted earlier it looks like the narrow inlets and similar features are dark like the deep ocean, so you would need to clear those out. Maybe try the more involved process I suggested, since it rebuilds your mask rather than using the existing one.

Happy to offer further clarification if needed, good luck!

cheers,
Meshon

[Smithy]

I will have a tinker with it and see what i can get. Thanks to all for replying.