In this tutorial, I take a closer look at the new Light Adjustment Layer in Photoshop 27.10 and show why it is not behaving like the adjustment layers we are used to. On the surface, it looks like we now have Adobe Camera Raw’s Light tools inside Photoshop, with Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks available right in the layer stack.
You will learn why this tool has a lot of promise, especially when used with masks, groups, blend modes, opacity, and fill. I show how it can be used to shape a sky, control a foreground, and build a strong starting point for an edit without having to jump back into Adobe Camera Raw as a filter.
But there is a major catch. This layer appears to be performing some kind of computation in the background, which causes it to behave differently when you edit the layers beneath it. By the end, you will see why I love this tool, why I do not fully trust it yet, and where I think it belongs in a Photoshop workflow.
For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
I’m glad you made this video. I can assure you that this would have driven me crazy, trying to re-adjust layers that were below the light “adjustment layer” and seeing the unpredictability associated with it. I am forewarned: most likely, if I use this in my workflow, it will be at the bottom-most level, just above the background layer. Thanks!
Absolutely! That’s the best place to use it. Thanks for you kind remarks on the video, it means a lot.
Your statements near the end of the video are incorrect, because one other new layer behaves the same way: The same thing happens when you use the Clarity and Dehaze ‘adjustment layer’.
You are correct, but I do not use that in “My Workflow,” so I did overlook that, but hey… what did you learn? I’m so glad you have a critical eye to point out the flaws, but there’s some great information here…
Has there been any comment from Adobe? Is this a mistake, a bug?
IT is not a bug. It’s a new direction. This was a comment right from the Adobe Project Manager as a comment on YouTube:
Thank you so much for sharing such detailed feedback and for putting together a tutorial on the new Light Adjustment Layer. Really appreciate it!
Quick introduction: I’m Kritagya, the Product Manager who worked on bringing this feature to Photoshop.
Our goal is to bring more non-destructive adjustments to users and make these workflows more flexible. Over the last year, we’ve added Temperature, Tint, Clarity, Dehaze, and Grain, and we’re now expanding this with Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks.
One clarification on Brightness for people concerned: we’ve moved to Exposure while also adding more granular tonal controls with Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks. Together, we believe these provide much more flexibility in the long term, and the response so far has been very encouraging.
On the pausing behavior: the Light Adjustment Layer only pauses if “Highlights or Shadows” are used, as these are more computationally intensive. If someone uses only Exposure, Contrast, Whites, and Blacks, the light layer will remain fully live. We know this isn’t ideal, but we didn’t want that limitation to hold us back from making Highlights and Shadows available to users.
Thanks again for trying it out and sharing your feedback. Looking forward to hearing more!
Hey Blake,
Thanks for doing this video. Very informative. I just ran across something very interesting. I was using Adobe Sky Replacement on photo. I picked my sky and then decided to check out another sky and I got the Message. Light has pause to adjust layers. I never used Light Adjustment on any of the layers … Very interesting.
Thanks for doing the deep dive into this new tool Blake. You have saved us hours of possible frustration. We now know that if we choose to use it, it must be at the beginning of our workflow. It will be interesting to see if Adobe alters the way it currently functions.
Your videos are always so informative. Thank you.