The Channels tab displays the three RGB channels, showing the current red, green, or blue color values of each pixel in your image. The RGB channel thumbnails are grayscale representations of each color channel with white representing 100% color and black representing no color.
    The RGB channels each have an 
     icon, so you can look at your image in a single color channel. Click
    off the eye icon in the Blue and Green channels, so
    that only the Red channel is visible.  Bright red in the red channel is
    the equivalent of a maximum red value for that pixel; black means that
    the pixel has no red at all in it. You will see bright red for areas
    that are white or bright red. If all three channels have maximum values
    for an area, that area is white in the actual image.
    icon, so you can look at your image in a single color channel. Click
    off the eye icon in the Blue and Green channels, so
    that only the Red channel is visible.  Bright red in the red channel is
    the equivalent of a maximum red value for that pixel; black means that
    the pixel has no red at all in it. You will see bright red for areas
    that are white or bright red. If all three channels have maximum values
    for an area, that area is white in the actual image.
  
The RGB channels are always active when a layer is active. They display the color values of all visible layers, not just the active one. Unlike layers, the RGB channels can all be active at the same time. You can also choose to work in one or two specific color channels by clicking on the appropriate channels to activate the ones you want and deactivate the ones you don't want.
    You can create new channels by clicking the
           button. This will bring up the New Channel dialog where
    you can set name, color, and fill amount of the new channel. If you
    want to alter the values later on, you just double click on the channel
    which will bring up the Edit Channel
    Attributes dialog. Normally you don't work with extra
    channels, but they can be very handy for creating and storing
    selections.
    
    button. This will bring up the New Channel dialog where
    you can set name, color, and fill amount of the new channel. If you
    want to alter the values later on, you just double click on the channel
    which will bring up the Edit Channel
    Attributes dialog. Normally you don't work with extra
    channels, but they can be very handy for creating and storing
    selections.
  
If you right click on the layer name you will be able to access the layer menu. In the layer menu you have access to several other layer commands, see Chapter 6.
    An experienced user can also use them to create patterns and
    advanced colored images. The channel stack tools
     and
    and
     are more or less only useful when you work
    with those kind of images.
 are more or less only useful when you work
    with those kind of images.
  
      You are able to store a selection as a channel with the
      rightclick Select Save To
      Channel command.  This creates a new channel
      where you can paint, erase, and perform any other drawing function.
      The altered channel can be turned into a selection again by clicking
      on the
      		  Channel To Selection
	
      
       button. This is a very convenient way to alter selections and store
      several selections. In fact, you can create selections from scratch
      by creating a new channel, altering it, and then applying
      Channel To Selection.
      button. This is a very convenient way to alter selections and store
      several selections. In fact, you can create selections from scratch
      by creating a new channel, altering it, and then applying
      Channel To Selection.