Adobe Photoshop CS5 Basics - Photoshop Tutorial, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Photoshop

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Adobe Photoshop CS

Basics

To open a new blank canvas, click on New and the box below will pop up. There are several decisions to make right from the start. What color mode should I choose? What size canvas is needed? Should the background be transparent or a color? What should the resolution be? You can choose a name for your image here. You will also have the opportunity to name the file when you save it later. Choose the size of your document by setting the Width and Height. You can choose from some preset sizes (click on the triangle to see the options in the drop down box) or create custom sizes. The size can be in pixels or in inches by changing the drop down. When working with images for an onscreen application use pixels. For print applications, use inches or cm. Resolution affects the sharpness and clarity of an image. Resolution refers to the number of pixels (dots on a printer or squares on a monitor) per inch. If you are producing images for the web, the default of 72 pixels per inch (ppi) will be fine. That is what most computer monitors show. If you create your image for the web at a higher resolution, the picture will be very large when it tries to open, the file will be large, and it will take a very long time to download. However, if the image is to be printed, it will need to be a much higher resolution, frequently 300 ppi. For printing, the actual term is dots per inch (dpi) and the more dots you have per inch will give more detail and a smoother looking picture. The Color Mode drop down box gives the opportunity to set the color mode. Color mode tells the computer how to identify colors. Grayscale gives 256 variations of white to black. This would be the mode to choose for black and white images. RGB creates color from differing amounts of Red, Green and Blue. This is good for onscreen images. CMYK is the mode to choose for images for print. This uses blends of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. The area labeled Background Contents is for the background of the image. The background usually defaults to white, but you may want to set a transparent background or even a specific color for the full background of the image.

The Mechanics of Photoshop Photoshop has so many tools, options and actions that can be used to create, enhance, modify and manipulate images. The following information is just a sampling of what is available. The menus in Photoshop are “context sensitive”. That means if you select a menu and an option is grayed out, the option is not available in that situation. Many of the items show the keyboard shortcut for that item. If a keyboard shortcut is not available, one can be created and saved in the Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts option. Menus On the Photoshop Menu Bar are several items, each with its own set of options in a drop down box. Shown here are the first two menu items, File and Edit. The operations listed in these menus are very similar to many other applications. Several items have their own set of options as designated by the small black triangle. Hovering on the item with the triangle shows the fly out menu. If you don’t see the choices you want you may have to click Show All Menu Items at the bottom of the menu. Edit Menu Step Backward which will continue to undo actions. Fill will fill the entire selection or layer with a color or a pattern. Stroke will paint a colored border around a selection, layer, or path. Free Transform will allow the manipulation of an image. This allows the changing of size and shape in a freeform manner. Use the mouse to move the bounding lines around and press enter to apply the changes. Transform allows certain set changes such as scale, rotate, skew, flip, perspective. These are all listed on the fly out menu. Preferences will allow changes to settings for general display options, file‐saving options, cursor options, transparency options, and options for plug‐ins and scratch disks. Most of these options are set in the Preferences dialog box. Preference settings are saved each time you exit the application. To start, it is okay to stick with the defaults.

Select Menu The select menu has several useful options. Select All might be the most common. This selects everything on a page or an active layer. Deselect will turn off your selection. Inverse selects everything that is not in your selection. Transform Selection will allow modification of an existing selection. Hit the enter key when you are done with your transformation. Save Selection will save your selection in case you may want to use it again. The selection would be saved as a channel but it does increase the size of your file. Layer Menu The layer menu is shown here with the layer palette. The layer palette menu is accessed by clicking on the small triangle on the top right of the palette. This menu and the layer palette menu allow the creation of new layers, duplicate layers, layers made from a selection, and the merging of layers. A New layer will give you a blank (transparent) layer. A Duplicate layer will duplicate exactly the active layer. An Adjustment layer will allow color corrections without changing content Layer via copy will create a layer with a copy of the selection on the active layer. This retains the original layer. Layer via cut will cut the selection from the active layer and place it on a new layer. This removes the selection from the original layer. Merge layers actually combines the layers as if they were one. You would not want to use this until you are sure you are finished with all the adjustments to each layer to be merged.

Image Menu The above image shows the menu drop down for Image. This menu option is used frequently. The first item Mode refers to color. A color mode determines the color model used to display and print images. Photoshop bases its color modes on established models for describing and reproducing color. Common models include RGB (red, green, blue); CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black); and CIE Lab*. Photoshop also includes modes for specialized color output such as Indexed Color and Duotone. RGB is the best color mode when working with images to be viewed onscreen, such as web pages and desktop presentations. It is made by assigning an intensity value to each pixel ranging from 0 (black) to 255 (white) for each of the RGB components in a color image. When the values of all three components are equal, the result is a shade of neutral gray. When the value of all components is 255, the result is pure white; when the value is 0, pure black. RGB offers over 16 million colors. CMYK is best for printed images. The CMYK model is based on the light‐absorbing quality of ink printed on paper. As white light strikes translucent inks, certain visible wavelengths are absorbed while others are reflected back to your eyes. In theory, pure cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) pigments should combine to absorb all light and produce black. For this reason these colors are called subtractive colors. Grayscale is best for black and white images. It contains 256 shades of gray. Because of the limited colors, in conjunction with the large number of shades, it gives a smooth transition and good definition. Indexed Color mode uses at most 256 colors. When converting to indexed color, Photoshop builds a color lookup table (CLUT), which stores and indexes the colors in the image. If a color in the original image does not appear in the table, the program chooses the closest one or simulates the color using available colors. By limiting the palette of colors, indexed color can reduce file size while maintaining visual quality‐‐for example, for a multimedia animation application or a Web page. Limited editing is available in this mode. For extensive editing you should convert temporarily to RGB mode. In addition to determining the number of colors that can be displayed in an image, color modes affect the file size of an image. More colors translate to a larger file. That is why the index color mode is a good way to save your final web image if it has limited color transitions. It makes a much smaller file.

Photoshop Toolbox This is the single column view of the Toolbox. The Toolbox can be put into the “Classic” double column view by clicking on the dark bar on the top. Note : Some tools are hidden under others. The alternate tools are notated by the small black triangle next to the tool. Right click on the tool to show the alternate tools. To use a tool just click on the too icon and check the option bar to see what options can be varied for that tool. To change a tool, just choose a new tool. Paintbrush Tool The Option Bar The Option Bar changes as you change your tool. The toolbox and the option bar below are showing the paintbrush tool as the current tool selection. Each tool has its own use as well as its own various settings. The settings can be changed on the options bar. For example the brush tool really is just like a physical paintbrush. It can be small or large or any size in between. It can be soft and feathery or it can be stiff and more precise. And brush strokes can be created. Expand Toolbox Move Tool Lasso Tool Crop Tool Healing Brush Clone Stamp Tool Eraser Tool Blur Tool Pen Tool Path Selection 3D Tools Hand Tool Default Colors Foreground Color Close Toolbox Marquee Tool Magic Wand Eyedropper Tool Brush Tool History Brush Paint Bucket Tool Dodge Tool Text Tool Shape Tool Zoom Tool Swap Colors Background Color Quick Mask

Palettes All palettes can be accessed by Choosing Window on the menu bar and clicking on the palettes you want to show. The palettes can be moved around the screen by clicking and dragging on the light gray bar by the tab area. The palettes can be turned off by pressing Shift + Tab. Pressing Tab removes everything but the Menu bar. To reset the palettes back to the default, choose Window > Workspace > Default Workspace. The palettes are shown closed with no labels. Click on the top right side of the dark gray bar and drag to expand to show the labels. Click on the << to open or collapse the palettes. Each palette has options which can be accessed by clicking on the small black triangle inside a grey circle. Many of the palettes are grouped with other palettes. Bring each palette to the front by clicking on its tab. Or a palette can be ungrouped by clicking on the name tab and dragging it out to any empty space on the desktop, where it will become a floating palette. Or the palettes can all be combined by clicking on the name tab and dragging the palette into another group. This view shows the palettes expanded. It would be very hard to work in this manner. The way to work is to collapse the palettes until needed, make any adjustments and then collapse the palettes again. This view also shows the Toolbox in the single column.

Styles Palette The Styles Palette allows you to save layer effects and blending options Some styles are already created and saved. Styles can also be created. There are three ways to save a new style:

1. Create a layer style and from the Layer Style dialog box , select the New Style icon to display the New Style dialog box. Name the style, select your desired settings and click OK.
2. Open the Styles palette , and moving your cursor into the palette, it will change into a paint bucket. Click on the palette with the paint bucket, and the New Style dialog box will open. Name your style, save your settings, and click OK.
3. Have both Layers and Styles palettes open. Drag any layer (does not need to be active) from the Layers palette, and drop into the Styles palette. This will open the New Style dialog box. Name your style, save your settings, and click OK. Styles can be applied by dragging the desired style onto the image. It will apply the style to the selected layer. Character Palette The Character Palette provides options for formatting text. Many of the options are similar to any word processing application. Remember if you hover the cursor on any icon it will show an explanation of the tool. The Font drop‐down menu allows you to select the font. The Style drop‐down menu for bold, italic, etc. Faux Bold and Faux Italic – Allows you to apply bold and italic effects to letters when the font does not have them as a type style. Only use these if the pop‐up menu doesn’t offer bold or italic setting. All Caps and Small Caps – Allows you to convert the case of the type. Only lower case letters will be converted to small caps. Superscript and Subscript – Allows you to shrink selected characters and move them above or below the text baseline. Useful for mathematical equations. If they don’t position as you want, use the Baseline option mentioned below. Underline Left and Underline Right – This applies to vertical type only, and allows you to add a line to the left or right of the selected characters. When working with horizontal type, the option changes to Underline and only does that. Strikethrough – Allows you to draw a line through the middle of letters.

Paragraph Palette The paragraph palette, like the character palette is very similar to word processing application choices. Alignment controls how lines of type will align with each other. Choose to have text align left, center or right. The middle section of boxes is for indentation. The choices are indent left, indent right, and indent first line. The next section is for space before or after a Paragraph. The check box for hyphenate is to choose auto Hyphenation. Justification controls how the text will fit in the space or box. The choices are Left justify, Center justify, Right justify or Force justify. Force justify will fill the entire line with the text, no matter how short the wording. This can stretch the text out so much that it has very large spaces between words. This is not always aesthetically pleasing. Layer Palette The ability to layer images and parts of images is a huge advantage. Changes can be made without damaging or altering the original document. Changes or effects can be made to just parts of an image. Each part of an image can have a separate layer. Text is always placed on a new layer so it can be manipulated separately. The layer palette shows all the layers in your image. The highlighted layer is the active layer. You can only make changes to the active layer. The icon that looks like an eye shows that the layer is visible. Layers can be linked together so they can be moved or transformed together. To link layers, make two or more layers active and click on the small link on the bottom of the layers palette. A small link will appear in the layer section.

Note: If you want to Import a picture into another graphic program other options you may want to look at are .bmp or .pict. To Save as PSD: Select File > Save. Select the proper location and type in a name for the file. Make sure the file format menu says ‘Photoshop(*.PSD).’ To Save File for Web (as PNG or JPEG): To save the image as a PNG or JPEG, select File > Save for Web. Select the tab that says ‘4‐up.’ This will present 4 images of differing qualities. It will display the file size and the time that it takes to load on the web. The file settings are to the right of the pictures. Recall that if saving an image that contain text, line art, or graphics , PNG files can be used. If saving a a photograph, save the file as a JPEG.

• The file type, size and download speed are listed here.
• The type of image file and the quality can be changed for each image here.
• Try different settings until you get the smallest file with the least loss of quality.

Resolution Each of these images in the first set below is set to be 1 inch by 1 inch. They don’t look the same in the first picture, because the real size of the images is 300 pixels by 300 pixels and 72 pixels by 72 pixels. So, on screen, which is usually closer to 72 pixels per inch, the smaller image looks like it is really 1 inch by 1 inch. However, when printed they are each 1 inch by 1 inch. You can verify this by creating each new image and then looking at View > Print Size vs. View> Actual pixels. The 300 pixel image looks much better than the 72 pixel image when printed since there are more pixels (dots) per inch. The more dots when printing, the smoother and more detailed the print. A 1 ‐by‐ 1 ‐inch image with a resolution of 72 ppi contains a total of 5184 pixels (72 pixels wide x 72 pixels high = 5184). The same 1 ‐by‐ 1 ‐ inch image with a resolution of 300 ppi contains a total of 90,000 pixels These three images are each 72 pixels by 72 pixels. They look the same on screen, but each one as a print will be a different size. The 72 dpi will be one inch, the 144 dpi will be .5 inch and the 300 dpi will be .24 inch. Again, you can verify this by creating each new image and then looking at View >Print Size vs. View> Actual pixels. View > Actual Pixels View > Print size View > Actual Pixels View > Print size

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) File format that is good for photos or images with many varying colors. Uses 24 bit color (millions of colors) kerning The space between individual pairs of characters or letters. layer Individual image components similar to clear acetate overlays. Each image can have multiple layers allowing modification of parts of an image without changing the original. Allows effects to be added to specific parts of an image leading The space between lines of text. This is usually shown in points, compared to the font point size. marquee Selection tool that allows rectangle and elliptical selection. mask Defines an area of an image or layer to isolate and protect as you apply color changes, filters, or other effects to the rest of the image. merge To merge layers combines the layers so they can be worked on or moved as one image. Two or more layers can be combined while other layers stay separate noise A coarse dotted pattern added to images for effect or to give a graphic feel. path A linear outline of an image or shape. Created with the pen tool pixels The dots (round or square) that make up images. PNG file Portable Network Graphics. is a bitmapped image format that employs lossless compression and is a replacement for GIF PSD file Photoshop’s default file format. This is the only format that preserves all of Photoshop’s features. These files can be saved as GIF’s JPEG’s or TIFF’s, etc so they will be recognized by other applications rasterize This is the process of changing vector images so they will have pixel data. After creating a text layer, Photoshop will require it to be rasterized before some effects can be applied. resolution The number of dots (pixels) per inch in digital images. The resolution needs to be different for onscreen images and print images. See the section on Resolution for a more complete explanation. RGB Color mode using blends of Red, Green and Blue. This is the most common color mode used for onscreen images .All the colors together create white (hexadecimal #FF FF FF) or RGB values of 255, 255,

255. The absence of colors is black (hexadecimal # 00 00 00) or RGB values of 0,0,0. rollover Graphic that changes as you move over it with your mouse cursor. rotate Change the view of an image. Nothing changes except the way it is presented. An image can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. Images can also be flipped horizontally or vertically. This option is located under the image menu in Photoshop.

sample point A point that defines pixel data to be used in some tools. The Clone Stamp Tool uses a sample point to use for its paint. saturation strength or purity of color from 0% gray to fully saturated at 100% scaling Changing size of an image, layer, or effect. Sharpening Method of bringing out additional detail in digital images. The best method of sharpening in Photoshop is to use the unsharp mask filter slice Divides a large image for web use into smaller pieces (tiles). This helps the image load faster and can provide parts of the image for rollover or hyperlinks snapshot An image in the History palette that preserves any changes that have been made to the image. By taking a snapshot of an image that version of the image will not be lost even if some history is erased. stroke An outline around an image, a shape, or a path thumbnail A very small version of a larger image. tonality This has to do with blacks and whites and shades of gray. Exaggerating the tonality can make a very expressive image. tracking The process of creating an equal amount of spacing across a range of letters. transform Modifying the position, scale or proportions of a layer or image. Can add perspective or distortion. vertical type Text in a column rather than the normal horizontal. warp Distortion of an image or shape or text. Photoshop has many different preset warp effects. work path This is a path that is in process of being created. Photoshop uses the pen tool to create a path. Once the path is completed it is saved and given a name