Adobe Photoshop
“Adobe Photoshop” is a graphics editing
program developed and published by Adobe Systems.
Adobe's 2003 Creative Suite rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to
Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS6 is the 13th major release of
Adobe Photoshop. The CS rebranding also resulted in Adobe offering numerous
software packages containing multiple Adobe programs for a reduced price. Adobe
Photoshop is released in two editions, Adobe
Photoshop, and Adobe Photoshop
Extended, with the Extended having extra 3D image creation, motion
graphics editing and advanced image analysis features. Adobe Photoshop
Extended is included in all of Adobe's Creative Suite offerings except Design
Standard, which includes the Adobe Photoshop edition. However, in 2013, Adobe
announced a new brand - Creative Cloud. And the Photoshop version included in this suite is
named Photoshop CC. The CC
version, and will be continuously maintained and upgraded has 3D content as
Photoshop Extended, which means the standard version is canceled.
Alongside Photoshop
and Photoshop Extended, Adobe also publishes Photoshop
Elements and Photoshop Light room,
collectively called The Adobe Photoshop
Family. In 2008, Adobe released Adobe
Photoshop Express, a free web-based image editing
tool to edit photos directly on blogs and social networking sites. In a version
was released for the Android operating system and the iOS operating system,
followed by a release of a version for Windows
8 in. Adobe distributes Photoshop in
Windows and Macintosh versions.
A popular high-end image editor for the Macintosh and Windows from
Adobe. The original Mac versions were the first to bring affordable image
editing down to the personal computer level in the late 1980s. Since then,
Photoshop has become the de facto standard in image editing. Although it
contains a large variety of image editing features, one of Photoshop most
powerful capabilities is layers, which allows images to be rearranged under and
over each other for placement. Photoshop is designed to read from and convert
to a raft of graphics formats, but uses its own native format for layers.
A
leading paint program from Adobe Systems, Inc. For many years, Photoshop has
been the model against which other paint programs are compared. Initially, it
ran only on Macintosh systems, which was a strong selling point for Macs,
especially among graphic artists. Today, Photoshop runs on both Macs and
Windows PCs.
Photoshop Definition
An
image editing software developed and manufactured by Adobe Systems Inc.
Photoshop is considered one of the leaders in photo editing software. The
software allows users to manipulate, crop, re size, and correct color on digital
photos. The software is particularly popular amongst professional photographers
and graphic designers.
A leading paint
program from
Adobe Systems, Inc. For many years, Photoshop has been the model against which
other paint programs are compared. Initially, it ran only on Macintosh systems, which was a strong selling
point for Macs, especially among graphic artists. Today, Photoshop runs on both
Macs and Windows PCs.
The internet was originally created by U.S. Department of Defense researchers to exchange textual documents. Once someone discovered how to add graphics to the exchanged document, however, the internet really began to take off.
As Hyper Studio author Roger Wagner has observed, we live in a media centric society that increasingly relies upon multimedia in its varied forms to both inform and entertain us. It is natural for people living within this media-saturated culture to want to create some of that media and Adobe Photoshop is the perfect tool for that task.
With Photoshop, you can
Create original artwork
Design graphics for a webpage or website
Make "ghosted" images that can be used as
the background for WebPages
Correct flaws and imperfections in a photograph
Create a photo collage: a composition made up of
several different photos
Create a deceptively realistic photo that is not
real
Alter photographs for political propaganda purposes
Design smashing layouts for a classroom newspaper,
brochure, or flyer
Have a ton of fun being creative
Photoshop is a
program that is so rich, complex, and powerful, people literally spend most of
the waking hours of their life using it, and are still always learning new
tricks and techniques! Thankfully, however, the learning curve for Photoshop is
not steep, and users can create very appealing products with a short
introduction to the concepts and tools of Photoshop. That is one of the primary
goals of this workshop!
help spark your own creativity, I have
provided documentation of how I created the images used in this online
curriculum in the last section, Graphics Techniques.
Every image in this curriculum that is not a screen shop is clickable to the provided documentation.
Here are a few
quotations on creativity to reflect on source1 and source2,
Discovery consists of
seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
There is an incessant
influx of novelty into the world, and yet we tolerate incredible dullness. - Henry David Thoreau, Walden
When you do the common
things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world. - George Washington Carver
Photoshop files have
default file extension as .PSD, which stands for Photoshop Document. A PSD file stores an image with support for
most imaging options available in Photoshop. These include layers with masks, transparency, text,
alpha channels and spot colors, clipping paths, and duotone settings. This is in contrast to many other file
formats that restrict content to provide streamlined, predictable
functionality. A PSD file has a maximum height and width of 30,000 pixels, and
a length limit of 3 Gigabytes.
Photoshop files
sometimes have the file extension .PSB, which stands for Photoshop Big also known as large document format. A PSB file
extends the PSD file format, increasing the maximum height and width to 300,000
pixels and the length limit to around 4 Exabytes. The dimension limit was apparently chosen
arbitrarily by Adobe, not based on computer arithmetic constraints but for ease
of software testing. PSD and PSB formats are documented.
Because of Photoshop
popularity, PSD files are widely used and supported to some extent by most
competing software. The .PSD file format can be exported to and from Adobe's
other apps like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, and After Effects, to make professional standard DVDs and provide non-linear editing and
special effects services, such as backgrounds, textures, and so on, for
television, film, and the web. Photoshop's primary strength is as a pixel-based image editor,
unlike vector-based image editors. Photoshop also enables vector graphics
editing through its Paths, Pen tools, Shape tools, Shape Layers, Type
tools, Import command, and Smart Object functions. These tools and commands
are convenient to combine pixel based and vector-based images in one Photoshop
document, because it may not be necessary to use more than one program. To
create very complex vector graphics with numerous shapes and colors, it may be
easier to use software that was created primarily for that purpose, such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW. Photoshop's
non-destructive Smart Objects can also import complex vector shapes.
Language Availabilities
Chinese Simplified,
Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish,
Swedish, Romanian, Turkish and Ukrainian. Arabic and Hebrew are added as of
Photoshop CS6.
An image editing
software developed and manufactured by adobe systems Inc. Photoshop is
considered one of the leaders in photo editing software. The software allows
users to manipulate, crop, re size, and correct color on digital photos. The
software is particularly popular amongst professional photographers and graphic
designers.
Tools
Upon
loading Photoshop, a sidebar with a variety of tools with multiple
image-editing functions appears to the left of the screen. These tools
typically fall under the categories of drawing painting, measuring and
navigation, selection, typing, and retouching. Some tools contain a small triangle in the bottom
right of the toolbox icon. These can be expanded to reveal similar tools. While
newer versions of Photoshop are updated to include new tools and features,
several recurring tools that exist in most versions are discussed below.
Pen Tool
Photoshop
includes a few versions of the pen tool. The pen tool creates precise
paths that can be manipulated using anchor points. The free form
pen tool allows the user to draw paths freehand, and with the magnetic
pen tool, the drawn path attaches closely to outlines of objects in an
image, which is useful for isolating them from a background.
Measuring
and navigation
The eyedropper
tool selects a color from an area of the image
that is clicked, and samples it for future use. The hand tool navigates
an image by moving it in any direction, and the zoom tool enlarges
the part of an image that is clicked on, allowing for a closer view.
Selection
By using
path selection tool, we can select path nodes.
Cropping
The crop
tool can be used to select a particular area of an image and discard the
portions outside of the chosen section. This tool assists in creating a focus
point on an image and excluding unnecessary or excess space. Cropping allows
enhancement of a photo’s composition while decreasing the file size. The crop tool is in the tools palette,
which is located on the right side of the document. By placing the cursor over
the image, the user can drag the cursor to the desired area. Once the Enter key
is pressed, the area outside of the rectangle will be cropped. The area outside
of the rectangle is the discarded data, which allows for the file size to be
decreased. The crop tool can
alternatively be used to extend the canvas size by clicking and dragging
outside of the existing image borders.
Slicing
The slice
and slice select tools, like the crop tool,
are used in isolating parts of images. The slice tool can be used to divide an
image into different sections, and these separate parts can be used as pieces
of a web page design once HTML and CSS are applied. The slice select tool
allows sliced sections of an image to be adjusted and shifted.
Moving
Once an
area of an image is highlighted, the move tool can be used to manually
relocate the selected piece to anywhere on the canvas.
Marquee
The marquee
tool can make selections that are single row, single column, rectangular and
elliptical. An area that has been selected can be edited without affecting the
rest of the image. This tool can also crop an image; it allows for better
control. In contrast to the crop tool, the marquee tool allows for more adjustments to the selected area
before cropping. The only marquee tool that does not allow cropping is
the elliptical. Although the single row and column marquee tools allow
for cropping, they are not ideal, because they only crop a line. The rectangular
marquee tool is the preferred option. Once the tool has been selected,
dragging the tool across the desired area will select it. The selected area
will be outlined by dotted lines, referred to as marching ants. These dotted lines are called marching ants, because the dashes look like ants marching around
the selected area. To set a specific size or ratio, the tool option bar
provides these settings. Before making a selecting an area, the desired size or
ratio must be set by adjusting the width and height. Any changes such as color,
filters, location, should be made before cropping. To crop the selection, the
user must go to image tab and select crop.
Lasso
The lasso
tool is similar to the marquee tool,
however, the user can make a custom selection by drawing it freehand. There are
three options for the lasso tool regular,
polygonal, and magnetic. The regular lasso
tool allows the user to have drawing capabilities. Photoshop will complete the
selection once the mouse button is released. The user may also complete the
selection by connecting the end point to the starting point. The marching ants will indicate if a
selection has been made. The polygonal
lasso tool will only draw straight lines, which makes it an ideal choice
for images with many straight lines. Unlike the regular lasso tool, the user must continually click around the image to
outline the shape. To complete the selection, the user must connect the end
point to the starting point just like the regular lasso tool. Magnetic lasso tool is considered the
smart tool. It can do the same as the other two, but it can also detect the
edges of an image once the user selects a starting point. It detects by
examining the color pixels as the cursor move over the desired area. A pixel is
the smallest element in an image. Closing the selection is the same as the
other two, which should also should display the marching ants once the selection has been closed.
Quick Selection
The quick selection tool selects areas based on edges, similarly to the magnetic lasso tool. The difference between this tool and the lasso tool is that there is no starting and ending point. Since there isn’t a starting and ending point, the selected area can be added onto as much as possible without starting over. By dragging the cursor over the desired area, the quick selection tool detects the edges of the image. The marching ants allow the user to know what is currently being selected. Once the user is done, the selected area can be edited without affecting the rest of the image.Magic Wand
The magic wand
tool selects areas based on pixels. The user only needs to click once, and this
tool will detect pixels that are very similar to each other. If the eyedropper
tool is selected in the options bar, then the magic wand can determine the
value needed to evaluate the pixels; this is based on the sample size setting
in the eyedropper tool. When the image requires more than a few clicks,
this tool becomes a disadvantage. The user must decide what settings to use or
if the image is right for this tool.
Eraser
The eraser
tool erases content based on the active layer. If the user is on the text
layer, then any text across which the tool is dragged will be erased. The
eraser will convert the pixels to transparent, unless the background layer is
selected. The size and style of the eraser can be selected in the options bar.
This tool is unique in that it can take the form of the paintbrush and pencil
tools. In addition to the straight eraser tool, there are two more available
options background eraser and magic eraser. The background eraser
deletes any part of the image that is on the edge of an object. This tool is
often used to extract objects from the background. The magic eraser tool
deletes based on similar colored pixels. It is very similar to the magic
wand tool. This tool is ideal for deleting areas with the same color or
tone that contrasts with the rest of the image.
Retouching
There are several
tools that are used for retouching, manipulating and adjusting photos, such as
the clone stamp, eraser, burn, dodge, and smudge and blur
tools. The clone stamp tool samples a selected portion of an image, and
duplicates it over another area using a brush that can be adjusted in size,
flow and opacity. The smudge tool, when dragged across part of an image,
stretches and smudges pixels as if they are real paint, and the blur tool
softens portions of an image by lowering the amount of detail within the
adjusted area. The eraser tool removes pixels from an image, and the magic
eraser tool selects areas of solid color and erases them. The burn and dodge tools, which are derived
from traditional methods of adjusting the exposure on printed photos, have
opposite effects, the burn tool darkens selected areas, and the dodge tool
lightens them.
Video Editing
In Adobe CS5 Extended edition, video editing is comprehensive and efficient with a broad compatibility of video file formats such as MOV, AVI, MPEG-4, and FLV formats and easy workflow. Using simple combination of keys video layers can easily be modified, with other features such as adding text and the creation of animations using single images.3D Extrusion
With the Extended
version of Photoshop CS5, 2D elements of an artwork can easily become
three-dimensional with the click of a button. Extrusions of texts, an available
library of materials for three-dimensional and even wrapping two-dimensional
images around 3D geometry.
3D Printing Tools
Requiring Photoshop
version 14.1, users can now create and edit designs for 3D printing. After
downloading 3D photo models from numerous online services, users can add color,
adjust the shape or rotate the angles. Artists can also design 3D models from
scratch.
Graphic design
Photoshop disasters
For comedic effect, some websites publish so-called Photoshop
disasters, that is, pictures that contain obvious Photoshop mistakes. Those
mistakes range from missing limbs to overdone photo retouching on fashion
models.
Photoshop contest
A Photoshop contest or Photoshop contest is an online game in which someone posts an image, and other people manipulate the image using a raster graphics editor such as Photoshop.
Adobe Photoshop CS
The first Photoshop CS was commercially released in October 2003. Photoshop CS increased user control with a
reworked file browser augmenting search versatility, sorting and sharing
capabilities and the Histogram Palette which monitors changes in the image as
they are made to the document. Match Color was also introduced in CS, which
reads color data to achieve a uniform expression throughout a series of
pictures.
Adobe Photoshop CS2
Photoshop CS2, released in May 2005, expanded on its predecessor with a new set of tools and features. It included an upgraded Spot Healing Brush, which is mainly used for handling common photographic problems such as blemishes, red-eye, noise, and blurring and lens distortion. One of the most significant inclusions in CS2 was the implementation of Smart Objects, which allows users to scale and transform images and vector illustrations without losing image quality, as well as create linked duplicates of embedded graphics so that a single edit updates across multiple iterations.
Adobe responded to feedback from the professional media industry by
implementing non-destructive editing as well as the producing and modifying of
32-Bit High Dynamic Range images, which are optimal for 3D rendering and
advanced compositing. FireWire Previews could also be viewed on a monitor via a
direct export feature.
Photoshop CS2 brought the Vanishing Point and Image Warping tools. Vanishing Point makes tedious graphic and
photo retouching endeavors much simpler by letting users clone, paint and
transform image objects while maintaining visual perspective. Image Warping makes it easy to digitally
distort an image into a shape by choosing on-demand presets or by dragging
control points.
The File Browser was upgraded to Adobe Bridge, which functioned as a
hub for productivity, imagery and creativity, providing multi-view file
browsing and smooth cross-product integration across Adobe Creative Suite 2
software. Adobe Bridge also provided access to Adobe Stock Photos, a new stock photography
service that offered users one-stop shopping across five elite stock image
providers to deliver high-quality, royalty-free images for layout and design.
Camera Raw version 3.0 was a new addition in CS2, and it allowed
settings for multiple raw files to be modified simultaneously. In addition, processing multiple raw files to
other formats including JPEG, TIFF, DNG or PSD, could be done in the background
without executing Photoshop itself.
Photoshop CS2 brought a streamlined interface, making it easier to
access features for specific instances. In CS2 users were also given the
ability to create their own custom presets, which was meant to save time and increase
productivity.
Adobe Photoshop CS3
Smart
Objects display filters without altering the original image CS3 improves on
features from previous versions of Photoshop and introduces new tools. One of
the most significant is the streamline interface which allows increased
performance, speed, and efficiency. There is also improved support for Camera
RAW files which allow users to process images with higher speed and conversion
quality. CS3 supports over 150 RAW formats as well as JPEG, TIFF and PDF. Enhancements
were made to the Black and White Conversion, Brightness and Contrast Adjustment
and Vanishing Point Module tools. The Black and White adjustment option
improves control over manual grayscale conversions with a dialog box similar to
that of Channel Mixer. There is more control over print options and better
management with Adobe Bridge. The Clone Source palette is introduced, adding
more options to the clone stamp tool. Other features include the
nondestructive Smart Filters, optimizing graphics for mobile devices, Fill
Light and Dust Busting tools. Compositing is assisted with Photoshop
new Quick Selection and Refine Edge tools and improved image stitching
technology.
CS3 Extended includes everything in CS3 and additional features. There
are tools for 3D graphic file formats, video enhancement and animation, and
comprehensive image measurement and analysis tools with DICOM file support. The 3D graphic formats allow 3D content to be
incorporated into 2D compositions. As for video editing, CS3 supports layers
and video formatting so users can edit video files per frame.
CS3 and CS3 Extended were released in April 2007 to the United States
and Canada. They were also made available through Adobe’s online store and
Adobe Authorized Resellers. Both CS3 and CS3 Extended are offered as either a stand-alone
application or feature of Adobe Creative Suite. The price for CS3 is US$649 and
the extended version is US$999. Both products are compatible with Intel-based
Macs and PowerPCs, supporting Windows XP and Windows Vista.
CS3 is
the first release of Photoshop that will run natively on Macs with Intel
processors: previous versions can only run through the translation layer Rosetta, and will not run at all on Macs running OS X 10.7 or later.
Adobe Photoshop CS4
CS4 features smoother panning and zooming, allowing faster image
editing at a high magnification. The interface is more simplified with its
tab-based interface
making it
cleaner to work with. Photoshop CS4 features a new 3D engine allowing the
conversion of gradient maps to 3D objects, adding depth to layers and text, and
getting print-quality output with the new ray-tracing rendering engine. It
supports common 3D formats; the new Adjustment and Mask Panels, Content-aware
scaling seam
carving, Fluid
Canvas Rotation and File display options. The Content-aware scaling allows users to
intelligently size and scale images, and the Canvas Rotation tool makes it
easier to rotate and edit images from any angle.
Adobe released Photoshop CS4 Extended, which has the features of Adobe
Photoshop CS4, plus capabilities for scientific imaging, 3D, motion graphics, accurate image analysis and high-end film and video users. The faster
3D engine allows users to paint directly on 3D models, wrap 2D images around 3D
shapes and animate 3D objects. As the successor to Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS4
is the first x64 edition of Photoshop on
consumer computers for Windows. The color correction tool has also been improved significantly.
CS4 and CS4 Extended were released on 15 October 2008. They were also made available through Adobe’s
online store and Adobe Authorized Resellers. Both CS4 and CS4 Extended are offered as
either a stand-alone application or feature of Adobe Creative Suite. The price
for CS4 is US$699 and the extended version is US$999. Both products are compatible with Intel-based
Mac OS X and PowerPCs, supporting Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Adobe Photoshop CS5
A
2D landscape designed in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended.
Photoshop CS5 was launched on 12 April 2010. In a video posted on its
official Facebook page, the development team
revealed the new technologies under development, including three-dimensional
brushes and warping tools.
Adobe Creative Suite was released, with new versions of some of the
applications. Its version of Photoshop, 12.1, is identical to the concurrently
released update for Photoshop CS5, version 12.0.4, except for support for the
new subscription pricing that was introduced with CS5.5.
CS5 introduces new tools such as the Content-Aware Fill, Refine Edge,
Mixer Brush, Bristle Tips and Puppet Warp. The community also had a hand in the
additions made to CS5 as 30 new features and improvements were included by
request. These include automatic image straightening, the Rule-of-Thirds
cropping tool, color pickup and saving an 16-bit image as a JPEG. Another feature includes the Adobe Mini Bridge
which allows for efficient file browsing and management.
CS5 Extended includes everything in CS5 plus features in 3D and video
editing. A new materials library was added, providing more options such as
Chrome, Glass, and Cork. The new Shadow Catcher tool can be used to further
enhance 3D objects.
For
motion graphics, the tools can be applied to over more than one frame in a
video sequence.
CS5 and CS5 Extended were made available through Adobe's online store,
Adobe Authorized Resellers and Adobe direct sales. Both CS5 and CS5 Extended are offered as
either a stand-alone application or feature of Adobe Creative Suite 5. The
price for CS5 is US$699 and the extended version is US$999. Both products are
compatible with Intel-based Mac OS and Windows XP, Windows
Vista, and Windows 7.
Adobe Photoshop CS6
Photoshop CS6, released in May 2012, added new creative design tools
and provided a redesigned interface with a focus on enhanced performance. New
features have been added to the Content-Aware tool such as the Content-Aware
Patch and Content-Aware Move.
Adobe Photoshop CS6 brought a suite of tools for video editing. Color
and exposure adjustments, as well as layers, are among a few things that are
featured in this new editor. Upon completion of editing, the user is presented
with a handful of options of exporting into a few popular formats.
CS6 brings the straighten
tool to Photoshop, where a user simply draws a line anywhere on an image, and
the canvas will reorient itself so that the line drawn becomes horizontal, and
adjusts the media accordingly. This was created with the intention that users
will draw a line parallel to a plane in the image, and reorient the image to
that plane to more easily achieve certain perspectives.
CS6 allows background saving, which means that while another document
is compiling and archiving itself, it is possible to simultaneously edit an
image.
CS6 also
features a customizable auto-save feature, preventing any work from being lost.
Photoshop CS6 was released on May 7, 2012.The price for CS6 is US$699
and the extended version is US$999. Students, however, even those who are
homeschooled, can receive a significant discount on Photoshop.
Adobe Photoshop CC
Photoshop CC (14.0) was launched on June 18, 2013. As the next major
version after CS6, it is only available as part of a Creative Cloud
subscription. Major features in this version include All-new Smart Sharpen,
Intelligent Up sampling, and Camera Shake Reduction for reducing blur caused by
camera shake. Editable Rounded Rectangles and an update to Adobe Camera Raw
(8.0) were also included.
Since the initial launch, Adobe has released two additional
feature-bearing updates. The first, version 14.1, was launched on September 9,
2013. The major features in this version were Adobe Generator, a Node.js-based
platform for creating plug-ins for Photoshop. Photoshop 14.1 shipped with two
plug-ins, one to automatically generate image assets based on an extension in
the layer name, and another to automatically generate assets for Adobe Edge
Reflow
The latest version (14.2) was released on January 15th, 2014. Major
features include Perspective Warp, Linked Smart Objects, and 3D Printing
support.
Brush Tools
Photoshop uses the generic term brush
to represent any of the drawing tools. Thus, the paint brush tool will have a brush and the pencil tool will also have a brush. This is a little confusing at
first but you will quickly get the hang of the terminology. Actually, it helps
to think of a brush as the drawing edge
of whatever drawing tool you are using. Thus, drawing from Photoshop's art
studio metaphor, a paint brush's brush would be the bristles of the paint brush
while a pencil tool's brush would be the pencil's tip.
The importance of defining the brush
is that once defined, brushes can be customized. For example, you can change
the shape or size of your brush. Think of a dull pencil point versus a sharp
pencil point and imagine the different types of lines the pencils would draw.
Similarly, think of the shape of a calligraphy pen versus the tip of a magic
marker or even a highlighting pen. Though the default brush is plenty powerful,
it is useful to get the hang of working with custom brushes because each type
of brush will be better or worse in various situations
Brush Shape
The
most common customization you will perform is to modify the size of the brush.
To do so, you use the Brushes tab in
the Options palette and choose a
larger or smaller brush by selecting from the range given.
Except
for the Pencil tool, brush shapes are always anti-aliased. Thus, you can choose
both a hard edge and a soft edge by choosing either the solid or blended edge
circles.
Customizing Your Brush
Of
course, Photoshop allows you to create your own brush if you need something not
offered by the set of default brushes. If you access the Brushes menu from the
Options palette flyaway menu, you will see the various operations available to
you. Notice in particular the Brush Options and the new
Brush menu choices. Click on either one of these and you can customize your
own brush.
As you can see, there are several factors that define a brush besides
size and hardness. You will also be asked to define the spacing, angle and
roundness of the brush.
The spacing controls how frequently a tool affects an image as you
drag. Turn up the spacing and you get splotchy lines if you drag your mouse
quickly over the canvas. A low spacing will track your mouse more exactly
When
you draw something on the canvas, Photoshop modifies the existing pixels in the
background according to the logic of painting. Thus if you paint a streak of
red over a streak of blue, the pixels in the streak of blue will be changed to
pixels of purple.
Thus,
you can think of painting in Photoshop as involving three values: the base
value, the blend value, and the result value. Brush modes modify the way this
blending works. Specifically, modes specify the way in which the blend and base
values will interact to create a result value. Let's look at each of the
modes...
The
Normal
mode applies the full blend value. In the case of a painting tool, the blend
color will completely coat the base color. in the case of an edit tool, the
edit value will completely override the existing color.
The
Threshold
mode is specific for Bitmapped and Indexed Color images. Essentially, it
assures that the color value of the tool is applied according to the closest
available color in the color map.
The
Dissolve
mode, which is only available for painting tools. randomly scatters the blend
color to give a rough textured non anti-aliased brush stroke.
The
Behind
and Clear modes are available in layered images. Essentially, they
modify whether the blend color is applied to the foreground or background
layer. When the behind mode is selected for example, a color will be applied
behind the layer showing through only int he blank or transparent areas.
The
Multiply
mode multiplies the brightness of the base color and the blend to create a
darker tone. The opposite effect can be achieved by using Screen
Overlay works like screen and multiply
depending on the value of the base color. Specifically, the hues of the base
color will move towards the blend color. Soft light works like
overlay with less intensity while Hard light is more
intense.
Darken darkens the base color using the
blend color as a basis and Lighten lightens the base color by
using the lightest value of the blend color. Difference compares
the brightness values of the base and blend colors and creates a result value
by subtracting the smaller from larger values.
Hue replaces the hue of the base with the
hue of the blend. Saturation does the same for saturation and Color
does the same for both hue and saturation. Luminosity works the same way for
the lightness value.
Photoshop
Layers
The image above is built in 23 layers
plus a background layer, enabling the individual elements to be moved
independently of the others. The layer window below shows the layers. The arrow
is pointing to the view option the eye
in the chip shadow layer. Clicking the eye toggles between making the layer
invisible and bringing it back into view.
Obtain
the Software
Photoshop is expensive software if you purchase it commercially, but
educators can receive a sizable discount. Suggested retail price in spring 2001
for the full version of Photoshop was $609, upgrade price was $199. Educators
could buy the full version for $279.99, or upgrade for $199. Details about the $99 Photoshop Elements
are available below. Order at a local educational software reseller or by calling
1-888-724-4508 Updated information about the latest release of Photoshop is available on Adobe's website. You can download a tryout version of Photoshop from the
Adobe website as well, but a fast internet connection is recommended as the
file size is very large.
A less expensive version of Photoshop
is available, called Photoshop Elements. Unlike
the previously released Photoshop LE and Photo Deluxe which were both rather
sparse in features compared to Photoshop, Elements is a robust program that can
meet the needs of most computer users. Because it does not support CMYK color
separations, commercial prints shops will have to use the full version of
Photoshop, but 'the rest of us' could get by quite easily with Elements for
just $99. Read more and download a demo on,
Explanation of Photoshop
One of the most commonly used features of Adobe
Photoshop is Layer Blending Modes. This allows you to blend layers, or groups,
together to create interesting effects.
o Although there are 29
blending modes available we will be focusing on 8 of these modes.
o Having a knowledge of the
varying blending modes will enable you to create better images and allow you to
add more effects.
o The following 3 photographs
will be used in the examples throughout so you can always make reference to the
base images.
o Each photograph has varying
characteristics so each blend mode will have a slightly different impact on
each photograph.
The tools available on the Photoshop
toolbar and menus are the basis for working in the software. Learning tools
such as the crop, clone stamp and marquee, and the use of tool presets, will
help facilitate design and improve workflow.
Photoshop
it's so powerful that it's actually become a verb! It's one of the best known
software applications on the planet, and has a reputation for being hard to
learn but were going to dispel that. Photoshop has been around for over 20
years, and while it's certainly become far more powerful, the interface remains
clean, logical, and easy to learn. Using Photoshop CS6, we'll show you the
basics, and how to keep moving forward.
Launch Photoshop
If you don't currently own
Photoshop, you can download a free trial version at Adobe Photoshop. On the
right side of the page, click on the Try
It button. You can get a 30-day, fully-functioning trial to see if
Photoshop is right for you.
Open a document
Command-click here to open a sample picture in a new
tab. You can use to follow along with this tutorial. Drag the photo to the
desktop, and then open up that image in Photoshop. When you're done, your
screen should look something like this,
Basic Tools
Select the Marquee Tool
Select the Lasso Tool
Select the Quick Selection
tool
Selected the Crop Tool
Select the Text Tool
Select the Text Tool
Select the Marquee tool
You can do this by clicking on the icon,
or by typing the letter for the remainder of this tutorial, the key shortcut
will be shown after the tool name. The Marquee tool is the most basic of all
tools. It's something you're already familiar with: virtually every application
and operating system selects things the same way: click and drag to select a
region of the screen. Photoshop is no different.
Clicking and holding on the Marquee
icon will give you a small popup menu where you can select the variations,
Rectangular marquee the difficult, Elliptical marquee, for selecting circles
and ovals, and a single-pixel marquee for both horizontal and vertical.
For now, select the Rectangular
marquee, place your cursor somewhere in the upper left of the image, then click
and drag the mouse. You will see the selection expand, with the pixel values to
the right of the selection. Drag towards the center, until the values are
roughly, and then release the mouse button.
Click and hold in the middle of the
selection, and move the cursor notice how the selection moves with you. Drag
the selection so that it surrounds the tan house on the hill, as shown,
Select the Lasso Tool
Closely related to the Marquee tool
is the Lasso tool. Like the Marquee tool, the Lasso is used to make a
selection. However, with the Lasso tool, you can make freeform selections. Its
variants include the Polygonal Lasso tool, and the Magnetic Lasso tool. Select
the basic Lasso tool, and try it out.
Click and hold the mouse button then draw
a selection around the small white sail boat that's left of center in the
window. When you get to the bottom, release the mouse button the selection will
auto-complete. Now press Command-D. This will deactivate the selection. Note
that this works for all
selections.
Press Shift-L. This will change the cursor
to the Polygonal Lasso Tool. Shift
plus the tool shortcut will cycle through the other related tools. Notice the
black arrow on the top left of the Polygonal Lasso cursor: that's where the
click point is.
Click once, anywhere on the image. Notice
as you move your mouse, the starting point remains pinned, and a dashed line
extends towards the cursor. Click again, and that next point becomes pinned.
You can continue clicking until your selection is complete, as simple as a
triangle, or as complex as you like. When you reach your last click point,
double click instead of single click, and the polygon will automatically close.
Press the Escape key at any time to cancel the selection in progress.
Press Shift-L again. This selects
the Magnetic Lasso. Like
the lasso tools, the click point is the black pointer in the upper left of the
cursor.
Try this click and hold the mouse
button with the cursor pointing at the water line of the bow of the boat, and
drag around the boat slowly. Notice as you drag, the selection actually snaps
to the boat as you move,
At the top of the Photoshop window, you
will see some tool modifiers: Feather, Anti-alias, Width, Contrast, and
Frequency. As you advance, try each of these and see what effect they have on
your selections. Hover over any interface element to see tool tips for that
particular tool or setting.
Select the Quick Selection tool
This is the advanced version of the
Magic Wand tool which is still available as an alternate tool.
Try this click and hold on the tan
house in the middle of the picture. While holding the mouse, drag to the left
or the right, scrubbing the house
with the cursor. Notice how the selection grows as you do this. Make sure you
select the roof, balcony, and all the rest of the house is selected. When done,
you may notice that some of the shrubbery is selected, too,
There are two ways to eliminate the
shrubbery with the Quick Selection tool. The first is to select the Subtract
version of the tool.
The other way to subtract from the
selection is to simply press and hold the Option Alt key, which temporarily
switched the tool to the subtracting version you can see the tool switch
modifiers at the top of the screen as you do this.
Either way, click and drag slightly on
the offending shrubbery, and it will be deselected,
You can adjust the sensitivity of the
selection by adjusting the size. The larger the size, the more will be
selected. Try it out: click the standard Quick Selection tool, set the size to
100, then try selecting the house again.
Select
the Crop Tool
According to Adobe, this is the most used
tool in Photoshop. It's one of the tools that absent anything else, can
dramatically improve the composition of your photographs. When you select the
Crop tool, you will notice small handles on the corners, and on the edges in
the center of the image,
To crop an image, either drags the
handles to surround the part of the image you wish to keep, or click and drag
inside the image to draw the area to crop. However you do it, the result will
be the area you're keeping will be normal, and the area to be cut will be
dimmed. Make a selection similar to this, then press Enter,
Notice how that's changed the entire
focus of the picture. Before you do anything else, click Undo Command-Z, Mac,
or Control-Z, PC to restore the image to its original dimensions. If did make
further changes, you can step back through your editing history using
Command-Option-Z Control-Alt-Z.
Perspective crop. Rather than just a
plain rectangle crop, Perspective Crop lets you adjust the relative perspective
of the image as you crop. While an interesting and powerful tool, well worth
experimenting with, it's a more advanced feature that will be covered in more
advanced tutorials.
The Slice tools, also part of the Crop menu, are designed to carve up an
image for placement into web pages. Like the Perspective crop, this is an
advanced feature to be addressed in more suitable tutorials.
Select the Text Tool
They say a picture is worth a thousand
words, but sometimes a picture is not enough, you want words, too Photoshop
text tool gives you a few options.
With the
Text tool selected, click near the bottom left of the picture. You'll see a
blinking text insertion cursor. Type Boats
in the Bay. Depending on your settings, it might be too large, or too
small, or a hard to read color. The editor for the text attributes is at the
top of the Photoshop window,
Font family. This
menu, like all font menus, lets you select the desired font. You can select
from the list, or type in the font name. It will auto fill as you type. For the
purposes of this tutorial, select Helvetica.
Font
style. If there are related font styles for the font family Bold, Italic, Light, Medium, etc., they
will be available in this popup menu. If the menu is grayed, that means there
are no variations on the current font family. For our purposes, select Regular.
Font size. This adjusts the size of the font. You have the option of
entering in a specific font size, or choosing a size from a small list. For
fast, flexible, and easy font size changes, click and hold on the T icon to the
left of the field, and drag to the left or right: the size should change
dramatically.
Ant aliasing. This will determine the strength of
the edge blending. "None" turns off ant aliasing, and text is
rendered like it was rendered in 1984: like blocky stair steps. Here's a
comparison of the different ant aliasing settings,
Justification.
The icons say it all: this justifies all text in the selected layer to the
left, center, or right.
Color. This
color chip defaults to the foreground color when you first choose the Text
tool. To change the color, select the text layer itself, or with the Text
cursor, any part of the text in a field. Click on the chip, select a color, and
any selected text, plus all future text will be that new color. Note: If you
select a text field with multiple colors, the color chip will display a
question mark. All other text attributes will show as blanks.
Warp. This bends, or warps the text on the horizontal
or vertical axis. To use it, simply select the text layer, click on the Warp
button, and work the Style and sliders to find the right look . For this, we'll
use the Flag style, and set the bend to 100%.
Panels. The Panels button opens up two more
palettes, Character and Paragraph. Use these to fine-tune the look of your
text.
Create a sized text field
To do this, click and drag from the top left
corner of where you want your text box to appear, to the bottom right corner of
the box. You'll see a rectangle on the screen, with handles on the corners and
sides.
Type
some a couple sentences into the box. Don't worry if the text is too big or too
small. When you're done entering text, press the Enter key. If your text is too
small, use the Font Size control at the top to make it larger. Conversely, if
your text is too large, use the Font Size control to make the text smaller.
You
can also adjust the size of the text field, hover over one of the handles for a
couple seconds, and your cursor will change to a double arrow. Click and drag
to resize the text box: the text will flow within the boundaries of the box.
Photoshop tool presets
Creating
tool presets in Photoshop is an excellent way to speed up your workflow and
remember your favorite and most-used settings. A tool preset is a named, saved
version of a tool and specific related settings such as width, opacity and
brush size, all handled through the tool presets palette.
Marquee Tool
The
Photoshop marquee tool, a relatively simple feature, is essential for several
tasks. At the most basic level, the tool is used to select areas of an image,
which can then be copied, cut or cropped. There are four options within the
tool to select different types of areas: rectangular, elliptical, a single row
or a single column.
Crop Tool
The Photoshop crop tool serves two
main purposes. The first is to crop, which means to cut out an area of an image
by selecting the area that you wish to keep. It is also handy for quickly
resizing images. These functions can also be used at the same time to crop and reside a photo or any type of image at once.
Clone Stamp Tool
Learn to use the clone stamp tool in
Photoshop to retouch photos by copying one area of an image onto another area.
Photoshop Save for Web Tool
As
a graphic designer, you may often be asked to deliver web-ready images, such as
photos for a web site or banner ads. The Photoshop “Save for Web” tool is a
simple and easy way to prepare your JPEG files for the web, helping with the
trade-off between file size and image quality.
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