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Adobe Photoshop for Beginners

Photoshop Basics

Adobe Photoshop is one of the most powerful software applications for image editing, touch up, color correction, and painting and drawing. You can use it to work with images that have been digitized on flatbed or film/slide scanners, or to create original artwork. The image files you create in Photoshop can be printed to paper or optimized for use in multimedia presentations, web pages, or animation/video projects.

Work Area

Toolbox

• Contains selection tools, painting and editing tools, foreground and background color selection boxes, and viewing tools
• To select, simply click on the icon on the toolbox (the name of each tool will appear by positioning the pointer over the icon)
• A small triangle at the bottom corner of the icon indicates the presence of additional hidden tools

Common Palettes

-Color-

-Swatches-

-Layers-

-History-

Palettes

• Control behavior of its tools
• Windows menu displays a list of available palettes
• When selected, the palette will appear as a floating window on the opened workspace
• To activate a palette click on its tab

Color

• Displays the color values for the currently selected foreground and background colors

Swatches

• Displays a generic set of colors, but the true value of the Swatches palette is in its ability to load custom swatch collections

Layers

• Displays all the layers in an image

History

• Records and displays individual changes made to an image and allows for changes to be undone

HOW TO STEPS FOR COMMON TASKS

Maximize Your Images with Minimal Visible Loss STEPS

1. In a photo that you want to enlarge, click Image.
2. Click Image Size. The Image Size dialog appears showing the current size of the opened image. Make sure the Resample Image check box is selected.
3. Double click in the Width box to highlight all the numbers.
4. Type the desired width for the final printed image. The height automatically adjusts proportionally.
5. Type 360 in the Resolution box.
6. Click the Resample Image up-down arrow.
7. Select Bicubic Sharper from the pop-up menu.
8. Click OK. A Progress bar appears as the Photoshop processes the enlargement. The enlarged photo will then appear. Check the file size in the window frame.
9. Click View.
10. Click Rulers to turn the rulers on and see the new dimensions.

Duplicate the Background Layer Duplicating the Background layer allows you to work on the image without altering the original. Working on a duplicated Background layer also makes it easy to continuously compare images.

STEPS

1. Open image
2. In the Layers palette, click and drag the background layer thumbnail over the New Layer icon and release the mouse. Photoshop places a duplicated Background layer above the original.
3. Double click the Background copy name to highlight it.
4. Type a new name
5. Click the Visibility icon next to the original Background layer. The icon disappears but the image on the screen does not change.

Improve an Underexposed Photo – Too Dark STEPS

1. Click and drag the Background layer over the New Layer icon to duplicate it.
2. Click the blend mode up-down arrow and select Screen. The photo should appear lighter. NOTE: The photo may look fine this way or you may need to add another layer and change it as in Steps 3 and 4.
3. Click and drag the Background copy layer over the New Layer icon to duplicate the copy.
4. Click the Opacity down arrow and drag the slider to the left to change the opacity of the top layer.

Remove Red Eye STEPS

1. Click the Zoom tool in Photoshop and zoom in to enlarge the red eyes on a photo.
2. Click the Spot Healing Brush tool and hold the mouse button to reveal the pull-down menu.
3. Click the Red Eye Tool. The Options bar changes to show the options for the Red Eye Tool.
4. Double click in the Pupil Size data field in the Options bar and type the number 15.
5. Double click in the Darken Amount data field in the Options bar and type the number 15.
6. Click in the red area of one eye. Photoshop replaces the red with a neutral gray.
7. Click in the red area of the other eye. Photoshop replaces the red with a neutral gray.
8. Click the Zoom tool. The Options bar changes.
9. Click Fit Screen to zoom out and see the entire image and a more natural looking eye color.

Remove Blemishes to Improve Skin Tone STEPS

1. Click the Zoom tool.
2. Click Resize Windows To Fit in the Options bar.
3. Click and drag over the blemish areas to zoom in. Click the Spot Healing Brush.
4. Click Sample All Layers in the Options bar.
5. Click the New Layer icon in the Layers palette to add a new blank layer. A new layer is added in the Layers palette but the screen does not change.
6. Click the Brush thumbnail in the Options bar to open the Brush Picker.
7. Click and drag the Diameter slider to adjust the size of the brush. The brush size should be just larger than the blemish you want to remove.
8. Click each of the worst blemishes of a similar size first. Photoshop removes the blemish blending the surrounding skin area.
9. Click the New Layer icon in the Layers palette to add another blank layer.
10. Repeat Steps 7 to 9, clicking the other blemishes. Layer 2 should be highlighted in the Layers palette.
11. Click the Opacity expand arrow in the Layers palette.
12. Drag the Opacity slider for Layer 2 to the left until the skin looks natural.

Add a Sepia Tone STEPS

1. Click the Foreground Color box in the toolbar to open the Color Picker.
2. Type 172 in the R, or red, field.
3. Type 122 in the G, or green, field.
4. Type 42 in the B, or blue, field. You can also click and drag the color slider to the orange area and then click and drag in the color area to select a sepia color.
5. Click OK to close the Color Picker.
6. Click the New Adjustment Layer icon in the Layers palette.
7. Click Gradient Map. The Gradient Map dialog appears and applies a very light sepia tone to the image.
8. Click OK to close the dialog.
9. Click the Layer Blend mode up-down arrow and Click Color.

Photo-Filled Text STEPS

1. Open a photograph, and click the Type tool.
2. Select the Font family, style, and size in the Options bar.
3. Click in the image and type the text.
4. Press and hold Ctrl.
5. Click and drag the transformation anchors to stretch the type.
6. Click the Commit button in the Options bar.
7. Click and drag the Background layer over the New Layer icon to duplicate it.
8. Click and drag the Background Copy layer above the Type layer.
9. Click Layer.
10. Click Create Clipping Mask. The Background Copy layer is indented with an arrow in the Layers palette but the image does not change.
11. Click the New Layer icon in the Layers palette to create a new blank layer named Layer
12. Click and drag the new blank layer below the Type layer.
13. Press D to reset the default colors.
14. Click (Ctrl + Backspace) to fill the layer with white. The photo fills the letters on a white background.
15. Click the Move tool.
16. Click the Background Copy layer.
17. Click and drag in the image to move the photo into position inside the letters.

Create a Dark-Edged Vignette Effect STEPS

1. Click the Adjustment Layer icon in the Layers palette.
2. Click Photo Filter. The Photo Filter dialog appears.
3. Click the color thumbnail. The Color Picker appears.
4. Click and select a dark brown or black.
5. Click OK to close the Color Picker.
6. Deselect the Preserve Luminosity check box.
7. Click and drag the Density to a higher percentage if desired.
8. Click OK to close the dialog. A dark filter covers the image.
9. Click the layer mask thumbnail.
10. Click the Rectangular Marquee tool.
11. Click the Feather data field and type 100 for the hi- resolution photo.
12. Click and drag a selection over the center of the image.
13. Press D to set the foreground color to white.
14. Press Backspace to fill the selection with black.
15. Click (Ctrl + D) to deselect the marquee.

Give Color to a Black and White Photo STEPS

1. Click and drag the Background layer over the New Layer icon to duplicate it.
2. Click the Visibility icon next to the original Background layer to hide it.
3. Press D to reset the foreground and background colors to the default black and white.
4. Click the New Adjustment Layer in the Layers palette.
5. Click the Channel Mixer. The Channel Mixer dialog appears.
6. Click OK to close the dialog without making any changes. NOTE: Make sure the foreground color is still set to black; click the reverse Foreground and Background Color icon if necessary.
7. Click the New Adjustment Layer in the Layers palette.
8. Click Gradient Map. The Gradient Map dialog appears and the image behind it changes to grayscale.
9. Click OK to close the dialog.
10. Double-click the Channel Mixer Adjustment thumbnail in the Layers palette. The Channel Mixer dialog appears. Make sure the Preview check box is selected in the dialog.
11. Click and drag the dialog to one side so you can see the image.
12. Click and drag the sliders for each Source Channel to get the contrast you want.
13. Click OK.
14. Click Layer.
15. Click Merge Visible. The top three layers merge in the Layers palette leaving only the Background copy layer in the grayscale and the Background layer in color.
16. Click in the Visibility box by the original Background layer to make it visible.
17. Click the Eraser tool.
18. Click the Brush options to select a brush size.
19. Click the Airbrush thumbnail in the Options menu.
20. Double-click in the Opacity data field in the Options menu and type 20.
21. Erase over the area to be colorized.
22. Double-click in the Opacity data field in the Options menu and type 40.
23. Click the Brush options and drag the slider to reduce the brush size.
24. Erase over parts of the colored area to increase the color. The viewer’s attention is drawn to the perfect spot.

Resources Adobe Website. 30 free trial period. http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshop/

Media Resource Guides. Adobe Photoshop CS Basics Guide http://library.georgetown.edu/dept/gelardin/guides/photoshop_basics/index1.htm

Adobe Digital Kids Club Lessons and Activities http://www.adobe.com/education/digkids/lessons/

Princeton Online Photoshop Lesson Plans http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/high/Donna-PS.htm

Resources for Adobe Photoshop users including tips, tutorials, free downloads, actions, plug- ins, training and support. http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/photoshop/Adobe_Photoshop_Resources.htm

Photoshop tutorials and resources at PhotoshopCAFE Photoshop CAFE V http://photoshopcafe.com/index.htm

Kent, Lynette. Photoshop CS2 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks. Wiley Publishing, Inc.