GETTING STARTED IN PHOTOSHOP REVIEW: Raster (Photoshop) vs. Vector (Illustrator) A raster graphics image (also known as a bitmap image), is a data file representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or dots (points of color). A vector graphics image involves the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and polygons, which are all based upon mathematical equations. Through geometric modeling, images are created. PIXELS Photoshop works with pixels. A pixel is the smallest piece of information in an image. Pixels are normally arranged in a regular 2-dimensional grid, and are often represented using dots, squares, or rectangles. Resolution relates to pixels, or the squares that make up an image. The term “ppi” is the same as “dpi” when it comes to resolution. BITS The color of each pixel is individually defined; images in the RGB color space, for instance, often consist of colored pixels defined by three bytes—one byte each for red, green and blue. Less colorful images require less information per pixel; an image with only black and white pixels requires only a single bit for each pixel. GETTING STARTED To start a new document, go to File>New. For our purposes, make your file 1280 x 800 pixels at 300 dpi (300 dpi is good for high resolution prints. Your project will be for the web and therefore needs to be no larger than 72 dpi, but we will downsize later). Work in RGB, because your project is for the web (CMYK is for print). Make the background transparent. Title the document. Hit OK. Make a second white layer above the transparent layer (Cmd or Ctrl delete to fill with background color). Lock both that layer and the transparent layer. Save your document as a Photoshop (PSD) file for now. Later you will save as a JPG to upload to the contest. Be sure to KEEP the original, high resolution (300 dpi) file as well. Create a new layer for your first image. Open the image in Photoshop.
Drag the image to your Project (use move tool; click and drag). Resize the image (Cmd or Ctrl T to transform), hit enter, and drag into place. Do the same for each additional image. SETTING UP YOUR DOCUMENT UNITS OF MEASUREMENT Under Preferences>General You may want to change units of measurement at times. Here are two other units of measurement besides inches, centimeters, etc.:
Picas: a unit of type size and line length equal to 12 points (about 1/6 inch)
Points: one twelfth of a pica (about 0.013835 inch) Points and picas are used for precise work usually involving type. The phrase “point size” (e.g., 12 point type) refers to points as a unit of measurement. WORKSPACE Window>Workspace: preloaded ones, or you can save your own RULERS + GUIDES Be sure to "zero" out top left corner Click move tool (top arrow on toolbox) to adjust placement of guides View>Show>See all (esp. grid) SMART GUIDES Snap: on/off View>Snap to guides, grid etc. CANVAS SIZE To add space outside borders of your image, go to Image>Canvas size IMAGE SIZE To change the size of your image, go to Image>Image size Deselect Resample Image, but leave Scale Styles and Constrain Proportions checked Change the size of your image, and Photoshop will adjust the resolution automatically Select Resample Image again, and hit “OK” IMAGE RESOLUTION The same is true if you change the resolution: To change the resolution of your image, go to Image>Image size Deselect Resample Image, but leave Scale Styles and Constrain Proportions checked Change the resolution of your image, and Photoshop will adjust the size automatically Select Resample Image again, and hit “OK” UNDO: Use History palette (Window>History), OR
Edit>Undo (cannot go back very far like in Illustrator), OR Edit>Step Backward, OR File>Revert (back to last saved version) To undo File>Revert, go to Edit>Undo Revert SCREEN MODES Like in Illustrator, these are located on the bottom of the tool palette. Shortcut: Press “F” to switch between screen modes
Press TAB to close toolbox and palettes in all screen modes.
Press TAB to show them again TOOLS FOR MOVING AND CROPPING TOOLS FOR MOVING/ZOOMING -hand tool -zoom tool: change to + or - in Options bar
To return to 100%:
Double click zoom tool to return to 100% magnification, or
Click actual pixels on options bar, or
Click View>Actual pixels -Scroll bars -Navigator CROP TOOL -Crop (constrain by holding down shift) -Crop without making canvas smaller: use selection tool like rectangular marquee. Click select>inverse. Hit backspace (delete on Mac) TRANSFORM TRANSFORMING AN IMAGE OR PART OF AN IMAGE Hit Cmd or Ctrl T to Free Transform; hold down shift to maintain proportion SELECTION TOOLS Selecting is very important in Photoshop. Selecting will allow you to work on just part of an image or images, and it will allow you to cut things out. To select all, Select>all (or Cmd or Ctrl A) -Rectangular Marquee selection tool (click and hold for more selection tools) -Lasso tools (click and hold for polygonal and magnetic lasso tools) -Magic Wand tool -Quick Selection tool (click and hold magic Wand selection tool to get to it)
TO DESELECT When something is selected, hit Cmd or Ctrl D to deselect To deselect while using the polygonal or magnetic lasso tools, hit the Esc key TO MOVE A SELECTION BORDER Select an area any way you like (see tools above) Click on magic wand in tools Click and drag inside the selection The selection itself moves To move the selection one pixel at a time, use the arrow keys on your keyboard Hide a selection: View>Show>Selection edges TO MOVE THE SELECTION ITSELF: Select an area any way you like (see tools above) Click the move tool (top arrow on tool palette) IN TOOLS Click inside the selection and drag Photoshop fills the original location of the object with the current background color TO ADD OR SUBTRACT FROM A SELECTION Select an area any way you like (see tools above) Use top left buttons Or, Ctrl click or right click (use drop down menu) With control click you can also refine edge and feather NOTE: Quick selection tool: add or subtract from selection with the + or - wands in the top left TO MOVE A SELECTION IN A STRAIGHT LINE Hold down shift as you move the selection TO COPY A SELECTION Select an area any way you like (see tools above) Click the move tool (top arrow on tool palette) Press alt (option on mac) Move the selection Or: Edit>Copy, then Edit>paste Or: Cmd or Ctrl C to copy, then Cmd or Ctrl V to paste (Cmd or Ctrl X is cut) TO COPY FROM ONE WINDOW TO THE NEXT You can click and drag your selection from one window to another, or copy and paste between windows TO TRANSFORM A SELECTION Edit>Transform>Scale Edit>Transform>Skew Edit>Transform>Distort
Edit>Transform>Warp Edit>Transform>Perspective and see other transform options... TO “FEATHER” A SELECTION (CREATE SOFTER EDGES) You can “feather” the border of a selection to create softer edges This is good for blending images First, make a selection Go to Select>Refine edges In feather section, type a number up to 250 The higher the number, the more the edge will be softened You can also do this when you are deleting selections, e.g. sky! Delete surrounding background after above step: Select>Inverse The selection inverts but remains feathered How else to feather? When you select something with Marquee or lasso, type in feather value in top left TO SELECT WITH COLOR RANGE COMMAND This is useful for deleting only a certain color range Select>Color Range Click inside image window with eyedropper Photoshop selects all pixels similar to color you selected These areas turn white in the color range window The number of pixels that turn white depend on the fuzziness setting Hit OK, and those colors are selected TO CONTRACT OR EXPAND A SELECTION You can also contract or expand a selection. Go to Select>Modify>Contract or Expand This contracts or expands your election by pixel TO INVERT A SELECTION Photoshop will invert a selection by deselecting what is currently selected and select everything else. First, make a selection Then go to Select>Inverse Photoshop selects everything not currently selected, and deselects the original object TO GROW A SELECTION You can increase the size of your selection with the grow command: it selects similarly colored neighboring pixels Make a selection Go to Select>Grow
TO SAVE A SELECTION To save a selection, go to Select>Save To load the selection, go to Select>Load TO EXTRACT AN OBJECT You can remove objects from their backgrounds by extracting them. This is better than the various selection tools sometimes. Go to Filter>Extract Use the Edge Highlighter (you can change brush size) Click the fill tool Click inside the highlighted element to fill it (fill the area you want to retain) Click preview The object is extracted. Click OK