Introduction To Photoshop Basics!!

Transcription

1 Digital Art I (ARTS 2348) Prof Bradly Brown Introduction To Photoshop Basics Learning Objectives By the end of this tutorial, we should be able to learn the following: 1. Creating a new Document 2. Using Layers 3. The Toolbar (Text, Move, Selection, Paint Bucket, Color Picker) Creating a new Document Once you launch Photoshop, select File > New to create a new document. The following window will appear. There are a few options to take note: 1) Height and Width 2) Resolution Simply put, the higher the resolution, the sharper the image, the more storage required. 72 dpi is standard for screen view 300 dpi is standard for print output The height of an image relates to how tall it is, while width relates to the fatness of the image.

2 Color Mode Here you can choose from two color modes, RGB and CMYK. If you are making print materials, like posters, choose CMYK as most printers support this color mode. Pro Tip: You can also save a preset image size by clicking the Save Preset button so that you can use the same image dimensions for a new document Using Layers In this software, one or more elements (text, image, object) exist in a layer. You can use layers to your advantage by placing multiple items can exist in the same layer and them rearranging them to dictate which layer is on top of the other and vice versa. Click and drag a layer to rearrange. Below are the most common tools used when dealing with layers. (Items marked ** will be discussed in future tutorials) Pro Tip: Try to organize your layers into groups.

3 To add a layer group, click on the folder icon on the layers panel. Then drag a layer into the layer group. About Rasterize There is a difference in the way the software deals with text, images and objects. Basically, an image taken from the internet is made up of pixels (raster images) while text and objects such as vector images are made up of shape and paths. Vector images can be created using the Pen Tool (which will be covered in a future tutorial for Illustrator). Vector images can be rescaled without losing image quality while raster images do. Photoshop Rasterize Raster Images vs Vector Images Note that you should only rasterize an image when you want to edit the image contents and no longer need to rescale the image.

4 The Toolbar Here s a brief overview of the toolbar: (together with the accompanying keyboard shortcuts) In this tutorial I will cover some tools: 1) Text 2) Move 3) Selection Tools 4) Color Tools The rest will be covered in detail in a later tutorial. Pro Tip: Long click the icons on the toolbar to reveal an extended menu for more tools.

5 Text To add a horizontal line of text, select the text tool or hit T and click anywhere on the document. If you want to add a text box, simply click and drag to do so. As the text tool is activated, the top toolbar is switch to the text toolbar, with a set of options. The following diagram shows the different options. Understanding the text tools is crucial especially when you are dealing with print materials with text. My advise for you is to play around with the different settings, especially in the Character panel. Should you find the panels missing, you can get them back by Window > Character / Paragraph. If you are new to typography, check out this article to understand how changing leading and tracking can affect your type. Pro Tip: To adjust the font size and see the changes as you change the size, move the cursor over the font-size icon. Then click and drag left or right to adjust the font size. Release to set the new font size. You can do this to adjust other settings as well.

6 Move To move items around, hit V and click the item that you want to move. Pro Tip: The Move tool also comes in handy when you are dealing with many layers. It has a secondary function to select layers within the document. Simply right click over the item and select the layer it belongs to. Now you are able to move the layer you want. Selection Tools To access the selection tools, hit M. This tool should be used to select a part of an image in a layer that you can cut, copy and transform. Pro Tip: You can use the selection tool and paint bucket to create boxes and ellipses. Photoshop Selection Tools Photoshop Selection Tools Color Tools (Paint Bucket/Color Picker)

7 Adding color can be done using the color tools. Color can be distinguished using RGB, HSB and CYMK values. Use the color model that you are comfortable with. Check out this article to see the difference between them. Recall that the selection tools can be used with the paint bucket to create shapes. Simply select the area that you want to color with the Selection Tool (M) and add the color using the Paint Bucket (G). Pro Tip: Consider using color palettes, or a set of combination of colors that compliment each other. Using colors that go well together will make your work more appealing to the eye. Adobe Color CC is a great place to get a color palette. You can import your selected color palette as a swatch in Photoshop.