Photoshop CC Basics Creating a New File 1. Click File > New 2. Keep Default Photoshop Size selected in the Preset drop-down list. 3. Click OK. Showing Rulers 1. On the Menu bar, click View. 2. Click Rulers. a. Note: The keyboard shortcut to show or hide rulers is CTRL+R. Selecting Color Modes 1. On the Menu bar, click Image > Mode. 2. Select appropriate color mode. a. Bitmap - Uses black or white color values to represent pixels in image. b. Grayscale - Uses up to 256 shades of gray. c. RGB - Displays colors using red, green and blue dots. d. CMYK - Uses cyan, magenta, yellow and black to create printed colors. e. Lab color - Uses lightness (L) a (greenred axis), and b (blue-yellow axis) component. Selecting a Different Color 1. Point to any swatch on the Swatches panel. 2. Click any swatch, with the Eyedropper cursor. Adding a Color to the Swatches Panel 1. Click the Color tab. 2. Create any color (i.e., using the color bars) 3. Click the Swatches panel. 4. Click the empty, grey space when the paint bucket cursor appears. 5. Type the color name in the Color Swatch Name dialog box. 6. Click OK. a. Note: To delete a swatch, press Alt and click the swatch. Adding a Color to the Color panel 1. Click the Color panel. 2. Click the foreground or background color box to activate. 3. Choose the following: a. Drag the color ring to the desired color. b. It will be added to the color panel. Selection Color with Eyedropper Tool Note: Eyedropper tool - to select color from an image. 1. In the Tools panel, click the Eyedropper Tool. 2. Click the desired color on the image. Drawing with the Pencil 1. In the Tools panel, select the Pencil Tool. 2. In the document window, click and drag to create a design. Displaying Standard Cursor 1. On the Menu bar, click Edit. 2. Place cursor over Preferences. 3. Click Cursors a. A Preferences window will open. 4. In the Painting Cursors section, click the Standard radio button. 5. Click OK. Using a Brush 1. Right-click the Pencil Tool. 2. Click Brush Tool. Changing Brush properties 1. Click Brush Tool. 2. Right click the picture. 3. Click the desired brush shape and enter the desired size in the Size field. a. Note: You can also press and drag the sliders to the desired values. Help Desk: helpdesk@ipfw.edu Page 1
Using the History Panel 1. Click the History icon in the Panel dock. 2. Notice a list of state or actions taken to create our design, listed from oldest state to most recent. Deleting most recent State in History Panel 1. In the History panel, click the Delete current state icon. 2. Click Yes to confirm deletion. Returning to a Previous State in History Panel 1. In the History panel, click the state to return to. 2. All states below the selected state are now grayed out. Changing Default Option for Deleting State 1. In the History panel, click the options dropdown menu. 2. Click History Options. 3. Click Allow Non-linear History checkbox to allow states to remain below the deleted state. Using the Undo Command Note: Unlike other applications, Photoshop only allows the users to undo one single action by default. Using the History panel is the best way to undo multiple actions. 1. On the Menu bar, click Edit > Undo. Using the Revert Command 1. On the Menu bar, click File > Revert. a. Action returns image to last saved version. Saving a Photoshop File 1. On the Menu bar, click File > Save. 2. Type in a file name. 3. Click Save. Saving as a Photoshop (.psd) File Note: (.psd) saves all the effects to enable additional changes. 1. On the Menu bar, click File > Save As. 2. In the drop-down menu, select Photoshop (*.PSD, *.PDD). 3. Click Save. 4. Click OK to accept the default settings. Opening an Image 1. On the Menu bar, click File > Open. 2. Double-click the image you want to open. Adjusting Image Resolution 1. In the Menu bar, click Image > Image Size. 2. In the Resolution field, double-click the value. 3. Type in the resolution. 4. Click OK. 5. In the Tools panel, double-click the Hand Tool to fit the image on the screen. 6. Save the image. Saving the Image 1. Press CTRL+S. 2. If a window pops up, click OK. Opening a Second Image 1. On the Menu bar, click File. 2. Click Open... 3. Navigate to the desired image file. 4. Double-click the image you want to open. Switching between Open Images 1. On the Menu bar, click Window. 2. Click the desired image file name. 3. Click image window to move it to the foreground. a. Or press CTRL+Tab to toggle images. b. If using tabs, click the tab with the image to open. Help Desk: helpdesk@ipfw.edu Page 2
Adjusting Brightness and Contrast 1. In the Adjustments panel, click the Brightness/Contrast icon. 2. In the Brightness field, press and drag the value to the desired brightness. 3. In the Contrast field, press and drag the value to the desired contrast. a. Note: You can type in the desired values instead of using the sliders. 4. Click the return button to close the panel. Using Zoom Tool 1. From the Tools panel, click the Zoom Tool. 2. Click and drag right to zoom in. 3. Click and drag left to zoom out. 4. Double-click the Zoom Tool, to view image at 100%. Viewing Pixels Note: Pixels - images are made up of rows of tiny square-shaped spots. 1. In the Tools panel, click the Zoom tool to zoom in. 2. Click the section to zoom in, several times. 3. Verify that the Zoom tool is active. 4. On the Options bar, click Actual Pixels to zoom out to 100%. 5. Click Print Size to view the image in the size of printing. 6. Click Fit Screen to fit the image in the window. Cropping an Image 1. In the Tools panel, click the Crop Tool. 2. Point to the image to position the cursor. 3. If necessary, press Caps Lock to change the cursors. a. Crop tool cursor changes to Crosshair cursor. i. Crosshair cursor applies more precisely. b. Note: To turn off the snap options. i. Click View > Snap. 4. Click and Drag around the desired image/section to crop. Resizing the Selection 1. Click and drag the handles around the selection as needed. a. Note: Press ESC to remove the selection and begin again. Completing the Crop 1. Double-click the image. a. Note: Do not double-click the icon in the center of the image. 2. Press Caps Lock to reset the cursor. 3. Press CTRL+S to save. Creating a New Layer 1. In the Menu bar click Layers, click the New and then Layer or you can create by using Layers Panel drop down menu or you can create by simple click on icon. Renaming a Layer 1. In the Layers panel, double-click the name of a layer, e.g., Background. 2. Type in the name. 3. Press Enter. Reordering Layers 1. In the Layers panel, point to a layer. 2. Click and drag the layer up or down to the desired position. Hiding a Layer 1. In the Layers panel, click the Visibility icon. 2. Click the Visibility icon again to show the hidden layer. Flipping a Layer Horizontally 1. On the Menu bar, click Edit. 2. Point to Transform. 3. Click Flip Horizontal. Duplicating a Layer 1. Verify that the image is selected. 2. On the Layers Panel, click the options dropdown menu. 3. Click Duplicate Layer. 4. In the As: field, enter a name or use the default name. 5. Click OK. Help Desk: helpdesk@ipfw.edu Page 3
Creating a Layer Mask 1. In the Layers panel, click the Add layer mask icon. 2. Press CTRL+ 0 (numeric) to fit image into the window. 3. Press CTRL+S to save. Changing Opacity in a Layer 1. On the Layers panel, click the Opacity: drop-down menu. 2. Press and drag the slider in the Opacity field to the desired transparency. 3. Press Enter. Editing Brightness and Contrast 1. In the Layers panel, double-click the Brightness and Contrast icon.. 2. To increase/decrease the brightness, type in the desired value in the Brightness number field. 3. Click the Return button to close the panel. Using the Quick Selection Tool 1. In the Tools panel, click the Quick Selection Tool. 2. On the options bar, click the drop-down menu. 3. Click and drag the slider to the desired brush size. 4. Click the section of the image to select. 5. Click and drag for more areas of the image. Using the Quick Mask Tool 1. In the Tools panel, click the Edit in Quick Mask Mode icon. 2. Click the Background layer in the Layers panel. 3. Click the Default Foreground and Background Colors icon in the Tools panel to reset colors to default. a. Note: The black swatch has to be on top of white swatch. 4. Increase the viewing size and resize the window until the entire image is in view. Using the Brush Tool to Deselect Areas 1. While in Quick Mask mode, in the Tools panel, click and hold the Pencil Tool. 2. Click the Brush Tool. 3. On the Options bar, select any Brush and brush Size. 4. Ensure the Hardness is set to 100%. 5. Click and drag the cursor across any areas left that are not desired. a. Note: Press] to increase brush size, and [ icon to decrease brush size. Using the Eraser Tool to Reselect Areas 1. While in Quick Mask mode, in the Tools panel, click the Eraser Tool. a. Note: Change Brush size and Hardness if necessary. 2. Click and drag the cursor across any sections of the image that are covered in red overlay. 3. In the Tools Panel, double-click the Zoom Tool to view image at 100%. 4. Press CTRL and or + to change the image s magnification. 5. Save the image. Exiting Quick Mask Mode 1. In the Tools panel, click the Edit in Quick Mask Mode icon. Using the Place Command 1. On the Menu bar, click File. 2. Click Place. 3. Navigate to the desired image and doubleclick it. 4. Press Enter on the keyboard. Using the Move Tool 1. In the Tools panel, click the Move Tool. 2. Click and drag the image to the desired position. 3. Save the file. Using the Scale Command 1. Verify that the image is active. 2. On the Menu bar, click Edit. 3. Point to Transform. Help Desk: helpdesk@ipfw.edu Page 4
4. Click Scale. 5. Click and drag the handles to the desired size. a. Or, on the Options bar, enter the desired values in the W: and H: fields, e.g., 125%. b. Press Enter. Scaling Proportionally 1. While in Scale mode, press and hold down the Shift key, and click and drag any of the corner handles to the desired size. 2. Double-click inside the outlined area of the image to confirm adjustment. 3. If necessary, click and drag the image to the desired position. 4. Save the file. Distorting a Selection to Create a Reflection Effect 1. Duplicate a layer. 2. On the Menu bar, click Edit. 3. Point to Transform, click Distort. 4. Point to the top-center handle. 5. Click and drag the handle clockwise in an arc until the copy is directly below the original. 6. Press Enter. a. Or click any tool in the Tools panel, click Apply. Using the Type Tool 1. On the Tools panel, click the Horizontal Type Tool. 2. Click the desired position on the image. 3. Type the desired text. Formatting the Text 1. While the Horizontal Type Tool is activated, highlight the text. 2. In the Options bar, click the arrow to open the font type drop-down list. 3. Select the desired font, e.g., Arial. 4. Click the arrow to open the font style dropdown list. 5. Select a style, e.g., Bold. 6. Double-click the value in the font size field. 7. Type the desired size. 8. Press Enter. Adding Gradient Overlay style for Text Note: Layer Style - to add quick effect to text or an image. 1. In the Tools panel, click the Horizontal Type Tool. 2. Click and drag to highlight the text. 3. In the Tools panel, click the Set foreground color icon (top square). 4. Click the desired color. a. If desired, click and drag the Hue slider. 5. Click OK to confirm. 6. To apply a Gradient Overlay: a. On the Menu bar, click Layer. b. Point to Layer Style, click Gradient Overlay c. Click the drop-down menu to see more options. d. Click the desired gradient on the Presets area of the Gradient Editor. e. Click OK. Repositioning Type 1. In the Layers panel, click the desired text layer. 2. In the Tools panel, click the Move Tool. 3. Press and drag the text to the desired position. Adobe Creative Cloud Basics Libraries Creating a Library 1. Launch Photoshop and open an existing document with images. 2. Choose Windows > Libraries to open the libraries panel. 3. You can use the Library menu to create a new library and name it, or simply add your assets to the default library, named My Library. Note: You can create an unlimited amount of libraries to organize your assets. Adding Assets To add a graphic to a library, Select its layer, and click the Add Graphics button. Note: You can also simply drag the graphic from the canvas to the Libraries panel to add it. To capture color, Help Desk: helpdesk@ipfw.edu Page 5
Use the Eyedropper Tool to select a color; then click the corresponding button in the Library. You can save text and layer styles in the same way, Select the text layer, and click the Add Text Style button. To capture a layer style, select the layer, and click the Add Layer Style button. Your creative assets are organized by category, so they re easy to locate. Once saved, you can access and use them in other apps such as Illustrator, InDesign, and Adobe mobile apps like Adobe Comp CC. Reusing Assets To add graphics to your project, Drag a graphic asset from the Libraries panel to your canvas. To apply a saved color, character style, or layer style, Target the layer in the Layers panel, and click the appropriate thumbnail in your Library. Always Work with updated Graphics When you drag a graphic from your library to a Photoshop project, it is linked back to Creative Cloud by default. Linked assets will be represented with a cloud icon in the layers panel. If you make a change to a library asset, the linked instances of it will update in projects you currently have open. Linked assets that have been updated since you last opened a project will be flagged in the Layers panel. To update an asset to the most current version in your Library, right-click on the layer and select Update Modified Content. To update all the assets that have changed, select Update All Modified Content. Note: You can always place an unlinked copy of an asset by right-clicking on its thumbnail and selecting Place Layers. Share CC Libraries with Others You can share library assets with your team to ensure everyone is using the latest iterations. In the top corner of the Libraries panel, 1. Click the panel menu icon and choose Collaborate. 2. In the browser window that appears, enter your collaborator s email address and click Invite. 3. They ll receive a message with a link to accept your invitation, and will be able to add, remove and edit the assets in the library. You can also share a link with your team so they can view and download a copy of the library for their own use. To do this, 1. Choose Share Link from the Libraries panel options. This opens in a browser window. 2. Click Create Public Link to share your library, and copy the public link to use elsewhere or enter email addresses for recipients. 3. Click Advanced Options to allow of prevent downloads of your library to their Libraries panel. Note: When you use this method, your library will not be affected by changes your recipients make to their own copy. Help Desk: helpdesk@ipfw.edu Page 6