IMPORTING, ORGANIZING, EXPORTING, AND SAVING MyGraphicsLab: Adobe Photoshop CS6 ACA Certification Preparation for Visual Communication
OBJECTIVES This presentation covers the following ACA Exam objectives: 3.3 Demonstrate knowledge of importing, exporting, organizing, and saving. 3.4 Demonstrate knowledge of producing and reusing images.
IMPORTING AND OPENING FILES: SCANNED IMAGES To open scanned images in Photoshop, we recommend using Adobe Bridge: Select the Essentials Workspace in Bridge. Click the Folders tab. Navigate to the folder where your scanned TIFF file is saved. Open the folder, and doubleclick the scanned TIFF file. Note that scanner drivers and software are supplied by the scanner vendor, not by Adobe. Some scanners offer direct Photoshop access via WIA (Windows) or TWAIN (an older plug-in that is no longer being updated); it is best to check your scanner s user guide.
IMPORTING AND OPENING FILES: DIGITAL-CAMERA IMAGES With a digital SLR camera, your pictures are saved on a memory card. You have two ways to connect your card to your computer: Using the camera s USB cable Using a memory-card reader We recommend using Adobe Bridge as your importing software: Open Bridge. Choose File > Get Photos from Camera. You can also import directly to Photoshop: Choose File > Import > Images from Device.
IMPORTING AND OPENING FILES: CAMERA RAW IMAGES Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) workflows require the following: Scanned images should be saved in TIFF format. Digital-camera images should be saved in the camera s raw format. Both types should be digitized at the highest resolution possible without resampling. We recommend using Bridge to open camera raw, TIFF, or JPEG files in ACR. We also recommend saving the vendor s raw format to Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) format. Most devices and software can read DNG format.
IMPORTING AND OPENING FILES: VIDEO Photoshop CS6 opens more than a dozen video file formats including AVI, MPEG-4, and MOV (QuickTime). See Photoshop Online Help for a complete list. Imported videos appear in a new Video Group in the Layers panel and in the timeline. Imported videos can be used as clips in a larger video, with additional video frames created in Photoshop.
WORKFLOW: ORGANIZING FILES (1 OF 2) Organizing files is a key first step in any workflow: Rename files with descriptive names so they re searchable. Add searchable keywords. Collect related images in folders with descriptive names. Delete images you won t use. Rate your images (ratings are also searchable). See the videos Reviewing and Rating Images and Organizing Your Image Library for details.
WORKFLOW: ORGANIZING FILES (2 OF 2) See also Adobe Photoshop CS6 Classroom in a Book, Lesson 5, pages 148 149, for professional photographer Jay Graham s tips on an optimal workflow. In Photoshop, you can complete many of these tasks, one file at a time, in File > File Info. But in Adobe Bridge, you can perform all of these tasks and more, on many images at once.
WORKFLOW: BRIDGE Bridge allows you to navigate all folders and files in your computer and on a CD/DVD. All file types appear in Bridge, not just images. Use a default workspace, or create and save your own (Window > Workspace > New Workspace). Rearrange panels by dragging their tabs. In Bridge, you can search names, keywords, and ratings. See the video Adobe Bridge and Batch Renaming for a good overview.
WORKFLOW: MINI BRIDGE Photoshop s Mini Bridge allows file search, navigation, and selection in Photoshop, plus direct access to Bridge. To open or close, double-click on the Mini Bridge tab at the bottom of Photoshop s editing window. Double-click on a selected image to open it in Photoshop. See the video Redesigned Mini Bridge for an overview.
WORKFLOW: KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS Keyboard shortcuts speed up production with quick access to repeated menu selections. Most tools and menus list keyboard shortcuts next to command names. To customize keyboard shortcuts, choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts. Click Summarize to export an HTML file of default or custom keyboard shortcuts. See the video Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts for stepby-step instructions. Photoshop warns you when you choose a shortcut already in use by another tool or menu.
WORKFLOW: PRESETS Presets give you quick access to commonly used settings for brushes, swatches, gradients, shapes, styles, patterns, contours, and tools. Access tool presets by clicking the arrow next to the tool s icon in the Options bar. To create a new tool preset: 1. Make your custom settings choices in the Options panel. 2. Choose New Tool Preset from the Tool Presets panel menu. The Swatches and Styles panel menus provide preset options. Patterns and Contours have similar menus in Layer Styles.
WORKFLOW: PRESET MANAGER The Preset Manager allows you to manage all preset types in one place. Choose Edit > Presets > Preset Manager. Load adds the new set to the current set. To replace the current set: 1. Select all, and then click Save Set. 2. Select all, and then click Delete. 3. Click Load, and choose the replacement set. See Adobe Photoshop CS6 Classroom in a Book, pages 298 299, for an exercise on creating a custom brush preset.
WORKFLOW: TEMPLATES Photoshop does not have a template file type, but you can create your own templates for repeatable projects such as web prototypes and ad campaigns. As you design, make sure all elements remain editable. Use nondestructive editing tools such as Smart Objects. Keep content on separate layers; group related layers. Give layers descriptive names. For type and vector elements, avoid filters and other effects that require rasterizing first. Save in Photoshop (PSD) format.
WORKFLOW: SMART OBJECTS Smart Objects are special types of layers that allow nondestructive editing of the original image or drawing. Placed vector drawings appear as Smart Objects by default. To edit, double-click the layer thumbnail, which shows a Smart Object icon. A version of the image opens, where you make your edits. Choose File > Save to commit your changes. Your edits will appear in the original document. The Smart Object remains editable.
OPTIMIZING IMAGES: PRINT When editing images for print: Edit in RGB mode. In Image > Image Size, use the standard image resolutions for print output: 240 ppi for desktop printers 300 ppi for commercial printers See the video Preparing Press-Quality Images for an overview of image resizing. Downsample to final dimensions after editing never upsample. Convert to CMYK after making color corrections and other edits.
OPTIMIZING IMAGES: WEB Optimizing images for the web balances two competing criteria: Small file size (and thus fast downloading) Sharp, clear image quality Photoshop s web-optimization tools, in the Save for Web dialog box, do most of the work for you, but you must still adjust the settings for each image. See the video Saving Images for the Web for a good introduction to Save for Web. See Adobe Photoshop CS6 Classroom in a Book, pages 338 353, for an exercise using Save for Web.
SAVING AND EXPORTING FILES: REUSING IMAGES The most common reuse of images is in page-layout programs for print projects. To produce reusable images, save the file as EPS (for PostScript printers) or TIFF. If your image has an area you want to remain transparent in the page layout, you need to create a clipping path. Transparency alone does not create a clipping path. You can convert a selection to a clipping path. See Photoshop Online Help, Placing Photoshop images in other applications, for details.
SAVING AND EXPORTING FILES: PRINT For commercial printers, color management becomes critical. In color management, each device has a color profile that aligns its color display to the same known standard. We ll cover color management in depth in a later topic. Use File > Convert to Profile as a last step before sending the file to the printer. There, you will select the color profile for the printing press. See the video Printing Images for a tour of Photoshop s redesigned Print dialog box.
SAVING AND EXPORTING FILES: WEB To save as JPEG, choose File > Save for Web. In the dialog box: 1. Choose a JPEG preset from the Preset menu, or choose JPEG from the second menu. 2. Select Optimized to reduce file size. (Lowering Image Size also reduces file size.) 3. Click the 2-Up tab, and compare original and JPEG versions as you try different quality settings. 4. Select Convert to srgb (this is the color profile used by web browsers). 5. Click Save, choose a name and location, and click Save again.
SAVING AND EXPORTING FILES: VIDEO During development, save video files in Photoshop format (PSD). To create the final video file, render it to compute your edits: File > Export > Render Video. In the Render Video dialog box, choose Adobe Media Encoder, and select a format: DPX (Digital Picture Exchange) for importing to a professional video editor H.264 (MPEG-4) is the most versatile, with presets for HDTV and optimized web formats QuickTime (MOV), required for exporting uncompressed video