PHOTOSHOP - 114.79.143.8114.79.143.8/studentdesk/Download/Photoshop.pdf · Duplicate Layer- Using...

PHOTOSHOP

Unit–I : Raster Graphics

Introduction– Photoshop – Working with tools – Working with pages - Tools short cuts-

Interface Layout- Palettes- Toolbox-Selection Tools-Alteration Tools- Drawing and

Selection Tools- Assisting Tools- Color Boxes and Modes- Image Editing-Basic-

Cropping-Resizing- Correcting- Sharpening/Softening-Saving.

Unit–II : Menu Functions

Images creating and Editing – Color Types and usage –About Color - RGB Color,

CMYK Color- Grayscale- Bitmap- Saving Your File- Save As- Save for Web-Size Issues -

Simple Photo Re-Touching- Rubber Stamp Tool- Image Cutting - Overlaying Two Images -

Color Functions – Color Gradients – Color Patterns – Color Textures – Effects –Texture

Creation - Color Balancing - Working with RGB and CMYK color models- Color Manipulation

- Working with Hue, Saturation and Lightness to manipulate color-Brightness and Contrast.

Unit–III : Image Editing

Getting Images- Image Ready- Working with Color- Transforming and Retouching-

Drawing and Editing- Painting- Using Channels and Masks- Layers – Creation- Make a

Duplicate Layer- Using Path effect- Layer Masking- Working Layer- Layer effects- Using

Channels and Path selection- Designing Web Pages- Creating Animations- Optimizing

Images for the Web- Saving and Exporting Images.

Unit–IV : Image Effects

Bending Options – Text Special Effects-Drop shadow - Inner Shadow - Outer Shadow-

Inner Glow- Outer Glow- Embossing tools- Outer Bevel- Inner Bevel- Pillow Emboss - Filters

– Using Filters - Applying Filters for Special Effects - Different File Formats – Pixel working

and calculations – Perspective creation -Artistic Filters- Rendering Filters- Render Clouds-

Render Lighting Effects- Render Lens Flare- Sketch Filters- Stylize Filters- Texture Filters-

Gaussian Blur- Duplicate Layer- Filter Menu- Drop shadow effect.

Unit–V : Image Creation

About Action- Printing, Automating Tasks- Windows Shortcuts-Web Page Designing-

Poster creation- Banner Creation – Leaflet – Concept Creation – Character creation–

Introduction Matte painting.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Adobe Photoshop CS3,Adobe`s Powerful, easy to use, image-

editing Software .Adobe Photoshop CS3 gives hobbyists, as well as professional

Photographers and artists, many of the same tools and features found in Adobe

Photoshop .

New features propagating productivity include streamlined interface, improved

Camera Raw, better control over print options, enhanced PDF support, and

better management with Adobe Bridge Editing tools new to CS3 are the Clone

Source palette and nondestructive Smart Filters, and other features such as the

Brightness/Contrast adjustment and Vanishing Point module were enhanced.

The Black and White adjustment option improves users control over manual

grayscale conversions with a dialog box similar to that of Channel Mixer.

Compositing is assisted with Photoshop's new Quick Selection and Refine Edge

tools and improved image stitching technology

Photoshop has strong ties with other Adobe software for media editing,

animation, and authoring. The .PSD (Photoshop Document), Photoshop's native

format, stores an image with support for most imaging options available in

Photoshop. These include layers with masks, color spaces, ICC profiles,

transparency, text, alpha channels and spot colors, clipping paths, and duotone

settings. This is in contrast to many other file formats (e.g. .EPS or .GIF) that

restrict content to provide streamlined, predictable functionality.

Photoshop can utilize the color models RGB, lab, CMYK, grayscale, binary

bitmap, and duotone. Photoshop has the ability to read and write raster and

vector image formats such as .EPS, .PNG, .GIF, .JPEG, and Adobe Fireworks.

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Toolbox

A small arrow next to a tool in the toolbox indicates that the tool also has additional options available In Photoshop. For example, if you click and hold on the select tool, you'll see select options such as elliptical selection, single row selection,

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Selection Tools

Marquee Tool (M)

The Marquee Tools (M) lets you select rectangles, ellipses, 1-pixel rows and

columns. By default, a selection border is dragged from its corner. You can also

hold-down the specific CTRL-KEY, while dragging the mouse to make a selection

to perform a particular action, as under:

• Shift+Drag: To constrain the marquee to a square or circle.

• Alt+Drag: To start, drag marquee from center.

• Alt+Shift+Drag: To start, drag a selection from the center and constrain to

square.

• Spacebar: Hold down the spacebar while making the selection (keep

pressing the mouse button).

Move Tool (V)

The Move Tool (V) lets you drag a selection or layer to a new location in the

image, and also to other images. You can also use the Move tool to align

selections and layers and distribute layers within an image.

You can access Move tool by pressing (V) in your keyboard or hold-down the Ctrl

keys. Press and hold Shift key while dragging your mouse which will constrain

movement with multiples of 45° (0°, 45°, 90° and so on...). Press Ctrl + Alt to

copy and move objects. See Photoshop Move tool and Photoshop Free

Transform Command for more detail.

Lasso Tool , Polygonal Lasso Tool , and Magnetic Lasso Tool

The Lasso Tool (L) and the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) lets you draw both

straight-edged and free-hand segments of a selection border. With the Magnetic

Lasso Tool (L), the border snaps to the edges of defined areas in the image.

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While you are using Lasso tool you can hold-down Alt key to switch between

draw free-hand and draw straight-edged. (See also Photoshop Lasso Tool)

Quick Selection Tool and Magic Wand Tool

You can use the Quick Selection Tool (W), new in Photoshop CS3, to quickly

paint a selection using an adjustable round brush tip. As you drag, the selection

expands outward and automatically finds and follows defined edges in the image.

The Magic Wand Tool (W) lets you select an area by color range without having

to trace its outline. You can specify the color range, or tolerance, for the Magic

Wand tool's selection at tool's option bar. Enter a low value to select the few

colors very similar to the pixel you click, or enter a higher value to select a

broader range of colors.

Crop and Slice Tools

Crop Tool (C)

Cropping is the process of removing portions of an image to create focus or

strengthen the composition. You can crop an image using the Crop tool and the

Crop command (Image » Crop).

The Crop Tool (C) works similarly to the Rectangular Marquee tool. You can

drag to draw Rectangular area to select part of image you want to include.

Moreover Crop tool include bounding box around selected area that allow you to

resize, move or perspective the select area similar Free Transform Command.

You can also crop and resize your selected area to target resolution that you

specify in option bar.

Slice Tool and Slice Selection Tool

Use Slice Tool (K) tool to divide large images to small connected pieces of

rectangle image that is useful for building website. You can select the slice area

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manually or create from guides, by clicking Slice from Guide button at Slice Tool

option bar.

To move, duplicate, combine, divide, resize, delete, arrange, align, and distribute

user slices, using Slice Select Tool (K). You can save Slice to html file that

includes all pieces, plot in to html table that are connected and show as a

complete large image when viewed by the web browser.

Slices are also advantageous when working with images that contain different

types of data. For example, if one area of an image needs to be optimized in GIF

format to support an animation, but the rest of the image is better optimized in

JPEG format, you can isolate the animation using a Slice.

Retouching Tools

Spot Healing Brush Tool and Healing Brush Tool

The Healing Brush Tool (J) lets you correct imperfections, causing them to

disappear into the surrounding image. Like the cloning tools, you use the Healing

Brush tool to paint with sampled pixels from an image or pattern. However, the

Healing Brush tool also matches the texture, lighting, transparency, and shading

of the sampled pixels to the source pixels. As a result, the repaired pixels blend

seamlessly into the rest of the image.

The Spot Healing Brush Tool (J) is different from the Healing Brush Tool in that

it does not require you to make a selection or define a source point before using

it. You can select a blending mode for the healing, and choose between proximity

match or create texture. You can also sample all layers which allow you to use

the spot healing tool on a new layer for non-destructive editing.

Patch Tool and Red Eye Tool

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The Patch Tool (J) lets you repair a selected area with pixels from another area

or a pattern. Like the Healing Brush tool, the Patch tool matches the texture,

lighting, and shading of the sampled pixels to the source pixels. You can also use

the Patch tool to clone isolated areas of an image.

The Red Eye Tool (J) use to correct red eye error that may produced by using

electronic flash. You can roughly select around the eye and set pupil diameter to

easily correct the red eye.

Clone Stamp Tool and Pattern Stamp Tool

The Clone Stamp Tool (S) can be used to fix your image. It allows you to paint

with the sample from area you select to another image or part of the same

image. You can also clone part of one layer over another layer. Because you can

use any Photoshop Brush with the Clone Stamp tool, you have a lot of control

over the size of the area you clone. You can also use opacity and flow settings in

the options bar to finesse the way you apply the cloned area.

The Pattern Stamp Tool (S) takes sample from Pattern preset instead from

sample point in the image. You can select a pattern from the pattern libraries or

create your own patterns.

Eraser Tool , Background Eraser and Magic Eraser Tool

The Eraser Tool (E) delete pixels in the image as you drag through them. If

you're working in the background or in a layer with transparency locked, the

pixels change to the background color. Otherwise, the pixels are erased to

transparency. You can also use the eraser to return to the affected area to a

state selected in the History palette.

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The Background Eraser Tool (E) allows you to erase the background while

maintaining the edges of an object in the foreground. By specifying different

sampling and tolerance options, you can control the range of the transparency

and the sharpness of the boundaries.

The background eraser samples the color in the center of the brush, also called

the hot spot, and deletes that color wherever it appears inside the brush. It also

performs color extraction at the edges of any foreground objects, so that color

halos are not visible if the foreground object is later pasted into another image.

And please note that, the background eraser overrides the lock transparency

setting of a layer.

When you click in a layer with the Magic Eraser Tool (E), the tool automatically

changes all similar pixels. If you're working in the background or in a layer with

locked transparency, the pixels change to the background color; otherwise, the

pixels are erased to transparency. You can choose to erase continuous pixels

only or all similar pixels on the current layer.

Blur Tool , Sharpen Tool and Smudge Tool

The Blur Tool (R) softens hard edges or areas in an image to reduce detail as

you drag. You can specify area and amount of blur by modifying brush shape

and dynamic. Blur tool blur image by lessening the amount of color contrast

between neighboring pixels.

In contrast, The Sharpen Tool (R) focuses soft edges to increase clarity by

selectively sharpens by increasing the contrast between neighboring pixels.

The Smudge Tool (R) simulates the actions of dragging a finger through wet

paint. The tool picks up color where the stroke begins and pushes it in the

direction you drag. This tool can be effective for smoothing out colors and

textures.

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Dodge Tool and Burn Tool

Dodge Tool (O) and Burn Tool (O) are used to lighten or darken areas of the

image; the names are based on a traditional photographer's technique.

Photographers hold back light to lighten an area on the print (dodging) or

increase the exposure to darken areas on a print.

Sponge Tool

The Sponge Tool (O) subtly changes the color saturation of an area depend on

the mode you're selected. In Desaturate mode, the Sponge tool robs an image of

color when working inside a color image. If you switch to saturate mode, the

Sponge tool adds more color in color images. In Grayscale mode, the tool

saturation mode will increases contrast of the image and in opposite,

desaturation mode, decreases contrast by moving gray levels away from or

toward the middle gray. See also Photoshop Tool Blending Mode.

Use Direct Selection Tool (A) to select a path segment and click one of the

segment's anchor points or drag a marquee over part of the segment. To select

additional path components or segments, select the Path Selection tool or the

Direct Selection tool, and then hold down Shift while selecting additional paths or

segments.

Painting Tools

Brush Tool , Pencil Tool (B) and Color Replacement Tool

The Brush Tool (B) and Pencil Tool (B) paint a line of any thickness that you

specify via the Options bar. You can make the line sharp or blurry, but it's always

slightly soft or hard edge stroke for Pencil Tool. Normally, the Brush tool and

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Pencil tool applies a continuous stream of color and stops applying paint

whenever you stop dragging. See Photoshop Painting tool for more detail.

The Color Replacement Tool (B) simplifies replacing specific colors in your

image when you paint. You can paint over a targeted color with a corrective

color. For example, you can select sample color as red, and painted foreground

color to correct a person's red eyes in an image. The Color Replacement tool

doesn't work in images in Bitmap, Indexed, or Multichannel color modes.

History Brush and Art History Brush Tool

This tool works similar to the Brush Tool except the History Brush (H) and Art

History Brush Tool (H) which allows you to paint from specified history state or

snapshot as the source data. The History Brush tool paints by recreating the

specified source data, while the Art History Brush tool uses that data along with

the options you set to create different colors and artistic styles. See Photoshop

Painting tool for more detail.

Gradient Tool and Paint Bucket Tool

The Gradient Tool (G) fills solid or blended color to any area of the image. The

Gradient tool creates a gradual blend between multiple colors. You can choose

from preset gradient fills or create your own.

The Paint Bucket Tool (G) fills adjacent pixels that are similar in color value to

the pixels you click. It works very similar to Magic Wand tool but Paint Bucket fills

solid color instead of making selection.

Tip: You can change the color of the background outside image area (default is

50% gray) by assigning new color to Foreground color. Select Paint Bucket Tool

hold-down Shift key and click the area outside the image area to fill color.

Drawing and Type Tools

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Path Selection Tool and Direct Selection Tool

Use Path Selection Tool (A) to select a path component and click anywhere

inside the path component. If a path consists of several path components, only

the path component under the pointer is selected. To display the bounding box

along with the selected path, select Show Bounding Box in the options bar.

Use Direct Selection Tool (A) to select a path segment and click one of the

segment's anchor points or drag a marquee over part of the segment. To select

additional path components or segments, select the Path Selection tool or the

Direct Selection tool, and then hold down Shift while selecting additional paths or

segments.

Horizontal Type Tool and Vertical Type Tool

Use Horizontal Type Tool (T) and Vertical Type Tool (T) to create horizontal or

vertical type anywhere in an image. When you create type, a new type layer is

added to the Layers palette. In Photoshop, you can also create a selection

border in the shape of the type.

Depending on how you use the type tools, you can enter point type or paragraph

type. Point type is useful for entering a single word. You can create point type by

clicking on the image to set an insertion point for the type. The paragraph type is

useful for entering and formatting the type as one or more paragraphs. You can

create paragraph type by dragging the tool to define a bounding box for the type.

Horizontal Type Mask Tool and Vertical Type Mask Tool

Horizontal Type Mask Tool (T) or Vertical Type Mask Tool (T) lets you create

a selection in the shape of the type. Type selections appear on the active layer,

and can be moved, copied, filled, or stroked just like any other selection. You can

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also create text on a path by using any type tool. To create text on path, position

the pointer on the path, so the baseline indicators of the type tool turn to and

click. After clicking, an insertion point appears on the path.

Pen Tool and Freeform Pen Tool

The Pen Tool (P) lets you create straight lines and smooth flowing curves as

new Path or Shape layer or Fill pixels , by selecting an icon at the tool

option bar. For most users, the Pen tool provides the best control and greatest

accuracy for drawing. The Freeform Pen Tool (P) lets you draw as if you were

drawing with a pencil on paper. Anchor points are added automatically as you

draw. You do not determine where the points are positioned, but you can adjust

them once the path is complete.

The Magnetic Pen is an option of the Freeform Pen tool that lets you draw a path

that snaps to the edges of defined areas in your image. You can define the range

and sensitivity of the snapping behavior, as well as the complexity of the resulting

path. The Magnetic Pen and Magnetic Lasso tools share many of the same

options.

Convert Point Tool

You can add, delete or convert anchor point using Add Anchor Point Tool and

Delete Anchor Point Tool. If you have selected Auto Add/Delete in the options

bar for the Pen tool or Freeform Pen tool, when you click at active path's line

segment, a point is added, and when you click an existing point, it is deleted. The

cursor will change to indicate that you can add anchor point or change to

while you hover the cursor over existing point.

The Convert Point Tool lets you convert a smooth curve to a sharp curve or to a

straight segment, and vice versa. While you using Pen tool or Freeform Pen tool

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you can also convert anchor point by holding down Alt (Option), the cursor will

turn to , key and click at the point you want to convert.

Shape Tool (U)

Photoshop provides six Shape Tools that enables you to draw geometric and

predefined shapes. By default, the shapes are separated off into independent

Shape layers , which are a mix of objects and pixels. The vector-based outlines

of the shapes print at the maximum resolution of your printer, but the interiors

may consist of solid colors, gradients, or pixel-based patterns and images.

Other than shape layer, you can also use Shape tool to create Path or Fill pixels

by select Path button or Fill Pixels Button at the tool option bar. Like making

a selection you can also combine, delete or intersect and moreover exclude

overlap area of new shape with current shape by select the operation you like to

in tool option bar or holding down some keyboard keys.

Note, Measurement and Navigation Tools

Notes Tool and Audio Annotation Tool

Notes Tool (N) and Audio Annotation Tool (N) allows you to add notes and

audio annotations anywhere on a Photoshop image canvas. When you create a

note, a resizable window appears for typing text. When you record an audio

annotation, you must have a microphone plugged into the audio-in port of your

computer.

You can import both kinds of annotations from Photoshop documents saved in

PDF or from Acrobat documents saved in PDF or Form Data Format (FDF).

Eyedropper tool and Color Sampler Tool

The Eyedropper Tool (I)

background color. You can click to sample color, assign to foreground from the

active image or from anywhere else on the screen, or hold

to sample color and assign to background color.

sampled by the Eyedropper tool

sample the color values of a 3

sample size of the eyedropper affects the color readouts displayed in t

palette.

Note: While using Eyedropper Tool you can hold down

color sampler point.

Color Sample Tool (I) let you assign up to four permanent color sampler point,

with before/after value for color adjustment. The color va

section at the bottom of Info Palette

Measure Tool and Count Tool (CS3 Only)

The Measure Tool (I) calculates the distance between any two points in the work

area. You can use measure tool to measure location, angle and distance wh

show in option bar and also Info Palette.

angle of rotation when use with

You can use Count Tool (I)

manually, you click the image with the C

number of clicks. The count number is displayed on the item and in the Count

Tool options bar. Photoshop can also automatically count multiple selected areas

in an image, and record the results in the

Hand Tool

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Eyedropper Tool (I) samples color to designate a new foreground or


active image or from anywhere else on the screen, or hold-down Alt key and click

to sample color and assign to background color. You can also specify the area

Eyedropper tool. For example, you can set the eyedropper to

sample the color values of a 3-by-3-pixel area under the pointer. Modifying the

sample size of the eyedropper affects the color readouts displayed in t

While using Eyedropper Tool you can hold down Shift key and click to add

let you assign up to four permanent color sampler point,

with before/after value for color adjustment. The color value will show in new

Info Palette.

and Count Tool (CS3 Only)

calculates the distance between any two points in the work

area. You can use measure tool to measure location, angle and distance wh

show in option bar and also Info Palette. Measure Tool can also use to correct

angle of rotation when use with Rotate Canvas Command.

Count Tool (I) to count objects in an image. To count objects

manually, you click the image with the Count tool and Photoshop tracks the



in an image, and record the results in the Measurement Log Palette.

samples color to designate a new foreground or


key and click

You can also specify the area

. For example, you can set the eyedropper to

pixel area under the pointer. Modifying the

sample size of the eyedropper affects the color readouts displayed in the Info

key and click to add

let you assign up to four permanent color sampler point,

lue will show in new

calculates the distance between any two points in the work

area. You can use measure tool to measure location, angle and distance which is

can also use to correct

to count objects in an image. To count objects

ount tool and Photoshop tracks the



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If the entire image is not visible in the document window, you can navigate to bring

another area of the image into view by using the Hand Tool (T). To pan you click on the

image and drag your image to navigate over the image, while you use another tool you

can temporarily switch to use Hand Tool by holding down Space-bar.

Zoom Tool

Use Zoom Tool (Z) to magnify or reduce your view using various methods. The

window's title bar displays the zoom percentage as does the status bar at the

bottom of the window. When Zoom Tool is selected your cursor will turn to ,

click the center of the area of the image you want to magnify or drag over the

area to magnify that area inside the zoom marquee to display at the highest

possible magnification. To zoom-out hold-down Alt, your cursor will turn to ,

click on the center of area of the image you want to reduce. While the other tool

is selected, you can temporarily switch and use the Zoom tool by holding down

Ctrl+ Space-bar, indicated by your cursor which will turn to , to zoom-in and

Alt+ Space-bar, indicated by your cursor will turn to , to zoom-out. You can

also use Ctrl+ plus key (+) to zoom-in or Ctrl+ minus key (-) to zoom out.

Switch Color, Quick Mask and Screen mode

At the bottom of the tool bar you can click the button or use its short-cuts, indicated in (

), to do following:

Back ground & Foreground Color Switch (X) : Click this button or press "X",

to switch between background colors to foreground color.

Reset Back ground & Foreground Color (D) : Click this button or press "D",

to reset background color to white and foreground color to black.

Toggle Quick Mask (Q) : Click this button or press "Q", to turn quick-mask

on or off.

Toggle Screen Mode (F)

or click to choose option from pop

Screen Mode (CS3), Full Screen Mode with Menu bar

Objective:

Creating, Open and Place a New File

Create a New File

If you want to use Photoshop to

file. This will create a blank canvas that you can add anything to. First, run

Photoshop CS3. Inside Photoshop CS3, open the

Inside the menus, you may sometimes see a

item. A hotkey lets you access the command using a

For example, next to NewJ is

it will activate the New command just like choosing the

you become more familiar with Photoshop CS3, you'll find these hotkeys a useful

tool for speeding up your workflow.

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: Press "F" to toggle between each screen mode

or click to choose option from pop-up menu, Standard Screen Mode

Full Screen Mode with Menu bar or Full Screen Mode

Creating, Open and Place a New File

If you want to use Photoshop to create a new image, you'll need to create


Photoshop CS3. Inside Photoshop CS3, open the File menu and choose

Inside the menus, you may sometimes see a hotkey on the right of a menu

item. A hotkey lets you access the command using a keyboard shortcut

NewJ is Ctrl+N. When you press Ctrl+N on your keyboard,

it will activate the New command just like choosing the File> New menu. Once


tool for speeding up your workflow.

to toggle between each screen mode

, Maximized

Full Screen Mode.

create a new


menu and choose New.

on the right of a menu

keyboard shortcut

on your keyboard,

menu. Once


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New File Settings

Preset

Choose a preset from the preset drop down menu. Select the preset that

corresponds with your output size. For example, if you want to create a new

image that will be printed on a 4x6 inch photo, you would select Photo. Or, if you

would like to enter your own setting, you can select Custom.

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Width and Height

The standard size for a web banner is 468x60 pixels so you would enter in 468

pixels as the width and 60 pixels ad the height.

Note: That whenever you modify any settings, the preset will change to Custom

automatically.

Resolution

After we set the width and height, we need to set the resolution. We won't get

into too much detail in this first lesson but you'll need to remember two settings:

72 pixels/inch

Standard resolution for images that will be displayed on a standard computer

monitor (i.e. image for web use).

300 pixels/inch

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This resolution is used for high quality printing. When you choose this resolution,

your image may appear larger on your computer screen (about four times the

actual size). This is normal and it is because standard monitors can only display

a maximum of 72 pixels per inch.

Color Mode

There are five color mode settings you can choose from but there are two that

you'll probably ever use:

RGB Color

For images to be displayed on the Internet or RGB devices such as a monitor,

cell phone, or iPod.

CMYK Color

For images that will be printed. This mode simulates the color used by printers

(Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) and usually displays duller color than RGB

mode. This is caused by the subtractive color effect of printers where the color

gets darker as more ink is added.

In addition to choosing RGB or CMYK color mode, you'll have to choose the bit

depth of the image. Most of the time, you'll be using 8 bit color. This setting

generally means how much tonal value and color it can display. For example, if

you created an image of a gradient that fades from black to white, it will appear

smoother in 16 bit compared to 8 bit.

However, that is not to say that you should always use the highest bit depth. That

is because you don't always need it. For example, if you're creating an image for

viewing on a computer monitor, you will not notice a difference between 8 bit and

16 bit due to the limited amount of values the computer monitor can display. If

you are printing the image on a high quality printer, you may take advantage of

16 bit color to display more color.

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Background Contents

The background contents setting let you choose what the background color for

your image. There are three settings for you to choose from:

White

Uses white as the background color.

Background Color

Uses the background color already set as your background color. This has to be

set before you choose File New. To change this setting, click cancel to exit out of

the new window. Look for the color pallet that looks like the image below and

click on the bottom white square. A window will appear where you can select the

color you wish to use as your background color. Once you're done you can

choose File New again and select Background Color as your setting and it'll

create a new file with the background color you have just selected.

Transparent

Does not use a background color. Suitable if you will be creating images with

transparent backgrounds such as GIF or PNG files.

Open Files

You can open files using the Open command and Open Recent command. You

can also open files into Photoshop from Adobe Bridge or Adobe Photoshop

Lightroom.

When opening certain files, such as camera raw and PDF, you specify settings

and options in a dialog box before the files completely open in Photoshop.

In addition to still images, Photoshop CS3 Extended users can open and edit

video and image sequence files. For more information, see

image sequences.

Note: Photoshop uses plug

file format does not appear in the Open dialog box or in the File

you may need to install the format’s plug

Sometimes Photoshop may not be able to determine the correct format for a file.

This can happen, for example, because the file has been transferred between

two operating systems. Sometimes a transfer between and Windows can cause

the file format to be mislabeled. In

format in which to open the file.

You can retain layers, masks, transparency, compound shapes, slices, image

maps, and editable type when bringing your Illustrator art into Photoshop. In

Illustrator, export the art in

contains elements that Photoshop doesn’t support, the appearance of the

artwork is preserved, but the layers are merged and the artwork is rasterized.

Browse

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video and image sequence files. For more information, see Import video

Photoshop uses plug-in modules to open and import many file formats. If a

file format does not appear in the Open dialog box or in the File Import submenu,

you may need to install the format’s plug-in module.

oshop may not be able to determine the correct format for a file.

example, because the file has been transferred between


the file format to be mislabeled. In such cases, you must specify the correct

format in which to open the file.



Illustrator, export the art in the Photoshop (PSD) file format. If your Illustrator art






Import video files and

in modules to open and import many file formats. If a

Import submenu,

oshop may not be able to determine the correct format for a file.

example, because the file has been transferred between


h cases, you must specify the correct



the Photoshop (PSD) file format. If your Illustrator art



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Let's begin by stating what a File Browser is. File Browser isn't a replacement for

Windows Explorer or the Apple Finder. In other words "asset" or "file

management" are not File Browsers intended use. In a sense you could think of

the File Browser as a Digital Light Box, but then that would ignore the fact that it

does much more than allow the digital Photographer to preview a batch of

images prior to editing. The File Browser is a workflow tool, which has been

designed so that digital photographers can, amongst other things: view, rotate,

search, sort, flag, rank and annotate digital image files directly from within Adobe

Photoshop. File Browser also provides you with the facility to automate

Photoshop processes such as: renaming images; insert metadata; convert

camera raw files; build contact sheets and web photo galleries; and create PDF

presentations. However, all of this flexibility comes at a price with some users

finding that it has an unwelcome impact on the overall performance of the

25

application. Nevertheless, with careful setup and a better understanding of how

File Browser processes and caches images you should realise significant

improvements in your Photoshop workflow.

This is best suited to pictures. It shows files in thumbnails rather than as usual

icons which the open option shows. So basically a same thing, but with a much

better capability to explore and see detailed information about images.

Device Central in CS3

Create Mobile Content with Adobe Device Central and Photoshop

1. Start Photoshop.

2. Select File > New.

3. Click Device Central to close the dialog box in Photoshop and open

Device Central.

4. Select a content type.

5. The available Devices list on the left is updated and shows the devices

that support the content type selected.

6. In the Available Devices list, select a single target device or multiple

devices (or select a set or individual device in the Device Sets list).

7. Device Central lists proposed document sizes based on the device or

devices you selected (if the devices have different display sizes).

Depending on the design or content you are developing, you can create

a separate mobile document for each display size or try to find one size

appropriate for all devices. When choosing the second approach, you

may want to use the smallest or largest suggested document size as a

common denominator. You can even specify a custom size at the bottom

of the tab.

8. Click Create.

9. A blank PSD file with the specified size opens in Photoshop. The new file

has the following parameters set by default:

26

10. Color Mode: RGB/8bit

11. Resolution: 72 ppi

12. Color Profile: SRGB IEC61966-2.1

13. Fill the blank PSD file with content in Photoshop.

14. When you finish, select File > Save for Web & Devices.

15. In the Save for Web & Devices dialog box, select the desired format and

change other export settings as desired.

16. Click Device Central.

17. A temporary file with the export settings specified is displayed in the

Device Central Emulator tab. To continue testing, double-click the name

of a different device in the Device Sets or Available Devices lists.

18. If, after previewing the file in Device Central, you need to make changes

to the file, go back to Photoshop.

19. In the Photoshop Save For Web & Devices dialog box, make

adjustments, such as selecting a different format or quality for export.

20. To test the file again with the new export settings, click the Device

Central button.

21. When you are satisfied with the results, click Save in the Photoshop

Save For Web & Devices dialog box.

Note: To simply open Device Central from Photoshop (instead of creating

and testing a file), select File > Device Central.

Bridge

Customizing the Bridge Window

To change the backdrop and thumbnail data in the Bridge window★★★★

1. Choose Edit Preferences (Ctrl-K/Cmd-K). The Preferences dialog box

opens.

27

2. On the left side, click General, and in the Appearance area, A do any of

the following:

a. Move the User Interface Brightness slider to set the gray value for

the side panes.

b. Move the Image Backdrop slider to set a separate backdrop value

for the center pane and the Preview panel.B (When we work in

Bridge, we use black for our center pane and dark gray for the side

panes, but for printing reasons, we used lighters colors for the

figures in this book.)

c. Choose an Accent Color for the border around the currently

selected folder, thumbnail, or stack, and for categories in the

Metadata panel.

3. Click Thumbnails to switch to that pane. From the Detail: Show menus,

choose to display up to four additional lines of metadata (image info)

below the image thumbnails. Use this option to list information that’s

important to you. Also decide whether to Show Tooltips.

4. Click OK.

To customize the layout of Bridge

Do any of the following:

• To make a panel taller/shorter, drag the horizontal bar

upward/downward;A other panels in the same group will scale

accordingly.

• To make a whole pane wider or narrower, drag the vertical bar

sideways;B the center pane will resize accordingly.

28

• To display only the Content pane in a compact window, click the Compact

Mode button in the upper right corner of the Bridge window; click it

again to restore the full window.

• To minimize/collapse any panel (except Content) to a tab only, double-

click its tab.

• Drag any panel tab (name) into another panel group (release the mouse

when the blue “drop zone” frame appears around the desired group).

• Drag a panel tab above/below another panel (release the mouse when a

horizontal blue drop zone line appears in the desired location).

• To have the center pane fill the entire window, click the Show/Hide

Panels button in the lower left corner of the Bridge window or press

Tab; repeat to redisplay the side panes.

• To change the size of the thumbnails, move the thumbnail slider (below

the Content panel);C or click the Smaller Thumbnail Size button or

Larger Thumbnail Size button.

• To display image thumbnails and folders in the Content panel, check

Show Folders on the View menu. To display image thumbnails but not

folders, choose the command again (to remove the check mark).

A. Moving the horizontal bar upward shortens the Favorites/Folder panels

and lengthens the Filter panel.

B. Moving the vertical bar for the right pane to the left widens the Preview

and Metadata panels.

C. Moving the thumbnail slider resizes the thumbnails in the center pane.

If you save your customized workspaces in Bridge, you won’t have to spend

time setting up your workspace each time you relaunch the application.

29

To save a Bridge workspace

1. Choose a size and location of the overall Bridge window, a size (and

groupings) for the panels, and a thumbnail size for the Content panel.

2. From any of the 3 workspace menus in the lower right corner of the

Bridge window, choose Save Workspace. The Save Workspace dialog

box opens.

3. Enter a Name for the workspace, choose a Keyboard Shortcut (or choose

None), check Save Window Location as Part of Workspace and/or check

Save Sort Order as Part of Workspace (both are optional), then click

Save. (To access saved workspaces)

• To choose any predefined or saved workspace, choose the workspace

name from one of the workspace menus. The workspace you choose will

become the default for that button. Click the button to redisplay that

particular workspace.

• Any changes you make to the current workspace, such as resizing a

panel, will be saved to the button you assigned that workspace to. (Click a

different workspace button, then click the button for the modified

workspace, and you’ll see what we mean.) To redisplay a workspace

without your changes, choose it from the workspace menu instead of

clicking the button.

Save for Web and Device

Exporting / Saving Photoshop Slices as a Web Page

In earlier versions of Photoshop saving a sliced image for the web could only be

done with Image Ready but now it's all built into Adobe Photoshop CS3. The

following portion of the tutorial will show you how to save the sliced website

30

design we made in Photoshop as an HTML file with associated images.

Steps to Follow:

1. With your sliced graphic open choose File menu > Save for Web &

Devices (Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S). This brings up the Save For Web & Devices

window.

2. Under the preset dropdown choose JPEG High for the quality and file

type. (This is simply a preference.)

3. Click the Optimized Menu arrow to open up the sub menu and click on

Edit Output Settings...

31

4. We won't go into detail on the output settings here. Choose Default

Settings from the Settings dropdown. Use Prev and Next to look at all the

settings.

5. Click OK and then Save. Make sure you are saving in a location you can

locate easily.

6. Choose Save as type: HTML and Images (*.html)

7. Settings: Default Settings

32

8. Slices: All Slices

9. Click Save

Revert

Undoing changes can be accomplished with the Edit > Undo command, History

palette, and Edit > Revert. When you revert an image, you return the image to

the last time it was saved.

Step One

Open a new blank Photoshop document (File > New).

Step Two Add some text to the document by selecting t4he Text tool, clicking the workspace and typing.

Step Three

Save your document (File > Save).

Step Four

Choose the Text tool and type to add another Text layer.

Step Five

Choose File > Revert and the document is back to the point where it was saved.

Patterns

A pattern is an image that is repeated, or

selection. Photoshop comes with a variety of preset patterns.

You can create new patterns and save them in libraries for use with different

tools and commands. Preset pa

options bar for the Paint Bucket, Pattern Stamp, Healing Brush, and Patch tools,

as well as in the Layer Style dialog box. You can change how patterns are

displayed in the pop-up palettes by choosing a display

palette menu. You can also manage pattern presets using the preset manager.

Photoshop also provides the Pattern Maker filter to create pattern presets, or fill a

layer or selection with a custom pattern.

A pattern is an image that i

selection. Photoshop comes with a variety of preset patterns which are displayed

in pop-up palettes in the options bar for the Paint Bucket, Pattern Stamp, Healing

Brush, and Patch tools, as well as in the

teach you how to create new patterns and save them in libraries for use with

different tools and commands. The example below shows how a 10px pattern is

used to fill a bigger fill.

Creating Your Sample Pattern

Patterns can consist of almost anything. While creating a pattern, you must keep

in mind that whatever piece you want to tile is going to be repeated over and over

again all over your selection in a constructive manner, which means all repeated

slices will be placed exactly next to each other without any spaces between

33

A pattern is an image that is repeated, or tiled, when you use it to fill a layer or

selection. Photoshop comes with a variety of preset patterns.


tools and commands. Preset patterns are displayed in pop-up palettes in the



up palettes by choosing a display option from the pop



layer or selection with a custom pattern.

A pattern is an image that is repeated, or tiled, when used to fill a layer or


up palettes in the options bar for the Paint Bucket, Pattern Stamp, Healing

Brush, and Patch tools, as well as in the Layer Style dialog box. This tutorial will



Creating Your Sample Pattern




l be placed exactly next to each other without any spaces between

, when you use it to fill a layer or


up palettes in the



option from the pop-up



s repeated, or tiled, when used to fill a layer or


up palettes in the options bar for the Paint Bucket, Pattern Stamp, Healing

Layer Style dialog box. This tutorial will






l be placed exactly next to each other without any spaces between

34

them. I have created some pixel and bitmap samples that could be used as

effective patterns.

- Diagonal Grid Patterns

Diagonal Patterns are created on a 10 x 10 px canvas with a single pixel dot, in a

sequence of one dot, two empty pixels on its right, another dot and so on.

- Scan lines Patterns

Scanlines Patterns are created on a 2 x 1 px canvas with a single pixel dot on the

left and an empty dot on the right.

- Large Scaled Background Patterns

Patterns created from images are the easiest to handle. They are simply defined

and then filled across a desired selection.

- Text Patterns

The trick with text patterns is leaving some space around the text that you want

to define as a pattern. In the sample above, i left

defined. Otherwise, when the pattern is defined without any spaces, when spread

across a selection, the words will be stuck together every time the pattern is

repeated.

Defining the Pattern

In order to be able to create a custom pattern in Photoshop you must define one

as such. I will show you in this section how to define a simple pattern similar to

the first example I showed you above.

Start off by opening a new

as Background Contents.

Select any color as your Foreground

have your color, use the Pencil

while making sure that there is

35


a pattern. In the sample above, i left 6 pixels from around the text I





the first example I showed you above.

Start off by opening a new10 x 10 px document in Photoshop, with Transparent

Foreground color, I used the #333333 grey. Once you

Pencil Tool draw dots on your canvas as shown below

while making sure that there is a two pixel space between each drawn dot in


from around the text I





Transparent

grey. Once you

draw dots on your canvas as shown below

a two pixel space between each drawn dot in

vertical terms. You might need to use the

the pixels.

Our pattern is now ready. Theoretically, we can create the same diagonal pattern

using only a 7 x 7 px canvas by ta

the illustration above. But I recommend working on your patterns on a larger

scale to prevent any mistakes that may occur in plotting a pattern.

We are going to define this as a pattern and add to the

Ctrl+A to select the entire canvas, then go through

name for your newly created pattern in the dialog box.

Your pattern is now defined and ready to be used with whatever tool you would

like to use. The next part of the tutorial will explore some different ways for using

patterns in Photoshop.

36

vertical terms. You might need to use the Zoom Tool (Z) to have a closer look at


using only a 7 x 7 px canvas by taking those 17 dots on the upper left corner of


scale to prevent any mistakes that may occur in plotting a pattern.

We are going to define this as a pattern and add to the Patterns Library

to select the entire canvas, then go through Edit>Define Pattern

name for your newly created pattern in the dialog box.


part of the tutorial will explore some different ways for using

to have a closer look at


king those 17 dots on the upper left corner of


Library. Press

Pattern to enter a


part of the tutorial will explore some different ways for using

37

Patterns can be used with different tools and commands such as the Paint

Bucket, Pattern Stamp, Healing Brush, Patch Tools, Blending Options, and the

Fill command found under the Edit drop down menu. We will explain in more

detail the use of some of these tools.

Filling a Selection with a Pattern

Using the Fill command is the easiest and simplest way to apply your pattern. To

use it, open a new document of your desired size and content. Select the area

you want to apply the pattern to using Marquee Tools found on the Tools Panel

on the left side of your interface.

Once you have a certain area selected go through Edit>Fill, select Pattern as the

Contents, then select the custom pattern you created as shown in the image

below.

38

Your final fill results should look like this.

Paint with a Pattern

To paint using a certain pattern we will have to use the Pattern Stamp Tool that

is found under the Clone Stamp Tool on the Tools Panel. Grab the Pattern

Stamp Tool, select a pattern from the top Options Bar as shown in the image

below. Select Aligned in the Options Bar to maintain the pattern's continuity with

your original start point even when you release the mouse button and then

resume painting. Deselect Aligned if you would like to restart the pattern each

time you paint a new stroke.

Right click on your canvas while selecting the same tool to open up the Brush

Presets picker. You are going to select which type of brush you are going to

paint the pattern with here according to your needs.

39

Styling Layers with Pattern Overlay

You have most probably came across the Pattern Overlay check box in the layer

Blending Options menu. This style allows you to apply a pattern across any type

of valid layer in Photoshop from Type Layers to Vector Shape Layers and

others. To apply a pattern using the Blending Options start off by accessing your

Layers Panel and then right click your desired layer and select Blending Options.

40

The Layer Style windows will pop-up. Click on the Pattern Overlay option from

the side menu to bring up its options. From here you can adjust the pattern's

attributes according to your needs by adjusting its blending mode with layers

below it, opacity or scale ratio.

41

Edit Menu

Undo and Redo

The first group under the Edit Menu is our Undo and Redo section. If you make

a mistake while working on a document and want to undo the change you made,

42

simply choose Undo from the Edit Menu and your document reverts back to the

step before you made the change.

If you then change your mind and decide you didn't want to undo that last step

after all, simply go back to the Edit Menu and you'll notice that the word "Undo"

has changed to "Redo", allowing you to redo the step.

While Undo and Redo are great features to have, they're extremely limited in the

sense that they can only undo and redo the last change you made. There is no

way to do multiple undo or redo's in Photoshop.

Why of course there is. Photoshop wouldn't be the world's best image editing

program if you were stuck with one lousy undo and redo. That's where the next

two options, "Step Forward" and "Step Backward" come in. Depending on how

much memory you have in your computer and how many History states you've

set up in Photoshop's preferences, you can step forward and backward through

all your changes to your heart's content

Fade

The second group under the Edit Menu has one solitary option it in, with the

highly descriptive title of "Fade". What the "Fade" command does is allow you to

make changes to the last filter or effect you applied to your image. It pops open a

dialog box which allows you to change both the opacity of the filter or effect and

the blend mode. There's one very strict condition with this option though - it only

works as long as you haven't done anything else first after applying the filter or

effect. As soon as you do something else, the "Fade" option becomes grayed out

and is no longer available, so if you want to use the "Fade" option, choosing it

must be the very next thing you do after applying to filter or effect.

Cut, Copy, Paste

The third group of options under the Edit Menu is where we find the standard

"Cut", "Copy", and "Paste" commands which you're undoubtedly familiar with.

One option you may not be familiar with is "Copy Merged", which is used when

you have a document containing multiple layers and you want to make a copy of

all the layers but have them merged into one layer above all the original layers,

which is very useful to do when retouching or restoring a photo. Another option

you may not be familiar with is "Paste Into". "Paste Into" allows you to cut or copy

a selection of an image and then paste it into another selection in the same

image, or in a selection in a dif

is, and it's used mainly for creative effects.

The final option in this section, "Clear", is basically just another word for "Delete"

in that it will delete anything inside of a selection.

Copy Merged

If you're working on a multi

portion of the combined image into another document, simply choose

Copy Merged to copy a flattened version of your selection. You can paste

anywhere you like including a ne

43




l to do when retouching or restoring a photo. Another option



image, or in a selection in a different image. It sounds a lot more confusing than it

is, and it's used mainly for creative effects.


in that it will delete anything inside of a selection.

If you're working on a multi-layer Photoshop document and want to copy a

portion of the combined image into another document, simply choose

to copy a flattened version of your selection. You can paste

anywhere you like including a newly created file if you wish.




l to do when retouching or restoring a photo. Another option



ferent image. It sounds a lot more confusing than it


layer Photoshop document and want to copy a

portion of the combined image into another document, simply choose Edit >

to copy a flattened version of your selection. You can paste

44

Purging Photoshop

The Purge command under the Edit Menu is located all by itself in its own group,

and it allows us to free up system memory that's being used by the Undo

command, the Clipboard, the History palette, or all three at once. This is useful if

your computer has limited resources available and you're finding that the size of

your document is causing Photoshop to perform poorly. Keep in mind though that

once you've purged the information from your system's memory, it's gone

forever, so it's a good idea to invest in as much memory for your system as you

can afford. No amount of memory is enough for Photoshop, but still, the more

you have, the better your chances of avoiding any noticeable performance

issues.

Adobe PDF Presents and the Preset Manager

The File Info option, grouped all by itself, does precisely what its name implies. It

brings up a rather large dialog box where you can view, add and edit information

about the document, such as the Document Title, Author, Description, Copyright

Information, and much, much more.

Color Settings & Profiles

The second last group under the Edit Menu deserved an entire website unto itself

and has to do with Photoshop's color settings and profiles.

Keyboard Shortcuts, Menus & Preferences

Finally, way down at the bottom of the Edit Menu is where we can change the

default keyboard shortcuts that Photoshop comes with. We can even make our

own shortcuts that didn't exist by default.

Photoshop CS3 Essential Preferences: How to Access the Preferences

45

If you've been using a previous version of Photoshop, one of the things you'll

notice with CS3 is that Adobe has reorganized and renamed some of the

Preferences and even added a couple of brand new categories which we'll look

at in a moment. Before we do though, we need to know how to access the

Preferences. If you're on a Windows system, go up to the Edit Menu at the top of

the screen, choose Preferences, and then choose General. On a Mac, it's a little

different. Rather than going up to the Edit menu, go up to the Photoshop menu

instead, then choose Preferences, and then choose General. Or, an even faster

way to access the Preferences is to use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+K (Win) /

Command+K (Mac). Regardless of how you get there, you'll be presented with

the Photoshop Preferences dialog box, set to the "General" options:

One difference to note right away between Photoshop CS3's Preferences dialog

box and previous versions of it are that there is no longer a drop-down list at the

top where you go to select the various categories. Instead, they're now all listed

conveniently along the left-hand side:

46

Since we already have the "General" Preferences open, let's start by looking at a

few important General options.

General Preferences: Image Interpolation

In the General Preferences section, the first option we need to look at is the

second one from the top, Image Interpolation:

"Image interpolation" has to do with how Photoshop handles the pixels in your

images when you resize them. Photoshop CS3 comes with the same

interpolation options that we've had since version CS, so there's nothing new

here, but it's important that we set this option correctly because it affects image

quality.

The general rule with the interpolation options is that we use Bicubic Sharper for

reducing the size of an image, and Bicubic Smoother when enlarging images.

There's also another general rule though that says we never, ever enlarge

images in Photoshop unless we have no other choice because enlarging images

forces Photoshop to create new image information out of thin air, which hardly

ever works out well. So, since we'll be making our images smaller 99.99% of the

47

time, it's a good idea to set our Image Interpolation option to Bicubic Sharper.

Setting this option here also affects other areas in Photoshop, like what happens

when we crop or transform images. So go ahead then and set this option to

"Bicubic Sharper".

General Preferences: Automatically Launch Bridge

The next option worth looking at in the General Preferences is Automatically

Launch Bridge:

This one isn't quite as important as the Image Interpolation option we just looked

at, and in fact it's really more of a personal preference, but worth looking at

anyway. This option determines whether or not Adobe Bridge will launch

automatically when you open Photoshop CS3. If you find that you use Bridge a

lot when working in Photoshop, turn this option on. Bridge usually takes a few

seconds to load, so if you have it launch with Photoshop instead of manually

launching it later, you won't have to sit there waiting for it. If, on the other hand,

you don't find yourself using Bridge all that often, leave the option unchecked.

General Preferences: Export Clipboard

Another option definitely worth looking at in the General Preferences is Export

Clipboard:

48

Unless you're in the habit of copying Photoshop files and pasting them into other

programs, which is highly unlikely, turn this option off (uncheck it). Leaving it on

will only slow your computer down for no good reason and may even throw up a

nice little error message from time to time. No need for it.

General Preferences: Use Shift Key for Tool Switch

Another one of those personal preferences options is Use Shift Key For Tool

Switch:

This option has to do with how you access tools in Photoshop's Tools palette

which are hidden behind other tools. For example, the Elliptical Marquee Tool is

hidden by default behind the Rectangular Marquee Tool, yet both of them have a

keyboard shortcut of M. With this option checked, you would access the Elliptical

Marquee Tool by holding down the Shift key and then pressing M. With the

option unchecked, you'd simply press M twice, once for the Rectangular Marquee

Tool and then again for the Elliptical Marquee Tool.

Gradient

The Gradient tool creates a gradual blend between multiple colors. You can

choose from preset gradient fills or create your own.

Note: The Gradient tool cannot be used with bitmap or indexed-color images.

You fill an area with a gradient by dragging in the image. The starting point

(where the mouse button is clicked) and ending point (when the mouse button is

released) affect the gradient appearance, depending on the Gradient tool used.

1. To fill part of the image, select the desired area. Otherwise, the gradient fill

is applied to the entire active layer.

2. Select the Gradient tool .

49

3. Choose a gradient fill in the options bar:

• Click the triangle next to the gradient sample to pick a preset

gradient fill.

• Click inside the gradient sample to view the Gradient Editor. Select

a preset gradient fill, or create a new gradient fill. Then click OK.

4. Select an option for applying the gradient fill in the options bar:

Linear gradient

Shades from the starting point to the ending point in a straight line.

Radial gradient

Shades from the starting point to the ending point in a circular pattern.

Angle gradient

Shades in a counterclockwise sweep around the starting point.

Reflected gradient

Shades using symmetric linear gradients on either side of the starting

point.

Diamond gradient

Shades from the starting point outward in a diamond pattern. The ending

point defines one corner of the diamond.

5. Do the following in the options bar:

• Specify a blending mode and opacity for the paint. (See List of

blending modes.)

• To reverse the order of colors in the gradient fill, select Reverse.

• To create a smoother blend with less banding, select Dither.

• To use a transparency mask for the gradient fill, select

Transparency. (See Specify the gradient transparency.)

50

Position the pointer in the image where you want to set the starting point of the

gradient, and drag to define the ending point.

Gradient Editor

The Gradient Editor dialog box lets you define a new gradient by modifying a

copy of an existing gradient. You can also add intermediate colors to a gradient,

creating a blend between more than two colors.

Create a Smooth Gradient

1. Select the Gradient tool .

2. Click inside the gradient sample in the options bar to display the Gradient

Editor dialog box.

3. To base the new gradient on an existing gradient, select a gradient in the

Presets section of the dialog box.

51

4. Choose Solid from the Gradient Type pop-up menu.

5. To define the starting color of the gradient, click the left color stop under

the gradient bar. The triangle above the stop turns black , indicating that

the starting color is being edited.

6. To choose a color, do one of the following:

• Double-click the color stop, or click the color swatch in the Stops

section of the dialog box. Choose a color, and click OK.

• Choose an option from the Color pop-up menu in the Stops section

of the dialog box.

• Position the pointer over the gradient bar (the pointer turns into the

eyedropper), and click to sample a color, or click anywhere in the

image to sample a color from the image.

7. To define the ending color, click the right color stop under the gradient bar.

Then choose a color.

8. To adjust the location of the starting point or ending point, do one of the

following:

• Drag the corresponding color stop left or right to the location you

want.

• Click the corresponding color stop, and enter a value for Location in

the Stops section of the dialog box. A value of 0% places the point

at the far left end of the gradient bar; a value of 100%, at the far

right end.

9. To adjust the location of the midpoint (where the gradient displays an even

mix of the starting and ending colors), drag the diamond below the

gradient bar to the left or right, or click the diamond, and enter a value for

Location.

10. To add intermediate colors to a gradient, click below the gradient bar to

define another color stop. Specify the color and adjust the location and

midpoint for the intermediate point as you would f

point.

11. To delete the color stop you are editing, click Delete, or drag the stop

downwards until it disappears.

12. To control how gradual the transitions are between color bands in the

gradient, enter a value in the Smoothness text box

Smoothness pop-up slider.

13. If desired, set transparency values for the gradient.

14. Enter a name for the new gradient.

15. To save the gradient as a preset, click New after you have finished

creating the gradient.

Dynamic Range View

HDR Images

The dynamic range of HDR

computer monitors. When you open an HDR image in Photoshop, it can look

very dark or washed out. Photoshop lets you adjust the preview so that the

monitor displays an HDR image wh

out or too dark. The preview settings are stored in the HDR image file (PSD,

PSB, and TIFF only) and are applied whenever the file is opened in Photoshop.

Preview adjustments don’t edit the HDR image file, all the H

information remains intact. Use the Exposure adjustment (Image

Adjustments > Exposure) to make exposure edits to the 32

To view 32-bit readouts in the Info palette, click the

Info palette and choose 32

1. Open a 32-bpc HDR image in Photoshop, and choose View

Preview Options.

52

To add intermediate colors to a gradient, click below the gradient bar to


midpoint for the intermediate point as you would for a starting or ending

To delete the color stop you are editing, click Delete, or drag the stop

downwards until it disappears.

To control how gradual the transitions are between color bands in the

gradient, enter a value in the Smoothness text box, or drag the

up slider.

If desired, set transparency values for the gradient.

Enter a name for the new gradient.

To save the gradient as a preset, click New after you have finished

creating the gradient.

HDR images exceeds the display capabilities of standard



monitor displays an HDR image whose highlights and shadows aren’t washed



Preview adjustments don’t edit the HDR image file, all the H

information remains intact. Use the Exposure adjustment (Image

> Exposure) to make exposure edits to the 32-bpc HDR image.

bit readouts in the Info palette, click the Eyedropper

Info palette and choose 32-Bit from the pop-up menu.

bpc HDR image in Photoshop, and choose View

To add intermediate colors to a gradient, click below the gradient bar to


or a starting or ending

To delete the color stop you are editing, click Delete, or drag the stop

To control how gradual the transitions are between color bands in the

, or drag the

To save the gradient as a preset, click New after you have finished

images exceeds the display capabilities of standard



ose highlights and shadows aren’t washed



Preview adjustments don’t edit the HDR image file, all the HDR image

information remains intact. Use the Exposure adjustment (Image >

bpc HDR image.

Eyedropper icon in the

bpc HDR image in Photoshop, and choose View > 32-Bit

2. In the 32-bit Preview Options dialog box, choose an option from the

Method menu:

Exposure and Gamma

Adjusts the brightness and contrast.

Highlight Compression

Compresses the highlight values in the HDR image so they fall within the

luminance values range of the 8

3. If you chose Exposure and Gamma, move the Exposure and Gamma

sliders to adjust the brightness and contrast of the imag

4. Click OK.

You can also adjust the preview of an HDR image open in Photoshop

by clicking the triangle in the status bar of the document window and

choosing 32-Bit Exposure from the pop

the white point for viewing

to the default exposure setting. Since the adjustment is made per view,

you can have the same HDR image open in multiple windows, each with a

different preview adjustment. Preview adjustments made with this

are not stored in the HDR image file.

Match the Color in Different Images

The Match Color command matches colors between multiple images, between

multiple layers, or between multiple selections. It also lets you adjust the colors in

an image by changing the luminance, changing the color range, and neutralizing

a color cast. The Match Color command works only in RGB mode.

When you use the Match Color command, the pointer becomes the

Eyedropper tool. Use the Eyedropper tool while adjusting the image

color pixel values in the Info palette. This palette gives you feedback about

changes in color values as you use the Match Color command.

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bit Preview Options dialog box, choose an option from the

Exposure and Gamma

Adjusts the brightness and contrast.

pression


luminance values range of the 8- or 16-bpc image file.

If you chose Exposure and Gamma, move the Exposure and Gamma

sliders to adjust the brightness and contrast of the image preview.



Bit Exposure from the pop-up menu. Move the slider to set

the white point for viewing the HDR image. Double-click the slider to return



different preview adjustment. Preview adjustments made with this

are not stored in the HDR image file.

Match the Color in Different Images

command matches colors between multiple images, between


anging the luminance, changing the color range, and neutralizing

a color cast. The Match Color command works only in RGB mode.


Eyedropper tool. Use the Eyedropper tool while adjusting the image


changes in color values as you use the Match Color command.

bit Preview Options dialog box, choose an option from the


If you chose Exposure and Gamma, move the Exposure and Gamma

e preview.



up menu. Move the slider to set

click the slider to return



different preview adjustment. Preview adjustments made with this method

command matches colors between multiple images, between


anging the luminance, changing the color range, and neutralizing


Eyedropper tool. Use the Eyedropper tool while adjusting the image to view the


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The Match Color command matches the colors in one image (the source image)

with those in another image (the target image). This is useful when you’re trying

to make the colors in different photos consistent, or when certain colors (such as

skin tones) in one image must match the colors in another image. In addition to

matching the color between two images, the Match Color command can match

the color between different layers in the same image.

Make a selection in the source and target images.

If you don’t make a selection, then the Match Color command matches the

overall image statistics between images.

Make the image that you want to target active, and then choose Image >

Adjustments > Match Color.

If you’re applying the Match Color command to a specific layer in the target

image, make sure that layer is active when you choose the Match Color

command.

From the Source menu in the Image Statistics area of the Match Color dialog

box, choose the source image whose colors you’ll be matching in the target

image. Choose none when you don’t want to reference a different image to

calculate the color adjustment. With None chosen, the target image and the

source image are the same.

If necessary, use the Layer menu to choose the layer from the source image

whose colors you want to match. You can also choose Merged from the Layer

menu to match the colors from all the layers in the source image.

If you made a selection in the image, do one or more of the following:

• In the Destination Image area, select Ignore Selection When Applying

Adjustment if you’re applying the adjustment to the entire target image.

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This option ignores the selection in the target image and applies the

adjustment to the entire target image.

• In the Image Statistics area, select Use Selection in Source to Calculate

Colors if you made a selection in the source image and want to use the

colors in the selection to compute the adjustment. Deselect this option to

ignore the selection in the source image, and use the colors from the

entire source image to compute the adjustment.

• In the Image Statistics area, select Use Selection in Target to Calculate

Adjustment if you made a selection in the target image and want to use

the colors in the selection to calculate the adjustment. Deselect this option

to ignore the selection in the target image and compute the adjustment by

using the colors of the entire target image.

To automatically remove a color cast in the target image, select the Neutralize

option. Make sure the Preview option is selected so that your image is updated

as you make adjustments.

To increase or decrease the brightness in the target image, move the

Luminance slider. Alternatively, enter a value in the Luminance text box. The

maximum value is 200, the minimum is 1, and the default is 100.

To adjust the color saturation in the target image, adjust the Color Intensity

slider. Alternatively, enter a value in the Color Intensity text box. The maximum

value is 200, the minimum is 1 (which produces a grayscale image), and the

default is 100.

To control the amount of adjustment applied to the image, move the Fade

slider. Moving the slider to the right reduces the adjustment.

Click OK.

1. Make a selection in the layer you want to match. This is useful when

matching a color region (for example, facial skin tones) in one layer with a

region in another.

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If you don’t make a selection, then the Match Color matches the colors of

the entire source layer.

2. Make sure the layer you want to target (apply the color adjustment to) is

active, and then choose Image > Adjustments > Match Color.

3. From the Source menu in the Image Statistics area of the Match Color

dialog box, make sure that the image in the Source menu is the same as

the target image.

4. Use the Layer menu to choose the layer whose colors you want to match.

You can also choose Merged from the Layer menu to match the colors

from all the layers.

5. If you made a selection in the image, do one or more of the following:

• In the Destination Image area, select Ignore Selection When

Applying Adjustment if you’re applying the adjustment to the entire

target layer. This option ignores the selection in the target layer and

applies the adjustment to the entire target layer.

• In the Image Statistics area, select Use Selection in Source to

Calculate Colors if you made a selection in the source image and

want to use the color in the selection to compute the adjustment.

Deselect this option to ignore the selection in the source layer and

use the colors in the entire source layer to compute the adjustment.

• In the Image Statistics area, select Use Selection in Target to

Calculate Adjustment if you want to use only the colors in the

selected area of the target layer to compute the adjustment.

Deselect this option to ignore the selection and use the colors of

the entire target layer to compute the adjustment.

6. To automatically remove a color cast in the target layer, Select the

Neutralize option. Make sure the Preview option is selected so that your

image is updated as you make adjustments.

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7. To increase or decrease the brightness in the target layer, move the

Luminance slider. Alternatively, enter a value in the Luminance text box.

The maximum value is 200, the minimum is 1, and the default is 100.

8. To adjust the range of color pixel values in the target layer, adjust the

Color Intensity slider. Alternatively, enter a value in the Color Intensity text

box. The maximum value is 200, the minimum is 1 (which produces a

grayscale image), and the default is 100.

9. To control the amount of adjustment applied to the image, adjust the Fade

slider. Moving the slider to the right reduces the amount of adjustment.

10. Click OK.

The Match Color command can adjust the brightness, color saturation, and color

balance in an image. The advanced algorithms in the Match Color command give

you better control over luminance and color components of the image. Because

you are adjusting the color in a single image rather than matching the colors

between two images, the image you’re correcting is both the source and the

target image.

1. Choose Image > Adjustments > Match Color.

2. In the Image Statistics area, make sure None is chosen in the Source

menu. The option specifies that the source and the target are the same

image.

3. To automatically remove a color cast, select the Neutralize option. Make

sure the Preview option is selected so that your image is updated as you

make adjustments.

4. To increase or decrease the brightness in the image, adjust the

Luminance slider. Moving the Luminance slider to the left darkens the

image, and moving the slider to the right brightens the image. The

luminance control tries not to clip pixels (change them to pure black/no

detail or pure white/no detail) in either the shadows or highlights.

However, it may clip pixels because an image can have only either 8-bit or

16-bit values.

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5. To expand or reduce the color pixel values in the image, adjust the Color

Intensity slider. Moving the Color Intensity slider to the left reduces the

color range, and the image becomes monochromatic. Moving the Color

Intensity to the right increases the color range and intensifies the colors.

6. To control the amount of adjustment applied to the image, adjust the Fade

slider. Moving the slider to the right reduces the amount of adjustment.

Note: You can use the Match Color controls separately to apply a single

correction to the image. For example, you can adjust only the Luminance

slider to brighten/darken an image without affecting the color. Or you can

use the controls in different combinations, depending on the color

correction you’re making.

7. Click OK.

Hue/Saturation

The Hue/Saturation command lets you adjust the hue, saturation, and

brightness of a specific color component in an image or simultaneously adjust all

the colors in an image. This command is especially good for fine-tuning colors in

a CMYK image so that they are in the gamut of an output device. You can save

settings in the Hue/Saturation dialog box and load them for reuse in other

images.

Do one of the following:

• Choose Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation.

• Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation. Click OK in the

New Layer dialog box. The two color bars in the dialog box represent the

colors in their order on the color wheel. The upper color bar shows the

color before the adjustment; the lower bar shows how the adjustment

affects all of the hues at full saturation.

Choose which colors to adjust using the Edit pop-up menu:

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• Choose Master to adjust all colors at once.

• Choose one of the other preset color ranges listed for the color you want

to adjust.

For Hue, enter a value or drag the slider until you are satisfied with the colors.

The values displayed in the text box reflect the number of degrees of rotation

around the wheel from the pixel’s original color. A positive value indicates

clockwise rotation; a negative value, counterclockwise rotation. Values can range

from -180 to +180.

Color wheel

A. Saturation

B. Hue

For Saturation, enter a value or drag the slider to the right to increase the

saturation or to the left to decrease it.

The color shifts away from or toward the center of the color wheel. Values can

range from -100 (percentage of desaturation, duller colors) to +100 (percentage

of saturation increase).

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For Lightness, enter a value or drag the slider to the right to increase the

lightness (add white to a color) or to the left to decrease it (add black to a color).

Values can range from -100 (percentage of black) to +100 (percentage of white).

Note: Click the Reset button to undo a setting in the Hue/Saturation dialog box.

Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to change the Cancel button to Reset

1. Do one of the following:


• Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation. Click OK

in the New Layer dialog box.

2. In the Hue/Saturation dialog box, choose a color from the Edit menu.

Four color wheel values (in degrees) appear in the dialog box. They

correspond to the adjustment sliders that appear between the color bars.

The two inner vertical sliders define the color range. The two outer triangle

sliders show where the adjustments on a color range “fall off” (fall-off is a

feathering or tapering of the adjustments instead of a sharply defined

on/off application of the adjustments).

3. Use either the eyedropper tools or the adjustment sliders to modify the

range of colors.

• Click or drag in the image with the Eyedropper tool to select a

color range. To expand the range, click or drag in the image with

the Add To Sample Eyedropper tool . To reduce the range of

color, click or drag in the image with the Subtract From Sample

Eyedropper tool . While an eyedropper tool is selected, you can

also press Shift to add to the range, or Alt (Windows) or Option

(Mac OS) to subtract from it.

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• Drag one of the white triangle sliders to adjust the amount of color

fall-off (feathering of adjustment) without affecting the range.

• Drag the area between the triangle and the vertical bar to adjust the

range without affecting the amount of fall-off.

• Drag the center area to move the entire adjustment slider (which

includes the triangles and vertical bars) to select a different color

area.

• Drag one of the vertical white bars to adjust the range of the color

component. Moving a vertical bar from the center of the adjustment

slider and closer to a triangle increases the color range and

decreases the fall-off. Moving a vertical bar closer to the center of

the adjustment slider and away from a triangle decreases the color

range and increases the fall-off.

• Ctrl-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Mac OS) the color bar so

that a different color is in the center of the bar.

Hue/Saturation adjustment slider:

A. Hue slider values

B. Adjusts fall-off without affecting range

C. Adjusts range without affecting fall-off

D. Adjusts range of color and fall-off

E. Moves entire slider

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If you modify the adjustment slider so that it falls into a different color

range, the name in the Edit menu changes to reflect this change. For

example, if you choose Yellow and alter its range so that it falls in the red

part of the color bar, the name changes to Red 2. You can convert up to

six of the individual color ranges to varieties of the same color range (for

example, Red through Red 6).

Note: By default, the range of color selected when you choose a color

component is 30° wide, with 30° of fall-off on either side. Setting the fall-off

too low can produce banding in the image.

1. If you are colorizing a grayscale image, choose Image > Mode > RGB

Color to convert the image to RGB.

2. Do one of the following to open the Hue/Saturation dialog box:


• Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation. Click OK

in the New Layer dialog box.

3. Select the Colorize option. If the foreground color is black or white, the

image is converted to a red hue (0°). If the foreground color is not black or

white, the image is converted to the hue of the current foreground color.

The lightness value of each pixel does not change.

4. (Optional) Use the Hue slider to select a new color. Use the Saturation

and Lightness sliders to adjust the saturation and lightness of the pixels.

Custom Shapes

We can access any of our currently available shapes by selecting the Custom

Shape Tool from the Tools palette, then right-clicking (Win) / anywhere inside

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our document and choosing the shape we want from the Shape selection box

that appears.

Preset Manager

Creating, saving and loading custom shape sets is all done using Photoshop's

Preset Manager, and you can find it by going up to your Edit menu at the top of

the screen and choosing Preset Manager... from the list.

Photoshop Shapes: Got to Edit > Preset Manager.

As a quick side note, any time you see three dots ("...") to the right of a menu

choice in the Options Bar, it means that a dialog box will appear when you

select that option, and in this case, the Preset Manager dialog box appears.

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Changing Preset Type to Custom Shapes

By default, the Preset Manager is set to display all the brushes inside Photoshop

that are currently available, which isn't what we want. We want it to show us our

custom shapes, so choose Custom Shapes from the Preset Type drop-down list

at the top of the dialog box:

Photoshop Shapes: Set the Preset Manager to show Custom Shapes by

choosing them from the "Preset Type" drop-down box at the top.

As soon as you set the Preset Type to "Custom Shapes", all of the custom

shapes currently available in Photoshop are displayed. If you have "Show Tool

Tips" enabled in Photoshop's Preferences, you'll be able to see the name of each

shape as you navigate your mouse cursor over it.

You can change the size of the shape thumbnails in the Preset Manager by

clicking on the small, right-pointing arrow in the top right corner of the dialog box

and selecting either Small Thumbnail or Large Thumbnail from the fly-out menu,

or you can choose to simply display the names of the shapes in a list if you

65

prefer. By default, the Preset Manager shows small thumbnails, but I have mine

set to the larger thumbnail size.

Photoshop Shapes: Select either small or large thumbnails from the Preset Manager options. Adding Shapes to Shapes Set

The first thing we need to do is select all the shapes that we want to add to the

set, so I'll click once on the first Holiday shape thumbnail in the Preset Manager,

which happens to be my Gingerbread Man shape, to select it. If all the shapes

you want to add to your set are side-by-side each other as mine are, once you've

selected the first shape, simply hold down your Shift key and click on the last

shape you want to add. This will select the first shape, the last shape, and all the

shapes in between, as we can see in the screenshot below. To make it easier to

see which shapes I've selected, I've highlighted them in yellow:

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Photoshop Shapes: Click on the first shape you want to add to the shape set, then Shift-click on the last shape to select all the shapes in between.

If the shapes you want to add to your set are not side-by-side each other, you'll

need to hold down your Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) key and click on each

shape separately until you have them all selected.

Click On the "Save Set" Button

Once you have all your shapes selected, click on the Save Set button on the

right of the Preset Manager dialog box:

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Photoshop Shapes: Click on the "Save Set" button on the right of the Preset Manager.

Image Menu

Duplicate, Apply Image and Calculations

The third group under the Image Menu contains one really simple option and two

not-so-simple ones. The first one, "Duplicate", simply allows you to create a

duplicate copy of your Photoshop document; useful if, for example, you want to

try a different approach to color correcting your image and then compare the

results of the two approaches side by side.

"Apply Image" and "Calculations" are two advanced topics which we won't get

into for now.

Image Size, Canvas Size, and Resolution

Resizing an image is one of the most commonly used skills in Photoshop. It's so

common that even people who know virtually nothing about Photoshop still

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manage to use it to resize their images, which should give you an indication of

how incredibly easy it is to do. However, there are some things you need to keep

in mind when resizing your images, as we'll see in this Photoshop tutorial.

First, we need a photo for our lesson:

This is a photo taken on a trip to Mexico. Of course, the actual photo was much

larger than this, but I've resized it in Photoshop to something more suitable for

the web page. How did I do that? Quite simply, really. To resize an image in

Photoshop, the first thing you need to do is go up to the Image menu at the top

of the screen and select "Image Size" from the list of options. This will bring up

the Image Size dialog box, as shown below:

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The screenshot above of the Image Size dialog box was taken immediately after

I opened the photo in Photoshop, before I resized it to the much smaller version

you see above. The Image Size dialog box is divided into two main sections -

"Pixel Dimensions" and "Document Size". For those of you who have already

read through the sections on image resolution, this will be familiar to you, but for

the benefit of those of you who simply want to learn how to resize your images,

I'll be repeating some of the same information here.

Let's look more closely at the Pixel Dimensions section of the Image Size dialog

box:

The Pixel Dimensions part of the Image Size dialog box tells us two things about

our image. First, to the right of the words "Pixel Dimensions" is a number, which

in this case is "14.6M". This number is telling us the current file size of our image.

The "M" stands for megabytes, or "millions of bytes". Knowing the file size of our

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image is interesting and possibly helpful in some situations, but it doesn't help us

with what we want to do at the moment, which is to resize our image. For that,

we need the other thing the Pixel Dimensions section is telling us - the width and

height of our image.

According to what the Pixel Dimensions section is telling us here, the Mexico

photo shown above was 2608 pixels wide by 1952 pixels high when I first opened

it inside Photoshop. That's a decent size photo if I wanted to print it, but in this

case, I needed a much smaller version of it to use on the web page. So how did I

make it smaller? Simple. I changed the numbers for width and height to what I

needed:

As you can see in the screenshot above, my Mexico photo now has a width of

only 450 pixels and a height of only 337 pixels. Making the change is easy.

Simply double-click inside one of the two value boxes, which will highlight the

number currently showing in the box, and type a new value. When you're done,

click the OK button and Photoshop will resize your image to the new dimensions

you've specified. It's really that simple.

You can also resize your image by a percentage of the original image size rather

than typing in a specific pixel value. If you look closely at the width and height

values, you'll notice that to the right of the word "pixels" is a down-pointing arrow.

If you click on that arrow, a drop-down menu will appear which gives you the

options to choose between "pixels" and "percent":

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Once you've chosen "percent" as the means in which you want to resize your

image, the width and height of your image will change to a percentage rather

than a pixel value. Resizing the image using a percentage is done the same way

as if you were using pixel values. Just double-click inside the width or height

value box once again and type in a new percentage. When you're done, click the

OK button and Photoshop will resize the image to whatever percent value you

entered.

You'll notice, unless you've changed the default settings, that when you double-

click inside one of the value boxes and type a new number, the number in the

other box changes as well. In other words, if you try to change the value for the

width of your image, the height will change along with it. That's because by

default, Photoshop constrains the image proportions, which is usually what you

want Photoshop to do anyway. Normally, you wouldn't change the width of a

photo without changing the height as well. Photoshop gives you a visual

indication that the width and height of your image are linked together by

displaying a black line that appears to join the width and height sections along

the right side of the Pixel Dimensions section, with a small link icon to the right of

the line.

You can choose to unconstrain the proportions though and change the width

without it affecting the height, and vice versa, by unchecking the "Constrain

Proportions" checkbox at the bottom of the Image Size dialog box. I've

highlighted it below:

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As you can see, by default, the Constrain Proportions option is checked. Simply

uncheck it if you want to be able to change the width and height of your image

independently of each other.

Resizing and Image Quality

There's something you need to keep in mind though when it comes to resizing

your image and image quality. The basic rule is, it's usually okay to make your

image smaller without losing much in the way of image quality. However, you will

absolutely lose image quality if you try to make your image larger. Let's look at an

example:

Here's the photo again that I used above:

As we saw earlier, this image has dimensions of 450 pixels wide by 337 pixels

high. I'm going use the Image Size dialog box to make this image 50% of this

size. I do that by choosing "Percent" as the means in which I want to resize my

image, and then double-click inside the "Width" value box and type "50". Since I

have "Constrain Proportions" checked at the bottom of the dialog box, Photoshop

will automatically change the height percentage as well to match the change I

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made to the width. Then I click the OK button and Photoshop resizes my image

to 50% of its original size. Here's what it looks like after being made 50% smaller:

As you can see, the image is much smaller but the quality of the image remains

fairly consistent. Let's see what happens though if I take the image after being

resized to 50% of its original size and try to enlarge it back to its original size. To

do that, I'll need to enlarge this image by 200%, which will make it twice as large

as it is now and bring it back to its original size. Again, to do this in the Image

Size dialog box, since I already have "Percent" chosen as my means of resizing

the image, I simply double-click inside the "Width" dialog box and type in "200".

Again, because I have "Constrain Proportions" checked, Photoshop will make the

change to the height to match the change I made to the width. Once I click the

OK button, Photoshop will go ahead and enlarge my image by 200%, which

should bring it back to the size it was originally. Here's the image after being

resized by 200%. I'll include the original image again directly below it so you can

more easily compare the two versions:

74

The image on top is the image resized by 200% to bring it back to its original

size, while the image below is the original image before we did any resizing. The

resized image on top is definitely back to the same size as the original, but it sure

doesn't look as good anymore, does it? We've lost a lot of detail in the image,

75

and now it appears soft and blurry. If I was to try and enlarge it even further, the

image quality would be even worse.

Here's what's happening. When you open up an image inside Photoshop and

then use the Image Size dialog box to make the image smaller, Photoshop

makes it smaller essentially by throwing away pixels. That's how Photoshop

makes images smaller, by taking some of the pixels and throwing them out the

window.

Canvas Size

The canvas size is the full editable area of an image. The Canvas Size

command lets you increase or decrease an image’s canvas size. Increasing the

canvas size adds space around an existing image. Decreasing an image’s

canvas size crops into the image. If you increase the canvas size of an image

with a transparent background, the added canvas is transparent. If the image

doesn’t have a transparent background, there are several options for determining

the color of the added canvas.

1. Choose Image > Canvas Size.


a. Enter the dimensions for the canvas in the Width and Height

boxes. Choose the units of measurement you want from the

pop-up menus next to the Width and Height boxes.

b. Select Relative, and enter the amount you want to add or

subtract from the image’s current canvas size. Enter a

positive number to add to the canvas, and enter a negative

number to subtract from the canvas.

3. For Anchor, click a square to indicate where to position the existing

image on the new canvas.

4. Choose an option from the Canvas Extension Color menu:

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• Foreground to fill the new canvas with the current

foreground color

• Background to fill the new canvas with the current

background color

• White, Black, or Gray to fill the new canvas with

that color

• Other to select a new canvas color using the Color

Picker

Note: You can also click the white square to the right of the

Canvas Extension Color menu to open the Color Picker.

5. The Canvas Extension Color menu isn’t available if an image doesn’t

contain a background layer.

6. Click OK.

Original canvas and canvas added to right side of image using the

foreground color

Resolution

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The issue of resolution can sometimes get confusing because the same word is

often applied to different aspects of photography. Imagine, for a moment, that the

word ‘Device’ was the name for a camera, a computer screen and a printer. If

you were having a conversation with a friend and were discussing a photographic

workflow from capture to print, imagine the confusion that could occur (“which

device called device are you now referring to?”).

This is what currently happens when some people talk about resolution but don’t

have a good understanding of when and how to use the word appropriately or

clarify what they are referring to. When you talk about resolution you have to add

a second word before or after the word resolution, e.g. optical resolution (of your

lens), image resolution (the file), monitor resolution, printer resolution etc. Before

we dive into the extended answer I will supply you with the short answer of

‘which one is right’ (for people who want to know how many, but don’t really want

to know why).Images being prepared for viewing on a screen are measured in

pixels, not in inches.

Here are some examples:

HD TV 1280 x 720 (720p): (less than one million pixels or ‘1-Megapixel’)

Full HD TV (1080p): 1920 x 1080 (just over 2 million pixels)

24-inch wide-screen computer monitor: 1920 x 1200 (2.3 million pixels)

20-inch wide-screen computer monitor: 1680 x 1050 (1.75 million pixels)

Standard data projector presenting a PowerPoint presentation: 1024 x 768

If you are cropping your images for screen enter the pixel dimensions in the

width and height fields in the Options bar, e.g. for a slideshow on a 24-inch

monitor enter 1920 px in the width field and 1200 px in the height field. You do

not need to enter anything in the resolution field, but if this worries you, then

enter 96 in the resolution field and choose the pixels/inch option.

Images to be printed on paper are measured in inches or centimeters and have a

third measurement, which instructs Photoshop how big, or small the image pixels

are to be printed. This is stated in pixels per inch or ‘ppi’.

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Inkjet printers: 240ppi

Most Books and Magazines: 300ppi (unless instructed otherwise by your printer)

Print Service providers: 200 – 300ppi (contact your print centre for info)

Type in the size of your image in inches or centimeters and enter in the required

pixels per inch in the pixels/inch (ppi) field.

Use the Crop Tool and not Image Size to Crop Your Images

Many photographers try to use the Image Size dialog box instead of the Crop

Tool to crop an image. You can change the Image Size using this dialog box but

you cannot crop. You cannot make an oblong image square without squashing

the image (you would need to uncheck the ‘Constrain Proportions’ check box to

do this). You can make an image smaller or bigger but you cannot change the

‘Aspect Ratio’ or shape of your image using this dialog box. In the illustration

above the width can be set to 1920 pixels but the height cannot be made to be

1080 pixels unless the image is squashed or the width changes.

More Information about Image Resolution

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Printing images on paper is where image resolution (ppi) is important. It now

becomes one of three important instructions to enable Photoshop to get it right,

width and height in inches and the ‘size’ of the pixels. The resolution determines

how many pixels should fit along the width and height of every inch. More is good

up the point where the printer can’t deal with the extra information and discards

it. Inkjet printer resolution is stated in dots per inch (dpi) and is usually 720 dpi,

1440 dpi or 2880 dpi.

In some instances the term dpi is often used where ppi would be more

appropriate, e.g scanning resolutions and monitor resolutions are often referred

to in dpi when ppi would be the more appropriate term (in these instances dpi

and ppi are the same). The word dot, however, should really be reserved for

when we are talking about dots of ink – which cannot be rendered square - no

matter how clever the printer is!

If you want to view an image on a screen then it helps to know the pixel

dimensions of this screen to ensure your image look as good as possible. You do

not need to know the resolution in dots per inch (dpi) or pixels per inch (ppi).

Most screen applications ignore this measurement when displaying images. If the

pixel dimensions of the image are the same as the pixel dimensions of the

screen then your image will fill the screen - end of story.

‘Actual Pixels’ - one image pixel is displayed by one monitor pixel. At 50%

magnification four image pixels are displayed by one screen pixel (images also

look pretty good at this zoom level). So what happens to all those extra pixels

that are not being displayed when you are viewing at 50%? Basically they are

surplus to requirement – Photoshop can’t reduce the size of the image on the

screen and display all the pixels.

The actual number of pixels per inch being displayed by a monitor is not

something you need to know (trust me on this one). Screens are measured in

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inches but the images that appear on these screens are measured in pixels. So

long as you have enough pixels the image will fill the screen. If you just have to

know then I suggest you get your ruler out and measure the width of an 800 pixel

wide image when it is displayed at 100% on your monitor. If you measure the

image as 8-inches then you will now know your monitor is displaying images at

100 ppi - but I suspect the quality of your life is unlikely to be enriched by this

knowledge.

Some software manufacturers refer to screen resolution as 72ppi or 96ppi but

this is an approximate figure only for older style CRT monitors. Many high quality

LCD screens for computers are 100ppi while a 50-inch LCD TV is probably half

this figure. Don’t get hung up on this measurement when dealing with images for

screen. It does not matter. Most web applications ignore the measurement.

Trim

If you’re not concerned so much with the dimensions of the photo, but simply

want to clean up the empty space around an object, using the Trim function can

be quicker and more effective than the crop tool.

Let’s pretend that we took a picture of a coffee mug sitting on a table. Now, we’ve

opened it in Photoshop and decided that all we really need to see is the mug, not

all of the table surrounding it. This picture would be a perfect candidate for

trimming.

First, go to Image and then down to Trim. You may choose to trim away empty

space on just a few sides or on all sides. Then, click OK and Photoshop

automatically trims the excess waste off the sides of your pictures. This can be a

good alternative to the crop tool at times.

Trap

The final group under the Image Menu contains the "Trap" option. Trapping is a

printing term which has to do with preventing small gaps in your image when

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having it printed due to a slight misregistration on the printing press. It's not

something you normally have to worry about unless you're having your images

professionally printed at a print shop, in which case you'll need to ask someone

there what trap value to enter in the dialog box, if anything.

Layer Menu

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Open and Close the Layers Palette

To open the Layers palette if it isn't already open on your screen, press the F7

key at the top of your keyboard. You can also press F7 to close the Layers

palette.

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Create a New Layer

To create a new layer, press Shift+Ctrl+N (Win) / Shift+Command+N (Mac).

This will pop-up Photoshop's New Layer dialog box where you can name the

layer, as well as set some other options:

To create a new layer and bypass the "New Layer" dialog box, press

Shift+Ctrl+Alt+N (Win) / Shift+Command+Option+N (Mac).

Create a New Layer below the Currently Selected Layer

By default, Photoshop adds a new layer above the layer currently selected in the

Layers palette. To tell Photoshop to add the new layer below the currently

selected layer, hold down the Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) key and click on the

New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

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.

This adds a new layer below the layer that was selected:

.

Note that this does not work with the Background layer, since Photoshop doesn't

allow any layers to be below the Background layer.

Copy a Layer, or Copy a Selection to a New Layer

To copy a layer, or to copy a selection to a new layer, press Ctrl+J (Win) /

Command+J (Mac). Here, I've made a copy of the Background layer:

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To access the "New Layer" dialog box when you copy a layer or copy a selection

to a new layer, press Ctrl+Alt+J (Win) / Command+Option+J (Mac).

Select All Layers at Once (Photoshop CS2 and higher)

To select all layers at once in Photoshop CS2 and higher, press Ctrl+Alt+A

(Win) / Command+Option+A (Mac). Note that this selects all layers except the

Background layer.

Select All Similar Layers at Once (Photoshop CS2 and higher)

To select all similar layers at once in Photoshop CS2 and higher, such as all text

layers, adjustment layers or shape layers, Right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac)

on one of the layers, then choose Select Similar Layers from the menu that

appears:

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Select Multiple Layers (Photoshop CS2 and higher)

This is where most people who upgrade to Photoshop CS2 (or CS3) from earlier

versions of Photoshop get confused, since the old familiar link column on the left

is gone as of Photoshop CS2. To select multiple layers that are all directly above

or below each other in the Layers palette, click once on the top layer to select it,

then hold down your Shift key and click on the bottom layer (or vice versa). This

will select the top layer, the bottom layer, and all the layers in between:

Another way to select multiple layers that are all directly above or below each

other (again, this only works in Photoshop CS2 and higher) is to hold down

Shift+Alt (Win) / Shift+Option (Mac) and use the left or right bracket keys ( [ or ]

). The right bracket key will add the layer above the currently selected layer to

your selection and will continue moving up the layer stack if you continue

pressing it, while the left bracket key will add the layer below the currently

selected layer to your selection and will continue moving down the layer stack if

you continue pressing it.

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To select multiple layers that are not directly above or below each other, hold

down your Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) key and click on each layer you want to

select:

.

Select the Top or Bottom Layer (Photoshop CS and earlier)

Here's one that's just for people using Photoshop CS and earlier, since it no

longer works in Photoshop CS2 or higher. To quickly select the top layer in the

Layers palette, press Shift+Alt+] (Win) / Shift+Option+] (Mac).

To quickly select the bottom layer in the Layers palette (including the Background

layer), press Shift+Alt+[ (Win) / Shift+Option+[ (Mac).

Scroll Through the Layers

To scroll through the layers in the Layers palette, hold down your Alt (Win) /

Option (Mac) key and use the left and right bracket keys ( [ and ] ). The right

bracket key scrolls upward through the layers, and the left bracket key scrolls

down.

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Move Layers Up and Down the Layer Stack

To move a layer up the layer stack, hold down your Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac)

key and press the right bracket key. The more times you press the right bracket

key, the higher up you'll move the layer.

To move a layer down the layer stack, hold down your Ctrl (Win) / Command

(Mac) key and press the left bracket key. The more times you press the left

bracket key, the further down you'll move the layer.

Note that this does not work with the Background layer, since you can't move the

Background layer. Also, you won't be able to move any other layers below the

Background layer.

Jump a Layer Directly to the Top or Bottom of the Layer Stack

To jump a layer straight to the top of the layer stack, press Shift+Ctrl+] (Win) /

Shift+Command+] (Mac). Here, I've jumped "Layer 1" directly above "Layer 2"

and "Layer 3":

.

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To jump a layer straight to the bottom of the layer stack, or at least to the spot

just above the Background layer (since nothing can go below the Background

layer), press Shift+Ctrl+[ (Win) / Shift+Command+[ (Mac)

Again, neither of these shortcuts works with the Background layer.

Show / Hide Layers

Most people who've been using Photoshop for a while know that you can

temporarily hide or show a layer by clicking on its Layer Visibility icon (the

eyeball) on the left of the layer in the Layers palette:

What a lot of people don't know is that you can temporarily turn off every other

layer in the Layers palette except for that one layer by holding down your Alt

(Win) / Option (Mac) key and clicking on the Layer Visibility icon. Notice how the

eyeball is visible only for "Layer 2" in the screenshot below, telling us that all the

other layers are hidden:

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To turn all the layers back on again, hold down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and

click again on the same Layer Visibility icon.

One little trick many people don't know is that if you hold down Alt (Win) / Option

(Mac) and click on the Layer Visibility icon to hide all the layers except for that

one layer, you can then cycle through your layers by continuing to hold down

your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key and pressing the left or right bracket keys.

The right bracket key will cycle up through the layers, while the left bracket key

will cycle down. As you come to each new layer, Photoshop will make that layer

visible and leave all the others hidden. This is a great way to scroll through your

document and see exactly what's on each layer.

Select the Entire Layer

To select an entire layer, not just the contents of the layer, press Ctrl+A (Win) /

Command+A (Mac).

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Select the Contents of a Layer (Photoshop CS and earlier)

In Photoshop CS and earlier, to select the contents of a layer, hold down Ctrl

(Win) / Command (Mac) and click anywhere on the layer in the Layers palette.

Select the Contents of a Layer (Photoshop CS2 and higher)

This is another area where people who are upgrading to Photoshop CS2 or CS3

from an earlier version of Photoshop run into problems. To select the contents of

a layer in Photoshop CS2 or higher, hold down Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) and

click directly on the layer's preview thumbnail in the Layers palette:

Create a New Layer Group from Layers (Photoshop CS2 and higher)

In Photoshop CS and earlier, we had Layer Sets. As of Photoshop CS2, we have

Layer Groups. Same thing, different name. To create a Layer Group from a

layer or from several layers, first select the layer(s) you want to include in the

Layer Group, then press Ctrl+G (Win) / Command+G (Mac):

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To ungroup the layers, select the Layer Group folder in the Layers palette and

press Shift+Ctrl+G (Win) / Shift+Command+G (Mac).

Merging Layers

To merge a layer with the layer directly below it in the Layers palette, press

Ctrl+E (Win) / Command+E (Mac).

To merge multiple layers, first select the layers you want to merge (in Photoshop

CS and earlier you'll need to link them), then press Ctrl+E (Win) / Command+E

(Mac).

In Photoshop CS2 and higher, you can merge two or more layers onto a new

layer while keeping the original layers. First select the layers you want to merge,

then press Ctrl+Alt+E (Win) / Command+Option+E (Mac).

To merge all layers, press Shift+Ctrl+E (Win) / Shift+Command+E (Mac). This

will flatten the image onto a single layer.

To merge all layers onto a separate layer and keep the originals (this works in all

recent versions of Photoshop), first create a new blank layer above all the other

layers in the Layers palette, then press Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E (Win) /

Shift+Command+Option+E (Mac).

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Create a Clipping Mask (Photoshop CS and earlier)

To create clipping masks in Photoshop CS and earlier, press Ctrl+G (Win) /

Command+G (Mac).

To release the clipping mask, press Shift+Ctrl+G (Win) / Shift+Command+G

(Mac).

Create a Clipping Mask (Photoshop CS2 and higher)

To create a clipping mask in Photoshop CS2 and higher, press Ctrl+Alt+G (Win)

/ Command+Option+G (Mac).

The same shortcut also releases the clipping mask.

Cycle through Layer Blend Modes

When trying to decide on a layer blend mode, most people choose one from the

Blend Mode drop-down list in the top left corner of the Layers palette, see what

effect it has on their image, then they choose a different one from the list, see

what effect it has, then they choose another, and so on, and so on. There's a

much better way.

To cycle through all the different layer blend modes, just hold down your Shift

key and use the + (plus) and - (minus) keys. The plus key scrolls down through

the list, and the minus key scrolls up:

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Changing the Opacity of a Layer

To quickly change the opacity of a layer, first make sure you have the Move Tool

selected by pressing the letter V on your keyboard to select it, and then simply

type a number. Type "5" for 50% opacity, "8" for 80% opacity, "3" for 30%

opacity, and so on. If you need a more specific opacity value, like 25%, just type

"25" quickly. For 100% opacity, simply type "0". Whatever opacity value you enter

appears in the Opacity option in the top right corner of the Layers palette (across

from the Blend Mode option):

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Fill and Adjustment Layers

The third group under the Layer Menu is where we find Photoshop's Fill and

Adjustment Layers. There are 3 types of fill layers and 12 types of adjustment

layers. Fill layers are used to, well; fill your document with a solid color, a

gradient or a pattern. Adjustment layers, on the other hand, allow you to make

things like Levels and Curves adjustments to your image. The great thing about

Adjustment Layers though is that none of the adjustments you make with them

physically affect your original image. Your original image remains safe at the

bottom of the Layers Palette. It still appears in the Document Window as though

you're making the changes to the image, but what you're really seeing is a live

preview of how the changes would be altering your image if they were, in fact,

altering your image, which they're not. We'll look more closely at Adjustment

Layers in another section.

One really cool feature here is the "Change Layer Content" option, which allows

you to select an adjustment layer in the Layer Palette and change it to any of the

other types of adjustment layers. If you have a Levels adjustment layer in your

Layer Palette and you decide you need a Curves adjustment layer instead, you

can change it from Levels to Curves instantly and easily here. It probably isn't

something you'll use very often, but still an interesting feature.

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The final option in this group, "Layer Content Options", is one you'll only use if

you're being paid by the hour. If you need to alter the settings in one of your

adjustment layers, you can select the adjustment layer in the Layers Palette and

then select "Layer Content Options" from the Layer Menu to make changes to

the adjustment. However, since double-clicking on the adjustment layer in the

Layers Palette does the exact same thing, you might as well forget this last

option even exists in the Layer Menu.

Smart Objects, Type and Rasterize Layer

The next group under the Layer Menu is where we find options for type, such as

the amount of anti-aliasing we want on our type, whether we want horizontal or

vertical type, an option to convert our type to a shape so we can do all sorts of

cool things to it we otherwise couldn't while it was still editable type, and options

that allow us to warp the type into different shapes while still keeping the ability to

fully edit the text.

We also have the option here to "rasterize" the contents of the layer. In other

words, take the type or other vector shape and convert it to actual pixels.

The very first option in the list though, which I've purposely saved for last, is

Smart Objects, which is an amazing new feature in Photoshop CS2 that is

changing the way things are done inside Photoshop. We won't get into a huge

discussion about Smart Objects here, but this is where you can take the contents

of your layer and convert them into a smart object.

Layer Based Slices

The sixth group under the Layer Menu has one option in it, "New Layer Based

Slice". Slices have to do with optimizing images for the web and involve dividing

an image into sections which can be optimized individually and saved in different

file formats if needed, and then put back together again as one complete image

in a web page. It's sort of like creating a puzzle out of your image in Photoshop

(or ImageReady) so you can put the puzzle back together again in your web

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page (if that makes no sense to you and you're not or have no plans to be a web

designer, feel free to forget all about it).

The "New Layer Based Slice" option is simply an easy way to create a sliced

section of your image. It will create a slice automatically based on the contents of

a layer. So if, for example, you have a rectangular shape on its own layer in your

document and, with that layer selected in the Layers Palette, you choose "New

Layer Based Slice", Photoshop will create a slice using that rectangular shape as

the slice dimensions. Again, this is of interest primarily to web designers.

Grouping and Hiding Layers

The next group under Layer is for grouping/ungrouping and hiding/showing

layers. If while working on a Photoshop document you find that you're creating

many layers (which is usually the case), it's often times easier to manage those

layers if you group similar layers together. For example, if you have a bunch of

layers that were used to correct a color problem in an image, you may want to

group those layers together into a folder and name the folder "Color corrections".

Or you may have multiple type layers which could be grouped into a "Type"

folder. Similarly, you can choose to remove any layers from a group at any time.

Hiding and showing layers is basically for turning the visibility of layers on and

off. You can also click on the small eyeball icon beside the layers in the Layers

Palette to accomplish the same thing, which is much easier than going up to the

Layer Menu every time.

Arranging and Aligning Layers

The eighth group under the Layer Menu is for arranging, aligning, and distributing

layers.

"Arranging" layers means changing their stacking order in the Layers Palette so

you can move layers above or below other layers.

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"Aligning" layers allows you to align the top, bottom, left or right edge of the

contents of a layer or layers to the edge of the contents of another layer, or to the

edge of the document, or to a selection.

"Distribute" layers allows you to spread out the contents of multiple layers equal

distance from either other based on their top, bottom, left, or right edges, or their

vertical or horizontal centers.

Locking Layers

Continuing our journey down the Layer Menu, we come to another group with

only one option, "Lock layers". This option allows us to either lock the layer

completely so we can't move it or do anything to it accidentally, or we can lock

only certain aspects of the layer, such as only the areas that are transparent, or

only the areas that are not transparent, or we can lock the position of the

contents of the layer so we can't accidentally move what's on the layer. Or, we

can choose to lock it all down at once which leaves us with a layer we can still

see but can't make any accidental changes to.

Linking Layers

The third last group in the Layer Menu allows us to link layers together so you

can select multiple layers at once. In Photoshop CS2, this option has become

irrelevant since we can now select multiple layers simply by clicking on a layer

and then holding the Shift key down while clicking on a second layer, which will

select both layers plus any layers in between. To select multiple layers that are

not stacked directly above or below each other in the Layers Palette, simply hold

down the Ctrl key (Win) or the Command key (Mac) and click on the layers you

want to select.

Merging and Flattening

The second last group in the Layer Menu is for merging layers and flattening the

image. The difference between the two is that merging layers allows you to

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choose which layers you want merged into one, while flattening the image will

take every layer in the document and merge them into one layer which

Photoshop will rename "Background".

When merging layers, you can also choose to merge them onto a new layer

while keeping the individual layers intact, whereas flattening the image will

always flatten the entire document and leave you with one merged "Background"

layer. In most cases, flattening the image is something you'll only do after all the

work on an image is complete and you're ready to have the image printed. Even

then, since you'll lose all of your individual layers when you flatten the image,

you'll want to save your flattened version as a separate document and keep your

original document with all its layers intact in case you need or want to make

additional changes down the road.

Matting

Finally, the last option under the Layer Menu, grouped all by itself, is "Matting".

Matting has to do with the slight fringe or halo effect you sometimes see when

making an anti-aliased selection of a person or object in an image and then

moving that selection into a new image, or replacing the background in the image

with a different background. Sometimes the colors from the original image or

background are still visible along the outer edge of the selection. The commands

under "Matting" allow you to attempt to remove those unwanted edge pixels,

although your mileage may vary as to the effectiveness of these options and

there are more advanced ways of correcting the problem.

Quick Mask

The Quick Mask Tool is not a tool per se, but rather a mode you can enter when

you are creating selections. Through this tool, you can isolate areas in a layer

you are working on, giving you greater power in using Photoshop.

When a painter has to paint a room in a house, the masking tape is an essential

tool. If he has to paint the window frame, he puts on masking tape around the

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area he wants to paint, paints the frame, removes the tape and the glass is paint

free. If he wants to paint the door frame, he does the same thing and the rest of

the wall remains untouched.

In essence, the Quick Mask works the same way, it's like digital masking tape

and assists in getting a good transition between the areas which are selected,

and which aren't. Remember the anti-aliasing and feathering features of

Photoshop we mentioned in part 3 of this tutorial series? Quick mask works

almost the same way, but the difference is that it is more powerful than any of

these features. If you want to change a photo's background, or modify areas on a

photo without affecting other areas, then this is the tool to use.

Back on the tools panel, at the very bottom (see photo on

the left - click any image to enlarge), you will see two view options. The one of

the left is the normal view - the standard page you see when you open a photo

for editing. To enter the Quick Mask mode, you need to click the icon on the right

(encircled in red) or you can press Q to get in and out of this mode.

The difference between Quick Mask and other selection tools such as Marquee

and Lasso tools is that it lets you make complicated selections. It is better than

the Magic wand tool because you can make selections by changing the opacity

of the edges.

The Importance of the Quick Mask Tool

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When you make selections in the normal mode, you will see outlines around the

chosen area. This is okay if you are not choosing large areas, for example the

whole background. With large areas, making selections can become confusing,

as you won't know which parts you have and have not already chosen.

Now, let's view the same photo in Quick Mask mode. In the Quick Mask mode,

the photo is expressed in two colors. In this example, it shows gray for the

selected part and red for those not selected. This setting can also be changed

depending on your preference. To change, just double click the Quick Mask icon

on the tools panel, and from there, you can change the color for the unselected

portions, and the tool's opacity. This way, it is much easier for you to see if you

already selected the areas you want to edit.

Now let's look at the power of Quick Mask. Look at the

photo on the left and pay attention to the path of selection. Try creating a

selection like this using the basic selection tools we've already discussed, I'm

pretty sure you will have a difficult time in normal mode. To get this kind of

selection, these were the specific steps I did:

1. In normal view, I changed my tool to the rectangular marquee tool and

made the square selection.

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2. I then went to the Quick Mask mode, changed my tool to the Brush and

created the zig zag lines.

3. I switched to normal view, and this is the selection I had.

In just three steps, I was able to make a complicated selection! If you think you

will have to edit again, it is best to save you selection so you won't have to redo

it.

The Power of Photoshop's Quick Mask

Using the selections I made in Quick Mask, I adjusted the

hue/saturation for this photo. As you can see, the unselected sections are

untouched while the selection is added with the effects that I chose. If you wish to

have semi transparent edges, you can also apply feathering.

In the second photo, I created a frame for the two girls. To

do this, here are the steps:

1. In normal mode, I switched to rectangle marquee tool and made the

selection.

2. To give the frame a rippled effect, I used Filter>Distort>Ripple,

Filter>Distort>Glass and Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.

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3. I switched back to normal mode, expanded the border to 10 PX, and

applied gradient overlay. I also adjusted the opacity to 70%.

Now, go on and try it for yourself! Just follow the steps that I outlined about and

experiment with the other effects available in Photoshop.

Changing a Photo's Background

Changing the background of a photograph may sound

difficult but with powerful photo editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop, and

a powerful tool such as Quick mask, this task is a lot easier.

For the photo on the left, our goal is to change the background of the two girls.

To do this, here are the steps I took:

1. Go to the Quick mask mode. Once there, select the photo bucket tool

(right click the gradient tool if you can't find it on the tools panel). This

should mask the whole photograph with a red layer.

2. Using the polygonal lasso tool, select the areas you want to cut out. Click

delete. This should remove a layer of red.

3. Go back to normal mode (click Q), and press CTRL+C and CTRL+V onto

a new photo you want to use as a background. The selection should be

pasted on the new one and you have effectively changed you photo's

background!

Masks – An Introduction

There are two types of masks – layer masks and vector masks. Both control

which parts of an image or layer will be hidden or revealed, and the masks can

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have special effects and styles applied to them. Once you’re sure of the effects

that you want to add, you can then apply them. This allows you to see what the

changes will look like before actually changing any pixels in the image itself.

Layer masks are created with the painting and selection tools; vector masks are

created with the Pen and Shape tools.

In the Layers palette, the masks that you create are shown as thumbnails inside

the appropriate layer. A vector mask’s thumbnail image is the path that you’ve

created using the Pen tool. A layer mask’s thumbnail is a rectangle with a black

background that represents the grayscale channel created when you add the

layer mask. You can create a vector mask that shows or hides an entire layer

and shows the contents of a shape, or you can create an inverted mask, where

the entire page is colored and the shape is knocked out of the image.

Note: When you use the Pen tool and create a new shape layer, the new path

appears automatically as a vector mask in the Paths palette.

Using Vector Masks

Let’s look at the different ways that a vector mask can be used, created, and/or edited:

• Add a vector mask that shows or hides an entire layer

• Add a vector mask that shows only the content inside the shape that has

been created by a path

• Edit a vector mask that is already created

• Remove, disable, or enable a vector mask

• Convert a vector mask to a layer mask (rasterize the vector data)

Additionally:

• To add a vector mask that hides or shows an entire layer, select the layer

from the Layer palette that you want to add the vector mask to. Choose

Layer>Add Vector Mask>Hide All or Reveal All. (If these are grayed

out, make a copy of the layer first.)

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• To add a vector mask that shows the contents of a shape, select the layer

to apply the mask to in the Layers palette, select the path from the Paths

palette, and choose Layer>Add Vector Mask>Current Path.

• To edit a vector mask, click the vector mask thumbnail in either the Layer

or Paths palettes. Edit the mask using the Shape or Pen tools.

• To delete a vector mask, select it and choose Layer>Delete Vector

Mask.

• To enable or disable a vector mask, select it and then choose

Layer>Enable Vector Mask or Layer>Disable Vector Mask.

• To convert a vector mask to a layer mask, choose Layer>Rasterize>Vector

Mask.

Using Layer Masks

A layer mask is represented in the Layers palette as a rectangle with a black

background and the shape of the selection in white or gray. Layer masks can be

used to hide or reveal entire layers or selections on layers. The black part of the

layer mask (in the mask’s thumbnail in the Layers palette) is hidden.

To create a Layer mask that hides or reveals an entire layer:

1. Make sure no selection is currently active, and select the layer to mask in

the Layers palette.

2. Choose Layer>Add Layer Mask>Reveal All to reveal the entire layer or

Layer>Add Layer Mask>Hide All to hide the entire layer.

To create a layer mask that hides or reveals a selection only:

1. Select the layer you add the mask to in the Layers palette.

2. Make the selection for the mask using a selection tool.

3. Choose Layer>Add Layer Mask and either Reveal Selection or Hide

Selection. Only the selection will be hidden or shown, and this selection

can be edited independently of the other parts of the image.

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To work with layer masks those have been created:

1. Select the layer in the Layers palette that contains the mask you wish to

edit. Click once on the layer mask thumbnail to make it active.

2. Select an editing or painting tool.

3. Paint with white to subtract from the image, black to add to it, and gray to

partially hide the layer. You can switch to using the foreground and

background colors in the toolbox and revert to the original black and white

there too.

4. When complete, you can either apply or discard the mask by holding down

the Shift key and clicking once on the mask in the Layers palette. A red X

indicates that the mask is discarded.

Using layer masks allows you to separate and control specific parts of an image

by producing a stencil of a selection. This stencil can be altered but the area

around it is protected from change. These selections can then be saved for later

use by saving the mask in an alpha channel. This is briefly detailed next.

A Little about Alpha Channels

You can save a selection as an alpha channel mask. Saving the selection as a

mask will allow you to keep your work for later use. Alpha channels are storage

areas for data, like selections. When selections are saved as a mask, this

channel is created automatically; to save a selection manually, open the

Channels palette and click on the save selection as channel icon.

You can open the Channels palette using Window>Channels. With the selection

active in the image, you can save selection as channel icon. A new channel

appears called Alpha 1, which can be renamed. These alpha channels can be

deleted, added, and edited using the painting and editing tools, and opacity and

other mask options can be set. Alpha channels can be converted to spot color

channels for spot color separations.

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Once the mask has been saved as a channel, you can paint with white to erase

part of the mask, black to add to the mask, or gray to apply opacity to the mask.

Selecting and Deselecting

The first group in the Select Menu is straightforward for the most part. "All"

allows you to select everything on a layer; "Deselect" removes the selection.

"Reselect" will reselect the last selection you made. The only not-so-

straightforward option here is "Inverse", which will select everything that outside

of your selection and deselect everything that was originally selected. In other

words, if you drag out a rectangular selecting in the middle of a layer, Photoshop

will select everything within that rectangular selection and leave everything

outside of the rectangular shape deselected. By choosing "Inverse", Photoshop

will do the exact opposite. It will select everything that was outside of the

rectangular selection area and deselect everything that's inside of it. You may be

wondering why you'd ever want to do something like that, but it actually comes in

very handy more often than you'd think. For example, sometimes it's easier to

select everything you don't want selected in an image (perhaps the object you

want selected is framed by a solid colored background, in which case selecting

the background would be easier than selecting the object) and then inverse the

selection to select everything you did want to select.

Selecting and Deselecting Layers

The second group under the Select Menu may seem very similar to the first

group, but they're actually quite different. The first group selects the

<em>contents</em> of a layer, while the options in this second group select the

layers themselves.

The first option, "All Layers", will as the name implies select every layer in your

document. The second option, "Deselect Layers", will deselect any layers you

had selected.

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The third option though is very handy indeed. "Similar Layers" will automatically

select every layer in your document that is of the same type as the layer you

currently have selected. If you have a type (as in text) layer selected, "Similar

Layers" will select every type layer in your document. Have a shape layer

selected? It will select every shape layer in your document. And of course, if you

have a layer containing pixels selected, it will select every layer containing pixels.

This is extremely handy if, for example, you need to change the font used on

every type layer in the document from, say, Arial to Helvetica. Simply select one

type layer, then select "Similar Layers" from the Select Menu, switch to your

Type tool, change the font up in the options bar to Helvetica, and presto! The font

used on every type layer in the document is now Helvetica.

Color Range

The third group under the Select Menu contains just one option, "Color Range".

Choosing this option opens up the Color Range dialog box allowing you to make

a selection based on the colors in the image.

Feather and Modify

The Select Menu's fourth group contains options for altering our selections after

we've made them

The first option, "Feather", allows us to give our selections a soft, "feathered"

edge rather than the hard, unnatural edge we normally get with selections. You

can set the amount of feathering from 0.2 (virtually no feathering at all) to 250,

which is most likely way too much. The amount of feathering needed will depend

on the effect you're trying to achieve as well as the resolution of the image.

Higher resolution images will require more feathering to achieve the same results

than lower resolution images do.

The second option in this group, "Modify", allows you to modify your selection in

one of four different ways. You can add a border to your selection, which

essentially creates a second selection around your initial selection, leaving

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everything between the two selections selected. You can then fill the area with a

color to create a border effect similar to what you would achieve when stroking a

selection. There's also an option here to "Smooth" your selection, which will,

depending on the amount of smoothing you enter into the dialog box, smooth out

any hard angles in your selection. And finally, you can choose to either "Expand"

or "Contract" your selection by the number of pixels you enter into the dialog box.

Grow and Similar

The fifth group under the Select Menu is where we find the "Grow" and

"Similar" commands. These commands are similar to the "Expand" command in

the group above, with one key difference. While "Expand" simply expands the

selection by a specified number of pixels, "Grow" and "Similar" use the tolerance

range you've specified in the Magic Wand options to select pixels that are similar

in color and tonal value to the pixels in your selection.

"Grow" will include all adjacent pixels that fall within the Magic Wand's tolerance

range, while "Similar" will select all pixels that fall within the tolerance range

regardless of their location in the image.

You can choose the "Grow" and "Similar" commands over and over again as

needed to increase your selection in increments.

Transform Selection

The next group in the Select Menu is "Transform Selection" and is one you'll

most likely use a lot. It allows you to move, resize, and distort a selection after

you've already made it (and here's the cool part) without affecting anything inside

the selection. The selection itself is completely independent of anything that

appears to be inside of the selection while you're resizing or reshaping it.

To accept the changes you've made to your selection and to make it an active

selection again, simply press Enter.

Load/Save Selection

The final options group under the Select Menu is where we can load and save

selections, very useful if you've spent a lot of time working

selection and don't want to lose it or will need to use it again later. Selections are

saved as independent channels in the Channels palette and, once saved, are

then saved with your document when you close out of it.

Extract Object from Back

The Extract filter provides a sophisticated way to isolate a foreground object

and erase its background on a layer. Even objects with wispy, intricate, or

indefinable edges may be clipped from their backgrounds with a minimum of

manual work. You use tools in the Extract dia

image to extract.

For simpler cases, try using the

When you extract the object, Photoshop erases its background to transparency.

Pixels on the edge of the object lose the color components derive

background, so they can blend with a new background without producing a color

halo.

Selected area highlighted and filled, and extracted object

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selections, very useful if you've spent a lot of time working on a complex



then saved with your document when you close out of it.

Background

provides a sophisticated way to isolate a foreground object



manual work. You use tools in the Extract dialog box to specify which part of the

For simpler cases, try using the Background Eraser tool.


Pixels on the edge of the object lose the color components derive


Selected area highlighted and filled, and extracted object


on a complex



provides a sophisticated way to isolate a foreground object



log box to specify which part of the


Pixels on the edge of the object lose the color components derived from the


You can add back opacity to the background and create other effects using

the Edit > Fade command

1. In the Layers palette

extract. If you select a background layer, it becomes a normal layer after

the extraction. If the layer contains a selection, the extraction erases the

background only in the selected area.

To avoid losing the original image information, duplicate the layer or

make a snapshot of the original image state.

2. Choose Filter > Extract

• Brush Size

• Enter a value, or drag the slider to

Highlighter tool

• You also use the Brush Size option to specify the width of the

Eraser, Cleanup, and Edge Touchup tools.

• Highlight

Choose a preset color option for the highlight that appears around objects

when you use the Edge Highlighter tool, or choose Other to pick a custom

color for the highlight.

FillChoose a preset color option, or choose Other to pick a custom color

for the area covered by the Fill tool.

Smart Highlighting Select this option if you are highligh

helps you keep the highlight on the edge, and applies a highlight that is

just wide enough to cover the edge, regardless of the current brush size.

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> Fade command after an extraction.

Layers palette, select the layer containing the object you want to



nd only in the selected area.


make a snapshot of the original image state.

> Extract, and then specify tool options:

Enter a value, or drag the slider to specify the width of the Edge

Highlighter tool .

You also use the Brush Size option to specify the width of the

Eraser, Cleanup, and Edge Touchup tools.


e Edge Highlighter tool, or choose Other to pick a custom

color for the highlight.


for the area covered by the Fill tool.

Smart Highlighting

Select this option if you are highlighting a well-defined edge. The option




, select the layer containing the object you want to




specify the width of the Edge

You also use the Brush Size option to specify the width of the


e Edge Highlighter tool, or choose Other to pick a custom


defined edge. The option



112

Note: If you use Smart Highlighting to mark an object edge that’s near

another edge, decrease the brush size if conflicting edges pull the

highlight off the object edge. If the object edge has a uniform color on one

side and high-contrast edges on the other side, keep the object edge

within the brush area but center the brush on the uniform color.

• Specify Extraction options.

• Textured Image.

• Select this option if the foreground or background of your image

contains a lot of texture.

• Smooth.

• Enter a value or drag the slider to increase or decrease the

smoothness of the outline. It’s usually best to begin with zero or a

small value to avoid unwanted blurring of details. If there are sharp

artifacts in the extraction result, you can increase the Smooth value

to help remove them in the next extraction.

• Channel.

• Choose the alpha channel from the Channel menu to base the

highlight on a selection saved in an alpha channel. The alpha

channel should be based on a selection from the edge boundary. If

you modify a highlight based on a channel, the channel name in the

menu changes to Custom. Your image must have an alpha channel

for the Channel option to be available.

• Force Foreground.

• Select this option if the object is especially intricate or lacks a clear interior.

3. Select the Edge Highlighter tool , and draw to define the edge of the

object you want to extract. Drag so that the highlight slightly overlaps both

the foreground object and its background. Use a large brush to cover

wispy, intricate edges where the foreground blends into the background,

as with hair or trees.

Use either the Zoom tool or the Hand tool to adjust the view as

needed.

If you need to erase the highlight, select the Eraser tool

over the highlight. To erase the entire highlight, press Alt+Backspace if the

object has a well

complete enclosure. You do not need to highlight areas where the object

touches the image boundaries. If the object lacks a clear interior, highlight

the entire object.

Note: You can’t highlight t

Image or Force Foreground.

4. Define the foreground area by doing one of the following:

• If the object has a well

Click inside the object to fill its interior. Clicking a fil

again with the Fill tool removes the fill.

• If you’ve selected Force Foreground, select the Eyedropper tool

, and click inside the object to sample the foreground color,

or click in the Color text box and use a color picker to select the

foreground

contain tones of a single color.

5. Click Preview to preview the extracted object. Zoom in as needed.

• Show.

• Choose a menu option to switch between views of the original and

the extracted image.

• Display.

• Choose a menu option to preview the extracted object against a

colored matte background or a grayscale background.

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If you need to erase the highlight, select the Eraser tool , and drag it


as a well-defined interior, make sure the highlight forms a



You can’t highlight the entire object if you’ve selected Textured

Image or Force Foreground.

Define the foreground area by doing one of the following:

If the object has a well-defined interior, select the Fill tool

Click inside the object to fill its interior. Clicking a fil

again with the Fill tool removes the fill.

If you’ve selected Force Foreground, select the Eyedropper tool



foreground color. This technique works best with objects that

contain tones of a single color.

Click Preview to preview the extracted object. Zoom in as needed.

Choose a menu option to switch between views of the original and

the extracted image.

Choose a menu option to preview the extracted object against a

colored matte background or a grayscale background.


, and drag it


defined interior, make sure the highlight forms a



he entire object if you’ve selected Textured

defined interior, select the Fill tool .

Click inside the object to fill its interior. Clicking a filled area

If you’ve selected Force Foreground, select the Eyedropper tool



color. This technique works best with objects that

Click Preview to preview the extracted object. Zoom in as needed.

Choose a menu option to switch between views of the original and

Choose a menu option to preview the extracted object against a

• To display a transparent background, choose none.

6. Improve the extraction by doing one of the following:

• Choose new Highlight and Fill

Edge Highlighter tool. Define the foreground area once more,

and then preview the extracted object.

• Specify new Extraction settings (Smooth, Force Foreground, or

Color) and then preview the extracted object.

When you are sa

touchups.

7. Touch up the extraction results by doing one of the following:

• To erase background traces in the extracted area, use the

Cleanup tool

cumulative effect. You

in the extracted object. Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option

(Mac OS) while dragging to add back opacity.

• To edit the edge of the extracted object, use the Edge Touchup

tool . The tool sharpens edges and has a cumul

there is no clear edge, the

the object or subtracts opacity from the background.

You can also clean up the image after an extraction by using the

Background Eraser and History Brush tools in the toolbox.

8. Click OK to apply the final extraction. On the layer, all pixels outside the

extracted object are erased to transparency.

Varnishing Point

Step One

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To display a transparent background, choose none.

Improve the extraction by doing one of the following:

Choose new Highlight and Fill options and draw again with the


and then preview the extracted object.

Specify new Extraction settings (Smooth, Force Foreground, or

Color) and then preview the extracted object.

When you are satisfied with the extraction, you can do the final

Touch up the extraction results by doing one of the following:

To erase background traces in the extracted area, use the

Cleanup tool . The tool subtracts opacity and has a

cumulative effect. You can also use the Cleanup tool to fill gaps


OS) while dragging to add back opacity.

To edit the edge of the extracted object, use the Edge Touchup

. The tool sharpens edges and has a cumulative effect. If

there is no clear edge, the Edge Touchup tool adds opacity to

the object or subtracts opacity from the background.


Background Eraser and History Brush tools in the toolbox.

Click OK to apply the final extraction. On the layer, all pixels outside the

extracted object are erased to transparency.

options and draw again with the


Specify new Extraction settings (Smooth, Force Foreground, or

tisfied with the extraction, you can do the final

To erase background traces in the extracted area, use the

. The tool subtracts opacity and has a

can also use the Cleanup tool to fill gaps


To edit the edge of the extracted object, use the Edge Touchup

ative effect. If

tool adds opacity to


Click OK to apply the final extraction. On the layer, all pixels outside the

115

I want to place For Sale text on the barn's roof and have it snap to all three

planes of that roof.

Create your text and make sure the resolution is the same as your target image

and the dimensions are appropriate to fit nicely. In this case, the only reason I

had a black background on the text was to see the white lettering.

With the text layer selected, press Cmd-A, to select the text, then Cmd-C, to copy

it (Win: Cntl-A, Cntl-C). Now click the target image, the barn in this case, to make

it active.

Step Two

116

Press Filter > Vanishing Point.

The top two tools on the left are for selecting a plane (top icon), and for creating

a plane (icon with the "plus" sign). The first thing I did was to create a plane on

the bottom roof (difficult to see here, but there's a thin, blue line around the

bottom roof).

After that, I dragged up another plane at 90 degrees to the first — Cmd-Click and

Hold-Drag a middle handle (Win: Cntl-Click and Hold-Drag). Now, and this is

brand new to Vanishing Point CS3, hover your cursor over the middle handle of

the new plane and press the Option key (Win: Alt key). You will see a curved

arrow appear, circled in red. You can now click and drag. As you do, you will

change the angle the second plane makes with the first — like opening and

closing a book. You can also manually enter the exact number of degrees you

want, circled in green, or click for the slider and drag that around.

I used the same technique to create a third plane on the top roof.

You can control the size of the grid in each plane (the number of cross-hatch

lines) by clicking Grid Size, circled in blue, and dragging the slider.

Step Three

117

You now have three contiguous planes you can work on.

Remember the text you copied? Press Cmd-V to paste it (Win: Cntl-V), and it will

magically appear in your target image. Click and drag it into place and it will

adjust itself to perfectly fit each of the three planes.

The Heal function, at the top, is off. This is good for blending objects with the

background (the roof in this case), but the white text completely disappears if

Heal is on.

You might want to adjust the Opacity (to the left of Heal) to get a more realistic

effect and click OK when done.

Liquefy Filter

The Liquefy filter lets you push, pull, rotate, reflect, pucker, and bloat any area

of an image. The distortions you create can be subtle or drastic, which makes the

Liquefy command a powerful tool for retouching images as well as creating

artistic effects. The Liquefy filter can be applied to 8-bits-per-channel or 16-bits

per-channel images.

118

Distorting an image using the Liquefy filter

Tools, options, and an image preview for the Liquefy filter are available in the

Liquefy dialog box. To display the dialog box, choose Filter > Liquefy.

Distort an Image

Note: If a type layer or a shape layer is selected, you must rasterize the layer

before proceeding, making the type or shape editable by the Liquefy filter. To

distort type without rasterizing the type layer, use the Warp options for the Type

tool.

1. Select the layer you want to distort. To change only part of the current

layer, select that area.

2. Choose Filter > Liquefy.

3. Freeze areas of the image that you don’t want to alter.

4. Choose any of the liquefy tools to distort the preview image. Drag in the

preview image to distort the image.

119

5. After distorting the preview image, you can use the Reconstruct tool or

other controls to fully or partially reverse the changes or to change the

image in new ways.


• Click OK to close the Liquefy dialog box and apply the changes

to the active layer.

• Click Cancel to close the Liquefy dialog box without applying

changes to the layer.

• Click Restore All to revert all distortions to the preview image,

leaving all options in their current settings.

• Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and click Reset to

revert all distortions to the preview image and reset all options

to their defaults.

Freeze and Thaw Areas

By freezing areas of the preview image, you protect those areas from changes.

Frozen areas are covered by a mask that you paint using the Freeze tool .

You can also use an existing mask, selection, or transparency to freeze areas.

You can view the mask in the preview image to help you apply distortions. You

can use the icons’ pop-up menus in the Mask Options area of the Liquefy dialog

box to choose how the frozen, or masked, areas of the preview image work.

Using the Freeze Tool

Select the Freeze tool and drag over the area you want to protect.

Shift-click to freeze in a straight line between the current point and the

previously clicked point.

Using a Selection, Mask, or Transparency Channel

Choose Selection, Layer Mask, Transparency, or Quick Mask from the

pop-up menu of any the five options in the Mask Options area of the

dialog box.

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Freezing all Thawed Areas

Click the Mask All button in the Mask Options area of the dialog box.

Inverting Thawed and Frozen Areas

Click Invert All in the Mask Options area of the dialog box.

Showing or Hiding Frozen Areas

Select or deselect Show Mask in the View Options area of the dialog box.

Changing the Color of Frozen Areas

Choose a color from the Mask Color pop-up menu in the View Options

area of the dialog box.

Reconstruct Distortions

After you distort the preview image, you can use a variety of controls and

reconstruction modes to reverse changes or redo the changes in new ways.

Reconstructions can be applied two ways. You can apply a reconstruction to the

entire image, smoothing out the distortion in unfrozen areas, or you can use the

reconstruction tool to reconstruct specific areas. If you want to prevent

reconstruction of distorted areas, you can use the Freeze tool.

121

Reconstruction based on distortions in frozen areas. A. Original image

B. Distorted with frozen areas

C. Reconstructed in Rigid mode (using button)

D. Thawed, edges reconstructed in Smooth mode (using tool)

1. Select a reconstruction mode from the Reconstruct Options area of the

dialog box.

2. Press the Reconstruct button in the Reconstruction Options area to apply

the effect once. You can apply the reconstruction more than once to

create a less distorted appearance.

Work with Meshes

Using a mesh helps you see and keep track of distortions. You can choose the

size and color of a mesh, and save the mesh from one image and apply it to

other images:

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• To add a mesh, select Show Mesh in the View Options area of the dialog

box, and choose a mesh size and mesh color.

• To show a mesh, select Show Mesh. When Show Mesh is selected, you

can show or hide the preview image. Select Show Image in the View

Options area of the dialog box to show the preview image; deselect Show

Image to view only the mesh.

• To save a distortion mesh, after distorting the preview image, click

Save Mesh. Specify a name and location for the mesh file, and click Save.

• To apply a distortion mesh, click Load Mesh, select the mesh file you want

to apply, and click Open. If the image and distortion mesh aren’t the same

size, the mesh is scaled to fit the image.

FILTERS

Filter Gallery Overview

The Filter Gallery provides a preview of many of the special effects filters. You

can apply multiple filters, turn on or off the effect of a filter, reset options for a

filter, and change the order in which filters are applied. When you are satisfied

with the preview, you can then apply it to your image. Not all filters in the Filter

menu are available in the Filter Gallery.

A. Preview

B. Filter category

C. Thumbnail of selected filter

D. Show/Hide filter thumbnails

E. Filters pop-up menu

F. Options for selected filter

G. List of filter effects to apply or arrange

H. Filter effect selected but not applied

I. Filter effects applied cumulatively but not sel

J. Hidden filter effect

Apply Filters from the Filter Gallery

Filter effects are applied in the order you select them. You can rearrange filters

after you apply them by dragging a filter name to another position in the list of

applied filters. Rearranging filter effects can dramatically change the way your

image looks. You can also delete applied filters by selecting the filter and clicking

the Delete Layer.

To save time when trying various filters, experiment by selecting a small,

representative part of your image.


• To apply a filter to an entire layer, make sure that the layer is

active or selected.

• To apply a filter to an area of a layer, select that

• To apply a filter nondestructively, so you can change your filter

settings later, select the Smart Object that contains the image

content that you want to filter.

2. Choose Filter > Filter Gallery.

3. Click a filter name to add the first filter. You may need to click the inverted

triangle next to the filter categ

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Thumbnail of selected filter

Show/Hide filter thumbnails

up menu

Options for selected filter

List of filter effects to apply or arrange

Filter effect selected but not applied

Filter effects applied cumulatively but not selected

Apply Filters from the Filter Gallery



anging filter effects can dramatically change the way your



rt of your image.


To apply a filter to an entire layer, make sure that the layer is

active or selected.

To apply a filter to an area of a layer, select that area.

To apply a filter nondestructively, so you can change your filter


content that you want to filter.

> Filter Gallery.

Click a filter name to add the first filter. You may need to click the inverted

triangle next to the filter category to see the complete list of filters. Once



anging filter effects can dramatically change the way your



To apply a filter to an entire layer, make sure that the layer is

area.

To apply a filter nondestructively, so you can change your filter


Click a filter name to add the first filter. You may need to click the inverted

ory to see the complete list of filters. Once

124

added, the filter appears in the applied filter list in the lower right corner of

the Filter Gallery dialog box.

4. Enter values or select options for the filter you selected.

5. Do any of the following:

• To apply filters cumulatively, click the New Effect Layer icon ,

and choose an additional filter to apply. Repeat this procedure

to add more filters.

• To rearrange applied filters, drag the filter to a new position in

the applied filter list in the lower right corner of the Filter Gallery

dialog box.

• To remove applied filters, select a filter in the applied filter list,

and click the Delete Layer icon .

6. When you’re satisfied with the results, click OK.

Generate a Pattern using the Pattern Maker

The Pattern Maker filter slices and reassembles an image to make a pattern.

The Pattern Maker works in two ways:

• Fills a layer or selection with a pattern. The pattern can be made of one

large tile, or multiple duplicate tiles.

• Creates tiles that you can save as a pattern preset and use with other

images.

You can generate multiple patterns from the same sample until you find one that

you like.

125


• Select the layer that contains the area from which you want to

generate the pattern. The layer you select will be replaced by the

generated pattern, so it’s a good idea to make a copy of the layer

first.

• To generate a pattern in a new layer or file, make a rectangular

selection of the image you are using to generate the pattern, and

choose Edit > Copy. Then add a layer to the image, or create a new

file with the dimensions you want the final image to have.

2. Choose Filter > Pattern Maker.

3. Specify the source of the pattern.

• Choose Use Clipboard As Sample to use the contents of the

clipboard if you copied an image before you opened the Pattern

Maker.

• Make a selection in the preview area with the Pattern Maker’s

Marquee tool . To move the selection marquee, drag it to a

different location.

Note: You can use the Zoom and Hand tools to navigate in the preview

area. Use Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) with the Zoom tool to zoom

out. The magnification appears at the bottom of the dialog box.

4. Specify the tile size.

• Enter pixel dimensions in the Width and Height boxes.

• Click Use Image Size to generate a pattern with one tile that fills

the layer.

126

5. Click Generate. You can press Esc to cancel the generation. The preview

area is tiled with the generated pattern.

• To switch between the generated preview and the source

image, choose an option from the Show menu.

• To view the boundary of individual tiles, click Tile Boundaries.

• To offset the tiles in the generated pattern, choose a direction

from the Offset pop-up menu and specify an offset amount in

the Amount text box. The offset amount is a percentage of the

tile dimension in the specified direction. The offset has no effect

on saved pattern preset tiles.

6. Click Generate Again to generate additional patterns using the same

options, or adjust the options and then click Generate Again.

• Smoothness.

• Adjusts the sharp edges in the pattern. Increase the smoothness to

reduce edges.

• Sample Detail.

• Specifies the size of pattern slices in the tile.

• A high value maintains more of the original detail in the pattern.

• A low value uses smaller slices in the tile.

• Tiles take longer to generate when you use a high value.

7. Navigate through the generated tiles in the Tile History panel to select the

tile that you want to use to fill the layer or to save as a pattern preset.

• To move through the tiles you’ve generated, click the First Tile

button, Previous Tile button, Next Tile button, or Last Tile

button. Or, type the number of the pattern preview you want to

view, and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS).

127

• To view how the tile looks as a repeating pattern in the preview

area, make sure that Update Pattern Preview is selected. If tile

previewing is slow, deselect this option, find the tile you want,

and then select the option.

• To delete a tile and pattern preview, navigate to the tile you

want to delete, and click the Delete icon.

• To save a tile as a preset pattern, navigate to the tile you want

to save, and click the Preset Pattern button. Enter a preset

name, and click OK. When you save a tile as a preset pattern,

only a single tile is saved, not the full, generated pattern.

Tile History buttons

A. Preset Pattern

B. First Tile

C. Previous Tile

D. Next Tile

E. Last Tile

F. Delete icon

8. When you are satisfied with a pattern preview and you have saved the

tiles that you might want to use in the future, click OK to fill the layer or

selection.

If you are creating preset patterns only, click Cancel to close the dialog

box without filling the layer.

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Noise Filters

The Noise filters add or remove noise, or pixels with randomly distributed color

levels. This helps to blend a selection into the surrounding pixels. Noise filters

can create unusual textures or remove problem areas, such as dust and

scratches.

Add Noise

Applies random pixels to an image, simulating the effect of shooting

pictures on high-speed film. You can also use the Add Noise filter to

reduce banding in feathered selections or graduated fills or to give a more

realistic look to heavily retouched areas. Options for noise distribution

include Uniform and Gaussian. Uniform distributes color values of noise

using random numbers between 0 and plus or minus the specified value,

creating a subtle effect. Gaussian distributes color values of noise along a

bell-shaped curve, creating a speckled effect. The Monochromatic option

applies the filter to only the tonal elements in the image without changing

the colors.

Despeckle

Detects the edges in an image (areas where significant color changes

occur) and blurs all of the selection except those edges. This blurring

removes noise while preserving detail.

Dust & Scratches

Reduces noise by changing dissimilar pixels. To achieve a balance

between sharpening the image and hiding defects, try various

combinations of Radius and Threshold settings. Or apply the filter to

selected areas in the image. See also Apply the Dust and Scratches filter.

Median

Reduces noise in an image by blending the brightness of pixels within a

selection. The filter searches the radius of a pixel selection for pixels of

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similar brightness, discarding pixels that differ too much from adjacent

pixels, and replaces the center pixel with the median brightness value of

the searched pixels. This filter is useful for eliminating or reducing the

effect of motion on an image.

Reduce Noise

Reduces noise while preserving edges based on user settings affecting

the overall image or individual channels.

Blur Filters

The Blur filters soften a selection or an entire image, and are useful for

retouching. They smooth transitions by averaging the pixels next to the hard

edges of defined lines and shaded areas in an image.

Before (left) and after (right) using the Lens Blur filter; the background is blurred but foreground stays sharp Note: To apply a Blur filter to the edges of a layer, deselect the Lock Transparent

Pixel option in the Layers palette.

Average

Finds the average color of an image or selection, and then fills the image

or selection with the color to create a smooth look. For example, if you

select an area of grass, the filter changes the area into a homogeneous

patch of green.

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Blur and Blur More

Eliminate noise where significant color transitions occur in an image. Blur

filters smooth transitions by averaging the pixels next to the hard edges of

defined lines and shaded areas. The effect of the Blur More filter is three

or four times stronger than that of the Blur filter.

Box Blur

Blurs an image based on the average color value of neighboring pixels.

This filter is useful for creating special effects. You can adjust the size of

the area used to calculate the average value for a given pixel; a larger

radius results in greater blurring.

Gaussian Blur

Quickly blurs a selection by an adjustable amount. Gaussian refers to the

bell-shaped curve that is generated when Photoshop applies a weighted

average to the pixels. The Gaussian Blur filter adds low-frequency detail

and can produce a hazy effect.

Lens Blur

Adds blur to an image to give the effect of a narrower depth of field so that

some objects in the image stay in focus and others areas are blurred. See

Add lens blur.

Motion Blur

Blurs in the specified direction (from –360º to +360º) and at a specified

intensity (from 1 to 999). The filter’s effect is analogous to taking a picture

of a moving object with a fixed exposure time.

Radial Blur

Simulates the blur of a zooming or rotating camera to produce a soft blur.

Choose Spin to blur along concentric circular lines, and then specify a

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degree of rotation. Choose Zoom to blur along radial lines, as if zooming

into or out of the image, and specify a value from 1 to 100. Blur quality

ranges from Draft (for fast but grainy results) or Good and Best for

smoother results, which are indistinguishable from each other except on a

large selection. Specify the origin of the blur by dragging the pattern in the

Blur Center box.

Shape Blur

Uses the specified kernel to create the blur. Choose a kernel from the list

of custom shape presets, and use the radius slider to adjust its size. You

can load different shape libraries by clicking the triangle and choosing

from the list. Radius determines the size of the kernel; the larger the

kernel, the greater the blur.

Smart Blur

Blurs an image with precision. You can specify a radius, a threshold, and

a blur quality. The Radius value determines the size of the area searched

for dissimilar pixels. The Threshold value determines how dissimilar the

pixels must be before they are affected. You also can set a mode for the

entire selection (Normal) or for the edges of color transitions (Edge Only

and Overlay). Where significant contrast occurs, Edge only applies black-

and-white edges, and Overlay Edge applies white.

Surface Blur

Blurs an image while preserving edges. This filter is useful for creating

special effects and for removing noise or graininess. The Radius option

specifies the size of the area sampled for the blur. The Threshold option

controls how much the tonal value of neighboring pixels must diverge from

the center pixel value before being part of the blur. Pixels with tonal value

differences less than the Threshold value are excluded from the blur.

Artistic Filters

Filters from the Artistic submenu help you achieve painterly and artistic effects for

a fine arts or commercial project. For example, use the

or typography. These filters replicate natural or traditional media effects. All the

Artistic filters can be applied through the Filter Gallery.

Colored Pencil

Draws an image using colored pencils on a solid background. Important

edges are retained and given a rough crosshatch appearance; the solid

background color shows through the smoother areas.

For a parchment effect, change the background color just before

applying the Colored Pencil filter to a selected area.

Cutout

Makes an image appear as though it were constructed from roughly cut

pieces of colored paper. High

and colored images are built up from several layer

Dry Brush

Paints the edges of the image using a dry brush technique (between oil

and watercolor). The filter simplifies an image by reducing its range of

colors to areas of common color.

Film Grain

Applies an even pattern to the sh

more saturated pattern is added to the lighter areas. This filter is useful for

eliminating banding in blends and visually unifying elements from various

sources.

Fresco

Paints an image in a coarse style using short, r

daubs.

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mmercial project. For example, use the Cutout filter


Artistic filters can be applied through the Filter Gallery.



background color shows through the smoother areas.


applying the Colored Pencil filter to a selected area.


pieces of colored paper. High-contrast images appear as if in silhouette,

and colored images are built up from several layers of colored paper.



colors to areas of common color.

Applies an even pattern to the shadow tones and midtones. A smoother,



Paints an image in a coarse style using short, rounded, and hastily applied


for collages






contrast images appear as if in silhouette,

s of colored paper.



adow tones and midtones. A smoother,



ounded, and hastily applied

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Neon Glow

Adds various types of glows to the objects in an image. This filter is useful

for colorizing an image while softening its look. To select a glow color,

click the glow box, and select a color from the color picker.

Paint Daubs

Lets you choose from various brush sizes (from 1 to 50) and types for a

painterly effect. Brush types include Simple, Light Rough, Dark Rough,

Wide Sharp, Wide Blurry, and Sparkle.

Palette Knife

Reduces detail in an image to give the effect of a thinly painted canvas

that reveals the texture underneath.

Plastic Wrap

Coats the image in shiny plastic, accentuating the surface detail.

Poster Edges

Reduces the number of colors in an image (posterizes it) according to the

posterization option you set, and finds the edges of the image and draws

black lines on them. Large broad areas have simple shading, and fine

dark detail is distributed throughout the image.

Rough Pastels

Applies strokes of pastel chalk on a textured background. In areas of

bright color, the chalk appears thick with little texture; in darker areas, the

chalk appears scraped off to reveal the texture.

Smudge Stick

Softens an image using short diagonal strokes to smudge or smear the

darker areas. Lighter areas become brighter and lose detail.

Sponge

Creates images with highly textured areas of contrasting color, simulating

the effect of sponge painting.

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Under painting

Paints the image on a textured background, and then paints the final

image over it.

Watercolor

Paints the image in a watercolor style using a medium brush loaded with

water and color, simplifying details. Where significant tonal changes occur

at the edges, the filter saturates the color.

Distort Filters

The Distort filters geometrically distort an image, creating 3D or other reshaping

effects. Note that these filters can be very memory intensive. The Diffuse Glow,

Glass, and Ocean Ripple filters can be applied through the Filter Gallery.

Diffuse Glow

Renders an image as though it were viewed through a soft diffusion filter.

The filter adds see-through white noise, with the glow fading from the

center of a selection.

Displace

Uses an image, called a displacement map, to determine how to distort a

selection. For example, using a parabola-shaped displacement map, you

can create an image that appears to be printed on a cloth held up by its

corners.

Glass

Makes an image appear as if it were being viewed through different types

of glass. You can choose a glass effect or create your own glass surface

as a Photoshop file and apply it. You can adjust scaling, distortion, and

smoothness settings. When using surface controls with a file, follow the

instructions for the Displace filter.

Lens Correction

135

The Lens Correction filter fixes common lens flaws such as barrel and

pincushion distortion, vignetting, and chromatic aberration.

Ocean Ripple

Adds randomly spaced ripples to the surface of the image so that it

appears to be underwater.

Pinch

Squeezes a selection. A positive value up to 100% shifts a selection

toward its center; a negative value up to –100% shifts a selection outward.

Polar Coordinates

Converts a selection from its rectangular to polar coordinates, and vice

versa, according to a selected option. You can use this filter to create a

cylinder anamorphosis – an art form popular in the 18th century – in which

the distorted image appears normal when viewed in a mirrored cylinder.

Ripple

Creates an undulating pattern on a selection, like ripples on the surface of

a pond. For greater control, use the Wave filter. Options include the

number and size of ripples.

Shear

Distorts an image along a curve. Specify the curve by dragging the line in

the box. You can adjust any point along the curve. Click Default to change

the curve back to a straight line. In addition, you choose how to treat

undistorted areas.

Sphere

Gives objects a 3D effect by wrapping a selection around a spherical

shape, distorting the image and stretching it to fit the selected curve.

Twirl

Rotates a selection more sharply in the center than at the edges.

Specifying an angle produces a twirl pattern.

Wave

Works much as the Ripple filter does, but with greater control. Options

include the number of wave generators, wavelength (distance from one

wave crest to the next), height of the wave, and wave type: Sine (rolling),

Triangle, or Square. The Randomize option applies random values. You

can also define undistorted areas.

To replicate wave results on other selections, click Randomize, set

Number Of Generators to 1, and set the minimum and maximum

Wavelength and Amplitude parameters to the same value.

Zigzag

Distorts a selection radially, depending on the radius of the pixels in your

selection. The Ridges option sets the number of direction reversals of the

zigzag from the center of the selection to its edge. You also specify how to

displace the pixels: Pond R

lower right, Out From Center displaces pixels toward or away from the

center of the selection, and Around Center rotates pixels around the

center.

Render Filters

The Render filters create 3D shapes, cloud patt

simulated light reflections in an image. You can also manipulate objects in 3D

space, create 3D objects (cubes, spheres, and cylinders), and create texture fills

from grayscale files to produce 3D

Clouds

Generates a soft cloud pattern using random values that vary between the

foreground and the background colors. To generate a more stark cloud

pattern, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac

Filter > Render > Clouds. When you apply

data on the active layer is replaced.

Difference Clouds

Uses randomly generated values that vary between the foreground and

background color to produce a cloud pattern. The filter blends the cloud

data with the existing pixels

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also define undistorted areas.





Ridges option sets the number of direction reversals of the


displace the pixels: Pond Ripples displaces pixels to the upper left or



The Render filters create 3D shapes, cloud patterns, refraction patterns, and



from grayscale files to produce 3D-like effects for lighting.



pattern, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you choose

> Clouds. When you apply the Clouds filter, the image

data on the active layer is replaced.



data with the existing pixels in the same way the Difference mode blends








ipples displaces pixels to the upper left or



erns, refraction patterns, and





OS) as you choose

the Clouds filter, the image



in the same way the Difference mode blends

colors. The first time you choose this filter, portions of the image are

inverted in a cloud pattern. Applying the filter several times creates rib and

vein patterns that resemble a marble texture. When you apply

Difference Clouds filter, the image data on the active layer is replaced.

Fibers

Creates the look of woven fibers using the foreground and background

colors. You use the Variance slider to control how the colors vary (a low

value produces long streak

fibers with more varied distribution of color). The Strength slider controls

how each fiber looks. A Twirl

than at the edges. Specifying an angle produces a t

Wave




Triangle, or Square




Wavelength and Amplitude parameters to the

Zigzag

Distorts a selection

selection. The Ridges option sets the number of direction reversals of the


displace the pixels: Pond Ripples displaces pixels to the upper left or



center.

Solarize

137



vein patterns that resemble a marble texture. When you apply




value produces long streaks of color, and a high value results in very short


how each fiber looks. A Twirl rotates a selection more sharply in the center

than at the edges. Specifying an angle produces a twirl pattern.









Distorts a selection racially, depending on the radius of the pixels in your



e the pixels: Pond Ripples displaces pixels to the upper left or





vein patterns that resemble a marble texture. When you apply the




s of color, and a high value results in very short


a selection more sharply in the center

wirl pattern.




. The Randomize option applies random values. You



, depending on the radius of the pixels in your



e the pixels: Pond Ripples displaces pixels to the upper left or



138

Blends a negative and a positive image—similar to exposing a

photographic print briefly to light during development.

Tiles

Breaks up an image into a series of tiles, creating an offset between the

selection and its original position. You can choose one of the following to

fill the area between the tiles: the background color, the foreground color,

a reverse version of the image, or an unaltered version of the image,

which puts the tiled version on top of the original and reveals part of the

original image underneath the tiled edges.

Trace Contour

Finds the transitions of major brightness areas and thinly outlines them for

each color channel, for an effect similar to the lines in a contour map.

Wind

Places tiny horizontal lines in the image to create a windblown effect.

Methods include Wind; Blast, for a more dramatic wind effect; and

Stagger, which offsets the lines in the image.

Create a Web Layout

1. Open Photoshop and create a new document [File > New].

2. In the dialog box enter the width and height of the layout. Usually design

for a width of 780 pixels width. This works well in monitors with 800 x600

resolution as it leaves 20 pixels for the browser scroll bar. The resolution

for the web is 72.

3. You can choose between white, background color (the color will be taken

from the background color specified in the toolbox) and transparent

background.

139

4. Click OK.

5. A new Photoshop document/ canvas will be created with a locked

Background layer in the 'Layers Palette'.

6. You can still change the background color by filling the Background layer

with the color of your choice (specified in the Foreground Color of the

140

Toolbox) and using the 'Paint Bucket Tool'.

7. Name and Save the document [File > Save]. Photoshop files have the

extension .psd. You can name it "weblayout.psd".

Creating a Background and Text Fill the Background with any color, then select Custom Shape Tool and use the following shape & settings.

141

[1]-Now Open New Layer and create the following selection with the help of Custom Shape Tool

[2]-Now select Pen Tool and click Make Selection

[3]-Now in ‘make selection’ feature, radius should be 0 pixels, and then press OK

& your image should look as under:

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[4]-Now Change the Blende Mode of this Layer. Blende Mode should be ‘Soft

Light’ & Opacity 25%

[5]-Now Make Duplicate Layer with the help of Ctrl+J then Press Ctrl+T & click,

select FLIP HORIZONTAL & your image should be look as under:

143

[6]-Now select Background then go to Filter>Render>Lighting Effects & use the

following settings

[7]-Now your image should look as under

144

[8]-Now Open New Layer & then create the following selection with the help of

Rectangular Marquee Tool

145

[9]-Now fill the selection with any color & then go to Blending Options and click

on ‘f’ which is indicated by Hand sign

[10]-Now select Gradient Overlay & use the following settings

Photoshop Technique-How to use the Gradient Overlay feature

[11]-Now select Pattern Overlay & apply the following settings & then OK

[12]-Now Opacity of this Layer should be 63%

146

[13]-Now your image should look as under! & after that create the following

selection with the help of Rectangular Marquee Tool with hold Shift

[14]-Now Open New Layer & then fill the selection with FFFFFA color & Blende

Mode this layer should be SOFT LIGHT

147

[15]-Now your image should look as under

[16]-Now open any image with the help of Ctrl+O & then adjust in Document with

the help of Move Tool

[17]-Now select Text Tool & then create different Text with different sizes.

Thanks for reading this Photoshop Tutorial. The Final Output of this tutorial is

shown below

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Using Gradients and Object

1

First create a new layer and select the "Rounded Rectangle Tool" from the left side tools menu, you will then need to set the Radius in the top options bar to a required amount, for mine I have used 25px (The higher the radius the more rounded the corners of your rectangle. I have also used a grey color but you can use any as this is only a temporary color.

2

Next right click on the layer containing your new rectangle shape and select the "Blending option" menu.

Once the panel opens select the "Gradient Overlay" option form the left menu. On the right side some settings should now appear, ensure that the angle is set to 90° upwards and then left click on the gradient color box.

149

3

A new panel should now open with the gradient color options, all you need to do to set the color is double click on the color sliders (shown above) a color selection panel should then appear.

For this example I have chosen to use two closely related shades of blue, keeping the colors closely related is the key to gradients, see the "Becoming a Gradient Junkie" article for more.

4

Now click "OK" for both the gradient and blending options panels.

Next create a new layer above the first (you do this my clicking the small paper icon in the bottom of the layers panel).

Now ensure that you have this new layer selected and once again select the "Rounded Rectangle Tool". Important: Before you continue you also need to make sure that the style setting in the top options panel is set to "None".

5

Now draw a rounded rectangle similar to the one above, so that it just covers the top half of your original rectangle.

Note: You can also experiment with the size and roundness of the corners of this shape to create your desired reflection effects.

6

When you are happy with your second rectangle shape click the "Add Layer Mask" button at the bottom of the layers panel (shown above). This will turn the area into a mask so that you can add color into that specific area.

Next select the gradient tool from the left hand tools menu. It can be found by holding down the left mouse button on the fill tool.

7

Since adding the layer mask you will notice that the colors in your palette have turned to black and white, these colors are used to define masks, and in other words black areas are not seen.

Now with your gradient tool selected and the top options panel displaying the black to transparent setting, click and drag from the bottom to the top of your new rectangle shape.

150

8

Once you let go you should be left with a faded white effect, in the confines of your new rectangle shape.

The only thing left to complete this effect is to set the "Opacity" level of this new masked layer, I have chosen to set it at 60%, but you can set this depending on how much of this masked area you wish to show.

Slice and Save the Images in Photoshop CS3

Once you are satisfied with the layout, decide which parts can be recreated

within HTML and which parts will need to be exported as slices. Text can usually

be recreated in HTML except when it is using some special font that is not

commonly available on all computers.

Use the slice tool to draw out areas that will be exported as slices.

Sliced Object

Give each slice a name which will be the file name of the saved image. To do

this:

151

1. Click on the 'Slice Select Tool'

2. Select the slice

3. Click on the 'Set options for current slice' icon in the 'Options Palette'

[Window > Options]

4. Enter the name for the slice in the 'Slice Options' window that opens e.g.

logo

5. Each slice needs to be optimized to look good and yet have a low file size

so that it loads quickly on the web page. This can be done from [File >

Save for Web & Devices].

152

6. Select each slice and optimize it in the 'Save for Web & Devices' window.

Images with flat colors are usually better optimized as GIF files while

images with many colors like photos are usually better optimized as JPEG

files. You can compare the quality and file size of different options by

clicking on the Optimized, 2-Up or 4-Up options at the top.

Once you have optimized all the slices you will need to save them into a folder.

To do this:

1. Select the slices (use the shift key to select multiple slices)

2. Click the 'Save' button

3. The 'Saved Optimized As' Window will open

4. Navigate to the folder where you would like to save these sliced and

optimized images e.g. images

5. Select 'Images Only' from the 'Save as type' options

6. Select 'Selected Slices' from the 'Slices' options

7. Click the 'Save' button

8. The sliced images in the specified formats will be saved in the specified folder.

153

About Layer Effects and Styles

Photoshop provides a variety of effects – such as shadows, glows, and bevels –

that change the appearance of a layer’s contents. Layer effects are linked to the

layer contents. When you move or edit the contents of the layer, the same effects

are applied to the modified contents. For example, if you apply a drop shadow to

a text layer and then add new text, the shadow is added automatically to the new

text.

A layer style is one or more effects applied to a layer or layer group. You can

apply one of the preset styles provided with Photoshop or create a custom style

using the Layer Styles dialog box. The layer effects icon appears to the right of

the layer’s name in the Layers palette. You can expand the style in the Layers

palette to view or edit the effects that compose the style.

Layers palette showing layer with multiple effects applied

A. Layer effects icon

B. Click to expand and show layer effects

C. Layer effects

When you save a custom style, it becomes a preset style. Preset styles appear in

the Styles palette and can be applied to a layer or group with a single click.

154

Layer Styles Dialog Box Overview

You can edit styles applied to a layer or create new styles using the Layer Styles

dialog box.

Layer Styles dialog box. Click a check box to apply the current settings without

displaying the effect’s options. Click an effect name to display its options.

You can create custom styles using one or more of the following effects:

Drop Shadow

Adds a shadow that falls behind the contents on the layer.

Inner Shadow

Adds a shadow that falls just inside the edges of the layer’s content, giving

the layer a recessed appearance.

Outer Glow and Inner Glow

Add glows that emanate from the outside or inside edges of the layer’s

content.

Bevel and Emboss

Add various combinations of highlights and shadows to a layer.

Satin

Applies interior shading that creates a satiny finish.

Color, Gradient, and Pattern Overlay

Fills the layer’s content with a color, gradient, or pattern.

Stroke

Outlines the object on the current layer using color, a gradient, or a

pattern. It is particularly useful on hard

Apply or Edit a Custom Layer Style

Note: You cannot apply layer styles to a background layer, a locked layer, or a

group. To apply a layer style to a background layer, first convert it into a regular

layer.

1. Select a single layer from the Layers palette.


• Double-click the layer, outside the layer name or thumbnail.

• Click the Layer Styles button

palette and choose an effect from the list.

• Choose an effect from the Layer

• To edit an existing style, double

below the layer name in the Layers palette. (Click the

triangle next to the “fx” icon

contained in the style.)

Set effect options in the Layer Style dialog box. See

options.

Add other effects to the style, if desired. In the Layer Style dialog box,

click the check box to the left of the effect name to add the effect

without selecting it.

You can edit multiple effects without closing the Layer Style dialog

box. Click the name

display its options.

Layer Style Options

155


pattern. It is particularly useful on hard-edged shapes such as type.

Apply or Edit a Custom Layer Style

You cannot apply layer styles to a background layer, a locked layer, or a


Select a single layer from the Layers palette.


click the layer, outside the layer name or thumbnail.

Click the Layer Styles button at the bottom of the Layers

palette and choose an effect from the list.

Choose an effect from the Layer > Layer Style submenu.

an existing style, double-click an effect displayed


triangle next to the “fx” icon to display the effects

contained in the style.)

Set effect options in the Layer Style dialog box. See Layer style




of an effect on the left side of the dialog box to


edged shapes such as type.

You cannot apply layer styles to a background layer, a locked layer, or a


click the layer, outside the layer name or thumbnail.

at the bottom of the Layers

> Layer Style submenu.

click an effect displayed


to display the effects

Layer style




of an effect on the left side of the dialog box to

156

Altitude

For the Bevel and Emboss effect, sets the height of the light source. A

setting of 0 is equivalent to ground level, 90 is directly above the layer.

Angle

Determines the lighting angle at which the effect is applied to the layer.

You can drag in the document window to adjust the angle of a Drop

Shadow, Inner Shadow, or Satin effect.

Anti-alias

Blends the edge pixels of a contour or gloss contour. This option is most

useful on shadows with a small size and complicated contour.

Blend Mode

Determines how the layer style blends with the underlying layers, which

may or may not include the active layer. For example, an inner shadow

blends with the active layer because the effect is drawn on top of that

layer, but a drop shadow blends only with the layers beneath the active

layer. In most cases, the default mode for each effect produces the best

results. List of blending modes.

Choke

Shrinks the boundaries of the matte of an Inner Shadow or Inner Glow

prior to blurring.

Color

Specifies the color of a shadow, glow, or highlight. You can click the color

box and choose a color.

Contour

With solid-color glows, Contour allows you to create rings of transparency.

With gradient-filled glows, Contour allows you to create variations in the

repetition of the gradient color and opacity. In beveling and embossing,

Contour allows you to sculpt the ridges, valleys, and bumps that are

shaded in the embossing process. With shadows, Contour allows you to

157

specify the fade. For more information, see Modify layer effects with

contours.

Distance

Specifies the offset distance for a shadow or satin effect. You can drag in

the document window to adjust the offset distance.

Depth

Specifies the depth of a bevel. It also specifies the depth of a pattern.

Use Global Light

This setting allows you to set one “master” lighting angle that is then

available in all the layer effects that use shading: Drop Shadow, Inner

Shadow, and Bevel and Emboss. In any of these effects, if Use Global

Light is selected and you set a lighting angle, that angle becomes the

global lighting angle. Any other effect that has Use Global Light selected

automatically inherits the same angle setting. If Use Global Light is

deselected, the lighting angle you set is “local” and applies only to that

effect. You can also set the global lighting angle by choosing Layer Style >

Global Light.

Gloss Contour

Creates a glossy, metallic appearance. Gloss Contour is applied after

shading a bevel or emboss.

Gradient

Specifies the gradient of a layer effect. Click the gradient to display the

Gradient Editor, or click the inverted arrow and choose a gradient from the

pop-up palette. You can edit a gradient or create a new gradient using the

Gradient Editor. You can edit the color or opacity in the Gradient Overlay

palette the same way you edit them in the Gradient Editor. For some

effects, you can specify additional gradient options. Reverse flips the

orientation of the gradient, AlignWith Layer uses the bounding box of the

layer to calculate the gradient fill, and Scale scales the application of the

gradient. You can also move the center of the gradient by clicking and

dragging in the image window. Style specifies the shape of the gradient.

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Highlight or Shadow Mode

Specifies the blending mode of a bevel or emboss highlight or shadow.

Jitter

Varies the application of a gradient’s color and opacity.

Layer Knocks out Drop Shadow

Controls the drop shadow’s visibility in a semitransparent layer.

Noise

Specifies the number of random elements in the opacity of a glow or

shadow. Enter a value or drag the slider.

Opacity

Sets the opacity of the layer effect. Enter a value or drag the slider.

Pattern

Specifies the pattern of a layer effect. Click the pop-up palette and choose

a pattern. Click the New preset button to create a new preset pattern

based on the current settings. Click Snap To Origin to make the origin of

the pattern the same as the origin of the document (when Link With Layer

is selected), or to place the origin at the upper left corner of the layer (if

Link With Layer is deselected). Select Link With Layer if you want the

pattern to move along with the layer as the layer moves. Drag the Scale

slider or enter a value to specify the size of the pattern. Drag a pattern to

position it in the layer; reset the position by using the Snap To Origin

button. The Pattern option is not available if no patterns are loaded.

Position

Specifies the position of a stroke effect as Outside, Inside, or Center.

Range

Controls which portion or range of the glow is targeted for the contour.

Size

Specifies the amount of blur or the size of the shadow.

Soften

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Blurs the results of shading to reduce unwanted artifacts.

Source

Specifies the source for an inner glow. Choose Center to apply a glow that

emanates from the center of the layer’s content, or Edge to apply a glow

that emanates from the inside edges of the layer’s content.

Spread

Expands the boundaries of the matte prior to blurring.

Style

Specifies the style of a bevel: Inner Bevel creates a bevel on the inside

edges of the layer contents; Outer Bevel creates a bevel on the outside

edges of the layer contents; Emboss simulates the effect of embossing the

layer contents against the underlying layers; Pillow Emboss simulates the

effect of stamping the edges of the layer contents into the underlying

layers; and Stroke Emboss confines embossing to the boundaries of a

stroke effect applied to the layer. (The Stroke Emboss effect is not visible

if no stroke is applied to the layer.)

Technique

Smooth, Chisel Hard, and Chisel Soft are available for bevel and

emboss effects; Softer and Precise apply to Inner Glow and Outer

Glow effects.

Smooth

Blurs the edges of a matte slightly and is useful for all types of mattes,

whether their edges are soft or hard. It does not preserve detailed

features at larger sizes.

Chisel Hard

Uses a distance measurement technique and is primarily useful on

hard-edged mattes from anti-aliased shapes such as type. It

preserves detailed features better than the Smooth technique.

Chisel Soft

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Uses a modified distance measurement technique and, although not

as accurate as Chisel Hard, is more useful on a larger range of

mattes. It preserves features better than the Smooth technique.

Softer

Applies a blur and is useful on all types of mattes, whether their edges

are soft or hard. At larger sizes, Softer does not preserve detailed

features.

Precise

Uses a distance measurement technique to create a glow and is

primarily useful on hard-edged mattes from anti-aliased shapes such

as type. It preserves features better than the softer technique.

Texture

Applies a texture. Use Scale to scale the size of the texture. Select Link

With Layer if you want the texture to move along with the layer as the

layer moves. Invert inverts the texture. Depth varies the degree and

direction (up/down) to which the texturing is applied. Snap To Origin

makes the origin of the pattern the same as the origin of the document (if

Link With Layer is deselected) or places the origin in the upper left corner

of the layer (if Link With Layer is selected). Drag the texture to position it in

the layer.

Modify Layer Effects with Contours

When you create custom layer styles, you can use contours to control the shape

of Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, Inner Glow, Outer Glow, Bevel and Emboss,

and Satin effects over a given range. For example, a Linear contour on a Drop

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Shadow causes the opacity to drop off in a linear transition. Use a Custom

contour to create a unique shadow transition.

You can select, reset, delete, or change the preview of contours in the Contour

pop-up palette and Preset Manager.

Detail of Layer Style dialog box for Drop Shadow effect

A. Click to display the Contour Editor dialog box.

B. Click to display the pop-up palette.

Set a global lighting angle for all layers, using global light gives the appearance

of a common light source shining on the image.


• Choose Layer > Layer Style > Global Light. In the Global Light dialog

box, enter a value or drag the angle radius to set the angle and altitude,

and click OK.

• In the Layer Style dialog box for Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, or Bevel,

select Use Global Light. For Angle, enter a value or drag the slider, and

click OK.

The global lighting applies to each layer effect that uses the global lighting angle.

Copy Layer Styles

Copying and pasting styles is an easy way to apply the same effects to multiple

layers.

Copy Layer Styles between Layers

1. From the Layers palette, select the layer containing the style you want to

copy.

2. Choose Layer > Layer Style

3. Select the destination layer from the palette, and choose Layer

Style > Paste Layer Style.

The pasted layer style

destination layer or layers.

Copy Layer Styles between Layers by dragging


• In the Layers palette, Alt

single layer effect from one layer to another to dupl

or drag the Effects bar from one layer to another to duplicate the layer

style.

• Drag one or more layer effects from the Layers palette to the image to

apply the resulting layer style to the highest layer in the Layers palette

that contains pixels at the drop point.

Creating Effect Layer Style

Step 1:

Background Layer

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Copy Layer Styles between Layers

From the Layers palette, select the layer containing the style you want to

> Layer Style > Copy Layer Style.

Select the destination layer from the palette, and choose Layer > Layer

> Paste Layer Style.

The pasted layer style replaces the existing layer style on the

destination layer or layers.

Copy Layer Styles between Layers by dragging

In the Layers palette, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac

single layer effect from one layer to another to duplicate the layer effect,


Drag one or more layer effects from the Layers palette to the image to


ontains pixels at the drop point.

Creating Effect Layer Style


From the Layers palette, select the layer containing the style you want to

> Layer

replaces the existing layer style on the

drag (Mac OS) a

icate the layer effect,


Drag one or more layer effects from the Layers palette to the image to


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We start as always with a background gradient. I've used a Radial Gradient with

two shades of a lovely light green. The exact color codes are:

Foreground color - #93cc1a Background color -

#7eb704

Step 2:

To give our background a bit more oomph we will next fade it off at the edges. So

using a big soft brush and a foreground color of black create a new layer and just

go around the edges as shown.

164

Then switch the layer to opacity 30%.

Step 3:

Now duplicate that last layer of black edge and go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian

Blur and use a setting of 20px to blur out the layer and give it a softer effect.

You may be wondering why we didn't just use a different radial gradient in the

first place, and indeed you probably could do that. I like to use this method on the

edges as it's more precise.

165

Step 4:

Now to get a bit of background effect, I grabbed a font called "TW Cen MT (T1),"

which I think might be a default font, and just made two "S" letters. I used the

color #cecfd0 and then made them gigantic and set the layers to Multiply. This

created some nice curvy shapes in the background.

166

Step 5:

Now I need a shape to use my metallic effects on so using the Custom Shape

Tool (U) I select d this Fleur De Lis shape to use because it's reasonably

complex and has a nice shape. Again, I used the color - #cecfd0 - because it's a

nice light grey color to base our metallic effect on.

167

Step 6:

To start the metallic effect, right click on the layer and choose Blending

Options.

First add a Drop Shadow to lift the shape off the background. The key to drop

shadows is not to make them too full on. A good drop shadow should be subtle. I

often don't use black, but rather a variation of the background color–so in this

case a dark green.

Next we add a Stroke. I've used an Inside stroke of 4px. But the key here is to

switch Fill Type to Gradient and then use a nice gradient of grey and white.

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The reason we do this is that if you look at metal in real life, you'll see that it

tends to go from light grey to darker grey to light grey and there are a lot of

different shades. It isn't one single flat color. Actually nothing in real life is a

single flat color, but that's another story.

So to get some realism, we need these gradients. But also you don't want a full

on gradient. Subtlety is the name of the game when it comes to gradients. Make

soft changes. So here I've gone from white to that same light grey we used for

the shape itself and back to white and back to grey and back to white.

169

Step 7:

Next to counter the stroke gradient, we add a Gradient Overlay using the same

gradient. This appears on the main body of the shape and you can see how it

contrasts really well with the stroke on the edge to make a metallic shine effect.

Step 8:

Finally to get a chromy effect, we'll use the Bevel and Emboss Tool set to an

Inner Bevel with a huge size and an odd Gloss Contour. I must admit I made this

just by experimenting, so there's no special reasoning behind it. Just move the

170

sliders around until you get some nice reflections happening in the middle of the

shape.

And now we have our metallic style! You can copy and paste the style by right

clicking on the layer and selecting Copy Layer Style.

Step 9:

To finish off, I added a black band up the top and then drew a rounded rectangle

over it with the usual grey, applied my metallic style by pasting the style on to

that layer. Then I added some text saying Metallic Style and created a new style

for the text. With the new style I used a different bunch of settings as follows:

171

Inner Shadow

Since I want the letters to look like they are punched into the metal, I added an

inner shadow. Make it nice and subtle though, not too full on!

Gradient Overlay

Gradients make things look more natural, but again subtle color changes only!

Stroke

Again I use a gradient stroke, however this time it is an Outer Stroke and it is a

gradient going from dark at the top to light at the bottom. The reason for this is

that it makes it look like the letters have an edge where they were punched into

the metal. And it looks like there is light coming from the top and landing on that

edge so that one side is lit up and the other is in a bit of shadow. This gives it a

much more metallic effect.

172

Step 10:

And there you have it: a nice pair of metallic styles!

173

About Layer Comps

Designers often create multiple compositions or comps of a page layout to show

clients. Using layer comps, you can create, manage, and view multiple versions

of a layout in a single Photoshop file.

A layer comp is a snapshot of a state of the Layers palette. Layer comps record

three types of layer options:

• Layer visibility–whether a layer is showing or hidden.

• Layer position in the document.

• Layer appearance–whether a layer style is applied to the layer and the

layer’s blending mode.

174

Note: Unlike layer effects, Smart Filter settings cannot be changed across layer

comps. Once a Smart Filter is applied to a layer, it appears in all layer comps for

the image.

You can export layer comps to separate files, to a single PDF, or to a web photo

gallery.

Choose Window > Layer Comps to show the palette.

Layer Comps palette

A. Apply Layer Comp icon

B. Last Document State

C. Selected comps

D. Layer Comp Cannot Be Fully Restored icon

Create a Layer Comp

1. Choose Window > Layer Comps to display the Layer Comp palette.

2. Click the Create New Layer Comp button at the bottom of the Layer

Comps palette. The new comp reflects the current state of layers in the

Layers palette.

3. In the New Layer Comp dialog box, name the comp, add descriptive

comments, and choose options to apply to layers: Visibility, Position,

and Appearance.

4. Click OK. Any new comp preserves the options you chose for the

previous one, so you don’t have to make

want the comps to be identical.

To duplicate a comp, select a comp in the Layer Comps palette and

drag the comp to the New Comps button.

Apply and View Layer Comps

1. Do any of the following:

• To view a layer comp, you first need

document. In the Layer Comp palette, click the Apply Layer

Comp icon

• To cycle through a view of all the layer comps, use the

Previous and Next

• To cycle through a view o

comps in the Layer Comps palette, and then click the Next

and Previous buttons at the bottom of the palette.

through only the comps you selected.

• To restore the document to its state before you chose a

layer comp, cl

Document State at the top of the Layer Comp palette.

Change and Update a Layer Comp

If you change the configuration of a layer comp, you need to update it.

175

Click the Create New Layer Comp button at the bottom of the Layer


In the New Layer Comp dialog box, name the comp, add descriptive


Click OK. Any new comp preserves the options you chose for the

previous one, so you don’t have to make these choices again if you

want the comps to be identical.


drag the comp to the New Comps button.

Apply and View Layer Comps

Do any of the following:

To view a layer comp, you first need to apply it in the


next to a selected comp.

To cycle through a view of all the layer comps, use the

and Next buttons at the bottom of the palette.

To cycle through a view of selected comps, select the


and Previous buttons at the bottom of the palette. This cycle

through only the comps you selected.

To restore the document to its state before you chose a

layer comp, click the Apply Layer Comp icon next to Last

Document State at the top of the Layer Comp palette.

Change and Update a Layer Comp


Click the Create New Layer Comp button at the bottom of the Layer


In the New Layer Comp dialog box, name the comp, add descriptive


Click OK. Any new comp preserves the options you chose for the

these choices again if you


to apply it in the


To cycle through a view of all the layer comps, use the

buttons at the bottom of the palette.

f selected comps, select the


This cycle

To restore the document to its state before you chose a

next to Last


176

1. Select the layer comp in the Layer Comps palette.

2. Make changes to the layer’s visibility, position, or style. You may

need to change the layer comp’s options to record these changes.

3. To change your comp options, select Layer Comp Options from the

palette menu and select additional options to record layer position

and style.

4. Click the Update Layer Comp button at the bottom of the palette.

Delete a Layer Comp


• Select the layer comp in the Layer Comps palette and click the Delete

icon in the palette, or choose Delete Layer Comp from the palette

menu.

• Drag it to the Delete icon in the palette.

Export Layer Comps

You can export layer comps to individual files, to a PDF file containing multiple

layer comps, or to a web photo gallery of layer comps.

Choose File > Scripts and then choose one of the following commands:

Layer Comps To Files

Exports all layer comps to individual files, one for each comp.

Layer Comps To PDF

Exports all layer comps to a PDF file.

Layer Comps To WPG

Exports all layer comps to a web photo gallery.

Animation in Photoshop

How to create an animation

animated GIF. This animation uses a simple moving shape, but the same

principles apply to any type of animation.

Note: If you are using Photoshop CS2 or earlier, you need to use the

Ready animation feature.

Animations are created using

1. Create a series of layers which will become the frames of the animation.

2. Use the Animation palette to create frames and animate them.

Step 1: Create the Layers

The first step is to create multi

frame in the animation. You may be able to create only two layers and have

Photoshop automatically animate them, but more likely you will want to create a

number of layers and do much of the work yourself.

Let's start with a very simple image with two layers. The white background layer

will appear in every frame of the animation. The second layer contains a shape

that we will animate from left to right.

177

animation like the one pictured here and save it as an


principles apply to any type of animation.

If you are using Photoshop CS2 or earlier, you need to use the

Animations are created using layers. There are two things you need to do:

Create a series of layers which will become the frames of the animation.

palette to create frames and animate them.

Step 1: Create the Layers

The first step is to create multiple layers, each of which will become a separate



number of layers and do much of the work yourself.

et's start with a very simple image with two layers. The white background layer


that we will animate from left to right.

like the one pictured here and save it as an


If you are using Photoshop CS2 or earlier, you need to use the Image

. There are two things you need to do:

Create a series of layers which will become the frames of the animation.

ple layers, each of which will become a separate



et's start with a very simple image with two layers. The white background layer


We will create eight extra layers so the animation wil

click the "Shape 1" layer in the layer palette and select

layer is created called "Shape 1 copy". Double

it "Shape 2".

Choose the move tool from the

selected, and then hit your right arrow several times until the shape moves

slightly to the right. You can see the result with both layers visible:

Repeat this process, i.e. create a duplicate of "Shape 2" called "Shape 3" and

move the shape the same amount. Keep repeating the process until you have a

total of nine shape layers plus the

178

We will create eight extra layers so the animation will be nine frames long. Right

click the "Shape 1" layer in the layer palette and select Duplicate Layer

layer is created called "Shape 1 copy". Double-click the layer name and rename

from the toolbox. Make sure the "Shape 2" layer is still


ight. You can see the result with both layers visible:



total of nine shape layers plus the background:

l be nine frames long. Right-

Duplicate Layer. A new

click the layer name and rename

. Make sure the "Shape 2" layer is still




179

In this case you can see how the animation will unfold in the layer displays (the

shape icon moves a little to the right in each layer). At the moment it's all just one

picture though — we need to make each layer into a frame.

Create the Animation Frames

Now that you have created the layers needed for the animation, you need to

create the frames. If the Animation window isn't showing, select Window >

Animation from the main menu. In the Layers palette, deselect the eye icon in all

layers except "Shape 1" and the background. You should see something like this:

180

You can see one frame in the Animation window with the "Shape 1" layer visible.

Note: If you are using Photoshop Extended, you also have the option to view the

Animation palette in timeline mode. This is a great function but we will leave it for

now and use the simpler frame mode.

Click the small arrow icon near the top right of the Animation window to open the

flyout menu. Click New Frame.

181

A new frame will be created and added to the window like so:

With the new frame selected, go to the Layers palette. Deselect the eye icon for

the "Shape 1" layer and select the eye icon for "Shape 2". You should see

something like this:

The first frame still shows only the first shape layer while the second frame now

only shows the second shape layer.

Keep adding frames and making the corresponding layers visible until you have

nine frames. It should look like this:

182

You now have all the layers and all the frames needed for your animation.

Step 3: Setting the Animation Timing

At this stage your animation is almost complete. You can view it by clicking the

triangular Play button in the Animation window.

You will see that the animation plays very quickly and keeps repeating (looping).

If you don't want the animation to loop, click the drop-menu in the lower left

(which says "Forever" by default) and select Once. Now when you play the

animation it will play once and stop on the last frame.

The final step is to fine-tune the timing. Below each frame you will see a delay

time in seconds. Click each of these and set the desired delay. In this way you

can specify the exact time taken to display each individual frame.

Note: If you want an animation to repeat but not continuously (i.e. have a break

between repeats), set the loop drop-menu to "Forever" and set a long delay on

the last frame.

For our final animation we have set the first frame delay to half a secon

"moving" frames have no delay, and the final frame has a two second delay. The

looping is set to Forever.

Step 4: Export the Animation

Before you save the animation you should optimise it so the file size is no larger

than necessary. Click the flyout menu button at the right of the

and select Optimize Animation

In most cases, leave the default values selected. In case you care,

crops each frame to the area that has changed from the preceding frame,

Redundant Pixel Removal

unchanged from the preceding frame. Click

183

For our final animation we have set the first frame delay to half a secon


Step 4: Export the Animation


than necessary. Click the flyout menu button at the right of the Animation

Optimize Animation. A dialogue box opens like the one below.

ave the default values selected. In case you care, Bounding Box


Redundant Pixel Removal makes all pixels transparent in a frame that are

preceding frame. Click OK.

For our final animation we have set the first frame delay to half a second, the



Animation window

. A dialogue box opens like the one below.

Bounding Box


makes all pixels transparent in a frame that are

184

The last step...

From the main menu select File > Save for Web & Devices. A dialogue like the

one below opens. You should be able to leave the settings as they are and click

Save.

Note: In Photoshop Extended, videos and animations can be exported as an

image sequence or QuickTime movie (File > Export > Render Video).

Recording Actions

Keep in mind the following guidelines when recording actions:

• You can record most–but not all–commands in an action.

• You can record operations that you perform with the Marquee, Move,

Polygon, Lasso, Magic Wand, Crop, Slice, Magic Eraser, Gradient,

Paint Bucket, Type, Shape, Notes, Eyedropper, and Color Sampler

tools–as well as those that you perform in the History, Swat

Paths, Channels, Layers, Styles, and Actions palettes.

• Results depend on file and program setting variables, such as the

active layer and the foreground color. For example, a 3

blur won’t create the same effect on a 72

Nor will Color Balance work on a grayscale file.

• When you record actions that include specifying settings in dialog

boxes and palettes, the action will reflect the settings in effect at the

time of the recording. If you change a sett

while recording an action, the changed value is recorded.

Note: Most dialog boxes retain the settings specified at the previous use.

Check carefully that those are the values you want to record.

• Modal operations and tools

the units currently specified for the ruler. A modal operation or tool is

one that requires you to press Enter or Return to apply its effect, such

as transforming or cropping. Tools that record position include the

Marquee, Slice, Gradient, Magic Wand, Lasso, Shape, Path,

Eyedropper, and Notes tools.

If you record an action that will be played on files of different sizes, set

the ruler units to percentages. As a result, the action will always play back

in the same relative position in the

• You can record the Play command listed on the Actions palette menu

to cause one action to play

Record an Action

When you create a new action, the commands and tools you use are added to

the action until you stop recor

To guard against mistakes, work in a copy: at the beginning of the action

before applying other commands, record the File

(Illustrator) or record the File

185

as well as those that you perform in the History, Swatches, Color,

Paths, Channels, Layers, Styles, and Actions palettes.

Results depend on file and program setting variables, such as the

active layer and the foreground color. For example, a 3-pixel Gaussian

blur won’t create the same effect on a 72-ppi file as on a 144

Nor will Color Balance work on a grayscale file.

When you record actions that include specifying settings in dialog


time of the recording. If you change a setting in a dialog box or palette

while recording an action, the changed value is recorded.

Most dialog boxes retain the settings specified at the previous use.

Check carefully that those are the values you want to record.

Modal operations and tools–as well as tools that record position




rquee, Slice, Gradient, Magic Wand, Lasso, Shape, Path,

Eyedropper, and Notes tools.



ative position in the image.

You can record the Play command listed on the Actions palette menu

to cause one action to play another.


recording.


before applying other commands, record the File > Save A Copy command

(Illustrator) or record the File > Save As command and select As A Copy

ches, Color,

Results depend on file and program setting variables, such as the

pixel Gaussian

as on a 144-ppi file.

When you record actions that include specifying settings in dialog


ing in a dialog box or palette

Most dialog boxes retain the settings specified at the previous use.

well as tools that record position–use




rquee, Slice, Gradient, Magic Wand, Lasso, Shape, Path,



You can record the Play command listed on the Actions palette menu



> Save A Copy command

> Save As command and select As A Copy

186

(Photoshop). Alternatively, in Photoshop you can click the New Snapshot button

on the History palette to make a snapshot of the image before recording the

action.

1. Open a file.

2. In the Actions palette, click the Create New Action button , or

choose New Action from the Actions palette menu.

3. Enter an action name, select an action set, and set additional options:

Function Key

Assigns a keyboard shortcut to the action. You can choose any

combination of a function key, the Ctrl key (Windows) or Command

key (Mac OS), and the Shift key (for example, Ctrl+Shift+F3), with

these exceptions: In Windows, you cannot use the F1 key, nor can

you use F4 or F6 with the Ctrl key.

Note: If you assign an action the same shortcut that is used for a

command, the shortcut will apply the action rather than the command.

Color

Assigns a color for display in Button mode.

4. Click Begin Recording. The Begin Recording button in the Actions

palette turns red.

Important: When recording the Save As command, do not change

the filename. If you enter a new filename, that new name is recorded

and used each time you run the action. Before saving, if you navigate

to a different folder, you can specify a different location without having

to specify a filename.

5. Perform the operations and commands you want to record.

Not all tasks in actions can be recorded directly; however, you can

insert most nonrecordable tasks using commands in the Actions palette

menu.

6. To stop recording, either click the Stop Playing/Recording button, or

choose Stop Recording from the Actions palette menu. (In Photoshop,

you can also press the Esc key.)

To resume recording in the same action, choose Start Recording from the

Actions palette menu.

Record a Path

The Insert Path command lets you include a complex path (a path created with a

pen tool or pasted from Adobe Illustrator) as part of an action. Wh

played back, the work path is set to the recorded path. You can insert a path

when recording an action or after it has been recorded.


a. Start recording an action.

b. Select an action’s name to record a path at the end

action.

c. Select a command to record a path after the command.

2. Select an existing path from the Paths palette.

3. Choose Insert Path from the Actions palette menu.

If you record multiple Insert Path commands in a single action, each path

replaces the previous one in the target file. To add multiple paths, record a Save

Path command using the Paths palette after recording each Insert Path

command.

Note: Playing actions that insert complex paths may require significant amounts

of memory. If you encounter

to Photoshop.

It is easy to edit and customize actions. You can change the settings of any

specific command within an action, add commands to an existing action, or step

through an entire action and change

187

To stop recording, either click the Stop Playing/Recording button, or


you can also press the Esc key.)



pen tool or pasted from Adobe Illustrator) as part of an action. When the action is


when recording an action or after it has been recorded.


Start recording an action.

Select an action’s name to record a path at the end of the

Select a command to record a path after the command.

Select an existing path from the Paths palette.

Choose Insert Path from the Actions palette menu.


revious one in the target file. To add multiple paths, record a Save


Playing actions that insert complex paths may require significant amounts

of memory. If you encounter problems, increase the amount of memory available



through an entire action and change any or all settings.

To stop recording, either click the Stop Playing/Recording button, or




en the action is


of the


revious one in the target file. To add multiple paths, record a Save


Playing actions that insert complex paths may require significant amounts

problems, increase the amount of memory available



188

Overwrite a Single Command

1. In the Actions palette, double-click the command.

2. Enter the new values, and click OK.

Add Commands to an Action


a. Select the action name to insert a new command at the end

of the action.

b. Select a command in the action to insert a command after it.

2. Click the Begin Recording button, or choose Start Recording from the

Actions palette menu.

3. Record the additional commands.

4. When finished, click the Stop Playing/Recording button in the Actions

palette or choose Stop Recording from the palette menu.

Rearrange Commands within an Action

In the Actions palette, drag a command to its new location within the same or

another action. When the highlighted line appears in the desired position, release

the mouse button.

Record an Action again

1. Select an action, and choose Record Again from the Actions palette

menu.

2. If a modal tool appears, use the tool to create a different result, and

press Enter or Return, or just press Enter or Return to retain the

same settings.

3. If a dialog box appears, change the settings, and click OK to record them, or click

Cancel to retain the same values.

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USING CHANNELS

Step 1

Start with the image of your choice, I chose this one.

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Step 2

Go to your Channels Palette and figure out which of these channels has the

highest contrast between the object you want to extract and the background.

Usually it’s the blue channel. Make a copy of that layer and make sure the layer

is not hidden.

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Step 3

Press CTRL+L to open up the Levels Window and drag the controllers to raise

the contrast between background and the object which shall be extracted. Be

careful, don’t overdo it. If the contrast is too high, we won’t be able to extract the

smaller objects.

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Step 4

Now use the Lasso Tool (M) to trace around remaining bright parts of the object

you want to extract. In my picture for example, I made a selection of the model’s

face.

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Step 5

Fill the selection with black.

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Step 6

CTRL+Click the channel in your Channels Palette to make a selection. Click on

the main RGB Channel and now you can copy&paste the selection into a new

file.

Final Image

Now you can start using your object for any kind of design project you want. This

is how it looks when put on a simple white background:

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FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE EFFECT IN PHOTOSHOP

Solution

1. In Photoshop CS4, open the picture which you want to work and press

ctrl+J to make a copy layer as below.

2. Press ctrl+shift+U

set the Opacity to 80%.

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to remove the color and set the layer to multiply

80%.

multiply. Then

3. Press Create new fill and adjustment layer

Hue/Saturation layer


layer. Then adjust the parameter as belo

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Create new fill and adjustment layer button to create a

layer. Then adjust the parameter as below.

Create new fill and adjustment layer button to create a Curves

. Then adjust the parameter as below.

Curves

5. Press ctrl+Alt+Shift+E

and adjustment layer

parameter as below.

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ctrl+Alt+Shift+E to create a new layer. Then press Create new fill

and adjustment layer button to create a Selective Color layer. Adjust the

parameter as below.

Create new fill

layer. Adjust the


Hue/Saturation layer. Then adjust the parameter as below.

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Create new fill and adjustment layer button to create a

layer. Then adjust the parameter as below.


Then adjust the parameter as below to improve the lightness.

8. Create a new layer and fill the layer to black. Then select black

to make the edge darker.

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Create new fill and adjustment layer button to create a Curves

Then adjust the parameter as below to improve the lightness.

Create a new layer and fill the layer to black. Then select black

to make the edge darker.

Curves layer.

Create a new layer and fill the layer to black. Then select black color brush

9. Press ctrl+Alt+Shift+E

make the skin lighter.

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ctrl+Alt+Shift+E to create a new layer and select Dodge Tool

make the skin lighter.

Dodge Tool to

10. That’s the result of creating Front Page

DESIGN CARD

INTRODUCTION

Before we start designing a card, I recommend you to design the logo first.

I want you to open a new document with these settings:

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That’s the result of creating Front Page Magazine Effect.


I want you to open a new document with these settings:


STEP 01

Make a new layer (CTRL + SHIFT + N

and make a circle as under:

Now make sure your selection tool is set to

on the top of your screen, while selecting the

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CTRL + SHIFT + N). Grab the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M)

and make a circle as under:

Now make sure your selection tool is set to 'New selection'. You can verify this

on the top of your screen, while selecting the Elliptical Marquee Tool. This setting

Elliptical Marquee Tool (M),

. You can verify this

. This setting

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is needed since we're going to delete a part of the selection. Still with the

Elliptical Marquee Tool in your hands press alt and then drag a circle, so that the

selection that stays will be an eclipse. Fill the eclips with #209ae2 by using the

paint bucket tool. You should have something like this now:

Now you need to duplicate the eclipse 2 times, and scale them down as a

staircase. Merge these three layers with each other, and duplicate the merged

layer. Then: Edit>Transform>Rotate 180. And move it like here with the Move

tool (V).

Now we'll draw a certain shape, maybe it's a helmet. Make a new layer and make

sure #bcbcbc is your foreground color. Take the Ellipse Tool (U) and draw a

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circle. Then delete half of the circle. Add a small fill under the half circle, and fill it

with the same color. Let's see if you got something like this.

It looks a bit jaggy, but that doesn't matter for now. So this should be enough for

the logo part.

STEP 02

Start with the card. I recommend you to open a large document so you can

design more freely, with more space. Make sure your canvas is at least

400x400px, and start with a white background. Alternatively you can choose to

set the documents' resolution to 300 instead of 72 as a default. The advantage of

doing that is the quality will be better when printed.

STEP 03

First we are going to draw a small border for the card. Add a new layer (CTRL +

SHIFT + N), and call it 'border'. Take the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), and

take a fixed size as below:

Place the selection elsewhere on the canvas and fill it with #bcbcbc by using the

Paint bucket tool.

Select>Modify>Contract; and choose 1px, and press delete so only one 1px

small border will stay.

STEP 04

Add a new layer, 'blue background'

#4ebeff. Make sure the 'blue background' layer is above th

layer palette.

STEP 05

Now add the white part. Make a new layer, call it

the Polygonal lasso tool (L)

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; and choose 1px, and press delete so only one 1px

'blue background', and fill the inside of the border with

#4ebeff. Make sure the 'blue background' layer is above the 'border' layer in your

Now add the white part. Make a new layer, call it 'white background'

Polygonal lasso tool (L).


; and choose 1px, and press delete so only one 1px

, and fill the inside of the border with

e 'border' layer in your

'white background', and grab

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Note: I made the slanting part for about 60 degrees; only make sure you got

enough space later to add some text.

STEP 06

Now make the grey bar (#bcbcbc) which is on the same slant as the 'white

background' layer. You can do that with the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and

than rotate the bar to the wished angle. But make sure you added a new layer,

and that the bar is about 5px high. You can rotate an object with:

Edit>Transform>Rotate.

STEP 07

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You can make a larger bar for on the left top on the same way, only make sure it

is about 15px height.

STEP 08

Now we are ready to insert the logo, and change some of the blending options.

After you've pasted the logo into the card it's time to delete some parts, since we

only want the logo on the blue background. Press CTRL + left mouse button on

the layer called 'white background'.

Now delete the other part of the logo and have the logo located on the blue

background, you can set the logo layers' blending mode to 'Color Burn' and set

the layers opacity to 70%.

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STEP 09

Now it is time to add the text:

The most important part with adding your text is that the text is readable. Try to

use a color which can easily be distinguished with the background, and use a

basic font like Arial or Sans Serif. Also try to set the text in different font sizes and

styles. So you can make the name in Bold and the website address in italics for

example.

So with this step we're done with this side of the card. Now we'll design the other

side. I recommend you to draw that side under or above the side you just made,

so you can see quick whether it looks good or not.

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STEP 10

Press (CTRL + J) the border layer as your basic. Fill the inside of the border with

white by using the paint bucket tool. I want this side looks simple but clear. I want

to see which company the card is from, and want to see their identity by seeing

their logo. I also want the same style I used on the other side of the card.

As you can see I added the name of the company, the logo their slogan and what

they are doing. Also added two bars as I also did on the other side.

So now you are done with designing a business card. If you decide to print the

card, or let them print, I recommend you to save the document beside the .PSD,

also as .TIFF.

Path Selection and Points

A path consists of one or more straight or curved segments. Anchor points mark

the end points of the path segments. On curved segments, each selected anchor

point displays one or two direction lines, ending in direction points. The positions

of direction lines and points determine the size and shape of a curved segment.

Moving these elements reshapes the curves in a path.

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A path

A. Curved line segment

B. Direction point

C. Direction line

D. Selected anchor point

E. Unselected anchor point

A path can be closed, with no beginning or end (for example, a circle), or

open, with distinct end points (for example, a wavy line).

Smooth curves are connected by anchor points called smooth points. Sharply

curved paths are connected by corner points.

Smooth point and corner point

When you move a direction line on a smooth point, the curved segments on both

sides of the point are adjusted simultaneously. By comparison, when you move a

direction line on a corner point, only the curve on the same side of the point as

the direction line is adjusted.

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Adjusting a smooth point and a corner point

A path does not have to be one connected series of segments. It can contain

more than one distinct and separate path components. Each shape in a shape

layer is a path component, as described by the layer’s clipping path.

Separate path components selected

Select a Path

Selecting a path component or path segment displays all of the anchor points on

the selected portion, including any direction lines and direction points if the

selected segment is curved. Direction points appear as filled circles, selected

anchor points as filled squares, and unselected anchor points as hollow squares.


• To select a path component (including a shape

layer), select the Path Selection tool

inside the path component. If a path consists of several path

components, only the path component under the pointer is

selected.

To display the bounding box along with the selected

path, select Show Bounding Box in the options bar.

• To select a path segment, select the Direct Selection tool

and click one of the segment’s anchor points, or drag a

marquee over part of the segment.

Drag a marquee to select segments.

To select additional path components or segments, select the Path

Selection tool or the Direct Selection tool, and then hold down Shift

while selecting additional paths or segments.

When the Direct Selection tool is selected, you can select the entire

path or path component by Alt

(Mac OS) inside the path. To activate the Direct Selection tool when

most other tools are selected, position the pointer over an anchor point,

and press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac

Adjust Path Segments

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To select a path component (including a shape in a shape

layer), select the Path Selection tool , and click anywhere




th, select Show Bounding Box in the options bar.

To select a path segment, select the Direct Selection tool


marquee over part of the segment.

Drag a marquee to select segments.



while selecting additional paths or segments.


path or path component by Alt-clicking (Windows) or Option-

OS) inside the path. To activate the Direct Selection tool when


and press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS).

in a shape

, and click anywhere




To select a path segment, select the Direct Selection tool ,





-clicking

OS) inside the path. To activate the Direct Selection tool when


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You can edit a path segment at any time, but editing existing segments is slightly

different from drawing them. Keep the following tips in mind when editing

segments:

• If an anchor point connects two segments, moving that anchor

point always changes both segments.

• When drawing with the Pen tool, you can temporarily activate

the Direct Selection tool (In Design and Photoshop) so that you

can adjust segments you’ve already drawn; press Ctrl

(Windows) or Command (Mac OS) while drawing. In Illustrator,

pressing Ctrl or Command while drawing activates the last-used

selection tool.

• When you initially draw a smooth point with the Pen tool,

dragging the direction point changes the length of the direction

line on both sides of the point. However, when you edit an

existing smooth point with the Direct Selection tool, you change

the length of the direction line only on the side you’re dragging.

Adjust Path Components

You can reposition a path component (including a shape in a shape layer)

anywhere within an image. You can copy components within an image or

between two Photoshop images. Using the Path Selection tool, you can merge

overlapping components into a single component. All vector objects, whether

they are described by a saved path, work path, or vector mask, can be moved,

reshaped, copied, or deleted.

Add or Delete Anchor Points

Adding anchor points can give you more control over a path or it can extend an

open path. However, it’s a good idea not to add more points than necessary. A

path with fewer points is easier to edit, display, and print. You can reduce the

complexity of a path by deleting unnecessary points.

The toolbox contains three tools for adding or deleting points: the Pen tool

Add Anchor Point tool , and the Delete Ancho

By default, the Pen tool changes to the Add Anchor Point tool as you position it

over a selected path or to the Delete Anchor Point tool as you position it over an

anchor point. (In Photoshop, you must select Auto Add/Delete in the options

to enable the Pen tool to automatically change to the Add Anchor Point or Delete

Anchor Point tool.)

You can select and edit multiple paths simultaneously in Photoshop and

Design; however, you can add or delete points to only one path at a time in

Illustrator. In Photoshop and

anchor points by clicking and dragging as you add.

Note: Don’t use the Delete, Backspace, and Clear keys or the Edit

Edit > Clear commands to delete anchor points: these

delete the point and the line segments that connect to that point.

1. Select the path you want to modify.

2. Select the Pen tool, the Add Anchor Point tool, or the Delete Anchor

Point tool.

3. To add an anchor point, position the pointer over a

click. To delete an anchor point, position the pointer over an anchor

point and click.

In Illustrator, you can add anchor points to a path by selecting the object and

choosing Object > Path > Add Anchor Points.

Disable or temporarily override automatic Pen tool switchin

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th fewer points is easier to edit, display, and print. You can reduce the

complexity of a path by deleting unnecessary points.

The toolbox contains three tools for adding or deleting points: the Pen tool

, and the Delete Anchor Point tool .



anchor point. (In Photoshop, you must select Auto Add/Delete in the options


You can select and edit multiple paths simultaneously in Photoshop and

; however, you can add or delete points to only one path at a time in

llustrator. In Photoshop and In Design, you can reshape a path while adding

anchor points by clicking and dragging as you add.

Don’t use the Delete, Backspace, and Clear keys or the Edit

> Clear commands to delete anchor points: these keys and commands

delete the point and the line segments that connect to that point.

Select the path you want to modify.

Select the Pen tool, the Add Anchor Point tool, or the Delete Anchor

To add an anchor point, position the pointer over a path segment and



> Add Anchor Points.

override automatic Pen tool switching

th fewer points is easier to edit, display, and print. You can reduce the

The toolbox contains three tools for adding or deleting points: the Pen tool , the



anchor point. (In Photoshop, you must select Auto Add/Delete in the options bar


You can select and edit multiple paths simultaneously in Photoshop and In

; however, you can add or delete points to only one path at a time in

, you can reshape a path while adding

Don’t use the Delete, Backspace, and Clear keys or the Edit > Cut or

keys and commands

Select the Pen tool, the Add Anchor Point tool, or the Delete Anchor

path segment and



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You can override automatic switching of the Pen tool to the Add Anchor Point

tool or the Delete Anchor Point tool. This is useful when you want to start a new

path on top of an existing path.

• In Photoshop, deselect Auto Add/Delete in the options bar.

• In Illustrator or In Design, hold down Shift as you position the

Pen tool over the selected path or an anchor point. (To prevent

Shift from constraining the Pen tool, release Shift before you

release the mouse button.)

Fill Paths with Color

A path created with the Pen tool does not become an image element until you

stroke or fill it. The Fill Path command fills a path with pixels using a specified

color, a state of the image, a pattern, or a fill layer.

Path selected (left) and filled (right)

Important: When you fill a path, the color values appear on the active layer.

Make sure that the layer you want is active before beginning. You cannot fill a

path when a layer mask or text layer is active.

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