Starting a document
Photoshop Basics
Starting a document
From the menu bar choose File > New. Make sure you select the correct options for your project. What size canvas do you need? You will mostly use A4 or A3.
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Importing an Image
There are 2 main ways to import an image into Photoshop. You can copy and paste an image from the internet, or ‘place’ it using menu options. To do this, from the menu bar choose File > Place embedded then find the file required.
Resizing
To resize your images, there are 2 options. First select the image you want to resize in the ‘layers’ panel. You can then press CTRL + T to use the free transform option. This allows you to resize it as you would resize an image in word. To constrain the ratio of the image when resizing (preventing it from stretching or squashing) hold SHIFT when resizing.
The other option is to change the ‘image size’. To do this select Image > Image Size from the menu bar. Choose percent from the top drop down menu. By adjusting the percentage, you can then resize the image by 50%, 25% or increase it by 200% etc...
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Layers
Photoshop works best if everything is on its own layer. Layers allow you to align images, place them in front of and behind other images and also play with the way images can interact with each other using the Layer Properties.
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Open the File ‘Simple Layers.psd’. Use the Layers panel to alter which layer is at the top and at the bottom...observe the effects. Click on the Eye Icon in each layer to ‘show and hide’ the relevant layer. Lock a layer and observe that it cannot be affected or moved. You will see that you can only move a layer if it is selected in the Layers Panel.
[Top Tip is if you hold down the Ctrl Key down and click on a part of your image then the layer it is on will be selected!]
Layer Styles:
Make sure the Green Square is at the top. Go to Layer > Layer Style > Drop Shadow. Adjust the sliders to suit your taste and Click OK. Undo this last action and try out the other Layer Style Options.
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Selecting:
There are many ways to select things or parts of your images. We will look at the most commonly used.
To select a simple shape like a square, circle or rounded rectangle you can use the Marquee selection tool.
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Open the file Office.jpg and use the square marquee tool to select it. You will notice it is impossible to select the small squares at the top of the office block. To do this we will need to Add to the Selection. To Add to a selection you hold down the Shift Key as you use the selection tool.
If you accidently select too much you can Remove things from the selection by using the Alt key as you use the selection tool.
Once you have selected the Office block as best as you can you may want to inverse the selection so that everything is selected EXCEPT the office block. To do this hold down Ctrl + Shift + I (the letter i). [It is sometimes easier to select one part of your image and then invert it than to try to select the part you really want). Once you have done this press the Delete key. Notice the colour that replaces the background...why is it this colour?
[If you want a transparent background you need to make the layer into Layer 1 and not a ‘Background’ layer in the Layer Panel. Simply Double click it and then click OK. Now when you press delete on your image selection you will get a transparent background]
Lasso Tools:
Open the file Selecting01.
If you wanted to select around the person we could use the Magic Wand or the Magnetic Lasso Tool. Looking at the Magnetic tool first...click and drag the tool around the outline of the person...it should ‘stick’ to the contrast in colour. When you get to the end of the selection process and ‘meet’ the point where you started you will notice that a small circle appears next to the cursor. When this appears click and the selection will be complete.
There are other Lasso tools each having its purpose...the Polygonal one is very useful when selecting images with straight sides.
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Magic Wand:
Open the File Selecting02.
This is probably the most used tool for selecting. Click the tool anywhere in the White area behind the person. You may need to alter the ‘Tolerance’ of the wand to get the correct selection.
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Won’t let you delete?
Do you keep seeing this error message when you try to delete your selections?
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To avoid this, you must first rasterize the layer you’re working on. To know if it needs rasterizing, look at the layer icon – if it has the symbol below in the corner, it needs to be rasterized!
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Right click on text part of the layer and select rasterize layer. You will notice the symbol has now disappeared and you are able to delete the selected area.
New Adjustment Layer:
With the top layer selected, go to Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Hue & Saturation. Move the Hue slider and you will see the colours of all layers change. This is because the New Adjustment Layer will affect all layers below it. Undo any changes you have done and Move the Adjustment Layer in the Layer Panel down one. Click on the small black square icon in the layer panel to bring up the sliders ( if they have closed) and move the Hue slider. You will see that the layer above the Adjustment layer is not affected by it.
Click on File > Revert to get back to the original state of the image.
Make sure you have selected the top layer (green circle). This time go to the menu bar and choose Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All. The green circle will be hidden. It hasn’t been deleted just ‘masked’. Now choose your brush tool and ‘paint over the area where the green circle was...it should start appearing.
Things to remember:
Layers will affect which image is in front of another and you can use layers to create flexible compilations.
More times than not...if something isn’t doing what it should...check which layer you are on!
Adjustment Layers will affect every layer below it.
Use the small squares that appear in the Layer Panel when you add a Mask or Adjustment Layer to go to the Parameters or to select the mask.
Hold down Ctrl and Click on the Layer name to select everything on that layer.
Adding text to your image will result in a ‘text layer’. If you wish to edit your text at a later date, make sure you use the Text tool and select the correct layer!
Adding Text
Adding text is similar to when using programmes such as PowerPoint, only with Photoshop you are able to modify it much more to suit the style you are doing.
To add text, select the ‘T’ option from the side menu. You can then click on where you would like to start typing, or click and drag to draw a text box. To make it easier to move and edit your text, it is advisable to type each word on its own layer (unless it is a paragraph of information for example). This means you can freely move and arrange text.
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Useful shortcuts
[pic] When using a mac, replace the CTRL button with ‘command’
Copy – CTRL C
Paste – CTRL V
Free Transform – CTRL T
Fill selected area - CTRL + Backspace
Hold space and click to move around the canvas
Zoom in - CTRL +
Zoom out – CTRL –
Invert selection – CTRL + SHIFT + i
Deselect – CTRL D
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