Introduction to Photoshop - watch-n-learn.com · Learning Adobe Photoshop CS4 Single-user version 4 Look at some of the other panels in the PANEL GROUP. NOTE: If you wish to expand

© Guided Computer Tutorials 2009 1-1

Chapter

1Single-user version

Please Note: These are single user tutorials and they should not be used by multiple students in a class.

Introduction to Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is an advanced photo editing and graphics program that allows you to create and edit photo quality images. In this Chapter you will be introduced to its screen and some of its basic features, such as Layers. Layers are the building blocks of using Photoshop and you need to develop an understanding of how to use them in order to use Photoshop effectively.

Loading Photoshop 1 Load Photoshop CS4 and you will receive the Photoshop screen.

2 Display the FILE menu and select NEW. You will be asked to enter the required settings for the page.

4 A blank page should be created. The diagram at the top of the next page labels its sections.

3 Enter the page name: Intro

Set the HEIGHT to 16 cm, the WIDTH to 12 cn, the BACKGROUND CONTENTS to WHITE and select OK.

© Guided Computer Tutorials 20091-2

Learning Adobe Photoshop CS4 Single-user version

The Tools PanelThe TOOLS panel at the left of the screen provides general drawing and photo adjustment tools. The panel can be displayed as a single column or with the tools in two columns.

2 In these tutorials the TOOLS panel will be used as 2 columns, so click on the GREY BAR until the tools are displayed in 2 columns.

Options Bar Menu Bar Application Bar

1 Click on the GREY BAR at the top of the TOOLS panel and panel will be adjusted.

Document Window or Canvas Area

Panel GroupTools Panel

Zoom Value


1Introduction to PhotoshopSingle-user version

3 Tools that have a small arrow next to them have more tools within them.

5 Click and hold on some of the other tools to see what extra tools they contain.

6 The letter displayed next to a tool when you click and hold on it is the keyboard shortcut to select that tool. Try pressing some letters and the tool corresponding to that letter should be selected.

7 Hold down the SHIFT key and press a letter. The tools within that tool group will be toggled.

Using the ToolsWe will have a quick look at some of Photoshop’s basic drawing tools. You may need to click and hold on a tool to select it, depending on who has used to program before you.

NOTE: You can use the ZOOM BOX at the bottom left of the screen to increase the screen view if you wish.

4 Click and hold on the LASSO tool and the three lasso tool types will be displayed.

1 Select the BRUSH TOOL and try drawing some brush strokes on the canvas.



NOTE: Your shape will probably be different to the one displayed. The SHAPE box in the OPTIONS BAR at the top of the screen can be used to select different shapes.

3 Click and hold on the SHAPES TOOL, select the CUSTOM SHAPE TOOL and drag a shape on the screen.

4 Select the PENCIL TOOL from the BRUSH TOOL in the TOOLS panel and click on the canvas.

5 Sometimes the program will ask you to rasterise or simplify a layer when a tool is to be used. Click on OK in this case.

2 Select the SHAPES tool and drag a shape on the canvas.



The Panel GroupAt the right of the screen are a series of panels that contain many of Photoshop’s operating tools and features. Some of these panels are open, some behind the opened panels and some are collapsed. You simply open the required panel when you need to use a tool by clicking on its tab or its icon. You can also add or remove panels from the group.

NOTE: i If the SWATCHES panel is not in the PANEL GROUP you can display the WINDOW menu and select SWATCHES to open it.

ii If your screen is totally different to the one in the diagram, set the box at the right of the APPLICATION BAR to the ESSENTIALS workspace.

6 Drag some pencil lines on the canvas. You can select a BRUSH SIZE from the OPTIONS BAR.

1 Click on the SWATCHES panel tab to bring it to the front of its group. You can select colours from this panel.



4 Look at some of the other panels in the PANEL GROUP.

NOTE: If you wish to expand the whole PANEL GROUP, click on the grey bar at the top of the PANEL GROUP. It is personal preference whether you have the PANEL GROUP expanded or collapsed to icons.

5 Display the FILE menu and select CLOSE to close the document. There is no need to save it.

LayersLayers are the building blocks of a Photoshop document so it is important that you develop an understanding of them. Think of layers as transparent or filled sheets that can be placed on top of one another. They allow you break a drawing up into small blocks that can be worked on individually. To illustrate the use of LAYERS, a document with a few layers will be opened from the PScs4 SUPPORT FILES.

A Loading a Sample File

A simple poster for a travel agency has been prepared for you. It has a layer containing a photograph and another two layers containing text.

1 Display the FILE menu and select OPEN.

2 Click on the GREY BAR at the top of the PANEL GROUP to collapse the PANEL GROUP to icons.

3 Click on the LAYERS panel to expand it.



2 Access the PScs4 SUPPORT FILES, open the CHAPTER 1 folder and open the POSTER file.

B Looking at the Layers

1 Display the VIEW menu and select FIT ON SCREEN to fit the file to the canvas.

NOTE: If the LAYER panel is not in the PANEL GROUP, set the box at the right of the APPLICATION BAR to the ESSENTIALS workspace, collapse the PANEL GROUP and click on the LAYERS panel.

2 Click on the LAYERS panel in the PANEL GROUP and the three layers should be displayed. You can drag the bottom panel border down to increase the height of the panel.

3 Select the MOVE TOOL from the TOOLS panel (the top right tool).

4 Select the EUROPEAN DESTINATIONS layer in the LAYERS panel and try moving the text at the top left of the poster.



5 Try moving the text at the right of the poster. You should not be able to do so because its layer has not been selected.

C Layer Visibility

Layers can be turned off at any time and when this happens their contents are not seen in the document.

6 Click on the LONDON, PARIS, ROME.... layer in the LAYERS panel and you should be able to move the text.

1 Click on the EYE symbol next to the LONDON, PARIS, ROME... layer and its contents will not be visible.



NOTE: When a layer is visible there is an eye marker in its VISIBILITY box.

D Locking Layers

Layers can be locked so that you don’t accidentally make changes to them.

1 Let’s lock the BACKGROUND layer so that it cannot be adjusted.

2 Click on the VISIBILITY frame of the LONDON, PARIS, ROME... layer again to turn the layer back on.

The four buttons at the top of the LAYERS panel allow you to lock layers:

LOCK TRANSPARENT PIXELS locks only the transparent background.

LOCK IMAGE locks just an image.

LOCK POSITION prevents an object from being moved.

LOCK ALL locks everything in the layer.




4 Select the MOVE TOOL from the TOOLS panel and try to move the background. You should not be able to do so.

5 Select OK if a message dialogue box appears.

E Naming Layers

It is good practice to name layers so that you know what their contents are. Let’s rename the BACKGROUND layer.

2 Click on the BACKGROUND layer then click on the LOCK ALL icon.

3 A LOCK symbol is added to the layer to indicate that it is locked.

1 Double click on the BACKGROUND label in the LAYERS panel to highlight the label.



F Deleting Layers

Layers can be deleted when they are no longer needed. Let’s delete one of the text layers.

2 Enter the label:

Image

then press <enter> or <return> and the layer will be renamed.

1 Click on the EUROPEAN DESTINATIONS layer in the LAYERS panel.

2 Click on the DELETE LAYER icon at the base of the LAYERS panel followed by YES to the information dialogue box.



4 Display the EDIT menu and select UNDO DELETE LAYER to return the layer and its contents to the document.

NOTE: You can also press CTRL+Z or COMMAND+Z to UNDO the previous step.

G Adding a New Layer

Layers can be added as required using the CREATE A NEW LAYER icon. When new layers are added they are inserted above the selected layer in the LAYERS panel.

3 The layer is removed from the LAYERS panel and its contents removed from the document.

1 Select the EUROPEAN DESTINATIONS layer in the LAYERS panel and click on the CREATE A NEW LAYER icon at the base of the panel.



2 The new layer is added above the EUROPEAN DESTINATIONS layer.

3 Double click on the LAYER 1 label, enter the name:

Highlight

and press <enter> or <return>.

4 Select the BRUSH TOOL from the TOOLS panel and paint a line under the EUROPEAN DESTINATIONS text.

5 The contents are stored in the HIGHLIGHT layer.



H The Layer Order

The order of the layers in the LAYERS panel is very important. The image is at the back of the drawing so it is the last (or bottom layer). If the image was at the top of the LAYERS panel you would not be able to see any of the other objects. You can easily alter the order of layers. It is called changing the LAYER STACKING ORDER.

1 Click on the IMAGE layer then drag it to the top of the LONDON, PARIS, ROME.... layer.

2 When you release the mouse button the contents of the other layers cannot be seen as the IMAGE layer is on top of them.



I Layer Opacity

The OPACITY of a layer is how transparent it is. The default layer OPACITY is 100% (no transparency) so the contents of the other layers cannot be seen through it. When you reduce the OPACITY of a layer you start to see the contents of other layers through it. Let’s reduce the OPACITY of the IMAGE layer so that the other layers can be seen.

1 Unlock the IMAGE layer by clicking on the LOCK ALL icon at the top of the LAYERS panel.

2 Click on the arrow next to the OPACITY box and drag the slider to about 80%.

3 Part of the contents of the other layers are now visible through the IMAGE layer.



5 Click on the LAYER panel label to collapse the panel.

NOTE: You will use many more layer features as you progress through these tutorials. For example, you can duplicate layers, add masks to layers, insert different types of layers and so on.

Screen ViewsYou can zoom in or out of a document when more detailed work is required.

1 Display the VIEW menu and select ZOOM IN.

4 Drag the IMAGE layer to the bottom of the layers in the LAYERS panel. The content of the other layers can now be fully seen, but the IMAGE layer is still at 80% opacity.

2 The screen in magnified.



3 There are keyboard shortcuts to zoom in and out. On the Windows system hold down the CTRL key and press + to zoom in and - to zoom out. On the Macintosh system the COMMAND key is held down.

4 Press CTRL+ or COMMAND+ twice to zoom in two more levels.

5 Press CTRL- or COMMAND- three times to zoom back out.



NOTE: FIT ON SCREEN sets the view to a level so that the canvas fills the available screen area.

The Zoom ToolThe ZOOM TOOL allows you to select a section of the image to zoom in on. The ZOOM TOOL is in the APPLICATION BAR at the top of the screen. On small screens the APPLICATION BAR is above the MENU BAR, on wide screens it is to the right of the MENU BAR.

6 Press CTRL+0 or COMMAND+0 to set the view to FIT ON SCREEN.

1 Select the ZOOM TOOL from the APPLICATION BAR and drag a frame around Big Ben’s clocks.



NOTE: When you select the ZOOM TOOL, buttons are added to the OPTIONS BAR that allow you to select ACTUAL PIXELS, FIT SCREEN, FILL SCREEN and PRINT SIZE. You might like to try each of these buttons.

The Hand ToolThe HAND TOOL allows you to scroll around a zoomed screen.

1 Zoom in on the image if your screen is not zoomed.

2 When you release the mouse button the screen is zoomed in on the clocks.

2 Select the HAND TOOL from the APPLICATION BAR and drag the screen to bring different parts of the document into view.



Photoshop Workspaces Photoshop provides a variety of workspace arrangements to suit the type of project being created.

1 Press CTRL+0 or COMMAND+0 to set the view to FIT ON SCREEN.

3 The arrangement of the panels is changed to suit a painting project.

4 Try changing the workspace to VIDEO and the panels are adjusted to suit animation project.

2 Click on the arrow next to the box at the right of the APPLICATION BAR and select PAINTING.




6 Set the TOOLS panel to 2 columns and collapse the PANEL GROUP if you prefer to use the panels that way.

5 Return the workspace to the ESSENTIALS screen.



Photoshop Assignment 1

Your task for this Assignment is to create a simple sketch using some of the drawing tools from the TOOLS panel. Try to use LAYERS to break the sketch into sections.

If you cannot think of anything to draw, the following sketch of a racing car could be attempted with separate layers for the car body, wheels and driver.

Ask your teacher to check your completed sketch.

Documents

Introduction to Photoshop - watch-n-learn.com · Learning Adobe Photoshop CS4 Single-user version 4 Look at some of the other panels in the PANEL GROUP. NOTE: If you wish to expand