Introduction Whether you are a new to the world of digital photography or have already got your feet wet, this guide will show you the many features of Photoshop. Although this guide was specifically geared toward Photoshop CS5, many of the tools in the program have not changed between versions. If you are planning to purchase Photoshop, there are a few things to keep in mind: Even if you are not planning to create high resolution graphics, working with images from a standard 5MP camera can use a decent amount of your computer’s memory. If you have an older computer (pre Window’s XP), it is not advisable to use Photoshop on it. If you are planning to purchase a computer and new Photoshop software, and you have the option of a faster processor or more memory, choose the RAM. Most newer programs, and especially Photoshop, are memory intensive and the RAM boost will allow you to work in the program faster. If you don’t have a digital camera, a flat bed scanner will work pretty well as long as the original image is sharp and well lit. Why would I want Photoshop (or some other photo software)? Graphics drive our congregations. Whatever you are designing – a monthly newsletter, a weekly bulletin, a baptism or wedding program, a poster for your Vacation Bible School, a flier for your chicken barbecue, a brochure for your UMW, tickets for a Spring Cantata, a large-format collage from your Hanging of the Greens ceremony… and the list goes on – your graphics will be THE FIRST thing that your audience will notice. Designing something “catchy” can take as few as a couple of minutes, but it could mean drastically improved attendance at your next function. What do I need for Photoshop? Just a computer. There are many places on the Internet where you can get free fonts, free images (and clip art) and ideas. If you don’t have a color printer, but you want to print in color, it is recommended that you get a 2GB flash drive (some people call it a thumb drive). That way you can save your files on it, and print them at a Staples, Office Max or similar office supply store. We will have supplements to this guide published periodically, featuring great websites to go to for ideas, free fonts, free images, free brushes and other free Photoshop pre-sets. We may also establish an online forum for Administrative Assistants, Vacation Bible School Directors, Sunday School Directors, Pastors and anyone else who might be using Photoshop, as a vehicle for discussion and to get your questions answered.
The Tools of Photoshop
The Tools of Photoshop (Cont’d.)
The Tools of Photoshop (Cont’d.)
The Tools of Photoshop (Cont’d.)
Getting Started We are only dealing with digital photos. You could have received it via e-mail, uploaded it to your computer from a digital camera, scanned a photo print or negative with a flatbed scanner, or downloaded it from the Internet. In any case, your course of action is the same: to make it the best presentable image that you can. When you have opened your image, under the Image menu select Image Size. This will bring up a dialog box of your current image size. Keep the three bottom check boxes (4) checked, or you will distort the shape of your picture. It is always best to work from a 300dpi picture, since that will be your output resolution. So, make sure that pixels/inch is chosen in the drop down box (3) for resolution. In the Image Size box at right, we can see that the original image size (amount of storage space on your computer) is 11.1MB (at the top of the box). To work with a 300dpi we need to change the 180 resolution (3) to 300. THAT WILL MAKE THE IMAGE SIZE BALLOON. Make sure the width and height (2) are in INCHES (from the drop down menus) and REDUCE them until the Pixel Dimension is BACK TO YOUR ORIGINAL SIZE. In the case above, switching the resolution from 180 to 300 would increase the size up to 30.8M. To bring it back down to 11.1M we would have to reduce the width to 7.570 inches and the height to 5.678 inches. It’s not recommended to choose “Auto…”. Click OK when done. Why do this? Working with a 300 dpi image will make all changes, corrections, text overlay, etc. more crisp and clear. IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not increase the size of the image beyond the original pixel dimension. Do not bump the size up to 300 dpi and not reduce the width and height, this will pixelize and/or blur your image. Without in-depth technical knowledge of Photoshop, you cannot increase the true dimension of your image beyond it’s original specs. It is recommended that you do the next steps in the order as presented. If you do not need to do one of the steps, you can skip over it. However, if perform a couple of the steps and then go back to perform an earlier step your image will not look its best. Step One - Brightness: Under Image, click on Adjustments and then slide over to Levels. That will bring up the Levels dialog box (at right). The Preset will already be set to Default, the Channel will be for RGB (red green blue) and the Preview box should be checked. SLOWLY drag the far right triangle (1) to the left until you have the picture as bright as you would like. Then slide that triangle (1) back about five. (When you drag it to the left the number 255 will reduce.) If you dragged the tri-
angle to 235, bring it back to 240. Then drag the middle triangle (2) to the LEFT until your picture is where you would like it. If you want to make the darkest shades punch just a little, drag the left most triangle (3) to the right just a little (i.e. from 0 to 10, but it will depend on your picture). It is not recommended that you adjust the Output Levels’ triangles (4). Click OK when you are done. Step Two - Sharpness: Under Filter, choose Sharpen and slide over to Unsharp Mask. This tool gives you control over the amount of sharpness you will add to the photo. In the Unsharp Mask dialog box that comes up, the Preview box should already be checked. Put the Threshold levels to 1, and the Radius pixels to 0.9. Adjust the Amount from 0 to 500 percent based on what looks best for you. You will probably put the Amount somewhere between 20 and 75, but it depends on your picture. When you are done click OK. Step Three - Save As: You have two choices at this point - you are done or you have art to add to your image. If you are done, first click on Layer. At the bottom of that drop down menu, if Flatten Image is grayed out (meaning you can’t select it) then you are ready to save your image. Click on File, then choose Save As. When the dialog box comes up, choose where you want to save it and make sure the format selected is .TIF. You will not need to change the save options check boxes on this dialog box. The next box that pops up, the TIFF Options, should already have the following boxes checked: NONE image compression, INTERLEAVED pixel order and IBM PC for byte order (unless you are working on a Mac computer). You can then click OK and you are done. If you have art to add, first click on File, then choose Save As. When the dialog box comes up, choose where you want to save it and make sure the format selected is Photoshop (.PSD). You will not need to change the save options check boxes on this dialog box. Now you are ready to add art to your image (text, pictures, shapes, etc.). Go to the Layering Section.
Layering Whatever you want to do to a photo - add text, shapes, other photos - there is nothing more important than adding layers. This keeps your additions and deletions on their own layer, and allows you to make changes to them if you make an error. Your original image is the background (as seen at right). There are two important buttons on the bottom of the layer menu: the Garbage Can (which deletes a layer) and the New Layer Button (immediately to the left of the Garbage Can and it looks like a sticky note peeling up, this adds a new layer). To add a new layer, click on the New Layer Button. This will bring up a new layer in your layers box (and will have a checkerboard pattern in the picture - this means the layer is transparent). FIRST, right click on the layer and select Layer Properties. Even if you only have a couple of layers, this is an important step. When the Layer Properties dialog box comes up rename the layer. If you are going to be adding stars on that layer, then name it Stars, for example. Note: If you use the Horizontal Type Tool it will automatically create a new layer for you and it will be named the first couple of words that you type on that layer. If you want to add shapes to your photo (i.e. hearts, stars, etc.), choose the Line Tool and then select your shape. With the Line Tool selected, you will see this menu:
(1) This shows you that the custom shape has been selected. (2) This drop down shows you the different shapes that you have available to you. (3) Using this tool allows you to fill your shapes with various styles (patterns). (4) This allows you to change the color of your shape. Tip: When drawing out your shape, holding down the shift key will keep the shape proportionate. Holding down the Alt key will hold the shape in place while you define the size, though it will not scale proportionately. If you want to add text to your photo, select the Horizontal Type Tool. The Character sub -menu should come up automatically, but if it does not, you can find the Character submenu under Window. All of the other sub-menus are also under Window. The Character sub-menu allows you to change the font characteristics of your text, including underline, bold, spacing and more. Once you have typed your text, you can also select the Warp Text to bring up that sub-menu to change the shape of your text (i.e. into a wave, cone, fisheye, etc.). Click on the Warp Text tool at the top of Photoshop to bring up the sub -menu. You can then choose the style you want and how much you want to bend the text into the style that you chose.
The Character sub-menu (pictured at right), gives you great freedom to alter your text. (1) This shows you which font style you have chosen. (2) This is the size of the font chosen. (3) This adjusts the vertical height of the font. (4) If you type in a paragraph of text, when you highlight a row of section of text, this allows you to change the vertical position of it in relation to the unselected row. For example, leaving it at 0 pt. is the standard spacing for rows of text. If you highlight text and put it at 2 pt., it will move closer to the unselected text. If you highlight text and put it at -2 pt., it will move down, farther away from the unselected text. Note, this will only change the row you select and NO OTHERS. The third line of text has been adjusted The third line of text has been adjusted 3 pt and it has raised the text up. -3 pt and it has lowered the text down.
(5) This changes the font style to the styles that YOU ALREADY HAVE INSTALLED. If you only have Aharoni Regular installed on your computer, you will not be able to choose Bold, Italic, etc. See #11 for alternatives. (6) This works similar to #4 but it also effects the other rows below it. If you select a row and change it to 12 pt. all of the rows below it will move up proportionately as well. (7) This changes the spacing in between your text. (8) This adjusts the horizontal width of the font. (9) This changes your font color. (10) This row is for unique font changes (strikethrough, underline, etc.). (11) This sub-menu (click on the little triangle) allows you to choose faux stylings for fonts that you don’t have (faux bold, faux italic, etc.). For even more creativity, in the Layer Menu (at right) you can further alter the font layer (or any layer) by double-clicking on it. You can choose a drop shadow, inner glow, outer glow, etc.
Important Notes In the Getting Started section (page 7) we recommended that you work with and save your photo project at 300 dpi. For all printing (bulletins, programs, brochures, posters, newsletters, letters, etc.) this is the resolution you should use. If you are creating graphics or putting your photos on the web, you can put the resolution to 72 dpi. Anything above that resolution basically is wasted. For all printing, files should be used as .TIF files. For the web, you will want to save your images as .JPEG. It is recommended that you save your file as a .PSD and then save as a .TIF file. That way you have your original file with all it’s layers in case you ever have to make changes to it. If you are saving as a .JPEG: First save the file as a .PSD. Then save as a copy. So now you will have two copies on your computer (for ease we will call them) Photo 1.PSD and Photo 1 copy.PSD Open the Photo 1 copy.PSD and flatten the image (Layer > Flatten Image). Then save as .JPEG. You cannot save a .JPEG with multiple layers - it won’t let you. If you want to convert a color photo to black and white, choose Image > Mode > Gray Scale. Click Discard. There is a History sub-menu (you can bring it up under the Window menu and scroll down to History). You can reverse any changes you make, up to about the previous 15 actions. Since you can’t go back before that, it is recommended that you save your project every time you make an action that you are happy with. By creating layers you are also giving yourself additional opportunities to delete items you don’t like as you can delete a layer, no matter how many actions ago you created it. If you right-click on The Spot Healing Tool in that tool’s sub-menu you can find the Red Eye Tool that removes red eye from photos. Just put the plus sign directly on top of the eye that you want to correct. You can adjust the Pupil Size and the Darken Amount from the 50 percent standard that they are pre-set at.