Getting Started in Photoshop
Photoshop’s interface can be a confusing place to first time users. This lesson will show you what’s what, and how to navigate through the behemoth which is Photoshop.
Before starting, please take note that I will be demonstrating how to use Adobe Photoshop with Version 9 (Adobe Photoshop CS2). If you are using another version of Photoshop, you should have very little trouble following along, as very little as changed in regards to interface and basic functionality in the past few versions. Some graphical features may look a bit different, but overall you should experience very little, if any problems!
The Welcome Screen
When you first open Photoshop, you’ll likely be presented with the “Welcome Screen”:
The Welcome Screen is a great area for new users to see what’s possible with Adobe Photoshop, but really isn’t necessary by any means. If you’d like to stop the Welcome Screen from popping up on the start, you can unmark the “Show this dialog at startup” in the lower left corner. The Welcome Screen will always be available for viewing later on if you go to Help > Welcome Screen.
To begin working with Photoshop, Close out of the Welcome Screen.
The Work Area
Upon first glance, Photoshop can be a big and scary place. Let’s break the Work Area into smaller components to make things easier to understand:
A. Menu Bar - An organized menu area categorized by the type of task being handled.
B. Options Bar - Contains options for the currently selected tool.
C. Tool Bar - Contains a wide selection of available tools in Photoshop, as well as the Foreground Color, Background Color, and other features.
D. Document Window - The Containing Window of a document being worked on inside of Photoshop.
E. Active Image Area - The Document Window contains the Active Image Area (Shown in White above). This is the area an artist works in.
F. Navigator - A small version of the current documents active image area. Used for navigating large images, or when zoomed in.
G. Color Palette - A palette used to select foreground and background colors for painting / drawing with.
H. History - Constantly updating record of previous changes made inside of a document. Can be used to reverse steps taken (Undo).
I. Layers - If Photoshop were a giant cheeseburger, layers would be the toppings & condiments. Layers in Photoshop allow you to work on a single canvas, letting some things appear above or below others.
This is just a glance of what the innards of Photoshop are like. We’ll cover everything in more detail in subsequent lessons.
Creating a New Document
To create a new document in Photoshop, select File > New from the Menu Bar.
A dialog box will appear such as the one shown below:
A. Document Name - Set the document name here (optional).
B. Presets - Choose a document size from a list of presets.
C. Document Dimensions - Set the width and height of the document here.
D. Document Units - Set the units of the dimensions of the document. Pixels should be your typical choice for any work you’re displaying on the web or on a monitor.
E. Resolution - Set the Resolution of the document. Resolution typically means the number of dots (or pixels) per inch. In printing, you typically want a high value here (300 or higher), which will also increase the documents size. However, for web based work, or on-screen work, 72 is the default resolution.
F. Color Mode - Set the color mode of the document. Unless you are doing special printing, you typically will be working with RGB Color (Red/Green/Blue).
G. Background Contents - Set up the background for your document.
The dialog shown above would create an 800×600px document with a white background. The document name would be “Document Name”, and the resolution would be perfect for on-screen work.
Saving and Closing a Photoshop Document
To save a Photoshop Document, select File > Save from the Menu Bar. When saving, be sure to enter a file name you will recognize, and also select “Photoshop (*.PSD)” as the format. Doing so will ensure that the document will retain it’s Photoshop Document Attributes and Layer Data so that you may work with it later. Note that PSD’s are not compatible with web browsers or other applications, and you will need to save in another format for such uses. We will cover that in another lesson.
To close a document, select File > Close from the Menu Bar. To close all open documents, select File > Close All.
Back to the School of Photoshop
Return to the School of Photoshop
Using Palettes in Photoshop
Now What?
You’ve reached the end of this post
Working with Layers in Photoshop
By David Leggett | 57 Comments
In Photoshop, layers are used to work on individual parts of an image while not affecting other parts. You might say that layers are like transparency papers stacked on top of one another which can be repositioned and separately drawn on without disturbing each other.
Explaining Layers
Consider the following Graphic created in Adobe Photoshop:
To the viewer, this is simply one flat graphic. However, in Photoshop, it is actually 4 separate layers (graphics if you will) stacked on top of one another. There is a Blue Background layer, two separate layers with a T9 Cloud, and a top layer with the “Tutorial9″ text.
As you can see, layers are more like transparencies stacked on top of one another, each with something different sketched onto them.
Let’s put this knowledge to use now!
How to use Layers in Photoshop
You may have an easier time understanding how to use layers if we take on a simple task in Photoshop that allows you to play with them yourself. Go ahead and Create a New Document (File > New). Set it up to be 400 x 400px, with a resolution of 72px/inch.
We’re going to create the following graphic using layers:
Filling the Background
Typically, when I’m working in Photoshop, I like to work from the background to the top (probably because that’s how the graphic is seen by viewers), so to start things off we are going to fill our background layer with a nice dull green.
Select a Dull Green Foreground Color. To do this, click your foreground color, and use the color sliders to find a suitable color. Alternatively, you can enter the HEX value 36442a next to the “#” symbol on the lower right side.
Click OK to confirm the color value you’ve picked. Now grab the Fill Tool from the Toolbox, and click anywhere in your working image area. Upon clicking the mouse button, your entire background layer should be filled with the foreground color.
Create a New Layer
Let’s take a quick peek at the Layers Palette, and examine some of it’s more basic functions:
To create a new layer, Click the “New Layer” icon shown above.
As you can see, a new layer “Layer 1” has been created. You can rename this layer by clicking the name of it twice, and entering whatever name you desire. While this layer is selected (highlighted) you will be working on this layer alone in the photoshop document
Drawing the Grass
Select the Brush Tool from the toolbox. Adobe Photoshop already has a preset brush called “Dune Grass” which we are going to use to create the grass in our graphic.
In the brush tool’s Option Bar, open the Brush Preset Picker (Small down arrow to the right of the currently selected “Brush”). Scroll a ways down the list, and select the Dune Grass Brush
We’re not going to go over brushes in great detail in the tutorial, but you do need to know that this brush is setup to alternate between foreground and background colors. Because of this, we need to select a background color with a similar green value (Such as #19250f).
Once you have a good foreground and background color selected, start painting with your brush in the working image area on your new layer. Hold down the Mouse Button to use the brush tool.
Let’s add some text now!
Select the Horizontal Type Tool from the toolbox. Set your Foreground Color to White. Click anywhere in your working image area to begin typing.
Once you’ve typed something, select all of the text with your cursor (hold down the mouse button, and drag over the text to select). We’re going to adjust some of the type attributes in the Type Options Bar.
Set the Font to Arial, the font weight to Bold, the text size to 60 pt, and the anti-aliasing to Crisp.
As you can see, the Type Tool has created a new Type Layer in your layers palette for the text. To apply the text, click this new layer (Or click Ctrl + Enter).
Great! Now let’s position our new type tool so that it appears to be emerging from the grass.
Moving Layers
The first thing we need to do is position our Type Layer below the Grass Layer so that the Grass will appear in front of it. In your layers palette, click and drag your Type Layer below the Grass layer.
Now we can use the Move Tool to reposition our layer in the working image area. While the Type Layer is selected, get the Move Tool from the toolbox, and drag the text in the working image area to where the grass starts to end.
Pretty Simple, eh? Now that you have the general idea of layers down, let’s create a few more and play with some of their options.
Opacity, Blending Modes & Filling Selections
Create a New Layer just above the background (below the type and grass layers), and drag out an elliptical selection using the Elliptical Marquee Tool (this tool may be hidden behind another marquee selection tool).
Using the Fill Tool, fill this selection (on your new layer) with White. Once filled, Deselect everything (Select > Deselect, or Ctrl + D).
You should have a large, white circle in your document now. Set this layers Blending Mode to Overlay in the layers palette:
Setting the blending mode is that easy! I won’t go into details about blending modes in this tutorial, but please experiment with them to get an idea of what they do.
Now set the Opacity to something like 15-20%.
Simple! Now right click this new layer, and select Duplicate Layer. This will create an exact copy of this layer (retaining layer opacity and blending mode). Using the Move Tool reposition this layer so that you can clearly see the two different circle edges.
See how you can see through the top circle to see the circle behind it? This is because our circle layers are somewhat transparent, otherwise known as less opaque. By setting the opacity to something below 100%, we are able to see through objects.
Finally, let’s take a look at one more useful feature in the layers palette. Click the New Group icon at the bottom of the layers palette (the one shaped like a folder).
Groups function in a similar manner to a folder. You can put multiple layers inside of a group, and then when you select the group (versus an individual layer), you’re able to adjust the opacity, blending mode, and position of all those layers at the same time (as well as several other things).
Let’s give it a try! Drag your two circle layers inside of the group.
Once both layers have been placed in the group (they should appear indented from the other layers), Select the Group in the layers palette. Using the Move Tool, drag inside of your working image area. Both your circle layers should move at the exact same time, yet they still retain their individual layer attributes!
Now that you have a better understanding of layers, learning some of Photoshop’s more interesting features should be a breeze!
Photoshop’s Toolbox
The question’s been asked several times around Tutorial9, “How do I download and install these custom layer styles you provide?”, and rather than answering the same thing over and over, I thought it was a nice idea to settle the issue once and for all in a convienent post for everyone!
Download Layer Styles for Photoshop
If you’re not familiar with layer styles, you’ll probably want to read through our Tutorial on Layer Styles in Photoshop.
Installing Layer Styles is actually just like Installing Brushes and Custom Shapes. Of course, the first thing you’ll need to do is actually download a Layer Style to use. Some examples would include our very own:
• Vibrant Pop Text Effect
• Delicious Chocolate Effect
• Bubble Effect
There are also plenty of sites out there that also offer Photoshop Layer Styles. I wouldn’t consider them nearly as important as Custom Shapes or Brushes (since they are usually replicated with ease), but they can be nice for speeding up workflow and making your life easier.
Make a note of where you save your files. We’ll need to find them in the next part.
How To Install
From Photoshop, find your Styles Palette, and select it. If it’s not visible, go to Window > Styles.
At the top right of the palette, there is an arrow pointing to the right. Click on this arrow to bring up a menu. From this menu, select Load Styles.
Now, simply browse to wherever you saved your styles, and load them. You’ll see them populate the Styles Palette, and can then apply them as you would any other Style preset.
That’s it!
Now What?
Effects can be added to individual layers in Photoshop that automatically change as a layer is modified. The combination of effects on any given layer is called its Layer Style. We’ll teach you how to use and make your own layer styles in this tutorial.
What are Layer Styles?
Note: If you’re trying to find out how to install layer styles, please see our tutorial on Installing Layer Styles in Photoshop.
Layer styles are special effects that can be quickly and easily applied to individual layers in Photoshop to drastically change the appearance of something in very little time. They can be preset, customized, or even saved and used for later.
One of the useful properties of Layer Styles are there relationship to the layer contents. Since the style is actually a separate entity that is just linked to the layer, it will continually update itself as a layers contents are edited or moved. Furthermore, the effects can easily be adjusted after applying them, making them non-destructive in nature.
Some shapes and text with and without layer styles applied.
Using Layer Style Presets
Photoshop comes packed with a good number of Layer Style Presets, all which are accessible through the Styles Palette (Window > Styles). To apply a Layer Style, select the Layer you’d like to work with in your document from the Layers Palette, and then select the Layer Style which you would like to apply.
A Text Layer Before and After a Layer Style Preset is applied to it.
After applying a Layer Style, the effects in the layer can be seen, adjusted, disabled or reenabled from the Layers Palette. Layers with effects applied to them will have a small round icon with an ‘f‘ in it. To expand or collapse the effects applied to a layer, click the arrow to the right of this icon.
When a layers effects have been expanded, you can quickly disable specific effects within the layer style by clicking the eye icon next to the effect. Just like a layer, these effects can become visible again by clicking the blank area (where the eye would reside) when an effect is disabled.
Making Quick Changes
You can make quick changes to a layers style by double clicking the ‘f‘ icon to pull up the Layer Style Options. From here, you can completely customize your layers style.
Creating your own Effects and Styles
To add your own layer effects, and create your own styles, go to Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options, or Right Click your Layer, and select Blending Options. This will bring up the Layer Style Options.
A. Style Presets - List of the Style Presets.
B. Effects - The various effects that can be used in a layer style. It’s important to note that by clicking on the name of any of the effects will enable that effect, and display the options for the individual effect.
C. Options / Settings - When the name for an effect is checked, it’s options will be shown here. When Blending Options is selected, settings such as Opacity, Fill, and other advanced options will be displayed.
D. Layer Style Preview - A preview of the Layer Style.
Effects (B) can be enabled by checking them, and likewise, disabled by unchecking them. To edit an effect, you need to click the name (rather than checkbox). The effects settings will be displayed in the Options area (C), where they can be easily adjusted. To apply a set of effects and options, simply press OK.
Layer Effects
Styles can be built with the following effects:
• Drop Shadow - Creates a shadow behind the layers contents.
• Inner Shadow - Creates a shadow on top of the layers contents.
• Outer Glow - Creates a glow behind the layers contents. Cannot be distanced like the drop shadow.
• Inner Glow - Creates a glow on top of the layers contents. Again, cannot be distanced like the inner shadow.
• Bevel and Emboss - Used to create unique highlight and shadow effects on a layers contents.
• Satin - Gives the layer contents a satin-like, glossy appearance.
• Color Overlay - Fills the layer contents with a solid color.
• Gradient Overlay - Fills the layer contents with a gradient.
• Pattern Overlay - Fills the layer contents with a pattern.
• Stroke - Creates an outline on layer contents using a solid color, gradient, or pattern.
Give it a Try!
Let’s try it out to make sure we’ve got a clear understanding of all this. We’re going to test our abilities by creating a basic layer style for some text. Go ahead and create a new document in Photoshop, and use the Type Tool to add some large, black text.
Right Click the text layer, and Select Blending Options.
First we’re going to add a Drop Shadow. Check the Drow Shadow Effect, and click on it to bring up it’s options. Set things up as shown in the diagram below:
As you’re making adjustments, you should be able to see changes being made in your actual document. Keeping an eye on your document while adding effects will allow you to better determine how to adjust settings.
You should be familiar with most of these sliders and types of settings from our Palettes Tutorial you may have read. The Angle setting may be a new one to you, but it’s very simple to work. You can either enter in a numeric value, or adjust the angle with your mouse by clicking on the wheel. Doing so will change the angle of your shadow.
Now let’s add a Bevel and Emboss. We’re going to create a bevel that is subtle, so that it doesn’t draw too much attention, but at the same time pops our text a bit. Again, mimic the settings shown in the diagram shown below.
Nothing really new here. You may want to experiment as I suggested earlier to have a better understanding of the different settings here, but most of them are pretty self-explanatory.
Now let’s add a Gradient Overlay.
By default, the Gradient Overlay will probably use a Foreground to Background gradient, which is not exactly what we are looking for (unless we’ve setup the Foreground and Background Colors in Photoshop specifically for this step). That’s OK though, because we can easily adjust the gradient from here.
Click on the gradient shown in the Gradient Picker (Black fading to White in the above diagram). This will bring up the Gradient Editor. From the Gradient Editor, you may choose a gradient preset, or create a new custom gradient of your own. Towards the bottom of the editor is the current gradient, with Opacity Stops (Determine how opaque the gradient is at a specific point) and Color Stops (Determine what colors are used in the Gradient). We can add, delete, and modify stops by clicking anywhere above or below the gradient, or by clicking on the stops themselves.
We only want to modify the current color stops. Double Click the first color stop, and apply the color #50a2e7, and then apply the color #75cefc to the right most stop. Click OK to Apply the Gradient.
Click OK to apply the layer style you’ve created.
Congratulations! You’re now skilled in the art of layer effects and styles!
Now What?
You’ve reached the end of this post. Seeing you made it this far means you might be interested in these related articles and resources:
This is a tutorial assignment intended to be used by School of Photoshop participants. This guide will test your abilities as a beginner in Photoshop, and show you how to create a simple flyer for an event.
ATTENTION VIEWERS: This is not an ordinary tutorial. It’s main purpose is to test users abilities who are going through the School of Photoshop here at Tutorial9. It may be followed as any ordinary tutorial here if you wish, but we highly suggest you take a look at what else we have to offer here!
ATTENTION SCHOOL OF PHOTOSHOP VIEWERS: Before viewing this tutorial, you should have completed Pre-School through 8th Grade in our School of Photoshop series, or have a good understanding of the workspace and tools of Photoshop. This lesson will test your abilities, and make sure you are ready for grades 9-12 in the School of Photoshop! We’ll provide links to refresh your memory if you get stuck.
What We’re Making
In this tutorial, we will be creating a simple flyer for a fictitious event. This lesson will review skills covered in grades 1-8 of the School of Photoshop. Here’s a quick look at the final product:
Source Materials
This flyer requires that you have one image (which we’ll provide in a moment). Keep in mind that all source materials provided from Tutorial9 may not be redistributed without proper citation (usually, a link near the image will do just fine for websites) just as any other copyrighted work.
You’ll need to download the following image before starting:
Simple Flyer Source Image (Opens in New Window)
Getting Started
To begin, create a new document with the following specifications:
Width: 8 Inches
Height: 10 Inches
Resolution: 72 pixels/inch
Background: White
These specifications certainly would not meet high quality printing requirements, but for our purposes, this will do just fine.
Open the source image provided earlier in this tutorial. Select the entire image (Select > All or Ctrl + A).
Copy the selected image (Edit > Copy or Ctrl + C), and paste (Edit > Paste or Ctrl + V) the contents into your new document. It should automatically paste onto a new layer.
Scale to Fit
Our source image is a bit larger than the active image area in our new document. We need to scale down the image so that it fits the specifications of our flyer.
Use a Scale Transformation to resize the image to approximately the same size as the active image area. Remember, Hold Shift to constrain proportions while applying a scale transformation!
Getting an Exact Fit
Here’s a handy tip that will give you a precise fit when applying a scale transformation. You can actually set the exact dimensions you’d like to scale your selected object to in the Options Bar once you’ve started the transformation from Edit > Transform > Scale. In our case here, we’d set H to 10in and W to 8in.
Repairing the Image
There are two parts of this image that I find particularly distracting. One is a leaf in the top left of the photo, while another annoyance in the leaf in the bottom left. Here they are highlighted below:
Now, we could go set this shot up again, and take a new picture without the leaves, but that would take up a lot of our time. Instead, we’ll just repair the image using Photoshop.
Using one of the Retouch or Healing Tools get rid of the highlighted imperfections in your image. I used the patch tool to fix these areas myself.
After fixing both imperfections, you ought to have a nice clean photo like the example shown below.
Adding a Vignette Effect
Adding a vignette to a photograph is a really simple way to focus in on something, or just a nice soft way to fade a graphic out. To create our Vignette Effect, we’re going to use the Brush Tool.
Create a New Layer in your flyer document.
Select the Brush Tool from the toolbar, and then pick a large, soft brush tip. Select black as your foreground color.
Using your large, soft, black brush, paint along the edges and corners of your active image area (on your new layer). You may want to zoom out a bit to make this step easier (Ctrl + -). Remember to zoom back in to 100% with Ctrl + “+”.
Adding Type to the Flyer
The next step in our flyer design is adding type to the bottom left corner. We’re going to be working with the type tools to set the text.
This part is pretty straightforward. Create three type layers with some text of your own, or use the example text I’m using. Additionally, adjust your font family, size, and style as you see fit. I’m using the crisp anti-aliasing method, which you might find suitable as well. Be sure to set your text to white.
Creating the Sidebar
Create a New Layer.
Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool, create a selection along the right side of your flyer extending from top to bottom of the active image area. Fill this area with the Paint Bucket Tool (using a black foreground color). Once the selection is filled, Deselect (Select > Deselect or Ctrl + D), and use a large, soft, eraser to fade out the bottom.
Branding the Document
Since this is a fictitious event, sponsored by a fictitious organization, we’re going to use a preset custom shape as our means of branding this flyer.
Use the Custom Shape Tool, and select a preset shape from the options bar. Set your shape somewhere at the top of your sidebar, and make sure that your shapes color is White. You can hold shift to constrain your shapes proportions as your drawing it.
Additionally, let’s add some type going down the right sidebar with the Vertical Type Tool. Choose a new font family, and a size that fits well into the flyer.
Final Brushing
We’re almost done! As a finishing touch to our simple flyer, we’re going to add some nifty leaves in the bottom right corner with the Brush Tool. Photoshop already has a preset that we can use to accomplish this, making it all the easier!
Create a New Layer, and select a Foreground Color of White.
From your Brushes Palette, scroll through your brush presets, and select Scattered Maple Leaves.
In your new layer, create a small splash of leaves in the bottom right corner. It may take you a few tries to create a nice effect (Just use Ctrl + “Z” to undo, or Ctrl + Alt + “Z” to do multiple undo’s). Once you complete this, your flyer is complete!
Congratulations! If you’ve made it this far, that means that you have successfully completed Pre-School through the 8th grade of the School of Photoshop! You’re now ready to begin on grades 9-12!
Using Transform in Photoshop
Return to the School of Photoshop
Saving Images for the Web
Now What?
You’ve reached the end of this post. Seeing you made it this far means you might be interested in these related articles and resources:
In Photoshop, Transform is used to scale, rotate, skew, and just distort the perspective of any graphic you’re working with in general. This tutorial will teach you how to use Transform to adjust your images.
Scaling Graphics
One of the most basic transformations Photoshop is capable of is scaling a graphic. Scaling allows you to enlarge or shrink a graphic around a reference point. To scale a graphic, we go to Edit > Transform > Scale.
A set of handles will appear around our selected elements in the document (such as layers, or shapes). By moving anyone of these handles, we can adjust the size of the object. To apply the transformation, hit Enter.
Constraining Proportions while Scaling
Often times, you’ll find it necessary to constrain the proportions of your objects when scaling. This can easily be achieved by Holding Shift while dragging a transformation handle. You can additionally scale from the center reference point by Holding Alt (or Option on Mac OS), or combine the two by holding shift and alt at the same time while scaling.
Rotating Objects in Photoshop
To Rotate an Object in Photoshop, go to Edit > Transform > Rotate. Handles will appear as they did with a Scaling Transform, but instead of dragging one of these, go just outside of the object until you see a curved arrow rotate icon.
At this point, simple drag left or right to rotate the selected object. Once again, you must finish applying the transformation by pressing Enter.
Be Precise with your Rotations!
You can rotate in 15 Degree Increments with this useful little shortcut. While you’re rotating an object, simply hold down the shift button.
Skew, Distort, and Perspective Transformations
The next 3 transformations are all similar, because they are all controlled by dragging handles. That is not to say that they are used to do the same thing, they simply all operate in the same manner. You can apply a Skew, Distort, or Perspective Transformation from Edit > Transform.
Skew: Skew transformations slant objects either vertically or horizontally.
Distort: Distort transformations allow you to stretch an image in ANY direction freely.
Perspective: The Perspective transformation allows you to add perspective to an object.
Warping an Object
The Warp Transformation is quite a bit different compared to the other transformations. The entire shape of the object can be modified, making this transformation useful for several different effects. To use a Warp Transformation go to Edit > Transform > Warp. A Mesh will appear over your object that you can adjust by dragging control points, lines, or any other area inside of it. You can additionally apply a preset warp from the options bar.
Drawing and Type Tools in Photoshop
Return to the School of Photoshop
Create a Simple Flyer
Now What?
The Drawing and Type tools are used to create vector graphics, as well as set type inside of documents. While Photoshop is not really considered a vector graphic editor, it is possible to create vector based shapes and elements that can be resized without losing quality!
The Type Tools
The default type tool is the Horizontal Type Tool, which is used to set horizontally oriented type inside of an image. Although Photoshop is a raster based program, it preserves the vector-based type outlines meaning that type can be scaled to any size without losing quality. This property allows us to easily configure type size, style, and other attributes, as well as modify them later on in the design process.
Enough of the technical side though. To set type in an image, first select the Horizontal or Vertical Type Tool, and click anywhere inside of your image. You should immediately see a cursor start blinking where you can begin typing. In the options bar, you’ll notice some settings for the currently selected type.
Font Family - Set the currently selected type to a specific font family.
Font Style - Set the font style of the currently selected type. Common styles include bold, italic, and regular.
Font Size - Change the size of the selected type.
Anti-Aliasing Method - Set the method used for anti-aliasing on your type. Anti-Aliasing allows you to create smooth edged type by partially filling edges of the text (rather than the single color, jagged alternative when set to “None”).
Here’s a quick demo showing how Type can be adjusted (Rollover to see changes):
There is much more to Type in Photoshop than shown here, but it would be way outside the scope of this lesson to give much more than a cursory glance of how to use this tool. Additional reading on the Type tool can be found elsewhere on Tutorial9.
Interested in learning more about the Type Tools? Check out these other Photoshop Tutorials to learn more! Otherwise, we’ll be covering more about the Type Tools in future lessons.
• How to quickly change Text Orientation in Adobe Photoshop
Using Shape Tools in Photoshop
There are quite a few predefined vector-based shapes in Adobe Photoshop, all of which can be easily added to graphics. There are 6 different kind of Shape Tools in all.
Rectangle Tool - Creates a rectangle shape (or square if constraining proportions by holding shift).
Rounded Rectangle Tool - Creates a rectangle with rounded corners. The roundness of the corner can be controlled by setting a radius in the options bar.
Ellipse Tool - Creates an ellipse shape (or perfect circle if constraining proportions by holding shift).
Polygon Tool - Creates a polygon shape with a specified number of sides set in the options bar.
Line Tool - Creates a line shape.
Custom Shapes - Use predefined shapes (or user created ones) in your graphic.
To create a shape in your image, simply select the shape tool you want to use, adjust the settings for that tool in the options bar, and then drag our your shape in the active image area (in the same fashion you’d create a selection with one of the selection tools).
Be Aware! When you are creating new shapes in Photoshop, make sure you have Shape Layers selected to create new shapes. Otherwise, you may end up creating non-vector based shapes on the current layer, or paths rather than vector-based shapes on there own individual layer.
The Pen Tool
The Pen Tool is often considered by beginner users to be the most difficult tool to get used too. Thankfully, we’ve put together a great little guide to help such users familiarize themselves with the pen tool. Check out our Pen Tool Basics tutorial to learn how to use the pen tool, and how to create your very own custom shapes in Photoshop.
Photoshop’s Painting Tools
Return to the School of Photoshop
Using Transform in Photoshop
Now What?
The selection tools are used to facilitate the process of making selections of shapes, colors, and objects inside of Photoshop, and positioning them in the working image area. With tools like the magnetic lasso and magic wand, Photoshop packs a powerful array of selection gadgets!
In Photoshop, selections are used to work in a specified area, while not altering any of the area around it. In many regards, a selection is a lot like a stencil. You basically are enabling yourself to only paint in one area while the rest of your canvas is left unaffected.
There are a variety of tools to help you draw out specific sizes and shapes of selections in Photoshop.
Marquee Tools
The marquee tools are used to make rectangular, elliptical, horizontal and vertical line selections. To create a selection with a marquee tool, simple hold down your mouse button over the active image area, and drag out your shape.
Piece of cake!
Perfect Circle and Square Selections
When making selections with the Rectangular Marquee Tool or Elliptical Marquee Tool, it’s possible to make perfect square and circular selections by holding shift when drawing our your selection.
Lasso Tools
The Lasso Selection Tools allow you to make selections of irregular shapes. Using the ordinary lasso tool, simply click and drag a freehand selection with your mouse. With the Polygonal Lasso Tool, click to make various points which will define a selection, and finish your selection by clicking the starting point.
The Magnetic Lasso Tool sort of combines the first two tools mentioned here. You click once, and begin to drag a freehand selection around the object you wish to select. The magnetic lasso tool tries to automatically create points itself while you follow the edge of your object (you can define points by clicking if needed). The end result is a much smoother selection than the polygonal lasso tool will make.
Now we have a general idea of how to make selections of various shapes in Photoshop. There is also a way to select objects and areas based on color.
Magic Wand Tool
The Magic Wand Tool is unlike the rest of the selection tools, in that is selects areas based on color. To use the Magic Wand Tool, you simply point and click the color you want to select in the active image area.
Take the diagram below for example. Using the Magic Wand Tool, it simply takes one click in the white area to make a selection of that space.
Here’s a tip that ought to come in handy! While using the Magic Wand Tool, it’s possible to select a wider (or more narrow) range of colors when making your selection by adjusting the Tolerance value in the options bar. The higher the value, the more similar colors will be selected!
Combining Selections
Sometimes, it’s necessary to combine multiple selections in order to select the ENTIRE area you want to work with. In times like these, it’s possible to combine multiple selections using an easy keyboard shortcut.
Working from an existing selection, simply hold shift and create a new selection. This will add your new selection to the existing selection.
Subtracting and Intersecting Selections
Just like it is possible to add to an existing selection, you can also subtract from a selection (Hold Alt when drawing a new selection) and intersect selections (Hold Shift and Alt while drawing a new selection).
Move Tool
The Move Tool is used for moving selected areas of an image, layers, shapes, and other objects.
To move a selected part of an image, simply select the move tool, and then click and drag your selection as you please. This will Cut the selection out from it’s current location, and reposition it to wherever you release the mouse button.
Essentially, moving a selected object is like cutting out a part of a painting, and then putting it somewhere else. Just like cutting something out from a painting, the area which was cutout will now show whatever is behind the canvas (in this case, the background color, or layer behind that area).
Crop Tool
The Crop Tool is used to resize the canvas and active image area. To use the crop tool, simply drag out a square that encompasses the area which you want to become the new canvas size.
Note that cropping an image will not delete layer data. All layer data is preserved when an image is cropped to be smaller in size. Some layer data may just not be visible since it might become outside of the active image area.
Working with Layers in Photoshop
Return to the School of Photoshop
Retouch and Healing Tools
Now What?
In this lesson, you’ll be introduced to Adobe Photoshop’s Toolbox, and a lot of the tools it has to offer. A solid understanding of the tools showcased in this tutorial will lead to better comprehension of Photoshop in general.
Anatomy of the Toolbox
The toolbox in Photoshop is split up into 4 unique categories so that finding the right tool is never a hassle. Those categories are:
1. Selection, Crop & Slice Tools
2. Retouch & Paint Tools
3. Drawing & Type Tools (Vector Tools)
4. Annotations & Measurement Tools
In addition to these 4 sections a few other components make up the toolbox, most notably, the Foreground and Background colors.
Now that you see how the tools are all organized, let’s take a look at some of the most vital tools Photoshop has to offer. This is really just a cursory glance of the toolbox, as we’d be crazy to go into detail for EVERY SINGLE tool Photoshop has to offer in a single lesson, but you ought to now have an understanding what some of the tools are capable of. We’ll go over how to use many of these tools in later lessons.
Selection Tools
The Marquee Tools are used for selecting objects such as rectangles, squares, and ellipses.
The Move Tool is used to move selections, objects, and layers.
There are several Lasso Tools which are used to make irregular selections. There is a polygonal lasso tool for polygon selections, and a magnetic lasso tool which automatically follows edges of objects.
The Magic Wand Tool selects an area of similar colors in a single click (such as the white in the cloud logo).
The Crop Tool allows users to redefine their active image area but not resize the ENTIRE image. It’s sort of like cutting out a smaller picture from a larger photo with a pair of scissors.
Retouch Tools
There are several healing tools in Photoshop which are used to repair imperfections in images, or handle blemishes and red-eye.
With the Clone Stamp Tool, a user may select a source starting point somewhere on an image, and then paint elsewhere using that starting point as a reference, effectively cloning the source.
The Eraser Tool can be used to erase parts of an image, selection, or layer.
The Sharpen Tool is used to sharpen edges in an image, while the Blur Tool burs edges. The Smudge Tool smudges an image, similar to using fingerpaint.
The Dodge Tool lightens parts of an image while the Burn Tool darkens. The Sponge Tool is used to saturate, or desaturate parts of an image.
Painting Tools
The Brush and Pencil tools are used to paint strokes in graphics. These tools can be highly customized for very effective painting.
The Fill Tools are used to fill entire layers, selections and areas with a solid color, or gradient.
Vector Drawing & Type Tools
The Type Tools are used for creating and setting type in an image. Both vertical and horizontal type can be created.
The Pen Tools are used to create clear shapes and paths which can be used as vector objects that can be scaled to any size.
Cutom Shapes are vector objects that can be created on the fly from a list of presets (including user created shapes).
Foreground / Background Color
A foreground color and background color can be set to be used to paint with, color text, and fill objects among other things. This view provides an easy way to see what colors are currently selected, and allows for easy switching between two different colors.
Using Tools
To actually use a tool varies from case to case (again, we’ll be covering nearly everything you’d want to know in the future lessons). To Select a Tool from the toolbox, simply click it once. If the tool displayed has a black arrow in the bottom right corner, that means that there are more tools of that type hidden underneath it. To select one of these hidden tools, hold down the mouse button while over it, and then release once you’re over the tool you’d like to select.
Using Palettes in Photoshop
Return to the School of Photoshop
Working with Layers in Photoshop
Now What?
You’ve reached the end of this post. Seeing you made it this far means you might be interested in these related articles and resources:
In Photoshop, palettes are used to help modify and monitor your documents. An understanding of how to use, organize, and adjust palettes is essential in learning how to use Photoshop.
The Palettes
In order to show you how big of a role palettes play in Photoshop, simply Press Tab in Photoshop to hide all palettes. Palettes include everything from the toolbox, to the option bar, to the layers and colors windows.
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to:
• Arrange palettes
• Resize, show and hide palettes
• Close, Open, and Reset palettes
• Use options inside of palettes
Arranging Palettes
It’s possible to arrange palettes to your personal taste. Doing so can help increase your efficiency by moving your most frequently used palettes to a more accessible part of the screen.
To move a palette to a separate palette group, or into a palette group of its own, drag and drop that palettes tab into another group, or anywhere else in the work area.
To move a palette group, drag the title bar of that palette with your mouse, and release when it is positioned as you see fit.
You can also Dock Palettes to one another by having their upper and lower edges meet one another. When a palette is docked to another, it will snap into place.
Resizing, Showing, and Hiding Palettes
Perhaps you’re working with a palette with a large number of styles, colors, or layers, all of which you like to be accessible at the same time. You can resize many of the palettes by dragging the bottom right corner out to whichever size you prefer.
If you want to hide (minimize) a palette that you’re not currently using to save up on space, simply double click that palettes tab. Likewise, you can expand a minimized tablet by double clicking the tab again.
Closing, Opening, and Reseting Palettes
If you have some tablets open that serve no use to you for your current work, it’s possible to close out of them by clicking the “x” in the top right corner of the palette (On a mac, this will be the typical close button).
If you need to open a new palette, or a palette which you have previously closed, go to Window in your menu bar, and select the palette you’d like to reopen.
If you’re ever having trouble getting your palettes back into place, and simply want to revert to the default palette layout, go to Window > Workspace > Reset Palette Locations in your Menu Bar. This will reset everything back to how you started when you first opened Photoshop.
Setting Options in Palettes
Inside palettes, you’ll find all sorts of various settings from color choices, styles, opacity, and other values. We’ll cover many of these options in detail in the future, but for now let’s go over how to operate some of these options.
Drop-down Menus
To operate a drop-down menu, just click the arrow attached to the menu. A list of available inputs will drop down. Click any of these values to select them.
Sliders
Sliders are operated by grabbing a handle by holding down your mouse button over one, and then dragging to your desired value.
Swatches & Styles
To select a color swatch, or layer style, simply hover over it with your mouse, and click once with your mouse.
Getting Started in Photoshop
Return to the School of Photoshop
Photoshop’s Toolbox
Now What?
No comments:
Post a Comment