Interactive Media Center http://library.albany.

edu/imc/ 518 442-3608

AdobePhotoshopCS2 BasicTips
AdobePhotoshopisasophisticated,expertlevelimageproducingsoftware.Itisdesignedtoworkwith digitalimagefilesformultiplepurposesincludingposters,photographs,forwebuseandart!Photoshopis availableonbothWindowsXPandMacintoshworkstations,equippedwith CD/DVDburners. The followingnotessupplementthe1hourintroductorysessiononAdobePhotoshop.Additionalhandoutsare availableinourlabandontheweb:http://library.albany.edu/imc/tutimages.htm Additionalclasses aboutspecificaspectsofPhotoshopareavailable.Refertothescheduleofclassesontheweb: http://library.albany.edu/imc/signup_form.htm ComprehensiveclassesareavailablethroughITS: http://web.albany.edu/its/training/ TheInteractiveMediaCenterhasmanualsinquireatthe InteractiveMediaCenterdesk.Colorlaserprintingisavailable.Shouldyourequestehuseofadigital camera,plasecontactastaffmemberoftheIMC:http://library.albany.edu/imc/contact.htm ThecopyrightlawoftheUnitedStates(Title17,UnitedStatesCode)governsthereproductionof copyrightedmaterial.Thepersonusingequipmentandsoftwareisliableforanyinfringement. 1. Tobegin,resetyourtoolsandpalettes.Toresetthetools,underneaththetoplinemenuandtheword File,rightclickonthetoolicon.SelectResetAllTools.ThenselectWindow>Workspace> ResetPaletteLocations. 2. WhenworkinginPhotoshopitisrecommendedthatyoudisplaythefollowingfloatingpalettes.Select Window on theMenubarthenselect HistoryHistoryrecordsanddisplaysallchangesmadetotheimagelistedwiththemostrecent actiononthebottom.Asyouselectupthelistyouareabletoundocommandsandeliminateor repeatactiongreatforrepeatundo. Toolsmustdisplaythispalette. LayersWhenyouimportanimageintoPhotoshopitisthebackgroundlayer.Addingaffects, changingcolors,andusingotherelementsthatcanbeselected,addedorremovedcreatesa compositeimageofmultiplelayers.TheuseoflayersiskeytoPhotoshopitprovidesforahigh degreeofcontrol.Layersallowyoutocopy,crop,move,color,create,revise,etc.partsofyour imagefilewithoutimpactingotherareasatthesametime.(Thinkoflayersassheetsofacetate stackedoneontopoftheother.Wherethereisnoimageonalayer,youcanseethroughtothe layersbelow.BehindalllayersisthebackgroundAdobePhotoshop5.0manual,pg.259). 3. NotetheUndocommandfromtheTopLineMenu. Edit>Undoallowsyoutoremovethelast executedcommand.Or,usethekeyboardshortcutCtrl+ z. 4. Wheneditingafileworkfromtheharddrive.SaveorcopyyourfiletotheC:\MyDocuments folderonWindowsXPmachinesandtheIMCPublicfolderontheMacs.

Page 1of 4

5. Crop,Cut,Copy,Paste Areasonyourimagemaybeselectedandaltered.TheCropcommand allowsyoutoselectareasonyourimagetosaveandtocutoutordeletetheareaaroundthose selectedareas.Copy[Ctrl+C]andpaste[Ctrl+V]allowsyoutoselectareastorepeat(copy)andplace inthesameimage,toputontoanewcanvasortoaddtoanotherimage(createacollageaffect). a. Toeditafile,keeptheoriginalimageintactandcopyandpasteittoanothercanvastoeditit. FromthetoplineMenuselectFile>Newtoopenanewfile(blankcanvas)orFile>Opento openanotherimagefiletoaddinformationtoortakeinformationfrom.Selecttheentire originalimageorapartofitandcopyandpasteittotheothercanvas. b. Fromthetoolspalette,usethemarqueetool orthelassotool .Themarqueetoolis usedtomakerectangularorellipticalselectionsofregularshape(seeoptionsbyholdingdown themousebutton).Thelassotoolisusedtomakefreehandselectionsofgenerallyirregular shapes.Themagneticlassowillinstinctivelyoutlinetheedgeoftheimage.Repeatclickand dragthemouseovertheimageyouwanttooutlinewiththisoption. c. Selecttheportionoftheimageusingoneoftheselectiontools.Pressenterwhenselected. Itsborder,displayedlikemarchingants,indicatesaselectedarea.Ifyouchangeyourmind, selectEdit>Undoorrightclick>Deselect.Orusethekeyboardshortcut[Ctrl+d]. d. SelectImage>CroporselectEdit>Copy or Edit>Cut. Ityouselectcopy [Ctrl+c]orcut [Ctrl+x],gotoanotherfiletopaste[Ctrl+v]orpasteasanewlayerwithinthisimagefile. SelectSaveASandcreateanewfile. Anothercroppingoptionistousethecroptool selectanareaandthenpressenter. fromthetoolpalette.Selectthecroptool,

6. UsetheMovecommand tochangethepositionofaselectedportionorlayeroftheimage.Select whattomovefirst(clickonthelayerorusethemarqueeorlassotool)andthenselecttheMovetool fromthetoolbox.Clickanddragtoreposition. 7. LayersSeeLayeroptionsfromthetoplinemenu.Briefnotesfollow.Alwaysselectthelayerfirst thenexecuteacommand.Thelayerhighlightedinblueistheactiveorselectedlayer.Recommend thatlayersbenamed.RightclickontheselectedlayerintheLayersPalette.SelectLayerProperties tonamethelayer.LayersarelistedintheLayerwindowandstackedintheimagefromtoptobottom. Thatis,theinformationinthefirstlayerlistedintheLayerwindowwillsitontopofthelayers below.Layersmaybereorderedfordifferenteffects.Selectalayeranddragitupordownthelistof layers.LayersmaybecopiedintootherimagefilesbydraggingthelayerfromtheLayersPaletteand droppingitintotheotheropenimagefile.Layersmaybehiddenand/orlocked. 8. AddaTextlayer byfirstselectingtheTextTool .Reviewthetextattributesonthetoolbar.Make selection,orlaterifyoudecidetoeditthetext.ClicksomewherewithinyourimageandaTypetool windowopensbegintyping.Youhavecreatedatextlayerthancanberepositionedwithinyour imagebyusingtheMovetool .Toeditthetext,selectthelayeritresidesinfromtheLayers Palette.ThenselecttheTexttool. Highlightthetexttoeditifyouarenotmakingchangestoallofit. SelectdifferenttextattributesfromtheToolbar.Clickouttoseethechange.

Page 2of 4

9. Savingyourworksaveintwoformats.Alwaysbesttosavethefinalversionwithalllayersintactas aPhotoshopfilefirst(.PSD)justincaseyouneedtoedittotheimageagain.Totransportanduse thefileinanyotherapplication,flattentheimagebeforesaving(compresslayersintoonelayerthe BackgroundLayer).Fromthetoplinemenu,selectLayers>FlattenImage.Thisreducesthefile size.IfyouselectSaveas,SaveaCopy,orSaveforWebmultiplefiletypeswillbelisted.Bestto useafilenameofnotmorethan8alphanumericcharacters.Variousfileformatsmostcommonlyused in SaveAsarelistedbelow.Imagefilescanbequitelarge.IfnecessaryyoumayborrowaUSB (flash,jump)driveto transportyourfilesorpurchaseaCDR,DVDRattheCirculationdesk.FTPis alsoavailableintheIMC. JPEGorJPGusedtodisplayphotosandothercontinuoustoneimages(shading)ontheWeb.JPEG formatsupports24bitcolor.JPEGfilecompressionresultsinsomeinformationlose.NOTE!Forthis reasonalwaysbesttocreatenewJPEGfilesfromanoriginalimage(PSDfile)andnotfrom previouslysavedJPEGfiles.Trytosaveajpegfileonlyonceusetheimageoptionandselecthigh maximumquality.EditfileasaPSDfileandthenSAVEASajpg. GIF(CompuServeGIF)formatuses8bitcolor:Forsimpler,nonphotoimagesonWebpagessuch aslineart,logos,animation,vectorgraphicsandtext."Interlaced"allowsimagetobuildfillindetails asitdownloads. PNGmaybeusedinplaceofGIF.ItissmallerthanaGIFfileandhandlescolorbetter. BMP BitmapusedforWindowsapplications,suchaswallpaperdesignsforscreendisplay. DoNOTuseforWebapplications. TIFFforexchanginggraphicsbetweenapplicationsandplatforms.Fairlygenericformat.DoNOT useforWebapplicationsoremail.Bestformatforimagestoprintortoimportintootherdocuments. BesuretoselectLayer>FlattenImagebeforesaving. PICTFileforMacintoshspecificapplications.DoNOTuseforWebapplications. AdobePDFisamultipageimagefileformultiplepurposesonanyplatform.Usetoputmanyimages intoonefile.CanbeusedontheWebandforprintapplications. Abitoversimplified...SelectImage>ImageSize Toadjustsizefirst!BesurethatConstrainProportionsis selected.Remember,filetype,resolutionandfilesizeare variables.Or,usetheResizeImageWizardselectHelp>Resize Image...Toincreaseanimagesize,beginbyimportingthe imagewithmoreresolutionthanisnecessary. ToadjustforprintSaveasaTIFfileandchangeoneofthe documentsdimensionsintheDocumentSizebox.Resolution shouldbesetat150orgreater.Resolutionshouldalmostnever beincreasedaftertheimageisdigitized!(exception:toincrease printquality,butdecreaseprintsize).Besttomakeall adjustmentsattheworkstationwhereyouaremakingthefinal print.Toenlargeaprint,overscan(i.e.300pixels/inch).DeselectResampleImageandincrease documentsizeorwidth.AlsouseFile>PrintwithPreviewtoadjustplacement,size,etc.Forbest qualityprint,understandthesettingstheoptical(asopposedtointerpolated)resolutionofthescanner, camera,printer,etc.andcalibrate.

Page 3of 4

Toadjustforcomputeruse/webapplications,(website,email,etc.) Setyourmonitorviewto View >ActualPixels.ThenselectImage>ImageSizetousethisbox.SelectResampleImage.Atthefinal stageforsaving,theresolutionshouldbesetat75or100pixels/inchnevergreater.Remember,each timeyousaveajpegfileyouarestrippingthefileofinformationtakingawayfromthequalityofthe picture(removingcolor).ChangethepixeldimensionsinthePixelDimensionbox.Noticethatthefile sizealsochanges.Filesizeisespeciallyimportantforloadingapicturefileandsendingasanattachment toafreeemail accountsuchashotmail.PreviewasavedfileusingNetscapeorInternetExplorer. ToadjustforaPowerPointslideToincreasethesizeofanimage,beginbyoverscanning. Importtheimageatahighresolution(150orgreater)andthenadjustaccordingly.Selectconstrain proportions.WhenreducingthesizeofanimageforaPowerPointslidechangethedocumentsize (inches)notpixeldimensions.Aslidesdimensionsare7.5X10.First,DeSelectResampleimage. Toviewchanges,selectView>ActualPixels.ActualPixelsgivesyoutheviewat100%ofitssize (actualisapproximatedependingonmonitorsettings.).ThenselectResampleImageanddecreasethe resolutionto100110pixels/inch. Saveasjpeg,qualitylevelsetat7.

SomeQuickNotes:
AlwaysopentheimagefileinAdobePhotoshoptoprint.Donotfirstselectthefile.Picture Viewermayopenandyourprintqualitywillbepoororhavethewrongdimensions. Nevereditajpgfile.EditallimagefileseitherasaPSDfileorTIF.Exportyourfinalimageasa jpgfile.(SaveAs).JPGfilesloosedatawitheacheditandsave,overwritingtheimagewitha resultingimageoflessquality. ToadjustforsizeforallimagesusedonaWebsite,editinAdobePhotoshoprather thanadjusting withcode. Ifyouuselayers,savethefinalimagefilewithalllayersintactasaPSDfiletopreservedoptionto editthefile.ThenflattentheimageandSaveAsjpgortiff,etc.withadifferentname. Alwaysplaceyourimageon theharddriveandworkfromtheC:\PublicMyDocumentsfolderon theWindowsXPpcsorIMCPublicfolderontheMac.Iftheimagefiledoesnotfitonafloppy, burnittoaCDorDVD,copytoaUSBdevice(thumbdrive,flashdrive)orborrowazipdiskfor backingupyourworkandtransportability. Forallpicturesthatyouwill eventuallyedit,printorenlarge:Ifusingascanner,settheresolution toahighsetting(150pixels/inchandgreater).Ifusingadigitalcamerabesuretousehighquality settings(minimalornocompression).Youcanalwaysremoveinformation(reducetheresolution) toshareimagesontheInternetoruploadtoaWebpage.Viewoverallpixelsinthepicturenot justpixels/inch.Ifyourcameraproducesjpgfiles.SaveAsPSDorTififyouintendtodo anythingbutusetheimageasis. Whatyouseeonscreenisnoguaranteethattheprintedpicturelooksthesame.

2/2/03rev.9/032/00411/20049/200512/06

Page 4of 4