Introduction to Photoshop
This article will help
familiarize you with the Photoshop platform. For video walkthroughs, see the
Adobe tutorial series here. Also, all Adobe programs
offer in-app tutorials for you to be able to learn the different aspects of the
software, which are a hands-on way to become familiar with each program and its
capabilities.
Create A New Project
1.
Open Photoshop.
2.
Go to 'File > New' or press Ctrl/Cmd + N.
3.
The window that opens will have options for Name, Width, Height,
as well as:
a.
Resolution - This is the resolution of your document. 72 PPI is
used for Web and 300 PPI is for Print. PPI stands for 'Pixels Per Inch'.
b.
Color Mode - This is the color type for your document. I suggest
you leave it as RGB Color for now and keep it as 8 Bit.
c.
Background Contents - This is what your background will be. I
suggest you leave it as White.
d.
Advance Settings - You can just leave it as it is.
4.
Once you have selected the setting you want, click 'OK'.
Some common document sizes:
· 720p - 1280x720 @ 72 PPI
· 1080p - 1920x1080 @ 72 PPI
· A4 - 595x842 @ 72 PPI OR 2480x3508 @ 300 PPI
· A3 - 842x1191 @ 72 PPI OR 3508x4962 @ 300 PPI
Basic Tools
For more detailed information
on the tools, see this article.
Layers, Groups, and Guides
Layers are very useful in
Photoshop. Each layer is an individual which means you can edit it without
editing any of the other layers.
· To create a new layer go into 'Layer > New > Layer'
or click the box with the folded corner at the bottom right-hand corner of the
window.
· Layers can be locked which means that they can't be edited until
you unlock it. There are three different types of Locks.
o Lock Transparent Pixels - This will make the pixels you erase
black instead of getting rid of them.
o Lock Image Pixels - This will mean you can't change the pixels
into anything such as coloring it in.
o Lock Position - This will mean you are not able to move the
image. This option will lock everything which means you will not be able to
edit it at all.
· Layers can be hidden by press the 'Eye' icon next to the
layer. Click it again and the layer will be visible again.
· Some settings can be changed to make the layer look different.
To open the layer style window just double click the layer, which will open a
new window. Some things you can do are:
o Opacity - Change the opacity of the layer.
o Stroke - Put an outline on the layer.
o Inner Shadow - Puts a shadow inside the layer which gives it an
effect of it is going inside.
o Inner Glow - Put a glow on the inside.
o Color Overlay - Put colors on top of the layer.
o Gradient Overlay - Put a gradient on top of the layer.
o Pattern Overlay - Put a pattern on top of the layer.
o Outer Glow - Put a glow outside the layer.
o Drop Shadow - Put a shadow underneath the layer which gives the
effect of it floating.
Groups are used to organize
your layers. You can create a group by clicking on the folder button at the
button right-hand corner of the window.
Guides are very useful. To
make a new guide go to 'View > New Guide'. This will bring up a new
window. You can choose whether the guide is vertical or horizontal. I suggest
when you start a new project you make two guides, one vertical at 50% and the
other horizontal at 50%.
Filters and Image Adjustments
Filters.
1.
Go to 'Filter > Filter Gallery'. This will open a new
window. You might have to adjust the zoom from '100%' to 'Fit in View'. This is
located at the bottom left corner of the window.
2.
You will have a lot of different filters, so the best thing to
do is look at all of them and pick the best one.
Image Adjustments.
· Brightness and Contrast
o Go to 'Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast'
o You will now see two sliders, one for the brightness and the
other for contrast. Play around with the slider until you think your photo
looks better.
· Vibrance
o Go to 'Image > Adjustments > Vibrance'
o You will now see two sliders, one for vibrance and the other for
saturation. Play around with the slider until you think your photo looks
better.
· There are a lot of other settings you can change. If you want to
know what they all do you should play around with them. The main reason you
would use them is to change the color of a picture.