Getting startED with photoshop An Adobe Creative Campus Workshop

WELCOME!

Thank you for joining us for this workshop!! We highly recommend that you have Photoshop installed before the workshop and bring a few images you want to work on!

Workshop Assets

Agenda

All demo files used are available for download in the Workshop Assets Folder

Click here for Additional Resources

Main Keyboard Shortcuts

CMD/CTRL Z - Step backwards (undo)
CMD/CTRL O - Open a file
CMD/CTRL S - Save
CMD/CTRL T - Free Transform
CMD/CTRL +/-/0 - Zoom in/Zoom out/Fit to screen
SPACEBAR (held) - Hand tool
C - Crop
V - Move Tool
B - Brush
W - Quick Select Tool
J - Healing tool
[ or ] - Resize brush based tools

Adobe PHOTOSHOP

Photoshop is an incredibly versatile and powerful application for editing raster (pixel) based media. It is the industry standard for image compositing and editing, but is also used for graphic design, 3d, video, web-design, and illustration!

Although PS is a massive program, getting started is not as daunting as it may seem!

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PHOTOSHOP WORKSPACE

Photoshop has a dynamic workspace that can be customized to fit your workflow

WORKSPACE SELECTOR

Photoshop has a dynamic workspace with customizable presets. For this workshop, we will be working in the "Photography" workspace (go to Window>Workspace>"Photography").

CANVAS

The canvas is the area where you can create and edit images. Anything outside of the canvas will be cropped out. The checkerboard represents areas without any pixels.

TOOLBAR

The toolbar is the strip of icons on the left-hand side. There are many tools but for now we will focus on knowing that tools have "drawers" and keyboard shortcuts.

TOOL OPTIONS BAR

The options bar appears below the menu bar at the top of the workspace. The options bar is context sensitive—it changes as you select different tools. Some settings in the options bar (such as painting modes and opacity) are common to several tools, and some are specific to one tool.

LAYERS PANEL

The Layers panel in Photoshop lists all layers, layer groups, and layer effects in an image. You can use the Layers panel to show and hide layers, create new layers, and work with groups of layers. You can access additional commands and options in the Layers panel menu.

A. Layers panel menu B. Filter C. Layer Group D. Layer E. Expand/Collapse Layer effects F. Layer effect G. Layer thumbnail

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OPENING & ADJUSTING AN IMAGE

OPEN AN IMAGE

To edit an image in Photoshop, go to File>Open and select the file(s) you would like open. Alternatively, you can drag the image to the PS icon on your Dock/Task Bar.

CROP & STRAIGHTEN

Using the Crop tool, you can trim edges, change the shape and size of a photo, and even straighten a crooked shoreline or horizon.

From the toolbar, select the Crop Tool (C) . Crop borders display on the edges of the photo.
Draw a new cropping area or drag the corner and edge handles to specify the crop boundaries in your photo.

A. Aspect Ratio menu B. Swap Width and Height values C. Overlay Options

IMPROVE LIGHTING & COLOR

ADJUSTMENT LAYERS

You can find the adjustment layer panel under Window>Adjustments.

levels

The levels adjustment layer allows you to control the brightness and contrast of an image.

A. Shadows B. Midtones C. Highlights D. Output Level sliders

Generally speaking, moving the shadow and highlight sliders closer to the middle will make a more vivid image.

Adjust color with HUE/SATURATION

Saturation describes the intensity of a color, adding saturation will make all colors in the image stronger.

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RESIZING IMAGES

Choose Image > Image Size.
Measure width and height in pixels for images you plan to use online or in inches (or centimeters) for images to print. Keep the link icon highlighted to preserve proportions. This automatically adjusts the height when you change the width and vice versa.
Select Resample to change the number of pixels in the image. This changes the image size.
Click OK.

Resizing In-Depth

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SELECTIONS & MASKING

These tools are how you can remove a background or combine several different images together. There are many ways to make a selection, this is just an introduction!

SELECTIONS

In this example, the select area has been turned black & white without affecting the rest of the image

A selection isolates part of an image so you can work on that area without affecting the rest of the image. You can identify a selection by the "marching ants" created.

MASKS

A mask is like a "stencil" on top of your layer. The portions that are white show the layer, the black portions hide the layer.

Layers with masks will have a second rectangle. In this image, the first to layers have an unedited mask while the botom layer has a mask to hide the background.

You can add a mask to a layer and use the mask to hide portions of the layer and reveal the layers below. Masking layers is a useful for combining multiple photos into a single image or for removing a person or an object from a photo.

This selection can be turned into a mask to isolate the subject

You can add a mask to layer by clicking this icon at the bottom of your layers panel

Masks are often used together selections because you can convert any selection into a mask, allowing you to hide the unselected parts of the image.

AUTOMATED SELECTION TOOLS

With the image layer selected, your properties panel will have these two buttons available.

Remove Background: When you click this, Photoshop will attempt to identify the subject, select the subject, and apply a mask to remove the background.
Select Subject: This feature will find and select the subject without applying any masks.

SELECT & MASK WORKSPACE

Go to Select>Select & Mask to entire this workspace. Here you will have tools to create a selection and the option to add a mask at the end.

SELECTION TOOLS

Quick Select Tool (W): Paint inside the pixels you would like to select, it will spread out and search for the edges. Hold option/alt to remove unwanted parts of the selection
Lasso (L): What you draw is what is selected! Be sure to create an entire loops
Marquee (M): Select using geometric shapes

Dive Deeper into Masks

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RETOUCHING

The spot healing brush uses content aware technology to analyze your image and replace pixels.

Spot Healing Brush (J): With the desired layer selected, simply paint over small portions of the image you would like removed.

You can instruct Photoshop how to replace the selection by painting the area you would like sampled.

Content Aware Fill: Select the pixels you would like to remove and go to Edit>Content Aware Fill...

SAVING (EXPORT)

File>Export>Export As will let you choose the format (PNG, JPEG, or GIF), quality, and resolution of your image with a preview and size approximation.

There are many ways to save a finished image, going to File>Export>Export As will give you several options in one workspace.

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Adobe Arizona Learning Resource

Adobe Arizona Youtube Channel

Photoshop User's Guide

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Created By

Alejandro Gonzalez

Appreciate

Credits:

Created with images by unclepodger - "Narrow cobblestone street in old town" • thepoorphotographer - "bear nature animals" • EBFoto - "Polar bear close-up" • Gadini - "ribbon measuring tape metro" • suju-foto - "line hemp cord tie"