Photoshop Part 6

This is the sixth in a series of tutorials on Photoshop by Guru Dan Peters. Since the TriCasters don't ship with a paint application many users are using Photoshop to build graphics for use in CG designer or directly in the DDR so Dan the creator of  a series of video tutorials called Master The Basics Of Adobe Photoshop in under 2 Hours is here to help us out.

 "Learning Photoshop - The Toolbox"

Learning to use Photoshop does not have to be difficult. In fact, the more you learn about Photoshop and the wide range of applications available the more excited you will be able the possibilities for creating professional quality images and graphics for web sites, marketing materials and more.

The Photoshop toolbox is where it all happens. Almost every single thing you do in Photoshop will involve using tools from the toolbox.

Learning to use the Photoshop toolbox will require a good Photoshop tutorial but the following should give you an idea of the functions available.

The following are a list of the tools included in the Photoshop toolbox and their applications. This is not a comprehensive list but includes the most commonly used tools.

Marquee tool

This tool is part of the selection tool and allows the user to selections.

Move tool

The move tool is used to move layers and selected objects within the canvas.

Brush tool

The brush tool paints brush strokes.

History brush

You will want to learn to use the history brush tool as it can take you back to the original state of the selection. You have a lot off fun with this tool. Once you learn to use it properly you will be amazed by the professional photo effects you can produce.

Eraser tool

This tool erases solid colored areas.

Dodge tool

This tool lightens areas of your picture selectively.

Burn tool

This took make areas on your image darker. Burning and dodging are techniques that were original practiced by photographers in traditional darkrooms for the purpose of lightening or darkening images.

Type tool

The type tool is used to put text on your image.

Type Mask tool

The type mask tool is a tool located on the toolbar that allows you to create a selection in the form of text or type.

The real benefit of Photoshop over some of the lesser photo editing software applications is the toolbox. Many of the cheaper photo editing programs do not provide such a wide selection of tools allowing the user to have total control over the creative process.

Photoshop puts total control over your final image in your hands. That is why so many professions use Photoshop.

Photoshop Part 5

This is the fifth in a series of tutorials on Photoshop by Guru Dan Peters. Since the TriCasters don't ship with a paint application many users are using Photoshop to build graphics for use in CG designer or directly in the DDR so Dan the creator of  a series of video tutorials called Master The Basics Of Adobe Photoshop in under 2 Hours is here to help us out. Todays hints are especially handy for cutting out elements to re-use on a CG page.

 "Precise Photo Editing is Made Easy with Photoshop’s Grow Tool"

If you have been learning to do digital photo editing in Photoshop and have been going crazy trying to do precise object selection the following information is going to be music to your ears.

Just about everything you do in Photoshop seems to involve selecting objects or people for purposes such as copying, color correction, special effects, and more.

Have you ever wanted to cut an irregular shaped object out of the photo for use with another background?

It can be difficult if not darned near impossible to perfectly select the object using your mouse and the selection tool.

Let me introduce you to the “grow” tool. The grow tool give you the ability to easily select an object with a photograph with almost perfection.

What used to be an enormous source of frustration is now a breeze. In fact, the “grow” tool makes what was previously often considered impossible possible.

Here is how the grow tool works. Let’s say you have an irregularly shaped object that you need to select for the purpose of extracting it from the original image for use in digital photo collage.

Without the grow tool you would have to increase the size of the image and slow move your curser around the object until you had selected the entire object and even then your selection would probably be off quite a bit.

Another option might be to use he magic wand tool but the grow tool works wonderfully for this purpose.

When you select an area within an object the grow tool makes the selection grow or expand to the areas adjacent that are similar in color.

Using the grow tool you don’t need to worry about selecting your object perfectly to the edge. Just select the best you can and let the grow tool expand your selection to the edge of the object.

PhotoShop Part 4

This is the fourth in a series of tutorials on Photoshop by Guru Dan Peters. Since the TriCasters don't ship with a paint application many users are using Photoshop to build graphics for use in CG designer or directly in the DDR so Dan the creator of  a series of video tutorials called Master The Basics Of Adobe Photoshop in under 2 Hours is here to help us out.

 "Layers - The Backbone of Photoshop"

Adobe Photoshop is not cheap. There are certainly more affordable photo editing software applications available on the Internet but there are reasons why Photoshop is so popular among professional web designers, photographers, and graphic design specialists.

The ability of Photoshop to allow you to work in layers makes otherwise complex designs easy.

If you are learning how to use Photoshop to do your graphic designs than make sure you pay special attention to the section on how to use layers.

To illustrate how layers work imagine you have a piece of paper. This piece of paper is your background. You could leave the background white or paint it any color you wish. Now, let’s assume you want to add a photograph of a sunset.

Your photograph of the sunset is on a transparent paper and you lay it over the top of your background. The sunset image is on your first layer. Now, let’s assume you want to add some text.

Your text is on another sheet of transparent paper and you lay it over the top. This is your second layer. You can add as many layers as you wish. You can also change the order of the layers.

For example, if you decide you want the text layer to be behind the sunset layer you can move the layers easily with a few clicks of the mouse.

This is essentially the same way you create graphics and complex images in Photoshop.

The beauty of layers is that if you decide for instance that you don’t want a sunset and you would rather have an image of a beach you can simply delete the sunset layer and add an a new layer for the beach image without disturbing the background or the text layer.

Working in Photoshop with layers allows you to experiment without fear of damaging your original image. Layers also allow the user to make changes without disrupting other elements of the image.

PhotoShop Part 3

This is the third in a series of tutorials on Photoshop by Guru Dan Peters. Since the TriCasters don't ship with a paint application many users are using Photoshop to build graphics for use in CG designer or directly in the DDR so Dan the creator of  a series of video tutorials called Master The Basics Of Adobe Photoshop in under 2 Hours is here to help us out.

"Merging Two or More Images in Photoshop First Things First"

Have you ever noticed how magazines, newspapers and some web designers are able to combine multiple photographs together to create cool collages of merged images?

Merging two or more images into one image has become the standard. Everywhere you look you will see examples. Whether you are a web designer, graphic artists, or photographer you can benefit from the ability to merge photographs.

Photo merging techniques will allow you to create original logos, advertisements, backgrounds for web sites, and much more.

If you have Adobe Photoshop then you already have everything you need to create amazing digital collages from multiple photos. Photoshop is the professional’s choice for digital photographic editing and manipulation.

Before you start merging two or more photographs to make a digital collage it is important that you spend a little time planning your final image.

While technical knowledge in how to use Adobe Photoshop to merge photographs is essential don’t downplay the importance of planning your final image before you even start working in Photoshop.

With that being said, the layers function in Photoshop is perfect for allowing you to experiment with different options.

The following are areas to consider when planning a photo collage image.

Choosing Photographs

The most important part of merging multiple photographs is as simple as choosing the right photographs for your photo collage. The photographs you choose can compliment each other in terms of a general theme or color scheme. Try using the eyedropper in Photoshop to check colors and look for complimentary colors.

Composition

Once you have chosen the right photographs for your photo collage it is time to think about your composition. Browse the Internet and look for example of digital photo collages and look for images that you feel are particularly effective in relaying the message intended by the advertiser or artist. Pay attention to the composition of the images. Consider what makes the images blend well together.

The great thing about Adobe Photoshop is that you can work in multiple layers which will allow you to play around with your composition before permanent placement.

Photoshop Tutorial - File Formats

This is the next in a series of tutorials on Photoshop by Guru Dan Peters. Since the TriCasters don't ship with a paint application many users are using Photoshop to build graphics for use in CG designer or directly in the DDR so Dan the creator of  a series of video tutorials called Master The Basics Of Adobe Photoshop in under 2 Hours is here to help us out.

"A File Format for Every Occasion"

As you learn and become more familiar with Adobe Photoshop you will likely notice that Photoshop allows you to save images in many different formats or file types.

Having a working knowledge and understanding of these different image formats is essential to making the most of your digital photo projects.

While they are many different image types the following is a description of the most common file types you will use when working in Photoshop.

Digital Image File Formats

PSD

If you use Photoshop for your digital photo editing then PSD is probably the most important file format that you need to know. A PSD file is a Photoshop file format and is your best option when working on digital photos for two main reasons. First of all, PSD files allow the user to work in layers and channels and save work being done without compressing the layers. This of course usually results in a large file size. Secondly, PSD files do not lose image quality as you work on images because there is no compression when the file is saved resulting in lost data. It is always best to save your work as a PSD file until your image is finished and then you can save into the format most appropriate for your project.

JPEG

JPEG, which stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, is one of the most common and well known file formats. JPEG files are good for web use as well as a variety of applications due to their small file size. Due to compression JPEG images loss data (image quality) each time change the file is saved.

GIF

GIF, or Graphics Interchange Format, is a popular file format for web use and other Internet applications. These files are typically small in size and load quickly in Internet browsers. GIF files are limited to a maximum of 256 colors. 

PNG 
PNG is the new replacement for GIF that is popular for web use and is actually the preferred format in the TriCaster and VT systems. They can contain up to 16 million colors and include an alpha or transparency channel.

TIFF

TIFF, or Tagged Image File Format, are high quality images but are not really used that often and are not good for Internet use.

Although there are more file formats than we have listed here these are the formats you will want to use in your Photoshop photo editing projects.

For the most part, the only formats you will use on a regular basis are PSD, JPEG, and GIF or PNG.

Guest Blogger - PhotoShop Tutorials

I'm going to start a new feature here and let Dan Peters post some brief PhotoShop tutorials. As a long time Aura user I'm a complete novice at PhotoShop so I would be little use but Dan is the author of Master The Basics Of Adobe Photoshop In Under 2 Hours  video tutorials so he knows what he is talking about.

"Understanding Photoshop’s Color Modes and How to Use Them"

The color modes and color models of digital imaging seem to be a mystery to many first learning to use Photoshop.

Many are so intimidated by the various color modes that they simply ignore the issue because they do not understand the impact color modes can have on the final printed image.

Color modes determine the color model that should be used to display and print digital pictures.

Anyone serious about professional quality digital imaging should learn about the color modes and models and how to apply them in Photoshop.

Certain color modes are best for particular applications and so on. Most good Photoshop tutorials and training aids will teach user how and when to use which color modes for the best results depending on the particular project.

Before you even begin working with the color modes in Photoshop it is a good idea to have a basic understanding of what the color modes are and why there are different models.

Digital images are displayed using several different color modes. The following are the main basic color modes you will encounter when working with digital images.

RGB

RGB stands re Red Green and Blue. In the RGB color mode colors are created by mixing these three primary colors. You are basically working in three color channels in RBG mode and you can adjust the intensity of each channel to obtain various degrees of colors. White is made by combining all of
the three colors.

CMYK

CMYK is for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. While RGB creates colors by mixing colors CMYK essentially creates color by subtracting varying degrees of each color. For example, if white is needed all colors would be reduced to zero.

Learning about the color modes will result in big improvements in your digital imaging work. Printers use CMYK color while monitors use RGB.

This is why there is sometimes a difference in what you see on your PC monitor and what you see on paper. Fortunately there is now software
that you can install which will calibrate your monitor colors with your printer so what you see on your monitor is what you get when you print.