Welcome to Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop, or simply Photoshop, is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems. It is the current market leader for commercial bitmap and image manipulation software, and is the flagship product of Adobe Systems. It has been described as "an industry standard for graphics professionals" and was one of the early "killer applications" on the Macintosh, later also for MS Windows.
So, Photoshop is the commercial standard for editing "rasterized images", or bitmaps while Illustrator is a vector editor.
Photoshop Tutorials
Go through the following tutorials before we begin working with Photoshop in class.
Getting started understanding Photoshop
- The complete "episode" list from Learn Photoshop CS4 [various]
- Select from 31 episodes. Work your way through all of them.
- Introducing Photoshop CS4 [7:08]
- Set up your workspace for easier image navigation and zooming. Make non-destructive color adjustments and layer mask refinements.
- Working with Masks [6:37]
- Add and edit filter masks, layer masks, and vector masks in the Masks panel. Learn how to easily change the density and feathering to refine a mask’s edges.
- Managing Design Suite Workspaces [7:44]
- Move among CS4 design applications easily with the common interface elements. Adapt each to your style with a preset or custom workspace.
- Using Kuler Color Themes [4:11]
- Browse, search, and modify Kuler color themes directly in your CS4 application. Include them in your workflow by using the Swatches panel.
- The Russell Brown Show [various]
- The complete list of 35 episodes. Look around and decide what you need.
a little more on using Photoshop...
- Dr. Brown's Photoshop Laboratory [various]
- More advanced tutorials. Very helpful. 7 episodes.
- The Complete Picture With Julieanne Kost [various]
- Julieanne Kost is a Digital Imaging Evangelist at Adobe Systems. In each episode, you'll obtain valuable insights and in-depth information on a variety of topics covering both Photoshop and Lightroom. 21 episodes.
- Creating Web Galleries and PDF Files [11:15]
- Julieanne Kost shows how to use the powerful new features in Bridge CS4 to output your photos as interactive web galleries and PDF files. More about Bridge but some Photoshop.
- Creating a Triptych [various]
- Julieanne Kost shows you how to open 3 images at once in Photoshop and then easily arrange them into a Triptych
- Send me any good tutorials for Adobe Photoshop CS4 you find useful.
Photoshop Help
The online help guide for all of the Adobe applications we will use this semester is always available from within the specific application under the "Help" menu.
Additionally, most applications in the CS4 package load a "Start page" - some times still called the "Welcome Screen" - when you first launch the application. This screen contains links to "Getting Started", "New Features and "Resources". Not so with Photoshop. No Welcome Screen.
The direct link to Adobe Help on the Web for Photoshop is: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Photoshop/11.0/index.html?trackingid=DYNQE
Photoshop Terms and Features
Basic Painting and Drawing in Photoshop CS4: . Read more about Painting and Drawing online
Web Graphics: Read more about Web Graphics online.
Masking: If you want to apply changes to parts of an image, you first need to select the pixels that make up those parts. You select pixels in Adobe Photoshop CS4 using the selection tools or by painting on a mask and loading the mask as a selection. To select and work with vector objects in Photoshop, you use the pen selection and shape tools. This chapter covers pixel selection tools and techniques. Read more about Selecting and Masking in Photoshop online.
Layers: Layers are the building blocks of many image creation workflows. You may not need to work with layers if you are doing simple image adjustments, but layers help you work efficiently and are essential to most nondestructive image editing. Read more about Working with Layers online.
Camera Raw: Primarily for Photographers - Camera Raw software is included as a plug-in with Adobe After Effects® and Adobe Photoshop, and also adds functionality to Adobe Bridge. Camera Raw gives each of these applications the ability to import and work with camera raw files. You can also use Camera Raw to work with JPEG and TIFF files. Read more about Working with Camera Raw files in Photoshop online.
Color Management: advanced If you are a serious color person read through the Photoshop Color Management on line help.
You might also find the useful information at the International Color Consortium (ICC) website.
If you are focused on color output for print the standard practice is to use a CMYK color space for output, e.g., a pdf file to send to the printer. If you need to do a lot of editing in Photoshop use its preferred color space, RGB, then convert to CMYK for output. In the past not all Photoshop Filters worked in CMYK color space and some only work in 8bits RGB or Grayscale Color Mode. Check for yourself. Read more about Filters online.
