Photoshop - An Introduction

To date you have already learned a lot about the image-editing application, Adobe Photoshop CS6. Congratulations! You have done a great job! You have learned the importance of working with layers in Photoshop. With Photoshop you can create original digital artwork, or edit existing images, adding filters, changing colors, adding images or shapes, retouching photographs, etc. You also learned to use "Blending Options" by going to the "Layer Style" window, double-clicking the right side of your layers. You can use Drop Shadow, Inner Glow, Outer Glow, Bevel/Emboss, etc.

What is Photoshop? It is and extremely powerful application (with a wealth of tools and commands) used to enhance and manipulate photos and create original digital art work. It is also used to touch-up photos and create high quality graphics. You can use it for almost any kind of image editing. Many professional photographers and designers use Photoshop. Watch: Video (click link). Find more information online and add it in your notebooks.

Remember: It is essential to have your Tools and Layers showing in Photoshop. If you do not see these, please go to Window (on the Menu Bar) > Workspace and click "Reset Essentials."

Layers:

Layers in Photoshop are like individual sheets of clear plastic that are in a stack. When you select a layer in the Layers Palette (or Panel), that layer is "active." Only one layer can be active at a time. The name of the active layer appears in the title bar of the image window. Changes affect only the "active layer" even though you view the whole image in the image window. You may find it useful to hide layers while working in Photoshop. All you have to do is click on the "Visibility Icon" or eye on the left side of the layer. You can also rearrange your layers and change their names. You can also create folders to add groups of layers and organize the Layers Panel better. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR LAYERS AND MAKE SURE YOU ARE SELECTING THE RIGHT ONE.

Pixels: 
Pixel is short for “picture element.” A pixel is the smallest element in a bitmap image such as a scan. If you zoom in on an image in Photoshop, you will start to see the individual pixels that make up the image. When working in Photoshop, you are editing pixels, changing their color, shade and brightness.

Bitmaps:

Digital images. An object in a bitmap images consists of a rectangular grid or raster of pixels – like a mosaic. When editing a bitmap image, it is the color values of individual pixels or groups of pixels that are modified.

Filters (in the Menu Bar):

Filters provide a quick and easy way to change the overall appearance of your image.

First tools to learn in Photoshop:

Move Tool - The Move tool is used to move selections, layers and guides.
Magnetic Lasso Tool - Used to select images.

Crop Tool - Used to crop/trim images. 

Brush Tool - Paints brushstrokes.

Paint Bucket Tool - Fills areas with the Foreground Color. 

Rectangular/Elliptical Marquee Tools -  To make rectangular or elliptical selections.

Eraser Tool - Erases pixels and restores parts of an image to its previously saved state. 

Eye Dropper Tool - Samples colors in an image.  
Text or Type Tool - To insert text (create "type" on an image).
Custom Shape Tool - Makes customizes shapes selected from a custom shape list.

Find other tools here: Photoshop Tools and Photoshop Tools 2 (click links) 

Design Tools video: Video (you may not be able to see this video in school, so please 
check it at home).

First Keyboard-Shortcuts to learn:

Command-O (open a document)
Command-A (to select ALL, if you need to quickly select an entire image)
Command-C (to copy something in Photoshop and other applications)

Command-V (to paste something in Photoshop and other applications)

Command-J (create a layer)
Command-N (to create a new Photoshop document)

Command-S (save)

Command-Z (undo)

Command-T (called "Free-Transform," to resize objects - enlarge or shrink images, press the Shift Key so you don't change the proportions of an image)

Command-D (deselect - after making a selection with the magnetic lasso tool, get rid of selection, the small intermittent lines surrounding the image)

Command-U (Hue/Saturation window, to change colors, saturation and lightness)
Command-R (to view the ruler)

Command-Shift-U (desaturate - to change a picture or layer to black and white)
Command-Plus (+) (to enlarge an entire image/picture without adding pixels)
Command-Minus (-) (to minimize an image/picture without deleting pixels) 

Also remember:

[  Open Bracket (to decrease Brush or Eraser size) — Quickly decrease your brush size (or the eraser size) to get into those tighter spots, when working with the Brush or Eraser Tools.

]  Close Bracket (to increase Brush or Eraser size) — Quickly increase your brush size (or the eraser size) for the larger areas, when working with the Brush or Eraser Tools.

Please write this information in your notebooks. The Commands will be included on the test you will have on Tuesday, October 6, 2015. You must also know how to define Photoshop, what are layers and why they're important in Photoshop, and the terms mentioned here (bitmaps, pixels, filters, etc.) and on the previous blog entry (discussed in class). The PowerPoint on Graphic Design will also be included. Any questions, please ask Mrs. Feld.

Welcome to the Digital Art & Graphic Design Class

This course will introduce you to the general graphic design processes and techniques used by commercial and visual artists, including the principles of design, layout, color theory, composition and typography, using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign. You will learn to be creative and will produce digital works of art and interesting publications (like flyers, advertisements, magazine covers, book covers, brochures, etc.). A basic understanding of computer applications is expected.

We will start learning some important terms: digital, art, design, graphic design, graphic designer, aesthetics, composition, Web design, branding. We will also learn the six principles of a visual composition: balance, proximity, alignment, contrast, white space and keeping it simple.

There are mainly three different kinds of balance: symmetrical, asymmetrical and radial. I need you to understand the difference between the three. I will show you a PowerPoint explaining most of the terms mentioned here, which I also downloaded on your computers.

Check some of the links under "My Favorite Links" on the right side.

Class assignment - Go to Google images and check interesting designs by searching: Architect Thomas Heatherwick, Gothic architecture, Dubai buildings, Eco buildings, modern buildings, Rococo buildings, Gaudi (Antoni Gaudi from Barcelona, Spain), interesting architectural buildings, 50 most amazing buildings (click link), strange buildings, funny buildings and other (to your liking). Which designs do you like the best? Why? Which ones do you dislike? Why? Discuss with your classmates.

I hope you enjoy this class!

Using Vector Masks

There's a fun way to create some interesting digital art, like you see below:

 Example No. 1

 Example No. 2

The idea is to decide first which background you'd like to use and open that image in Photoshop. Then, decide which images you'd like to have inside the shapes (in the examples above the custom shapes used are the stars, the bird and the fish). You will have the background as your bottom layer, you can duplicate the background if you wish one or more times. Later you will add another image, like the sky with rainbow, or the cartoon sky - you can add more than one image, like in Example No. 1, and add Layer Styles to them (like Stroke or other, or more than one). In Example No. 2, the second image is the sky (Cartoon Sky) - for the other two fish, Layer Styles (Pattern Overlay and Bevel and Emboss) were used. I will explain in class. I also added two shells and added drop shadows.

While you are selecting the top layer (the one you want to use as the shape fill), select a custom shape of your choice and then go to Layer - Vector Mask - Reveal All, then add the shape on that top layer and see what happens. You can then add "Blending Options" to that layer, like Drop Shadow or Bevel and Emboss, etc. You can also add other custom shapes without using the Vector Mask, you can simply add a pattern of your choice.

If you have any questions, please ask Mrs. Feld.

Photoshop Exercises

To date you have already learned a lot about the image-editing application, Adobe Photoshop CS5. Congratulations! You have done a great job! You have learned the importance of working with layers in Photoshop. With Photoshop you can create original digital artwork, or edit existing images, adding filters, changing colors, adding images or shapes, retouching photographs, etc. You also learned to use "Blending Options" by going to the "Layer Style" window, double-clicking the right side of your layers. You can use Drop Shadow, Inner Glow, Outer Glow, Bevel/Emboss, etc.

Layers in Photoshop are like individual sheets of clear plastic that are in a stack. When you select a layer in the Layers Palette, that layer is "active." Only one layer can be active at a time. The name of the active layer appears in the title bar of the image window. Changes affect only the "active layer" even though you view the whole image in the image window. You may find it useful to hide layers while working in Photoshop. All you have to do is click on the "Visibility Icon" or eye on the left side of the layer. You can also rearrange your layers and change their names. You can also create folders to add groups of layers and organize the Layers Panel better.

First tools to learn in Photoshop (you have already learned some of these): 

Move Tool 

Magnetic Lasso Tool 

Crop Tool 

Brush Tool 

Paint Bucket Tool 

Rectangular Marquee Tool 

Eraser Tool 

Eye Dropper Tool   
Type Tool (to enter text)
Custom Shape Tool

First Keyboard-Shortcuts to learn:

Command-O (open a document)

Command-J (create a layer)
Command-N (to create a new Photoshop document)

Command-S (save)

Command-Z (undo)

Command-T (Free-Transform, to resize objects)

Command-D (deselect - after making a selection with the magnetic lasso tool)

Command-U (Hue/Saturation window, to change colors, saturation and lightness)

Command-Shift-U (desaturate - to change a picture or layer to black and white)
Command-Plus (+) (to enlarge an entire image/picture without adding pixels)
Command-Minus (-) (to minimize an image/picture without deleting pixels)

The following are some exercises I've given to my Digital Applications Classes at SBA, please check the link (Exercise 1) and Exercises 2 and 3 below. You may want to practice what you have learned by creating these exercises: Exercise 1 (click this link), Exercise 2 and Exercise 3 (read below). You can create digital art like the exercises above, using the techniques learned in class, and the ones you will learned on Monday, July 8th - see latest entry, above.

Exercise 2 - "Like Magritte"

René Magritte was a Belgian surrealist painter (1898 – 1967). His work was very modern for his time and interesting. His paintings are full of symbolism and represent a world of fantasy – a world of dreams. Go online (search in Google images) and enter Magritte. Get ideas by looking as his work and create your own original work or try to imitate his. If you have any questions, feel free to ask Mrs. Feld.

Exercise 3 - "Collage"

Using the techniques you have learned in class, you can create a collage, with images of your liking. You can look at samples online if you wish. Create a New Photoshop document first (portrait or landscape orientation) 8" x 10" (or 8.5" by 11" - no bigger than this), resolution: 100. You can create any background of choice, practicing what you already learned. Add as many images as you want. You can use the Magnetic Lasso Tool to select your images and drag them into your document, or you can use the Rectangular Marquee Tool. One technique you can use is to change the "Feathering" before you select your images - go to the Toolbar and under "Feather" enter 10 instead of 0. When you do this the edges of your images will be "feathered" - lighter. It's a nice look. You can add text to your collage (a word or a quote) if you wish. Any questions, please ask Mrs. Feld.

Welcome to Mrs. Feld's Digital Art, iPhoto & iMovie Class!

I'm very excited about our Summer Enrichment Program! Our Digital Art Course is short (three weeks - eleven days), but we will use our time wisely and learn the basics of Adobe Photoshop - the image-editing application. If time permits we will also use iPhoto and iMovie (Mac Applications). We will use Mac computers (in the Mac Lab) and we will create original digital art work. This course is an introduction to these great programs.

The goal is to cultivate artistic talent and encourage creativity, while completing some interesting exercises. We will also print some of the digital art work created. We will have fun learning and creating this "cool" work.

Photoshop is a powerful image-editing application with a wealth of tools and commands for working on digital images or bitmaps. There are utilities for retouching, color correcting, cropping, rotating, resizing and more. There is also a great number of creative filters to change, improve and customize our pictures. Photoshop is used in advertising agencies, publishing companies and many other jobs; check: possiblejobs. The latest versions of Adobe Photoshop are Adobe Photoshop CS5 and CS6.

First, you will familiarize yourself with the Photoshop "Toolbox;" especially the following tools: The Move Tool, The Rectangular Marquee Tool, The Elliptical Marquee Tool, The Magnetic Lasso Tool, The Magic Wand Tool, The Stamp Tool, The History Brush Tool, The Crop Tool, The Eraser Tool and the Type Tool.

You will learn the importance of creating "layers" in Photoshop and how to manipulate these layers in the Layers Palette (or Layers Panel, as it's sometimes called). The "Layers Palette" is your essential tool for working with layers. Photoshop's layers can be considered separate films or transparent sheets. These layers can be visible or hidden. You will also learn how to use Blending Options (a great feature to add shadows, inner glows, outer glows, patterns, embossing, and other effects on your images and text). There's a lot to learn in a short period of time; so we will concentrate mostly on creating some fun exercises while learning how to use this fun program.

Vocabulary: digital, digitize, binary, bit, byte, bitmap, pixels, resolution, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, JPEG, digital cameras, megapixels, multimegapixels. Review the handout "Digital Art." All the information we put into our computers, iPods, digital cameras and other electronic gadgets (numbers, text, sound, music, pictures and videos) is converted into "digital codes" - digital language, the language of the computers - which is really just a string of ones and zeros, or binary numbers. Since we live in a "digital" world, we must at least learn what this term means.

Also check: What Is Digital Art? | eHow.com (just click on the left side - blue)

I hope this course encourages you to learn more about new digital technologies and the many wonderful applications out there that allow us to create great digital art. Enjoy!

Digital Art - Week 2

To date all of you have learned some interesting Photoshop techniques; and you're doing a great job considering you just starting learning this program. This image-editing application is very extensive, and there are really too many things to learn; but I will try my best to explain to you the most relevant tips and ways to create "cool" digital art.

By now you should know how to create a new document in Photoshop (File-New or Command-N). You decide which size you want your document to be, but please pay attention to whether you are selecting pixels or inches. A document that is 800 x 600 pixels is a document of about 8 x 6 inches (when printed). Taking this in consideration, you can usually try to create documents that are less than a regular size page (8.5" x 11"). I suggest 8" x 10" or 7.5" x 10" or the other way around 10" x 8" or 10" by 7.5" - or if you want a square: 10" x 10" or 9" x 9." Also, you learned how to use some of the Photoshop Tools: like the Move Tool, the Magnetic Lasso Tool, the Eraser Tool, the Gradient Tool, the Paint Bucket Tool, etc.

You also learned how to select images using the Magnetic Lasso Tool and how to move them to a new or to another document (image). If you're having difficulties using this Lasso Tool - practice more! You should also know how to create a layer of your image-selection (Command-J). Remember: to move an image to another picture or document in Photoshop you don't need to create a layer first, just select the image with the Magnetic Lasso Tool and drag it with the Move Tool to your other document. You can also use the Rectangular Marquee Tool or the Elliptical Marquee Tool to select images (practice this as well).

Some of you already completed the Magical World Exercise. The idea was for your to practice selecting images and dragging them to the background of your choice. Also practice duplicating layers (the background layer or other). Practice changing the color of images or backgrounds (Command-U), and the sizes of images (Command-T). Also, using different filters. Another reminder: To use the "Free-Transform" - Command-T - you must press the Shift-Key if you don't want to change the proportions of your image. You can also use the "Free Transform" feature to rotate your images.

Like we did in class, you can select an image from a picture, using the Magnetic Lasso Tool, create a layer of it, change the background (with filters or gradients or styles), duplicate the image, change the color, create a collage, use many different backgrounds with the same images, etc. Get creative and practice a lot! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me. When you want me to print some of your digital art work, please let me know.

This week we will learn how to use the Brush Tool and the Custom Shape Tool in some interesting ways and a few other techniques that hopefully will motivate you to like Photoshop and Digital Art. You can even create your own brushes... You can add blending options to your images, like shadows, patterns, beveling and embossing, and also add text to your documents. There are many options, and even options within options...

You will work on the "Nine of Me" exercise too. If you didn't get a chance to create a "collage," I suggest you do so, it is a good way to practice using the Photoshop layers effectively and to practice how to select images, drag them to a new or other document, duplicate them, change the color, add filters (if you wish), etc.

You can go to Google, and look at samples of posters, book covers, magazine covers, ads and paintings by well-know artists (like Magritte or Dali) and get ideas for your projects. You can learn to add different images on a document and change the "opacity" (how transparent or light you want your image to be) - this is a great technique for posters.

I will also teach you how to create frames on your digital art creations. I hope you have fun and enjoy our Summer Enrichment Program! All the best!