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PHOTOSHOP 101

1. New File

To create a new file,

select File > New

and a dialog box

will open.

Here you’re presented with a lot of options to

choose from.

You can change the type of file you’ll work with.

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If you need to customize the size of

the document, you can change the

measure and type in your dimensions

manually.

You can even change the color type!

And the aspect ratio (pixel dimensions)

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If you don’t

need to create

a new

document, you

can just exit

the dialog box

and you’ll be

brought to the

normal user

interface.

There are right and left hand tool bars. The left toolbar houses all the drawing/manipulation tools while

the right toolbar houses all the effects.

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2. Drag and Drop

Next just drag and drop your file or image into Photoshop

Remember to back up your files. Create a duplicate layer of your original file by right clicking the layer,

and clicking Duplicate Layer.

3. Duplicate Layer

The dialog box will

appear, and you can

rename your duplicate

layer.

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4. Make/Save/Load/Move Selection

Click the Quick Selection Tool (shortcut ‘w’ key). Left click and drag your mouse across your area of

selection.

Now you’ll see the “marching ants” around your selection.

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To save your selection, go to Select > Save Selection and the

dialog box will come up.

Name your selection so it’s east to remember!

You can move your

selection around!

With the marching

ants around your

selection, click on the

move tool (shortcut

‘v’ key) and drag your

mouse.

The checkerboard

pattern in the

background indicates

that there is no image

behind your current

one.

Undo changes by hitting Ctrl + z. If you want to keep undoing, click

Ctrl + Alt + z.

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If you’ve lost

your marching

ants, and you

want to recall

your selection,

click Select >

Load Selection.

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5. Make Selection Own Layer

Once you have your

selection, you can

make it its own

layer. With the

marching ants

around your

selection, right click

and click on Make

New Layer via Cut.

This will create a

whole new layer

with just your

selection.

Drag and drop another image. Click on the eyeball next to the other layers to make them invisible. Make

a selection around your image by clicking the Quick Selection Tool (shortcut ‘w’ key) and dragging your

mouse around the desired area.

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Click Select > Save Selection

With the new selection, right click and create a

new layer via cut. Right click (shortcut Ctrl +

Shift + c and then Ctrl + v).

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To make the

image invisible

behind

another layer,

you could click

on the eraser

button

(shortcut ‘e’

key) and drag

your mouse.

But this destroys pixels!

6. Mask Layer

A better way to get rid of part of a layer is to create a

mask layer.

Click on the mask icon on the lower right hand panel.

With the new mask, you can

paint over it and not

destroy pixels. Make

sure your mask is

selected and click on

the paintbrush

(shortcut ‘b’ key).

With the black color in

the forefront of the

color icon on the left,

you can drag your

mouse over your

image and make part of your

image disappear.

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You can do the same with

the eraser tool!

Make the image reappear by changing the color selected (shortcut ‘x’ key).

7. Transform

If you want to

move, resize

or rescale

your layer

selection.

Click on Edit >

Transform.

This will give

you several

options to

change the

size or

rotation of

your image.

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8. Color

To color your image, click on the Swatches palette on the right toolbar and choose a color. Then recall

your selection and use the paintbrush to paint within your selection.

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You can also change the color balance of your entire image by clicking on the Create New Fill icon on the

lower right hand toolbar.

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Change the brightness and contrast with the same process. Click Create New Fill > Brightness/Contrast.

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And the gradient! Create New Fill > Gradient. Double click on the range to bring up a dialog box where

you can choose the colors!

9. History

If you should ever have to recall an action you’ve

done, just to see where in the process you

changed something, you can click on the History

icon on the right toolbar.

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10. Saving

Finally, saving. Click File > Save As and a dialog box will appear. You can save your file as anything. Jpeg,

tiff, png, pdf, it all depends on your Photoshop needs!

Thanks and Happy Photoshopping!