Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended Essentials

Assessment Answer Key

Chapter 01: The Big Picture
1. What are the three primaries used to create all of the possible color
combinations?
Answer: Red, Green Blue
2. What does a lossy file format accomplish?
Answer: It reduces files size through a compression scheme by throwing away
some image data.
3. How does an image!s pixels affect file size?
Answer: The greater the number of pixels, the larger the file size.
Chapter 02: Setting Up Like a Pro
1. What tool can we use to precisely straighten an image along a horizontal or
vertical edge?
Answer: The Ruler tool
2. How do you undock a tab group into separate panels?
Answer: Click on a tab and drag it out of the enclosing panel
3. What are keyboard shortcuts and how can you modify them?
Answer: These are keystrokes that are used to call up menu items and tools.
You can edit them in the Edit>Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box.
Chapter 03: Global Editing
1. How does an on-image adjustment tool work?
Answer: You click on a location in the image area and drag the mouse to apply
an edit.
2. How do you constrain a crop to a specific proportion?
Answer: With the crop tool selected, enter values in the width and height boxes
located in the options bar.
3. What is a histogram?
Answer: The histogram is a visual representation of the distribution of pixels in
the image based on their brightness value.
Chapter 04: Making Selections
1. Name two methods for constraining a selection with the Rectangular Marquee
tool to a square.
Answer: While drawing the selection, hold the Shift key. Go to the options bar,
set the style to Fixed Ratio and type in an identical value in both the Width and
Height boxes.
2. What modifier key do you press to temporarily set the Quick Selection tool to
subtract mode?
Answer: On a Mac press the option key. On a PC press the alt key.
3. In which panel do you store and retrieve saved selections?
Answer: You can save and load selections in the Channels panel.
Chapter 05: Non-Destructive Editing
1. What benefits do adjustment layers offer?
Answer: They allow non-destructive editing. You can always undo them and
modify their settings in the future.
2. What does painting with black on a layer mask accomplish?
Answer: The area painted in black hides the effect of the adjustment layer to
which the mask is linked.
3. What is a snapshot?
Answer: It is a temporary copy of an image state that can be accessed at any
time during the current work session. It is lost once the image is closed.
Chapter 06: The Fixer-Upper
1. What advantage does the Healing Brush offer compared to the Clone Stamp
tool?
Answer: The Healing Brush matches the texture and lighting of the sampled
pixels to the destination area.
2. What is image noise and what causes it?
Answer: Image noise appears as randomly colored pixels in dark areas of an
image. It occurs when photographing at a high ISO in dark lighting conditions.
3. What does activating the Aligned checkbox accomplish in the Clone Stamp
and Healing Brush tools?
Answer: The checkbox adjusts the location of the sampled pixels to remain
aligned with the cursor as you drag the mouse over the image.
Chapter 07: Type Design
1. How do you add a text box?
Answer: Select a text tool, then click and drag in the document to create the text
box.
2. How does justified text differ in appearance from left aligned text?
Answer: With justified text, the type is aligned on both the left and the right edge
of the text box.
3. How do you add a layer effect?
Answer: With the target layer selected, click on the layer effects icon at the
bottom of the layers panel and choose the desired effect.
Chapter 08: Vectors, Shapes & Paths
1. Name two advantages a vector graphic has over a raster image.
Answer: Vectors take up less storage space. They can be resized with no
quality loss.
2. How do you convert a selection into a path?
Answer: With the selection active, go the Paths panel and click the Make Work
Path icon.
3. How do you create multiple shapes on the same shape layer?
Answer: Before creating the additional shape, go to the options bar click on the
Add Mode icon.
Chapter 09: Smart Objects
1. Name three advantages of Smart Objects.
Answer: Smart Objects allow you to work non-destructively. They can be
duplicated in the image without increasing file size. You can edit the source file
and the Smart Object updates automatically.
2. When you use the Replace Contents command on a Smart Object what
happens to filters and effects when the new content is added?
Answer: All of the existing adjustments remain intact and are automatically
applied to the new content.
3. How do you apply a Smart Filter to a Smart Object?
Answer: With the Smart Object selected, go to the Filter menu and select any
available filter. A Smart Filter is automatically created.
Chapter 10: Adobe Bridge
1. What do the items in the Filter panel allow you to do?
Answer: You select criteria by which to search the contents of the currently
viewed folder.
2. Name two sources of metadata for digital images.
Answer: Metadata is automatically embedded by digital cameras. You can also
add metadata manually via IPTC fields in Adobe Bridge.
3. What is a smart collection?
Answer: A smart collection contains custom search criteria that is used to
collect images. It automatically updates to include any new images that match
the search criteria.
Chapter 11: Photoshop Camera Raw
1. How do you white balance or color correct an image in Adobe Camera Raw?
Answer: Select the White Balance selector tool and click on an area in the
image that should be rendered as a neutral tone. You may fine tune this result by
adjusting the Temperature and/or Tint sliders.
2. How do you eliminate dust or other small defects in a raw file?
Answer: Select the Spot Removal tool and click on the defect to be removed.
Adobe Camera Raw will automatically try to select an appropriate point from
which to sample replacement pixels. To adjust the result click and drag to
reposition either the source or destination points.
3. What is a selective edit? Name a tool that can be used to achieve a selective
edit.
Answer: Unlike global adjustments, a selective edit can be restricted to a
specific location or range of colors in the image. The Hue, Saturation, and
Luminance tabs, as well as the Adjustment Brush and Graduated filter are all
examples of selective editing tools in Adobe Camera Raw.
Chapter 12: Image Layers & Alpha Channels
1. What are some limitations of a Background layer?
Answer: The layer contents of a Background layer are locked and cannot be
moved. The layer itself must remain the bottommost item in the Layers panel. A
Background layer cannot have transparency.
2. What is the difference between selecting Merge All Visible and Flatten Layers
in the Layers menu?
Answer: Merging layers combines layers into a single layer. Flattening the
image combines existing layers, but places them into a Background layer.
3. How do layer comps differ from snapshots?
Answer: Layer comps can only record changes made to layer characteristics
such as visibility, positioning, and styles/effects. Unlike snapshots, layer comps
remain with the image after it is saved and closed.
Chapter 13: Compositing Images
1. When dragging a layer from one image to another, how do you ensure that
the copied pixels align to the center of the destination document?
Answer: Hold the Shift key while dragging the layer.
2. When you draw with the Gradient tool using Black, White mode what happens
to the layer mask in areas above the point where you make your initial click with
the mouse?
Answer: Areas at and above the starting point become black on the layer mask.
3. In the Photomerge dialog window, what does the Add Open Files button
accomplish?
Answer: This button selects all open documents as source files for the
photomerge operation.
Chapter 14: Working with Brushes
1. How do you create a soft-edged brush?
Answer: With the brush selected go to the Options bar and set the Hardness to
0%.
2. What do the jitter options in the shape dynamics menu control?
Answer: Jitter refers to the randomness of the specified brush characteristic. A
higher value creates a greater degree of randomness with a brush stroke.
3. When using the Mixer Brush how do you control the wetness of the canvas?
Answer: The Wet slider in the options bar controls the wetness of the canvas. A
low value creates a drier canvas. A high value creates a wetter canvas.
Chapter 15: Print & Web Output
1. How do you trigger a Before preview in the Smart Sharpen preview window?
Answer: Click and hold the mouse while inside the preview window.
2. Which of the two Color Handling options in the Print dialog allows you to
select a printer profile?
Answer: With Photoshop Manages Colors selected you can choose a printer
profile from the pull down menu.
3. In the Save for Web & Devices dialog, how can you view an onscreen preview
of file to be saved?
Answer: Click on either the 2-UP or 4-Up tabs to view onscreen how the
compression settings you choose will affect image quality.