Adobe Photoshop Workbook

How to Use this book.

This Book is designed to help you to complete basic tasks on Photoshop. Work through them slowly as it is important you learn the skills involved as you may want to use them for your coursework. Do try each exercise on more than one photo. This will help you to remember how to do it in the future. When you upload your photographs it is best to rename the ones you want to use for your production. This will make it easier to find the right one in Photoshop. To open a photo, go to File = Open. You need to open a new photograph before you start each exercise. When you save your work go to save as and save it with a new name so you know which is the original and which is the new photo. The toolbox has lots of options under the same button. Click on an icon and you will see all the options available under that button in the top left corner of the screen.

How to make an A4 page

The skills you have worked on so far should have taught you about the way that Photoshop works. These skills have been used mainly to manipulate photographs. You will use some of these to make a poster, especially using layers. For your course work you need to make an A4 page. This will be either landscape or portrait depending on your design. Firstly go to File = New = Blank File. Enter a name at the top of the page. This will be your title. Click on the arrow next to the preset box and choose A4. This will change the size of the page. You need to change the resolution to photographs. Make sure that the mode is RGB Colour. At the bottom make sure White is selected. Then press OK. This makes a portrait page. If you want a landscape page (long ways) then go to Image = rotate = 90 degrees Left. which is the same as your

Making a Poster.
The first thing you need to do is make an A4 page. You may want your page to have a coloured background. Go to Select = All. Choose the colour you want from the colour palette by clicking on Then go to Edit = Fill selection. .

You can then add pictures to your poster. You need to manipulate and save them before you add them to your poster. Open the picture you want to add. You need to make it the size you want it so it will fit on the page. Go to Select = All. Go to Edit = Copy. This will copy your picture. Now click on the page you want to put the picture onto. Go to Edit = Paste. Your photo will appear on the page on a new layer. Move it to where you want it. Do this for all your photographs. After you have added all your pictures you need to add your text.

Adding Text
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Select the text box tool and draw a text box where you want the writing to go. This will be on a new layer. Type in your text. Do not worry about what it looks like. You need to make sure it is spelt correctly. Go to Select = All. This highlights the text. At the top of the screen above your picture you will see a toolbar. Use this toolbar to change the font, size, alignment and colour of the text. Once you are happy with the look of your text click on the tick at the end of the toolbar. To move your text click on the move tool you want it. and move the layer to where

If you want something to be over the top of another layer go to layer = arrange and choose to move it.

Changing the colour of a photograph.

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You can use Photoshop to change the colour of a photograph. To do this open the Hue/Saturation option by going to Enhance = Adjust Colour = Adjust Hue/Saturation

Tick the colorize and the preview boxes in the bottom left corner of this new box. The picture will change to a single colour. By changing the faders you change the effect of the colour. The Hue fader will change the actual colour. The Saturation fader will change the amount of colour. The lightness fader will make the picture lighter and darker.

Black and White Photography

Black and White photos have a unique look that you may want to recreate digitally. Open the Hue/Saturation option and tick the colourise box. Move the Saturation fader as far to the left as it will go. The picture will have changed to black and white. You can change the lightness until you are happy with the picture. Click Ok and the picture will change to black and white.

Old Fashioned Photographs

If you look at really old photographs they may be a brown sepia colour. This can be recreated using Photoshop Open the Hue/Saturation option and tick the colourise box. Sepia is usually a reddish brown colour. Adjust the Hue fader until you get the right colour. You can also change the Saturation and Lightness faders until the photo looks old. Click OK and the picture will be the new colour. Now you will need to fade the edges of your photograph. Click on the elliptical marquee tool and draw an oval around the middle of your picture, starting at the top corner. You will see marching ants - - - - - - - - - around the section you have selected. This is known as a vignette. To soften the edges of your vignette go to Select = Feather. Choose an amount to feather your picture (50 is a good number). After you press OK nothing will happen. This is normal. You then need to inverse the selected area by going to Select = Inverse. You will see 2 sets of marching ants - - - - - - - - -. Then choose the colour you want for your vignette. Double Click on the top colour plate. Click on the colour you want. For an old fashioned photograph this will be a dark brown. Press ok. Fill the selected area with colour by going to Edit = Fill Selection. Choose the foreground colour and press ok. Go to select = Deselect to remove the marching ants. Old photographs may have a grainy scratched look. This is known as noise. Go to Filter = Noise = Add Noise. Change the amount of noise to 2%. Press OK to Add Noise.
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Using Filters
Filters are special effects that you can add to your photographs to change their appearance. These are all kept under the filter menu. Most filters will open a box when selected. This will usually allow you to change the amount of filter you add to your picture. For some filters you can preview your pictures. Sometimes a small part of your photo will appear at the top of the box. Press the - (minus) button to zoom out and see more of your photo. It is very easy to undo in Photoshop. Go to Edit = Undo. Do this as many times as you need to undo what you do not want. If you want to start again go to Edit = Revert.

Turning photographs into drawings.

You are going to change your photographs into sketches using a combination of filters. Firstly you must blur the image to get better lines. Do this by going to Filter = Blur = smart blur Change the quality to high and see the effect of changing the radius and threshold. You only want to blur it a little. Press OK to blur. Then go to Filter = Stylize = Find edges. This makes your photo a drawing. You will notice the lines are different colours. To make the picture Black and white, go to Enhance = Adjust Colour = Remove colour. Some of the lines may be faint. Go to Enhance = Adjust Colour = Colour Variations. Click on the darken option a few times to darken the picture.

Using Layers
Layers will form an important part of your work as you will need to use them for most of your coursework. When you are working in Photoshop the box in the bottom right corner should be the layers palette. This is where all the separate layers of your photograph will be shown. If you do not see the layers palette go to window = layers. The layer which is highlighted in the palette is the layer you are currently working on. You can only edit the layer you are working on. This will take some getting used to. To make a new layer of a photograph you need to select the area you want to put on a new layer. Click on the lasso tool. Click on the edge of the object you want on a new layer. Slowly move the mouse around the edge of the object. Click the mouse every centimetre or so as you go around. This puts pins in, so the lasso stays in place. When you get back to the beginning double click and you will see the marching ants - - - - - - -. Go to Layer = New = Layer via copy. You have now turned your selection into a new layer. Pasted in from Clipboard If you paste an item from the clipboard into Photoshop it will automatically be on a new layer.

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Blurring a photograph.
Blurring an area of a photograph can produce a stunning effect. This is most effectively done using the camera but can work well if done digitally. This exercise works well with a picture of a person. Put the person in your photograph (or the main subject) onto a new layer. Select the layer you wish to blur by clicking on its name in the layer palette. For this you want to blur the background. To blur the selected layer go to filter = Blur = Gaussian Blur. This then brings up an options box. Move the fader at the bottom of the box to make the picture blur more or less. Click OK to blur the picture. Dont forget to flatten the image when you are done.

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Resizing photographs.
When you take your photographs they are very big. The better the quality of the photo the bigger the picture will be. Photoshop adjusts it automatically so it fits onto the screen. To change the size of a photo go to Image = Resize = Image size.

Tick the resample image box. This keeps the picture a similar quality. If you need the picture to stay in aspect ratio then tick the constrain proportions box. Enter the size you want your picture to be in centimetres in the DOCUMENT SIZE width and height boxes. If you have the constrain proportions box you only need to change one and the other will change automatically. Press OK. To change the size of a layer go to Image = transform = free transform. A box will appear around your picture. Hold down the shift (arrow) key on the keyboard. Resize the photo using one corner. The shift key keeps it the correct aspect ratio. When you are happy double click in the box. Be careful using this as it reduces the quality of your photograph.

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Changing the background of a picture.

It is possible to change the background of a picture. For this you will need one picture for the foreground (This will be of you) and one for the background (your holiday destination). It is important to note that for your course work you should not use pictures from the internet but you can for this exercise if you wish. Make sure you have saved it to the computer. You need to make both pictures the same size. Open your photo of yourself. Go to Image = Resize = Image size. Write down the width and height numbers on a piece of paper and press ok. You do not need to change anything. Now open the background picture. Go to Image = Resize = Image size. Tick the resample image box and untick the constrain proportions box. Enter the width and height number you have written down and press ok. Click on your foreground layer. Make a new layer of yourself using the magnetic lasso. Click on the background picture. Go to Select = All, then go to Edit = Copy. Click on your foreground picture and go to Edit = Paste. Do not worry if your picture disappears. You will now have 3 layers. Hide the background layer in the layers palette. To do this click on the eye icon .

Select the layer with just your foreground picture on it. Go to Layer = Arrange = Bring to front. Use the move tool to move the layer to the position you want it.

When you are happy dont forget to flatten your layer.

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Using what you have learnt so far.

Photoshop can also be used to warp photographs so they do not look anything like their original. This will allow you to test out the skills you have learnt so far so do not be afraid to experiment. For this you need a headshot of a person who is looking to the side. It will not work if the person is looking straight at the camera! Click on the rectangle marquee tool . Draw a box around one half of the picture. It is important that the box edge is in the middle of your photograph and right to the side, top and bottom edges. You should see the marching ants - - - - - - around your selection. Go to edit = copy, then select = deselect. This is important so you can see the picture when you paste it. Go to edit = paste and a copy of half of your face will appear. Use the move tool to move the new layer over the other side of the picture. You will have two copies of the same half of your face on your page. Go to Image = rotate = flip layer horizontal. This will turn the layer over. This is the basis of your photograph. It is a good idea to flatten your image as this will reduce the complication of working with layers for each half of the face. Use the filters to add other effects. Remember if you only want to use an effect on part of the picture you need to put it on a new layer. Go to Edit = Undo if you do not like what you have done.

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