Using Adobe Photoshop to work with digital pictures

By Bonnie Yelverton

Using Adobe Photoshop to work with digital pictures By Bonnie Yelverton Copyright June 2002, Upland, California

Contents
Using Photoshop 5.0 LE....................... 1
Before you start ................................................... 2 Screen, toolbar and windows............................. 3 Using tools .......................................................... 4

Working with pictures .......................... 5

Opening an existing picture............................... 6 Saving a picture.................................................... 7 Changing the size of a picture ........................... 8 Changing the orientation of a picture ............. 9 Cropping a picture............................................... 10 Cropping and sizing as one operation.............. 11 Lightening a dark picture ................................... 12 Touching up ......................................................... 13

Creating collages .................................. 14

Creating a new picture ........................................ 15 Moving pictures to your collage........................ 16 Moving part of a picture..................................... 17 Using layers .......................................................... 18 Changing the background color........................ 19 Changing the size of pictures in layers............. 20 Rotating picture in layers.................................... 21 Cropping picture in layers .................................. 22 Adding text........................................................... 23 Using the Type Outline tool.............................. 24

How to use the electronic help guide . 25

Page iii

Using Photoshop 5.0 LE

Photoshop is a very flexible program which can be used to create a great variety of pictures. Even a beginner can use Photoshop to work with digitized pictures, from a digital camera or scanner, but most guides go into much more detail than necessary for this use. The Working with Pictures section shows you how to make your digital pictures smaller, so you can send them over the Internet, and some ways to improve the look of your pictures. See Working with pictures on page 5. You can also learn how to use your pictures to make collages in the section Creating collages on page 14 Before you start, set up a good file system for your pictures. See Before you start on page 2. Get a quick view of your screen, toolbar and windows in Screen, toolbar and windows on page 3 and Using tools on page 4. Read about how to use the electronic version of this document in How to use the electronic help guide on page 25

Page 1

Using Photoshop 5.0 LE

Before you start

You can do some pretty radical things with your pictures in Photoshop. Since you don't necessarily have a hard copy original to rescan, always work with copies of your pictures. Folders If you have a digital camera, you will discover that you soon have an enormous collection of pictures. To be able to find them again, try to keep them organized in folders. You might have folders by date, as shown here, or by topic. Place all the pictures from each download in a separate folder, and within this folder, always make an originals folder. The copies you have worked with will be the ones you access directly in the folder. Names As you work with the pictures give them names you can recognize. If there are many of the same topic, however, you might want to label them with numbers, as flowers01, flowers02. File types Photoshop will keep the original file type (usually .jpg) unless you change the picture drastically, in which case it will become a Photoshop image (.psd). When you are happy with your picture you can resave it as a .jpg.

Page 2

Using Photoshop 5.0 LE

Screen, toolbar and windows

When you open Photoshop, you will see the screen with a menu bar above, a tool bar at the left and maybe some small windows at the right. When you have opened a picture, there will also be an Image window on the screen. The tool bars and windows can be turned on and off through the Window menu. Usually you will be using the toolbar and the Navigator window. If you decide to try making a collage, you will need the Layers window. The tools are introduced in this guide as you need them. See a survey of the tools on page 4. The Navigator has several purposes. To zoom into the picture, move the slider bar to the right. The red outline shows how much of the picture you are actually seeing on your screen. Readjust the size of the Image window using the bars at the right and bottom. The Options menu shows specific options for different tools, such as the cropping tool. You can ignore the Information window. Keep the Image window as small as possible to view the work you are doing. Zoom the picture to an appropriate size using the Navigator Change the size of the window by dragging the borders. You will rarely want the Image window maximized.

Page 3

Using Photoshop 5.0 LE

Using tools
You can experiment with other tools on the tool bar. (Remember to work on a copy of your picture!) Some of the positions have several tools. Click a tool and hold to see if there are more than one. On the Navigator window you can select Options for several of the tools. Others have their own window, but as a beginner, you wont be using them.

Rows
1-2 3-6 7 9 and 11

Tool for
selecting touch-up text color

Row

Left column

Right column

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Selection and cropping Free hand selection Airbrush Eraser Rubber stamp Blur Type outline Line Paint bucket to fill areas with color Hand tool to move around

Moving Wand to select areas with the same color Paintbrush Pencil Smudge Dodge Type Gradient Eye dropper to select a color Zoom tool

Color selection. The one in front counts. Double click the box to select colors or use eye dropper. Switch between swatches or to B&W. Editing modes (ignore) Standard screen Full screen with black background

12 13

Page 4

Working with pictures

Mostly you will be working with existing pictures that you have either uploaded from your camera, scanned in from hard copies or saved from the Internet. See Opening an existing picture on page 6. The usual format for photographs is .jpeg (.jpg). Pictures with large flat surfaces (like cartoon pictures) work well as .gif, but since these are not photographs, you will seldom use them. You may want to try a newer format called .png that combines the characteristics of the .jpg and .gif formats. See Saving a picture on page 7. If you are sending pictures to friends by email, or uploading them to a website, you should reduce their size drastically, so they don't take forever to open, or fill up the mailbox. See Changing the size of a picture on page 8. If your picture is lying on its side, you can rotate it. See Changing the orientation of a picture on page 9. Sometimes your pictures need fixing up a bit. You may wish to crop them, make them a bit lighter, or even touch them up. See Cropping a picture on page 10, Lightening a dark picture on page 12, and Touching up on page 13.

Page 5

Working with pictures

Opening an existing picture

In the File menu click Open, then browse for the images you want to open. Make sure you are not opening the original! You can open about 15 images at a time. 1 Click the first. 2 Holding Shift, click the last of the group you wish to open. 3 Click Open. If you haven't saved the originals separately: 1 2 3 4 Return to the File menu Click Open As for each separate picture. Give it a new name. Click Open.

Page 6

Working with pictures

Saving a picture
Remember to save your work as you go along, so you don't lose the brilliant effects you have been working on. You have several ways to save pictures in Photoshop. Saving a new picture or saving a picture with a
different name or format

1 In the File menu, click Save as. 2 Browse for the folder where you want to save your picture. 3 Enter the name of the picture. 4 Chose the format (here .jpeg) 5 Click Save. 6 In the next dialog box, chose the file size you want your picture saved as. This will depend on what you are using it for. I try to aim at a middle value if it is for an electronic medium. Don't bother with the rest of the dialog box. 7 Click OK. Saving an existing picture in the same format
and with the same name

Press Ctrl + S or In the File menu, click Save.

Page 7

Working with pictures

Changing the size of a picture

The pictures you get directly from your camera may be very large, depending on the resolution you are using. The larger resolution you have, the more detailed your picture will be. In particular if you will be cropping your pictures or using parts of pictures, it is good to start with a large picture. At some point you will probably want to reduce the size of your picture, particularly if you will be sending it in an email or uploading it to a website. I find that reducing the size to 400 by 300 pixels is often appropriate. 1 In the Image menu, click on Image size. 2 In the Image size dialog box, make sure the Constrain Proportions box is checked, so that your picture keeps the same proportions.

3 Set the Pixel Dimensions units to pixels and enter the desired Width dimension, depending on the orientation of the picture. The Height dimension will change accordingly. 4 Keep the Resolution at 72 pixels/inch for web use. This will also define the print size. Save your picture with Save As and a new name if you want to keep the larger picture as well.

Page 8

Working with pictures

Changing the orientation of a picture

If your picture is lying down 1 In the Image menu click and hold Rotate
Canvas

2 Click the desired rotation. You will find that you almost always turn your camera in one direction, so you will often be choosing the same direction, either 90CW or CCW. If your picture is big, this could take a couple of seconds to do. Remember to save your work with Ctrl+S.

Page 9

Working with pictures

Cropping a picture
Sometimes you find that your picture would be better if you removed some less interesting parts of it. Sometimes you can get several pictures out of one picture. Just remember to save each version with a different name. You can crop the picture easily with the cropping tool at the top of the toolbar. 1 Click and hold the upper left tool of the tool bar, and choose the cropping tool shown in the picture. 2 Drag a square around the part of the picture you want to keep. 3 You can change the size of the box by pulling on one of the small boxes that appear at the edges. 4 You can also rotate the crop, by holding the cursor at one of the edges until it turns into a curved double-pointed arrow. 5 When you are finished, click somewhere in the toolbar. 6 In the menu that appears, chose Crop or Don't Crop. If you click Cancel you can go back to working on the crop. 7 If you are very sure that you want to crop, you can just double-click in the cropped area. Save your picture with Save As and a new name if you want to keep the larger picture as well. Note You only have one Undo available in Photoshop. If you regret the crop more than one step away, exit without saving and start over. (This is why it's good to keep your originals!)

Page 10

Working with pictures

Cropping and sizing as one operation

You can crop the picture to a specific size, which is an easy way to work with a large group of pictures. 1 Click on the cropping tool. 2 In the Navigator window click Options. 3 Click Fixed Target Size. 4 Fill in the desired width and resolution. Think about the orientation of the picture, so that the width is wider if the picture is oriented "landscape". 5 Crop the picture. The picture will now be cropped in the standard size you set. Save your picture now with Ctrl+S.

Page 11

Working with pictures

Lightening a dark picture

If the picture seems to dark, you will be surprised at how much detail can appear if you lighten it. There are two methods for lightening, from the same menu, Brightness and Contrast. For some reason, I prefer brightness, but others swear by contrast. Try both and chose one. 1 From the Image menu, click and hold Adjust. 2 Click on Brightness/ Contrast. 3 In the Brightness/ Contrast dialog box, move the Brightness slider to the right or the Contrast slider to the left to brighten the picture. Be careful not to do it too much. I find that over 20 Brightness can make the picture look too washed out. 4 Check Preview to see the results immediately, so you can try various settings. 5 Click OK. If you don't like the result, press Ctrl + Z to revert to the previous version, then try again. Save your picture now with Ctrl+S.

Page 12

Working with pictures

Touching up
There are many ways to touch up a picture in Photoshop. Mostly you can discover these by trying out the various tools. Touching up is easier if you zoom in on the area you want to improve using the Navigator. In the following you can see how to remove a line in a picture, in this case, the horizontal line at the left, by covering it up with a square taken from the same background area. 1 In the Navigator window, zoom in until the area you want to change fills most of the screen. 2 In the toolbar, click and hold the upper left tool and click the selection tool shown in the picture.

3 Click and drag the cursor, creating a little box the size you want to use to cover up the line. 4 Press Ctrl+C to copy the box. 5 Click somewhere else in the picture and press Ctrl+V to paste the little square. 6 Drag the copied square over the line to cover it. Now the area resembles its surroundings. Save your picture now with Ctrl+S.

Page 13

Creating collages
Once you've mastered working with single pictures, you might enjoy making collages of several pictures and even text. A collage is composed of several pictures. Before you start creating the collage, open all the pictures you think you will be using. If you need more, you can open them later. A collage is always in the special Photoshop format .psd until you are finished, Then you can save it as a .jpeg or .png, for example. In this section you learn to create a new picture move pictures to the picture changing the color of the background change the size, orientation and shape of these pictures cropping picture in layers add text. But before you can create collages you must learn something about the Layers window.

Page 14

Creating collages

Creating a new picture

You create your collage on a background the size and shape you want your final collage to be. Then you drag pictures over to the background, resize them and move them around until you like the result. To create a new picture 1 On the File menu, click New.

2 In the dialog box, type in a name. 3 Type in the size in cm, inches or pixels. (Note Image Size.) 4 Select the resolution (the higher, the more detailed.) 5 Select RGB (red, green, blue) color usually. 6 Unless you already know what color you want for the background, select White. This can be changed later. Background color refers to the color tool at the bottom of the tool bar. 7 Click OK. Save the picture with Ctrl+S now and after every addition. You may want to make several versions as you work, before making radical changes. Use the Save as command in the File menu.

Page 15

Creating collages

Moving pictures to your collage

You can move all or parts of the open pictures onto your collage. Each picture has its own layer, so you can change them separately. Before you start moving pictures make sure that both the pictures and the collage background are open to the same zoom, using the Navigator. Otherwise, you may be surprised at the relative sizes. The pictures don't have to be the size they will end up, however. You can change the size and rotation for each picture separately. To move entire pictures 1 Click the Moving tool on the tool bar, 2 Click the picture you want to place on the collage. The pointer changes to the moving pointer. 3 Drag the picture to the collage. Save your picture with Ctrl+S after you move each picture. 4 Close each picture with the X in the upper right corner of the picture after you have moved the selection to reduce clutter.

Page 16

Creating collages

Moving part of a picture

If you do not want an entire picture in your collage, you can move parts of it. 1 Chose one of the selection tools on the tool bar. See Using tools on page 4. 2 Select an area of your picture by dragging or drawing with the tool. When using the tools in the upper left box, click at the upper left corner of the area you want to select and drag down and to the right. See Touching up on page 13. When using freehand selection tools in the second left box such as the lasso and the shrink wrap shown, draw around the selection until you have drawn an enclosed figure. You may want to zoom in to be more precise. (This takes practice!) You can move the selected area around using the same tool. If you want to try another selection, cancel the selection with Ctrl+D. 3 Click on the Moving tool. 4 Drag the selection to the collage. Save your picture with Ctrl+S after you move each picture. 5 Close each picture with the X in the upper right corner of the picture after you have moved the selection to reduce clutter.

lasso tool

shrink wrap

Page 17

Creating collages

Using layers
Each picture you move to the collage has its own layer. This is easy to see in the Layers window. If the Layers window isn't already open, on the Window menu, click Show Layers. This is what the screen looks like after moving lots of pictures to the collage.

Each separate picture has its own layer. You can see which picture is on which layer in the little thumbnail in the window. It is often a good idea to rename the layers by right-clicking on the name. The layer at the top of the Layer window is also the layer that is topmost in the picture. To change the layer assignment eye icon In the Layer window drag a layer to another position, so that it won't be covered. In the picture, layer 1 is being moved up between 2 and 3. To work on a particular picture paintbrush icon 1 Click on the picture's layer. A paintbrush icon appears next to the active layer. 2 Using the moving tool, you can arrange the pictures in your collage. 3 To reduce the clutter in a collage while you are working on one layer In the Layer window, click on the eye icon of the pictures you are not working on. Page 18

Creating collages

Changing the background color

The lowest layer of your collage is the background. By default it is white, or some background color you have already chosen. You may also select a full size picture for the background. To change the color of the background 1 In the Layer menu click on the Background
layer

2 Select a color for the background, either: with the eye dropper tool. Click on the eye dropper tool Click on a part of the picture that is the color you want for your background. The color you selected is shown in the color tool. Keep trying until you've found the right color. with the color picker Double click the color tool. Select the color in the pallet click OK 3 Select the
paint bucket tool.

4 Click on the
background. The

background is filled with the color. Save your work with Ctrl+S.

Page 19

Creating collages

Changing the size of pictures in layers

Probably the collection of pictures in the collage are not all in the correct size or location. To remedy this, change the size and position of the picture in each layer in turn. In the Layer window 1 If the collage is very cluttered, click the eye icon in all but the picture you want to resize. 2 Click the layer of the picture to be resized 3 In the Edit menu, click Transform, then select Scale.

Small squares appear at corners and sides of the parts of the picture that are within the collage outline. 4 Holding Shift, drag the squares until the picture is the correct size. (Shift keeps the proportions correct) 5 Click in the toolbar area. A dialog box appears. 6 Select Apply or Don't Apply. The picture has the new size. Save your work with Ctrl+S. Repeat this process for all the pictures. You can do this again as you need. When you have all the pictures sized, you can start moving them around. 1 Click on all the eye icons in the Layers window, so that all the pictures are visible. 2 Click on one layer at a time and arrange it, using the moving tool. It is easier to keep track of them if you have renamed the layers, particularly if there are many small pictures.

Page 20

Creating collages

Rotating picture in layers

You may need to rotate some of the pictures, to make the arrangement more pleasing. This is best done after the pictures have been resized and arranged somewhat. In the Layer window 1 If the picture is very cluttered, click the eye icon in any layers that are in the way. Use this sparingly at this point, as you want to see the relationship of the pictures to each other. 2 Click the layer of the picture to be resized. 3 In the Edit menu, click Transform, then select Rotate. Small squares appear at corners and sides of the parts of the picture that are within the collage outline, and the cursor becomes a curved double arrow when held near one of them. 4 Drag the picture with the pointer until the picture is in the correct position. 5 Click in the toolbar area. A dialog box appears. 6 Select Apply or Don't Apply. The picture has the new rotation. Save your work with Ctrl+S. Note that there are other options in the Transform menu, such as Flip Vertical or Horizontal, which you may want to use to arrange the picture optimally.

Page 21

Creating collages

Cropping picture in layers

You may decide that your collage would be better if some of the pictures were cropped further. This you can do by selecting the part you want, just as you did when moving pictures to the collage, then selecting the inverse of the selection and deleting it. In the Layer window 1 Hide any pictures that overlap the picture you want to crop by clicking the eye icon. 2 Click the layer of the picture to be cropped. 3 Zoom in on the picture to be able to see details. 4 In the Toolbar, select a selection tool. Here we are using the lasso. See Using tools on page 4. 5 Draw with the tool around the area you want to keep. If you do not like the area you have selected, press Ctrl+D to cancel the selection. 6 On the Select menu, select Inverse, to select everything except what you want to save. 7 Click OK. 8 Click Delete on your keyboard to remove the parts you don't want. Save your work with Ctrl+S if you are pleased with the result. 9 Revert to the previous with Ctrl+Z if you aren't.

Page 22

Creating collages

Adding text
There are two ways to add text to your collage, Placing text on a separate layer with the Type tool, so that you can move it around with the moving tool if needed, or Using the Type Outline tool to select an area in a layer shaped like your text. To use the Type tool method, 1 Click the Type tool on the Toolbar. 2 In the Color menu, chose the color you want for the text. 3 Click where you want your text to start. 4 In the Type Tool dialog box, select font, size, alignment and style, and type the text for this layer.

5 Click Show Font and Size, so that you can get an idea of how it will look in your collage. 6 If you want to use different sizes and fonts, use a different layer for each. Click OK. 7 You may need to move the text, using the Moving tool. 8 If the results are not good enough, delete the layer from the Layer window you just made and repeat the process. When you are please with the results, save with Ctrl+S.

Page 23

Creating collages

Using the Type Outline tool

Using this method for adding text to your collage, you select an area in a layer shaped like your text. You can then either delete the area, causing the underlying layer to show through, or fill the area with the foreground color. 1 In the Layer Window, select the Layer where the text will be. 2 Click the Type Outline tool in the Toolbar. 3 Click where you want your text to start if you are left aligning your text. It is very important to get this placing correct, as you will not be able to move it around, since it is not in a layer of its own.. 4 In the Type Tool dialog box, select font, size, alignment and style, and type the text for this layer. If you want to use different sizes and fonts, use a different layer for each. 5 Click OK. 6 If the results are not good enough, cancel this selection with Ctrl+D and repeat the process. Fill in the color of the text box in one of two ways: If you want the background to show through, click Delete on your keyboard. Fill with the foreground color. 1 Select the foreground color with the Color
tool.

2 On the Edit menu, select Fill. 3 Complete the Fill dialog box as shown, or select a different opacity or transparency. 4 Click OK. 5 If you are not pleased with the results, revert to the earlier version with Ctrl+Z. Save your work with Ctrl+S.

Page 24

How to use the electronic help guide

To change the size of the two windows 1 Place your cursor on a border so that it becomes a double arrow. 2 Drag until the window has the desired size. To hide the left menu window 1 Click the Hide icon at the top left corner. 2 Click again (Show) to view it. The left screen gives you three ways to find information: Contents Shows you each of the topics logically. If you click a closed book icon, it will open to show you the topics arranged under it. Index An alphabetical list of keywords you can use to find what you need. Search Can find almost any word used in the guide. 1 Type in the word you are looking for. 2 Click List Topics. 3 Click the topic you want to read. 4 Click Display.

Page 25