Adobe Photoshop CS6 on Demand

Inside the Book • Improve productivity with the CS6 adjustable interface and templates • Use automatic saving options for better efficiency and protection • Use automatic layer alignment and blending to work with objects • Use more precise color correction to enhance a photo • Use content-aware options for scaling and fill • Create eye-catching images with special effect filters • Transform plain text into a showstopping image • Create character and paragraph styles to manage and use text • Transform video in Photoshop just like an image • Create and manipulate 3D models using presets and custom options

ptg8126863

Steve Johnson Perspection, Inc.

Que Publishing, 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46240 USA

Copyright © 2012 by Perspection, Inc.

All rights reserved No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photo-copying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the

publish-er No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information

contained herein Although every precaution has been taken in the

prepara-tion of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors

or omissions Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use

of the information contained herein

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file

ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-4933-8

ISBN-10: 0-7897-4933-5

Printed and bound in the United States of America

First Printing: May 2012

15 14 13 12 4 3 2 1

Que Publishing offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered

in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales

For information, please contact: U.S Corporate and Government Sales

1-800-382-3419 or corpsales@pearsontechgroup.com

For sales outside the U.S., please contact: International Sales

1-317-428-3341 or International@pearsontechgroup.com

Trademarks

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service

marks have been appropriately capitalized Que cannot attest to the accuracy

of this information Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as

affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Bridge, Device Central, Dreamweaver,

Extension Manager, Flash, InDesign, Illustrator, PageMaker, Photoshop,

Photoshop Elements, and Version Cue are registered trademarks of Adobe

System Incorporated Apple, Mac OS, and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple

Computer, Inc Microsoft and the Microsoft Office logo are registered

trade-marks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries

Interior Designers

Steve JohnsonMarian Hartsough

Photographs

Toni BennettTracy Teyler

Adobe Photoshop CS6 On Demand has been created by the professional trainers

and writers at Perspection, Inc to the standards you’ve come to expect from Que

publishing Together, we are pleased to present this training book

Perspection, Inc is a software training company committed to providing information

and training to help people use software more effectively in order to communicate,

make decisions, and solve problems Perspection writes and produces software

training books, and develops multimedia and web-based training Since 1991, we

have written more than 120 computer books, with several bestsellers to our credit,

and sold over 5 million books

This book incorporates Perspection’s training expertise to ensure that you’ll receive

the maximum return on your time You’ll focus on the tasks and skills that increase

productivity while working at your own pace and convenience

We invite you to visit the Perspection web site at:

www.perspection.com

Acknowledgments

The task of creating any book requires the talents of many hard-working people

pulling together to meet impossible deadlines and untold stresses We’d like to

thank the outstanding team responsible for making this book possible: the writer,

Steve Johnson; the technical editor, Toni Bennett; the production editors, James

Teyler and Beth Teyler; proofreader, Beth Teyler; and the indexer, Katherine Stimson

At Que publishing, we’d like to thank Greg Wiegand and Laura Norman for the

opportunity to undertake this project, Cindy Teeters for administrative support, and

Sandra Schroeder for your production expertise and support

Perspection

a

About the Author

Steve Johnson has written more than 70 books on a variety of computer software,including Adobe Photoshop CS5, Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, Adobe Flash Profes-sional CS5, Adobe InDesign CS5, Adobe Illustrator CS5, Microsoft Windows 7,Microsoft Office 2010 and 2007, Microsoft Office 2008 for the Macintosh, and AppleMac OS X Lion In 1991, after working for Apple Computer and Microsoft, Stevefounded Perspection, Inc., which writes and produces software training When he isnot staying up late writing, he enjoys coaching baseball, playing golf, gardening,and spending time with his wife, Holly, and three children, JP, Brett, and Hannah

Steve and his family live in Northern California, but can also be found visiting ily all over the western United States

Acknowledgmentsav

We Want to Hear from You!

As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator We

value your opinion and want to know what we’re doing right, what we could do

bet-ter, what areas you’d like to see us publish in, and any other words of

wisdom you’re willing to pass our way

As an associate publisher for Que, I welcome your comments You can email or

write me directly to let me know what you did or didn’t like about this book—as well

as what we can do to make our books better

Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic

of this book We do have a User Services group, however, where I will forward

spe-cific technical questions related to the book

When you write, please be sure to include this book’s title and author as well as

your name, email address, and phone number I will carefully review your

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Getting Started with Photoshop CS6 1

Understanding Navigation and Measurement Systems 33

Changing the View Size with the Navigator Panel 34 New!

Changing the View Area with the Navigator Panel 35

Changing the Color of the Navigator Panel View Box 36

2

1

c

Controlling Transparency & Gamut Preferences 61

Using the Single Row and Single Column Marquee Tools 80 New!

4 3

Contents ix

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Using Channels to Create and Store Selections 94

Controlling Image Information Using the Layers Panel 118 New!

Controlling the Creative Process with Snapshots 138

Duplicating a History State in Another Document 139

6

5

c

Combining the History Brush with a History State 142

Changing the Eraser Tool into the History Brush 145

Working with Adjustment Layers, Filters, and Tools 147

Controlling Adjustment Layers with Clipping Groups 152 New!

Using Blending Modes and Opacity with Layers 154 New!

Keeping Proper Perspective with Vanishing Point 160

Using the Box, Surface, and Shape Blur Filters 164Using the Gaussian Blur and Despeckle Filters 166

7

Contents xi

c

Using the Auto Contrast and Auto Color Commands 203

Using the Threshold and Posterize Adjustments 215

Using the Paint, Shape Drawing, and Eraser Tools 221

9

c

Using Selections to Generate Complex Layer Masks 255Using Layer Masks to Generate Soft Transparency 256

Making Channel Masks from Native Color Channels 264

10

Contents xiii

c

Converting Straight Points and Curved Points 285

Creating Customized Styles Using the Styles Panel 312

Creating Work Paths and Shapes from Type Layers 331 New!

13

12

c

Manipulating Images with Filters 341

Using a Channel Mask to Control Filter Effects 368

Automating Your Work with Actions 375

15 14

Contents xv

c

Inserting a Non-Recordable Command into an Action 391

Saving a Document with a Different File Format 410

Preparing an Image for an Inkjet or Laser Printer 422

Understanding Monitor, Image, and Device Resolution 424

Managing Color from Monitor to Print 445

18

17

16

c

Changing from Additive (RGB) to Subtractive (CMYK) 450

Assigning a Different Profile to a Document 457Converting Document Colors to Another Profile 458Using Hue/Saturation for Out-Of-Gamut Colors 460Using the Sponge Tool for Out-Of-Gamut Colors 462

Designing for the Web and Devices 465

20 19

Contents xvii

c

Working Together with Adobe Programs 527

Working with Raw Images from a Digital Camera 532 New!

22

21

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xix

Introduction

Welcome to Adobe Photoshop CS6 On Demand, a visual

quick reference book that shows you how to work efficiently

with Photoshop This book provides complete coverage of

basic to advanced Photoshop skills

How This Book Works

You don’t have to read this book in any particular order

We’ve designed the book so that you can jump in, get the

information you need, and jump out However, the book does

follow a logical progression from simple tasks to more

com-plex ones Each task is presented on no more than two facing

pages, which lets you focus on a single task without having

to turn the page To find the information that you need, just

look up the task in the table of contents or index, and turn to

the page listed Read the task introduction, follow the

step-by-step instructions in the left column along with screen

illus-trations in the right column, and you’re done

What’s New

If you’re searching for what’s new in Photoshop CS6, just look

for the icon: New ! The new icon appears in the table of

contents and throughout this book so you can quickly and

easily identify a new or improved feature in Photoshop A

complete description of each new feature appears in the New

Features guide in the back of this book

Keyboard Shortcuts

Most menu commands have a keyboard equivalent, such as

Ctrl+P (Win) or A+P (Mac), as a quicker alternative to using

the mouse A complete list of keyboard shortcuts is available

on the web at www.perspection.com

How You’ll Learn

How This Book Works What’s New

Keyboard Shortcuts Step-by-Step Instructions Real World Examples Workshops

Adobe Certification Get More on the Web

Step-by-Step

Instructions

This book provides concise

step-by-step instructions that show you

“how” to accomplish a task Each

set of instructions includes

illus-trations that directly correspond to

the easy-to-read steps Also

included in the text are

time-savers, tables, and sidebars to

help you work more efficiently or

to teach you more in-depth

infor-mation A “Did You Know?”

pro-vides tips and techniques to help

you work smarter, while a “See

Also” leads you to other parts of

the book containing related

infor-mation about the task

Real World Examples

This book uses real world

exam-ples files to give you a context in

which to use the task By using

the example files, you won’t waste

time looking for or creating

sam-ple files You get a start file and a

result file, so you can compare

your work Not every topic needs

an example file, such as changing

options, so we provide a complete

Real world examples help

you apply what you’ve learned

to other tasks.

Illustrations

match the numbered steps.

Numbered steps guide

you through each task.

Did You Know? alerts

you to tips, techniques and related information.

See Also points you to

related information in the book.

Easy-to-follow introductions

focus on a single concept.

Introduction xxi

Workshops

This book shows you how to put

together the individual

step-by-step tasks into in-depth projects

with the Workshop You start each

project with a sample file, work

through the steps, and then

com-pare your results with project

results file at the end The

Work-shop projects and associated files

are available on the web at

www.perspection.com and

queondemand.com

Adobe Certification

This book prepares you for the

Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) and

Adobe Certified Associate (ACA)

exams for Adobe Photoshop CS6

Each Adobe certification exam has

a set of objectives, which are

organized into broader skill sets

To prepare for a certification

exam, you should review and

per-form each task identified with an

ACE or ACA objective to confirm

that you can meet the

require-ments for the exam Information

about the ACE and ACA programs

are available in the back of this

book The ACE and ACA objectives

and the specific pages that cover

them are available on the web at

www.perspection.com

Get More on the Web

In addition to the information in

this book, you can also get more

information on the web to help

you get up to speed faster with

Photoshop CS6 Some of the

information includes:

Transition Helpers

◆ Only New Features

Download and print the new

feature tasks as a quick and

easy guide

Productivity Tools

◆ Keyboard Shortcuts

Download a list of keyboard

shortcuts to learn faster ways

to get the job done

More Content

◆ Photographs Download

photographs and other

graphics to use in your

Photoshop documents

◆ More Content Download

new content developed after

publication

You can access these additional

resources on the web at

www.perspection.com

Additional content

is available

on the web

Getting Started with

Photoshop CS6

Introduction

Adobe Photoshop CS6 is a graphics design and image

enhancement program that runs seamlessly on both

Windows and Macintosh platforms Adobe Photoshop comes

in two editions: Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6

Extended Photoshop CS6 Extended edition has all the same

features included in the standard edition However, the

Extended edition contains additional features geared towards

creating more sophisticated content Adobe Photoshop CS6

and Photoshop CS6 Extended are stand-alone programs, but

they're also part of Adobe's Creative Suite of professional

programs that work together to help you create designs in

print, on the Web, or on mobile devices All Creative Suite 6

programs also include additional Adobe programs and

serv-ices—Bridge, Camera Raw plug-in, Media Encoder, Extension

Manager, and ExtendScript Toolkit—to help you manage and

work with files

Creative artists from Hollywood, brochure designers, as

well as casual users turn to Photoshop for its proven ability

to create special effects and image composites Photoshop's

ability to manipulate digital images, restore old photographs,

as well as create digital artwork from scratch, has made

Photoshop the undisputed leader in the digital industry

When it comes to digital imaging, Photoshop is literally the

best software the computer industry has to offer

Photoshop accepts images created with any digital

camera, or traditional photographic film images converted to

digital format through the use of a scanner Once an image is

opened in Photoshop, the designer can manipulate the image

thousands of ways, from correcting color, reducing dust and

scratches in an old image, removing a tree, or adding a

Open Images Insert Images in a Document Import Raw Data from a Digital Camera Work with Smart Objects

Change Image Size and Resolution Check for Updates and Patches Get Help While You Work Save a Document Use the Status Bar Close a Document Finish Up

1

The process of installing the Photoshop application, either 32- or 64-bitedition, is fairly straightforward; you insert the Photoshop CS6 installdisc into your DVD drive or purchase and download the software onlinefromwww.adobe.com to your computer, double-click the setup pro-gram and simply follow the on-screen instructions The first thing thatwill happen is that the installer will check to see if you have the mini-mum system requirements If you meet the minimums, the installer willguide you through the steps to complete the installation The wholeprocess takes about ten minutes, and at the end of the process you canlaunch Photoshop for the first time Remember to have your serial num-ber handy, because you will have to type it in during the installationprocess It's a good idea to have that serial number in a safe place, just

in case you would need to reinstall Photoshop

Installing Photoshop

Install Photoshop CS6 in

Windows

Insert the Photoshop CS6 or

Adobe Collection CS6 DVD into

your DVD ROM drive, or download

the software online to your hard

disk

If necessary, double-click the DVD

icon or open the folder with the

downloaded software, and then

double-click the setup icon

Follow the on-screen instructions

to install the product; the installer

asks you to read and accept a

licensing agreement, enter or

create an Adobe ID or skip the

step, enter a serial number,

indicate the language you want,

and specify where you want to

install the software

3

2

1

Did You Know?

The DVD comes with bonus content.

The Resources and Extras DVD

2

Chapter 1 Getting Started with Photoshop CS6 3

Install Photoshop CS6 in

Macintosh

Insert the Photoshop CS6 or

Adobe Collection CS6 DVD into

your DVD ROM drive, or download

the software online to your hard

disk

If necessary, double-click the DVD

icon or open the folder with the

downloaded software, and then

double-click the Install icon

Follow the on-screen instructions

to install the product; the installer

asks you to read and accept a

licensing agreement, enter or

create an Adobe ID or skip the

step, enter a serial number,

indicate the language you want,

and specify where you want to

install the software

3

2

1

Did You Know?

You can create a shortcut on the

Macintosh Drag and drop the

Photoshop program to the dock

You can use a 32-bit (Win only) or

64-bit version of Photoshop (New !)

The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the

way a computer CPU processes

infor-mation A 64-bit system handles large

amounts of RAM more effectively than

32-bit systems The 64-bit version of

Photoshop performs tasks 10% or more

faster, especially when you work with

very large files It takes advantage of

more than 4 GB of RAM when needed,

instead of swapping out to the hard

drive Photoshop also supports

scan-ning on 64-bit Mac OS with ImageKit

Windows 7 Hard Drive 1 GB of available space Available RAM 1 GB (2 GB recommended) Video Card 16-bit; 256 MB Video RAM; support for OpenGL

provides added features.

Monitor Resolution 1024 x 768 (1280 x 800 recommended) DVD-ROM drive Any type

MACINTOSH

Computer Processor Intel-based Macs Operating System Macintosh OS X 10.6.6 or higher Hard Drive 2 GB of available space Available RAM 1 GB (2 GB recommended) Video Card 16-bit; 256 MB Video RAM; support for OpenGL

provides added features.

Monitor Resolution 1024 x 768 (1280 x 800 recommended) DVD-ROM drive Any type

Photoshop CS6 System Requirements

3

You can launch Photoshop like any other program After you launchPhotoshop, the program checks for updates to Photoshop and relatedCS6 software—including Adobe Bridge, and Adobe Help Viewer—usingthe Adobe Application Manager If you want to access the AdobeApplication Manager at any time, you can choose Updates from the Helpmenu Once inside this dialog box, you can click on Preferences to setAdobe Application Manager Preferences options You can choose to benotified of new updates on the menu bar and you can also choose toallow Adobe to verify the success or failure of an update by sending afailure status to you See "Checking for Updates and Patches" on page 24for information on using the Adobe Application Manager Preferencesdialog box

Starting Photoshop

Start Photoshop CS6 in

Windows

Click Start on the taskbar.

Point to All Programs (which

changes to Back)

Point to an Adobe Collection CS6

menu, if needed

Click Adobe Photoshop CS6.

If you’re starting Photoshop CS6

for the first time, you might be

prompted to specify the following:

◆ Enter or create an Adobe ID to

register the product, click

Submit, and then click Done.

◆ Specify whether you want to

migrate presets from earlier CS

Did You Know?

You can create and use a shortcut

icon on your desktop to start

Photoshop (Win) Click Start on the

taskbar, point to All Programs,

Chapter 1 Getting Started with Photoshop CS6 5

Start Photoshop CS6 in

Macintosh

Open the Applications folder

(located on the main hard drive)

◆ For Lion, you can also click the

Launchpad icon on the Dock,

and then click the Adobe

Photoshop CS6 icon.

Double-click the Adobe Photoshop

CS6 folder or a Adobe Collection

CS6 folder, if installed.

Double-click the Adobe Photoshop

CS6 program icon.

If you’re starting Photoshop CS6

for the first time, you might be

prompted to specify the following:

◆ Enter or create an Adobe ID to

register the product, click

Submit, and then click Done.

◆ Specify whether you want to

migrate presets from earlier CS

Did You Know?

You can create a shortcut on the

Macintosh Drag and drop the

Photoshop application to the bottom of

the monitor screen, and then add it to

the dock

You can create and use a keyboard

shortcut to start Photoshop (Win) Click

Start on the taskbar, point to All

Programs, right-click Adobe Photoshop

CS6, and then click Properties In the

Shortcut Key box, type or press any

letter, number, or function key, such as

P, to which Windows adds Ctrl+Alt

Click OK to create the keyboard

short-cut From anywhere in Windows, press

the keyboard shortcut you defined

(Ctrl+Alt+P) to start Photoshop

Using Photoshop in 32-bit and 64-bit Mode

The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the way a computer CPU

process-es information A 64-bit system handlprocess-es large amounts of RAM moreeffectively than 32-bit systems Photoshop in 64-bit mode takesadvantage of more than 4 GB of RAM when needed, instead of swap-ping out to the hard drive, which increases performance When youinstall a 64-bit version of Photoshop on a 64-bit system and version ofWindows 7/Vista/XP, you can use Photoshop in 32-bit or 64-bit modes

When you install a 32-bit version of Photoshop, you can only use it in32-bit mode For Windows on a 64-bit system, Photoshop CS6 installs32-bit and 64-bit versions with shortcuts on the Start menu, whereyou can start either one For the Mac (10.6 or 10.7), Photoshop CS6only installs one version in 64-bit mode

For Your Information

Shortcut for Adobe Photoshop CS6

3

Launchpad icon in Mac OS X Lion

Photoshop allows you to change the color of

the user interface (New !) from a dark gray

(default) to a light gray (similar to Photoshop

CS5) You can change the interface color in

Interface Preferences Click the Edit (Win) or

Photoshop (Mac) menu, point to Preferences,

and then click Interface, click the Color Theme

box with the color you want, and then click

OK You can also press Shift+F1 (multiple

times) to quickly make the interface darker orpress Shift+F2 (multiple times) to quicklymake it lighter In addition, you can changethe canvas color area around the image

Simply, right-click or Option-click (Mac) thecanvas, and then select a color option:

Default, Black, Dark Gray, Medium Gray, LightGray, or Custom Click Select Custom Color

to open the Color Picker to choose a color

Viewing the Photoshop Window

ptg8126863Panels on Window menu

1

Chapter 1 Getting Started with Photoshop CS6 7

Panels give you easy access to many task-specific commands andoperations from color control to vector path information By default, themain panel display is located along the right side of your window Youcan use the Window menu or click a panel tab within a group to display

it, and then select options on the panel or choose panel-specific commands from the Panel Options menu to perform actions Instead ofcontinually moving, resizing, or opening and closing windows, you canuse the header bar with the panel tabs to collapse or expand individualpanels within a window to save space

Showing and Hiding

Panels

Open and Close a Panel

Click the Window menu

Click a panel name, such as Color,

Layers, Navigator, Brush,

Adjustments, or History

TIMESAVER To close a panel,

or a single tab, click the Options

menu and then click Close Tab

Group or Close (for a single tab)

Collapse or Expand a Panel

To collapse an open panel,

double-click a title tab on the header bar

of the panel To expand an open

panel, click the title tab once

If the panel is in icon mode, click

on the icon to expand or collapse

it To reduce the panel back to

icon mode, click on the double

right-facing arrows in the dark

gray area To expand from icons to

panels, click on the double

1

Working with

Panels

Add a Panel

Select a panel by clicking on the

named panel, or click the Window

menu, and then click the panel

name you want to display

Drag the panel into another

group

Subtract a Panel

Select a panel by clicking on the

named panel or click the Window

menu, and then click the panel

name you want to display

Drag the panel out of the group

Drop it onto the desktop (Mac) or

Photoshop window (Win)

The movable panels are organized into groups, such as Color/Swatches,

to save screen space and help with workflow You can also add or tract specific panels within a group to customize your workspace Apanel appears with a header, which includes the tab titles and threeoptions: the Collapse to Icons button, the Close button, and an Optionsmenu The Options menu provides you with panel commands You canalso right-click a panel title for additional options The entire set of pan-els includes a double arrow at the top you can use to collapse andexpand the entire panel back and forth between icons and full panels

sub-2

1

A group with two panels:

Color and Swatches

1

Click to choose commands from the panel menu

2

Did You Know?

You can dock and undock panels You

can dock and undock, or temporarily

attach and detach, panels or panel Hiding Panels While You Work

For Your Information

Chapter 1 Getting Started with Photoshop CS6 9

Collapse and Expand the Panel

Set Between Icons and Panels

◆ To collapse the panel set to icons

with text, click the double arrow

pointing right (Collapse to Icons) at

the top of the panels

◆ To expand the panel set from icons

with text to full panels, click the

double arrow pointing left (Expand

Panels) at the top of the panels

◆ To have an expanded panel icon

automatically collapse or hide

when you click away, right-click

(Win or Mac) or Control-click

(Mac) a panel’s title, and then click

Auto-Collapse Iconic Panels or

Auto-Show Hidden Panels.

Use the Panel Options Menu

Open or expand a panel

Click the Options button on the

right side of the panel header bar

Click a command from the list

(commands vary) Common

commands include:

◆ Close Closes the currently

displayed tab in the panel

◆ Close Tab Group Closes all the

tabs in the panel

2

3

Photoshop has an abundance of tools that

give a Photoshop designer tremendous

con-trol over any creative designing problems that

may crop up For example, the Photoshop

toolbox contains 11 selection tools (you can

never have enough selection tools), 13

paint-ing or shape tools, 4 type tools, and 14 tools

dedicated to restoring and retouching images

Add to that collection, slicing, sampling, and

viewing tools and you have almost 70 tools

When you work on a document, it's important

to know what tools are available, and how

they can help in achieving your design goals

Photoshop likes to save space, so it

consoli-dates similar tools under one button To

access multiple tools, click and hold on any

toolbox button that contains a small black

tri-angle, located in the lower right corner of the

tool button Take a moment to explore the

Photoshop toolbox and get to know the tools

The Photoshop toolbox contains the toolsneeded to work through any Photoshop job,but it's not necessary to click on a tool toaccess it Simply using a letter of the alphabetcan access all of Photoshop's tools For exam-ple, pressing the V key switches to the Movetool, and pressing the W key switches to theMagic Wand tool In addition, if a button hasmore than one tool available, such as theGradient and Paint Bucket buttons, pressingthe Shift key along with the tool's shortcutlets you cycle through the tool's otheroptions You can quickly move between toolsusing Spring-loaded keys Rather than goback to the toolbox when you want to switchtools, just hold down the shortcut letter keyfor the new tool, use the tool, and then let go

of the shortcut key and you'll be back usingthe first tool

Working with Photoshop Tools

Toolbox

(New !)

(New !)

Chapter 1 Getting Started with Photoshop CS6 11

You can refer to Adobe Photoshop CS6

Keyboard Shortcuts (available for download

on the Web at www.perspection.com) for

more information on all the letter

assign-ments for the various tools It helps to use

both hands Use one hand for your mouse or

drawing tablet, and the other on the keyboard

to make quick changes of tools and options

Using the Options Bar

The Options bar displays the options for the

currently selected tool If you are working

with the Shape Marquee tools, your options

include Feather, Style, Width, and Height

When working with the Brush tools, available

tool options include Size, Mode, Opacity, andTolerance The important thing to remember

is that the Options bar is customized based

on the tool you have selected

To quickly set options on the Options barand panels, you can use scrubby sliders

When you point to a text label of a numericsetting (cursor changes to a finger with adouble arrow), and then drag left or right, thesetting adjusts down or up If you press Alt(Win) or Option (Mac) while scrubbing, val-ues change more slowly; if you press Shift,values change more quickly If an optiondoesn’t have a text label, press Ctrl (Win) or

A (Mac) while you drag over the setting

Currently selected tool

Toolbox

Options bar

(New !)

(New !)

Creating a New

Document

Create a New Document

Click the File menu, and then click

New.

Type a name for the document

Click the Preset list arrow, and

then select a preset document, or

choose your own options to create

a custom document

◆ Width and Height Select from

various measurements, such as

points, centimeters, or inches

◆ Resolution Select a resolution,

such as 72 ppi (pixels/inch) for

online and 300 ppi for print

◆ Color Mode Select a color

mode, such as RGB for color

and Grayscale for black/white

◆ Background Contents Select a

creat-4 2

Knowing Your Purpose and Audience

Before you create an image, you need to identify the purpose of theimage and the needs of your audience The key here is communicat-ing with your audience or client and peers about the design purposeand plans before you get started, so you don’t have to re-do theimage again later The main uses for images are online, print, mobile,and video During the planning process, you need to determine thesize, resolution, color mode, background, color profile, and pixel

For Your Information

Did You Know?

You can create a custom preset

ment If you use the same new

docu-ment size over and over again, you can

save the settings as a preset In the

3

Chapter 1 Getting Started with Photoshop CS6 13

Selecting Color Modes and Resolution

Selecting a Color Mode

A color mode, also known as color space,

determines how Photoshop displays and

prints an image You choose a different color

mode (based on models used in publishing)

for different tasks You can choose a color

mode when you create a new document or

change a color mode for an existing

docu-ment The common color modes include:

Grayscale Best for printing black-and-white

and duotone images This mode uses one

channel and has a maximum of 256 shades of

gray

RGB (Red, Green, and Blue) Best for online

and multimedia color images Red, green, and

blue are also the primary colors on a monitor

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black)

Best for commercial printing of color images

LAB (Luminosity, A and B channels) Best for

performing image correction This mode puts

all grayscale information on the L channel and

splits the colors to the A and B channels

For more information on color, see Chapter 8,

"Understanding Colors and Channels."

Selecting Image Resolution

Photoshop works primarily with raster

docu-ments Raster documents are images

com-posed of pixels A pixel is a unit of

information that holds the color and detail

information of the image Think of a

Photoshop document as a brick wall, with the

individual bricks in the wall representing the

individual pixels in the image Documents

opened in Photoshop have a specific

resolu-tion The resolution of the image, along with

its width and height, represents how many

pixels the image contains Since pixels (the

bricks in the wall) represent information, the

more pixels a document contains, the moreinformation Photoshop has to manipulate orenhance the image

A typical 17-inch monitor displays pixels at

a resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels per inch Youcan figure out how many pixels are present

on a 17-inch monitor by multiplying 1,024 x

768, which equals 786,432 pixels on thescreen The resolution is equal to how manypixels fit into each monitor inch, otherwiseknown as ppi (pixels per inch) A typical moni-tor displays pixels at 72 pixels per inch

To determine the size of an image ininches, we divide the pixels by the ppi Forexample, an image 1,024 pixels wide at 72 ppiwould be 14.2 inches wide (1,024 / 72 = 14.2)

To determine the pixels present in an image,you multiple the size by the ppi For example,

a 3 inch image at 72 ppi would have a total of

216 pixels (3 x 72 = 216) As the image tion drops, so does the output quality of theimage Pixelization occurs when the resolu-tion is so low that the edges of the pixelbegin to appear The higher the resolution(more pixels), the sharper your image will be

resolu-However, the higher the resolution, the largerthe file size will become To optimize yourimage file size, you need to use the correctresolution for the specific task Use 72 ppi forweb pages, CD/DVDs, and multimedia; use

150 ppi for inkjet printers, 200 ppi for photoprinters, and 300 ppi for commercial printing

When working with images, it's always agood idea to start with a larger image size

You can always reduce the size of the image(subtract pixels) without losing any quality Ifyou need to enlarge an image, you run therisk of losing image quality When you enlarge

an image, the number of pixels doesn'tincrease as the image does, so the pixelsbecome larger, which results in a rougher, ormore pixelated, image

When you create documents for specific purposes, such as, web, film,video, or for use on a mobile device, you know the importance of creat-ing documents that will perfectly match the output requirements of theintended file destination The preset file sizes available in the Presetmenu let you create images at a size and pixel aspect ratio that com-pensate for scaling when you incorporate them into various outputmodes When you work with the Preset menu, the guesswork involved

in creating compatible photo, web, mobile device, film and video ments in Photoshop is a thing of the past

Click the Preset list arrow, and

then select from the available

presets:

◆ Photo

◆ Web

◆ Mobile & Devices

◆ Film & Video

◆ Custom

Click the Size list arrow, and then

select the preset you want The

options vary depending on the

type of document you want to

create

◆ Photo For example, Landscape

4 x 6

◆ Web For example, 800 x 600.

◆ Mobile & Devices For

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Chapter 1 Getting Started with Photoshop CS6 15

Images displayed on a computer monitor are made up of square pixels

Conversely, an image displayed on a video monitor is not composed ofpixels at all Non-square pixels are most commonly used by encodingdevices for video production When importing an image created by asquare-pixel graphics program into a video editing program such asAdobe Premiere, the square pixels are automatically scaled to non-square pixels for video encoding This scaling results in a distortedimage By default, non-square pixel documents open with Pixel AspectRatio Correction enabled This enables you to preview how the imagewill appear on an output device such as a video monitor, and see how itwill appear when exported to an analog video device In keeping with anever-changing industry, Adobe includes the following Pixel Aspect Ratiooptions: DVCPRO HD 1080 (1.5) and HDV 1080/DVCPRO HD 720 (1.33)

Working with

Non-Square Pixels

Work with Non-Square Pixels

Click the File menu, and then click

New.

On the bottom of the New dialog

box, click the Pixel Aspect Ratio

list arrow, select any of the

non-square pixel settings, and then

click OK.

Click the Window menu, point to

Arrange, click New Window to

create a new window, and then

select the new window

Click the View menu, point to

Pixel Aspect Ratio, and then

select a pixel aspect ratio that’s

compatible with the video format

The original window shows the

corrected aspect ratio, and the

other one shows it without

To reset the pixel aspect ratio to

the default, click the View menu,

point to Pixel Aspect Ratio, click

Reset Pixel Aspect Ratios, and

then click OK (replaces) or Append

(replaces, yet retains any custom

values)

To remove the pixel aspect ratio,

click the View menu, point to Pixel

Aspect Ratio, click Delete Pixel

Aspect Ratio, select the aspect

ratio, and then click Delete.

Photoshop lets you open image files created in different formats, such

as TIFF, JPEG, GIF, and PNG, as well as Photoshop documents in thePSD or PSB (Large Document) formats If you want to simply open animage or Photoshop document, the Open dialog box is the most effi-cient way However, if you need to manage, organize, or process files,Adobe Bridge or Mini Bridge is the way to go You open an existingPhotoshop document or image file the same way you open documents

in other programs

Opening Images

Open an Image

Click the File menu, and then click

Open to display all file types in the

file list of the Open dialog box

TIMESAVER Point to the Open

Recent command on the File menu

to quickly open a recent file

Click the Files of Type (Win) or

Enable (Mac) list arrow, and then

select a format

Click the the Look In (Win) or

Where (Mac) list arrow, and then

choose the location where the

image you want to open is stored

Click the image file you want to

open

TIMESAVER Press and hold

the Shift key to select multiple

contiguous files to open in the

Open dialog box

See Also

See “Understanding File Formats” on

page 409 for information on the

differ-ent file formats

Opening a File as Another Format

There may be times when you need to open a file in Photoshop thatwas saved incorrectly (with the wrong extension) or is being movedbetween Windows and Macintosh systems If this is the case, when

For Your Information

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Chapter 1 Getting Started with Photoshop CS6 17

You can use Photoshop's Place command to insert artwork into anopen document To increase your control of the new image information,Photoshop places the new image into a separate layer Photoshop letsyou place files saved in PDF, Adobe Illustrator, and EPS formats Whenyou first place a vector-based image into Photoshop, you have the abil-ity to modify the width, height, and rotation while retaining the vectorformat of the file However, since Photoshop is primarily a raster pro-gram, when you finalize your changes, Photoshop rasterizes the fileinformation (converts the vector data into pixels), and saves it as aSmart Object, which means you can no longer edit the placed docu-ment as you would a vector shape or path However, you can still open

up the Smart Object in the original file, and make changes to update it

Inserting Images in

a Document

Insert an Image in a Document

Using the Place Command

Open a Photoshop document

Click the File menu, and then click

Place.

Select the document you want to

place into the active document

Click the Format list arrow, and

then select a format

Click Place.

If prompted, specify option for

the selected format, and then

click OK.

Photoshop places the image in a

new layer, directly above the

active layer, and then encloses it

within a transformable bounding

box

Control the shape by manipulating

the corner and side nodes of the

freeform bounding box

Press Enter (Win) or Return (Mac)

to rasterize the image at the

resolution of the active document

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New layer placed

4