Photoshop cs2 Essential skills

Photoshop cs2 Essential skills

312essential skills: photoshop CSessential skills >>>>>>PHOTOSHOP CS>>>Existing actions can also be accessed and edited from within the actions palette. Open the ‘Commands’ actions set and double-click on any action to edit its keyboard shortcut. A color or keystroke combination can be assigned to the action sequence and the order of the commands can be rearranged by dragging them to new positions in the palette.When the actions palette is switched to ‘button mode’ the commands can be played with a single click of the mouse. By applying different colors to groups of actions those that perform similar editing or enhancement functions can be easily identifi ed from the myriad listed.Downloading actions from the Net There is a large and active community of Photoshop users who regularly write and share sophisticated ‘actions’ via the Net. At web sites like www.actionfx.com you can select from many different types of actions. After downloading the action it is installed into the Photoshop CS\Presets\Photoshop Actions directory. After restarting Photoshop the new action will be attached to the list of actions in the actions palette and be ready to use. Top tip: Actions are not only a great way to speed up regular tasks, they can also be used to make sure that exactly the same results are obtained when processing a group of fi les. If I applied the ‘Make blue tone’ action described in the tutorial to a folder of pictures I could be sure that all the altered photographs would be the same color blue. 313automated featuresessential skills >>>>>>PHOTOSHOP CS>>>Editing an actionPhotoshop includes some pre-recorded ‘actions’ that can be applied or edited to suit your own requirements. Additional actions can be loaded from the palette options or created ‘from scratch’.The default ‘Sepia Toning’ action leaves the layers used to create the effect intact but the action can be further edited so that the image is fl attened after the effect has been applied.In the illustration above the Sepia action is edited by fi rst playing the action and then clicking on the record button. When the action is in record mode simply fl atten the image from the layers palette options and press the ‘Stop’ button. Photoshop records the additional command to the existing action. Actions can be renamed, grouped in sets and saved as action fi les to be shared or used for back-up.Actions can be applied to a folder of images by using the Batch command which is part of the ‘Automate’ menu (go to File > Automate > Batch). An action can also be saved and placed as a ‘droplet’ on the desktop or in a folder of images. An image, or folder of images, can be dragged onto a droplet to apply the same sequence of commands to multiple images. 314essential skills: photoshop CSessential skills >>>>>>PHOTOSHOP CS>>>Actions and Batch commandsA sequence of commands that are commonly applied to a series of images can be recorded as an ‘action’ in the actions palette. The sequence is recorded when editing the fi rst image and can be played back on any subsequent image that has been opened. The action can also be applied to images that have not yet been opened by selecting them in the fi le browser or selecting the folder of images from the ‘Batch’ dialog box (go to ‘File > Automate > Batch’). To select multiple images in the ‘File Browser’ fi rst locate the folder and then either Shift-click to select all images between two selections or Command/Ctrl-click to select specifi c images.Choosing a ‘Destination’ folder will ensure the original images are not modifi ed. Various options are available in the Batch dialog box so that the batch processing can suppress commands within the action or suppress warnings that would otherwise interrupt and stop the batch processing procedure. Some actions include dialog boxes that require the user to choose a particular setting before the action can continue. These too can be suppressed. 315automated featuresessential skills >>>>>>PHOTOSHOP CS>>>Contact SheetSeveral labor intensive operations that image-makers frequently fi nd themselves performing are handled quickly and easily by the automated features available in Photoshop. The ‘Contact Sheet’ automated feature prepares all the images within a folder as thumbnails at either screen resolution or print resolution.The creation of a CD cover size contact sheet allows the image-maker to create inserts for CDs containing archived images. The option of including ‘Subfolders’ allows the user to create fi le sheets for large cataloged image collections that are kept by cataloging software packages such as ‘iPhoto’. When the fi rst contact sheet is full Photoshop automatically creates additional pages until all of the images in the folder are represented. 316essential skills: photoshop CSessential skills >>>>>>PHOTOSHOP CS>>>Picture PackageThe Photoshop Print Package option provides a great way to lay out multiple images on a single page. Found in the same Automate section of the File menu as the Contact Sheet command, Picture Package allows you to select one of a series of pre-designed, multi-print layouts that have been carefully created to fi t many images neatly onto a single sheet of standard paper. There are designs that place multiples of the same size pictures together and those that surround one or two larger images with many smaller versions. This feature was fully revised for Photoshop CS and now provides a preview of the pictures in the layout thumbnail. You can also choose to repeat the same image throughout the design, or by double-clicking on any print in the layout, select and add different photographs. There is also the ability to add labels to the printed images. The Label dialog provides a variety of text options which are added to the Picture Package when the OK button is pressed.The fi nal CS refi nement to the feature involves the inclusion of a Layout Editor feature. Now it is possible to resize, rearrange, add and delete image ‘zones’ within the Picture Package layout. Using this feature you can customize and save your Picture Package designs. 317automated featuresessential skills >>>>>>PHOTOSHOP CS>>>PhotomergeIn recent years shooting multiple pictures of a scene and then stitching them to form a panoramic picture has become a popular activity with digital photographers. This is the fi rst time that Photoshop has shipped with Photomerge. The stitching program that fi rst found its feet in Photoshop Elements has been included as a standard feature in Photoshop. This tool combines a series of photographs into a single picture by ensuring that the edge details of each successive image are matched and blended so that the join is not detectable. Once all the individual photographs have been combined the result is a picture that shows a scene of any angle up to a full 360°.The feature can be started from the File menu (File > Automate > Photomerge) or via the Automate > Photomerge setting in the fi le browser. The later approach allows the user to select suitable source pictures from within the browser before activating the feature. At this point Photoshop attempts to automatically arrange and match the edge details of successive pictures.In most circumstances Photomerge will easily position and stitch your pictures but there will be occasions where one or more images will not be stitched. These pictures are stored in the Light box area (top) of the Photomerge dialog where you can click-drag them to the correct position in the composition.Individual pieces of the panorama can be moved or rotated at any time using the tools from the toolbar on the left-hand side of the dialog. Advanced Blending and Perspective options are set using the controls on the right. Photoshop constructs the panorama when the OK button is clicked. Ensuring accurate stitching To ensure accurate stitching successive images need to be shot with a consistent overlap of between 15 and 30%. The camera should be kept level throughout the shooting sequence and should be rotated around the nodal point of the lens wherever possible. The focal length, white balance, exposure and aperture need to remain constant whilst shooting all the source pictures. 318essential skills: photoshop CSessential skills >>>>>>PHOTOSHOP CS>>>PDF presentationA slide show can be created using the PDF presentation automated feature. In the presentation options it is possible to select the time that each slide will be displayed for and the transition effect between each slide. The slide show can be looped to start again after the last slide has been displayed.Automatic advanceThe slide show will play automatically when the PDF fi le is launched. After the last slide is displayed the user can exit the slide show by pressing the ‘esc’ key. The slide show is then visible as a multi-paged PDF document. The slide show can be returned to the fi rst page using the Adobe Acrobat page controls and viewed again by using the ‘Full Screen View’ option from the ‘Window’ menu. Manual advance optionsIf the slide show is created without a time allocated to the ‘Advance Every’ option the slide show can be navigated by using the page up or page down keys or the arrow keys on the keyboard when in full screen view. 319automated featuresessential skills >>>>>>PHOTOSHOP CS>>>Web Photo GalleryPhotoshop can create a ‘Web Photo Gallery’ of your images quickly and easily. All the additional software you may need to get your gallery online is available for free from the Internet. Apart from being exposed to a little jargon on the way the procedure is a remarkably painless process.Photoshop prepares all of your images and generates a homepage called an ‘Index’ page, on which is displayed a sequence of thumbnails (small versions of your images). These thumbnails are linked to the larger images that are displayed individually on their own pages. When a thumbnail is clicked, the web browser (Explorer, Navigator, etc.) loads the full sized version of the image. Photoshop allows control over the size of the thumbnails, the size of the images, the amount of JPEG compression used and the appearance of the page itself. The resulting web gallery is quick and a very effi cient use of valuable time.Uploading to the webTo place the gallery on the ‘World Wide Web’ (www) you must either send (upload) the fi les to your own ‘Internet Service Provider’ (ISP), or use an Internet Service Provider that offers free hosting of your site, e.g. Netfi rms.com or Tripod.com. The activity that follows uses a ‘simple’ gallery style that does not require the more sophisticated use of ‘frames’ that partition the page into separate sections. 320essential skills: photoshop CSessential skills >>>>>>PHOTOSHOP CS>>>ACTIVITY 1 1. Place a collection of your own images into a new folder (multiples of 3, 4 or 5 will make a neat arrangement). Photoshop will make copies of these images and resize them for the web gallery. Ensure the images look good with the color management switched off (see ‘Images for the Web’ > ‘Preparing Images and Graphics’). Ensure that the largest dimension of each image is at least 500 pixels. Images prepared by Photoshop for a web gallery will be stripped of their embedded profi les and should therefore be prepared with this in mind. These master images can be in any fi le format. Photoshop will handle the conversion to JPEG and will sequence the images in the web gallery according to the numerical or alphabetical beginning of the fi le names. Files starting with numbers are placed before fi les starting with letters in the sequence. Images should be numbered with a zero preceding the fi rst nine numbers, i.e. 01 to 09 to sequence them in a preferred order in the gallery, e.g. 01.Stone.jpg, 02.Slate.jpg, etc. Image 11 will come after 1 if the zero is not included.Note > Use short single-word fi le names with no spaces to avoid linking problems.2. Choose ‘File > Automate > Web Photo Gallery’. Choose ‘Simple’ from the ‘Styles’ menu and enter your email address if you would like to provide visitors with a useful point of contact.3. From the ‘Source Images’ section of the dialog box click on the ‘Choose’ button to select the image directory or folder in which you have placed the images you would like to be featured in your gallery. Click on the ‘Destination’ button to select the folder the fi nished gallery will be saved to.Note > Do not open the image folder – ‘choose’ it (locate the folder, select it, and then click on the ‘Choose’ button). 4. From the ‘Options’ menu select ‘Banner’. Enter the gallery details that you would like to appear at the top of your gallery page. This will become your web page banner. You can enter alternative text in these boxes. Select a ‘Font’ and ‘Font Size’ to set the appearance of the text. 321automated featuresessential skills >>>>>>PHOTOSHOP CS>>>5. Select ‘Large Images’ from the ‘Options’ menu. Select ‘Resize Images’ and choose ‘Custom’ from the menu and enter a size of 500 pixels in the box. Choose ‘Constrain: Both’ and ‘High’ from the JPEG quality menu. Choose whether your images will be displayed with or without a border (a 1-pixel border was used in the example) and the source for the image title.6. Choose ‘Thumbnails’ from the Options menu. If you think most of the people visiting your site will be using a high-resolution monitor (1024 × 768 or greater) you can choose quite large thumbnails, e.g. select ‘Custom’ from the ‘Size’ menu and enter 150 in the box. The gallery used in the example uses 3 columns and 3 rows. Avoid creating a gallery which leads to excessive scrolling which many web designers try to avoid. Finally select a border if required. One-pixel borders if selected are enough to separate the images from the background.7. Choose ‘Custom Colors’ from the Options menu and click on the color swatches to change the colors. White text was used on a dark gray background. The same color was chosen for the banner to avoid the appearance of a box at the top of the page. As the thumbnails will be links, the link color will also become the border color for the gallery thumbnails. The link colors in the example gallery were selected from a limited palette of grays to avoid the gallery becoming too colorful and distracting from the imagery.8. Click OK to create the web gallery. The web pages and images for the web gallery are placed in the destination folder. Once fi nished, your web browser is automatically launched and your Web Photo Gallery is displayed. If the browser does not launch, simply open the destination folder and double-click the ‘index’ fi le. [...]... tones are reversed, e.g. dark tones are recorded as light tones and vice versa. 320 essential skills: photoshop CS essential skills >>>>>> PHOTOSHOP CS >>> ACTIVITY 1 1. Place a collection of your own images into a new folder (multiples of 3, 4 or 5 will make a neat arrangement). Photoshop will make copies of these images and resize them for the web gallery. Ensure... collections that are kept by cataloging software packages such as ‘iPhoto’. When the fi rst contact sheet is full Photoshop automatically creates additional pages until all of the images in the folder are represented. 326 essential skills: photoshop CS essential skills >>>>>> PHOTOSHOP CS >>> Samantha Everton ... magnifying a digital image on the monitor. Unsharp Mask fi lter URL USM Vector graphic Video card Video memory Virtual memory Visualize Workfl ow Zip Zoom tool 340 338 essential skills: photoshop CS essential skills >>>>>> PHOTOSHOP CS >>> Painting Set default foreground and background colours D Switch between foreground and background colour X Enlarge brush size (with Paint... desktop or in a folder of images. An image, or folder of images, can be dragged onto a droplet to apply the same sequence of commands to multiple images. 332 essential skills: photoshop CS essential skills >>>>>> PHOTOSHOP CS >>> Layers LCD LED Lens Levels Light cyan Light magenta LiOn Lithium Ion LZW compression Magic Wand tool Magnesium Lithium Marching ants Marquee... point of the lens wherever possible. The focal length, white balance, exposure and aperture need to remain constant whilst shooting all the source pictures. 330 essential skills: photoshop CS essential skills >>>>>> PHOTOSHOP CS >>> FTP software Galleries Gaussian Blur GIF Gigabyte Grain Grayscale Gray card Half-tone Hard copy Hard drive Highlight Histogram Histories History... the fi lm or device to record the brightness range of the subject. A mask attached to a layer that is used to defi ne the visibility of pixels on that layer. 328 essential skills: photoshop CS essential skills >>>>>> PHOTOSHOP CS >>> Clipping group Cloning tool CMOS CMYK Color Picker ColorSync Color fringes Color fringing Color gamut Color space Complementary metal oxide... Darkroom http://www.computer_darkroom.com Inkjet Mall http://www.inkjetmall.com Tutorials Adobe http://www.adobe.com/products/tips /photoshop. html Phong http://www.phong.com Russell Brown http://www.russellbrown.com Think Dan http://www.thinkdan.com/tutorials /photoshop. html Planet Photoshop http://www.planetphotoshop.com Ultimate Photoshop http://www.ultimate -photoshop. com Scan Tips http://www.scantips.com Photomedia illustrators Paul Allister obscur@hotpop.com Catherine... Harvey Anitra Keogh Benedikt Partenheimer Raphael Ruz http://endersan.com Fabio Sarraff sarraff@bigpond.com Amber Williams Stuart Wilson swimaging@optusnet.com.au 324 essential skills: photoshop CS essential skills >>>>>> PHOTOSHOP CS >>> ACTIVITY 2 1. Select Photomerge from the File menu (File > Automate > Photomerge) to start a new panorama. Click the Browse button... standard for color management. Image Color Management. Windows-based software designed to work together with hardware devices to facilitate predictable color. 336 essential skills: photoshop CS essential skills >>>>>> PHOTOSHOP CS >>> A fi lter for increasing apparent sharpness of a digital image. Uniform resource locator. The unique Web address given to every web page. Unsharp... color System software Tagging Thematic images TIFF Tone Transparent Tri-color True resolution TTL meter Tweening UCR Under color removal Unsharp Mask 339 Web links Resources Essential Skills http://www.photoshopessentialskills.com RMIT Photography http://www.rmit.edu.au/adc/photography Adobe Digital Imaging http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/main.html Martin Evening http://www.martinevening.com Genesis http://www.genesiswebsitedesign.com ePHOTOzine . 31 2essential skills: photoshop CSessential skills >>>>>> ;PHOTOSHOP CS>>>Existing actions. sequence of commands to multiple images. 31 4essential skills: photoshop CSessential skills >>>>>> ;PHOTOSHOP CS>>>Actions and Batch