Photoshop Creative Cloud (CC) - Colorado State University · Introduction to Photoshop 1 © Technology Training Center Colorado State University Photoshop Creative Cloud (CC) Photoshop

Introduction to Photoshop 1 © Technology Training Center Colorado State University

Photoshop Creative Cloud (CC) Photoshop is an image editing and design software. Photoshop can be used to add special effects to an image, correct color and image flaws, and even remove parts of an image from a background. Photoshop is an extremely powerful tool and learning the magic of Photoshop takes time, practice, and experimenting.

Photoshop Start Screen When Photoshop CC opens, the Photoshop Start screen will appear (unless this option is turned on in Preferences). The Start screen displays recent files in the middle of the screen and options to open a New file or browse for a file on the left side of the screen.

Open a File To open a recent file, click on a file name in the recent file list. To open a file that is not listed in the recently opened files, click on the Open button on the left side of the screen. Navigate to the file location, select the file, and then click the Open button. To open a file if the Start screen is not displayed, navigate to the File menu and choose Open.

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Create a new File (Canvas) To create a new file (canvas), click on the new button on the left side of the start screen. If the Photoshop start screen is not available, navigate to the File Menu, and then choose New… On the New Document window, Photoshop displays any recent file sizes that have been created. To use the settings from a previous file click on the recent item.

To create a new specific canvas, enter in the name, size, resolution, etc. under the Preset Details on the right side of the screen.



Provide a unique file name in the textbox on the top of Preset Details area. If a name is not provided, Photoshop will give the file the default name of Untitled-#. Under the file name, provide a specific width and height for the new document. Tip: To change the width and height measurement type, click on the dropdown next to the width textbox.

Resolution Under the width and height is the resolution of the new file. Resolution is the number of pixels, or dots, in a linear inch. An image with a resolution of 72 has 72 dots in a linear inch. The image quality, as well as the file size, increases as the resolution increase.

Recommended Resolution This table can help determine a recommended resolution based on the output for the image.

Output Device Optimum Acceptable Resolution Magazine quality 300 dpi 225 dpi Professional Photo lap printer 300 dpi 200 dpi Desktop color inkjet 330 dpi 180 dpi Large format inkjet 150 dpi 120 dpi Desktop Laser Printer 170 dpi 100 dpi Screen images 72 dpi 72 dpi

To change the resolution, type in the resolution textbox.

Color Mode Color mode is chosen based on the type of document that is being produced. The two most common Color Modes are RGB and CMYK.

• RGB – Used if the image is not going to be printed. o Produces color ranges based on the three

common monitor colors; Red, Green, and Black

• CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) - Best option for any image that will be printed.

o Produces color ranges based on the four common high end printer colors; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black



Background Contents Background Contents is the color of the background on the document window. The Background Color option fills the document window (or canvas) with the background color selected in the Toolbox. Tip: The Transparent option is typically used for web graphics. When all preferences on the have been set, click on the Create button on the bottom of the window.

Canvas from a Preset tab Photoshop does provide some presets for specific document types that are listed on the top of the New Document Window. To view the template options, click on the document type on the top of the window.

Blank document presets are listed on the top of the window. To use a ready-made preset, select the preset. To customize the preset, enter the specific document width, height, resolution, etc. on the right side of the window and then click the Create button. Templates are listed on the bottom of the window. Templates are Photoshop files that contain images, layers, masks, effects etc. Templates are a good way to easily create a file by adding in images, making quick changes to a style, effect, etc. To search for a template, use the search feature on the bottom of the window.



If a template is found, it will have to be downloaded. To download a template, select the template and then click on the Download button. Click on the open button to open the template in Photoshop

Save a Photoshop File When saving a Photoshop file, it is best to keep all layers intact in case changes ever need to be made to the file. To preserve all layers in the file, navigate to the File menu and choose Save As. Navigate to the location to save the file and then provide a name for the file. Make sure the file extension is set to .psd file extension and then click Save.

Photoshop files can be very large because of the layers. When all edits have been made to the file, it may be beneficial to save the file as a .jpeg, which will be a smaller file size, and can be easily shared with others.



To save a file as a .jpeg, navigate to the file menu and choose Save As. Navigate to the location to save the file and then provide a name for the file. On the Save as type dropdown, select .jpeg and then click Save. Photoshop Layout Below is a preview of the Photoshop CC Layout when a file is opened.

All open documents are listed in tabs on the top. Under the opened documents is the document window, which will display the opened document and where all editing will be done on the image. On the left hand side of the window is the Tools Panel which displays a list of tools that are available within Photoshop. Under the file menu is the Options bar. This toolbar will change, based on the tool that is selected from the Tools Panel. On the right side of the window are the workspace panels, which contain image editing controls.



Workspace Panels Workspace panels contain image editing controls such as colors, history, adjustments, etc. When a Photoshop file is opened, the Essentials workspace panel displays. Workspace panels are built containing specific panels that may be helpful when working on a specific type of project; Painting, Photography, etc. To see all prebuilt workspaces in Photoshop, click on the dropdown arrow on the right side of the Photoshop screen. To change a workspace, select the appropriate workspace from the dropdown. The workspace with the checkmark next to it is the currently selected workspace. Each prebuilt workspace has its own set of panels, but any panel may be added to and used with any prebuilt workspace. Note: The last workspace panel that was used will be the panel that displays when Photoshop is reopened.

Add Workspace Panels All panels are located on the Window menu within Photoshop. To add new panel to a workspace, click on the Window menu on the top of the window. Panels with a checkmark next to them will be visible on the workspace. To add a new panel, mouse over the panel and click on it. When a panel is added, it will be opened in the Panels section of the Photoshop window and its icon will be added to the panel. To collapse a panel, click on the two right arrow icons. The panel is still available, but it is now located under the panel icon. To change the location of the new panel, click, hold and drag the icon to a new location. As the icon is moved, a blue line will appear to show the location where the icon will be placed.

A panel may be moved from the smaller, collapsed panel, into the wider, opened panel by dragging the icon over the wide panels section.



Create a Customized Workspace To create a new workspace, add, delete, and rearrange the panels in the workspace. When the workspace is set, click on the workspace dropdown and choose New Workspace. On the New Workspace window, provide a unique name for the workspace and then click the Save button.

The new workspace will now be listed on the workspace dropdown.

Tools Pane The Tools Pane contains several different tools that can be used to edit or create images. To view a tool name, position the mouse on a tool icon. If the Toolbar is not shown, navigate to the Window menu and choose Tools.

By default, the Tools Pane will display on the left side of the window. To move the Tools Pane to a new location, click on the Title bar and drag the Tools Pane to a new location. To dock the tools pan back onto the left side of the window, click and hold on the tools pane title bar and then drag the tools pane to the left side of the window. When the blue line appears on the left side of the window, let go of the mouse button.



Select a Tool To select a tool, move the cursor over a tool and click on it. Some tools have multiple tool options, which is indicated by a small triangle in the lower right hand corner of the tool icon. To see what other options are available for these tools, click and hold on the tool icon, or left click on the tool, and a fly out will populate displaying the other tool options. Most tools have a shortcut, which is the letter displayed next to the tool name. To open the tool with the shortcut, press the shortcut key at any time while working in Photoshop.

Tip: To toggle between tools on the tool flyout, press the Shift key + the shortcut key

Options Bar The Options Bar is located at the top of Photoshop screen, below the Menu Bar. The fields in the Options Bar are context sensitive, meaning that when a tool is selected from the toolbox the Options Bar will change to reflect options for the selected tool. Here is an example of the Rectangular Marquee tool options bar.

Zoom Tool (Z) The Zoom tool is used to zoom in or out on a particular area of an image while editing. To access the Zoom tool, click on the Magnification glass on the left side of the Photoshop window, on the Tools palette.



When the zoom tool is selected, the cursor icon will turn into a magnification icon with a plus on it. Each time the mouse is clicked on the screen, the zoom tool will zoom in based on the Photoshop preset zoom percentages. To Zoom out, press and hold the Alt key while the zoom tool is selected and click on the image. The magnification glass icon displays with a minus sign on it. The current zoom percentage will display on the lower left side of the document window in the status bar. The Zoom toolbar has the following zoom options;

• Scrubby Zoom – Click and hold on the image while moving the mouse to the right to zoom in, or

moving the mouse to the left to zoom out. • 100% (Ctrl-1) – Changes the zoom level of the document to 100%. • Fit Screen (Ctrl-0) – Resizes the image to fit within the document window. • Fill Screen – Resizes the image to fill the screen horizontally

Zoom Tool Shortcuts These zoom shortcuts may be used when the zoom tool is not selected;

• Ctrl-1 - Zoom to 100% • Ctrl-0 - Resize image to fit window size • Ctrl + (Plus) - Zoom In • Ctrl – (minus) – Zoom Out • Ctrl – Spacebar – activates the zoom tool when another tool is selected.

Hand Tool (H) The Hand Tools is used for panning around on zoomed in images. Tip: Switch to the Hand tool while using any other tool by pressing down on the Spacebar.

Brush Tool (B) The brush tools are used to apply color to an area of an image. The Brush tool option bar includes; brush size, hardness, mode, opacity, etc.



Brush sizes When using the brush tool, the size and the hardness of the brush may have to be changed. To view or change the settings for the brush size and hardness, click on the dropdown menu next to the current brush size in the options bar. On the brush size dropdown, changes can be made to the size of the brush, measured in pixels, and the hardness of the brush, measured in percentages on the top of the dropdown. Hardness is the crispness of a line, the higher the hardness, the crisper the line will be, the lower the hardness, the fuzzier the line will be.

On the bottom of the dropdown is a list of preset brush sizes. Select a preset brush size by clicking on the icon. To view even more brush options, dry media brushes, calligraphy brushes, etc. click on the gear on the right side of the brush size dropdown. Tip: The shortcut to increase the brush size is the closed bracket key ]. The shortcut to decrease the brush size is the open bracket key [.

Mode Mode is the method of blending the color with the data that is being painted over. Normal mode is the default setting, which paints on the canvas, just as a paintbrush would. There are several different Modes available to use when painting on an image, each adding its own effect to the image. To view the other modes that are available, click on the dropdown next to Mode in the Brush tool options bar.

Opacity Opacity is the transparency of the color being applied. It is based on a scale of 0-100%. An opacity setting of 100% will cover up any data beneath the area being brushed. Any setting less than 100% Opacity will allow the object beneath the painting to become partially visible.



Foreground and Background Colors The Foreground and Background color chips are located near the bottom of the toolbox. By default, the Foreground color is black, and the background color is white.

Foreground Color The Foreground Color determines which color is used while using a tool such as the paint tool, fill, and text tool.

Background Color The Background color is the color that will display when erasing pixels on an image with the eraser tool.

Change the Foreground or Background color To change the foreground or background color, click on the color chip to change. To select a color range, use the vertical gradient tool to slide the cursor into the color range of the new color. Click on the color range square to select a color, which will display under the new text on the upper right portion of the window.

If the RGB or CMYK color is known, that information may be entered on the lower portion of the screen. When the color has been selected, click the OK button. The color chip will now display the new color.



Out-of-Gamut The out of gamut warning is a small triangle appearing to the right of the color swatches in the dialog box. An out of gamut warning indicates that the selected color is not reproducible in CMYK mode. This means that the color, as shown in the new box, cannot be produced by a printer. Photoshop provides a suggested color that will print, in a square directly below the out of gamut warning triangle. Click on the small square to select the color.

Swap the Foreground and Background colors To swap the Foreground and Background colors, click on the small doubled angled arrow icon located above and to the right of the Foreground and Background Color Control Box.

Reset the Foreground and Background colors To reset the Foreground and Background colors to their default color of black and white, click on the small black and white color chip icon located above and to the left of the Foreground and Background Color Control Box.

Fill Tool The fill tool is used to fill the background, or a selection, area with a color or pattern. To use the fill tool, make a selection on the canvas, navigate to the Edit menu and then choose Fill. On the Fill window, choose from the foreground or background colors, black, 50% gray, white, etc.

If the foreground or background color wasn’t selected prior to choosing the Fill tool, choose the Color option, which will populate the color picker window. On the color picker window, select the color to fill with and then click OK.



Selections A selection will allow for only a specific area of an image allows to be manipulated, while the unselected area of the image is not affected. A dotted selection border, also called a selection marquee, indicates a selected area on an image.

Marquee Tool (M) The default Marquee tool is the rectangular marquee tool, but the tool also contains an elliptical, single row, and single column marquee tool.

Rectangular Marquee Tool To select the rectangular marquee tool, click on the marquee tool icon in the toolbox, or use the shortcut (M). To view the other marquee tool options, right click on the tool, or click and hold on the marquee tool icon. To create a selection, left-click and hold on an area of the canvas and then drag the selection area to the desired size. When the selection is the intended size, let go of the mouse button. Tip: To create a square or a perfect circle, hold the Shift key down while using the appropriate Marquee tool (Rectangular for a square, Elliptical for a circle). The marquee selection is displayed by animated lines on the canvas, also called marching ants.

Move a Selection To move a selection to a new location, navigate the cursor inside the selection. The cursor will turn into a white arrow with a seleciton icon below it. Now, click, hold and drag the selection to a new location. To move a selection as it is being created, press and hold down the space bar while the mouse button is still depressed. When the spacebar depressed, the selection is able to be moved instead of resized. Move the selection to a new area on the Canvas and then release the spacebar. Continue making the selection and then release the mouse button with the selection size is set. Tip: To create a selection from the inside out, hold the Alt key down while drawing a Rectangular or Elliptical selection.

Add or subtract from a Selection On the Selections tools Options Bar are options to add, remove and intersect selections of an image. To add, or subtract, to a selection on the canvas, click on the Add to selection or subtract from selection icon within the Options bar. These will be available on all selection tools.



When the Add to selection icon is selected, the cursor will display a small plus sign next to it, indicating that the selection will be added to the current selection. When the subtract from a selection option is selected, a minus sign will display under the cursor.

The shortcut to add to a selection on a Canvas is to press and hold Shift key while making a selection on the canvas. When the Shift key is pressed, the small plus sign will appear under the cursor, just as it would if the Add to selection icon were selected from the options bar. To subtract from a selection, press and hold the Alt key while making a selection.

Deselect a selection To work on other areas of the Canvas, a selection must be deselected. Deselect a selection by using the shortcut of Ctrl-D, or by navigating to the Select menu and then choosing the Deselect option.

Feather Option The Feather option, which is located on the marquee tools options toolbar, will blur (soften) the edge of a selection. Feathering is applied to the border or a selection, based on the number of pixels entered in the Feather textbox. A higher number will apply more feathering to a selection. To apply feathering, the feather field option must be set prior to making a selection. In the Feather textbox on the Options bar, type in a number of pixels to feather and then create the selection. If the Feather field is set to 2px, the border would blur, or soften, two pixels out from the border, as well as two pixels in from the border.

Marquee Style A Marquee style will allow for a specific sized selection to be created. The default style setting is normal, which will allow for a selection of any size to be created. To change the style setting click on the Style dropdown. The Style options are;

• Normal: Click and drag to make a selection. • Fixed Ratio: Use the Fixed Ratio to set a height-to-width ratio. Enter values (decimal values are

valid) for the aspect ratio, to the right of the Style selection.

• Fixed Size: The width and height selection are set and defined in pixels. Click on the image and

a selection of the defined size will be created.

Not Feathered

Feathered 2 px



Elliptical Marquee Tool The Elliptical marquee tool works similar to the Rectangular marquee tool except that it makes a circular selection rather than a rectangular or square selection. The Elliptical Marquee tool is one of the options on the Marquee tool. To select the Elliptical marquee tool, right click on the marquee tool icon and then select Elliptical Marquee Tool.

Anti-aliased Anti-alias is the smoothing of jagged edges in an image. If the Anti-alias box is checked, the edge of the selection will be smooth and soft. If the Anti-alias box is unchecked, then the outer edge of the selection will be jagged. Note: Depending on the resolution that is set on the file, there may be some jaggedness on an Anti-aliased object.

History Palette The History Palette, which is located on every preset workspace, keeps track and records every step (state) that is applied to an image. The History Palette allows the ability to Step Backward, or Step Forward, to remove, or reapply, a state in the image. If the History palette is not visible, navigate to the Window menu, and select History. On the History Palette, click on a previous state to see what the image looked like when that action was applied. The default setting for the number of history actions is 50, the maximum that are allowed are 1000. To change the number of actions displayed in the History Palette, navigate to the Edit menu, preferences, performance.

Note: When a file is closed, all history is deleted from the file.



Delete History To delete an action click on the action in the History palette, and then click on the trashcan icon in the lower left. Note: When a step is deleted, every step that was taken after that step will also be deleted. Photoshop will verify that the state is to be deleted with a popup window. Select yes to delete the state, or No to not delete the state.

Note: If a state was accidentally deleted, it can always be brought back by using the Undo command, Ctrl-Z.

History Snapshot A snapshot is a stored “point in time” or “picture” of a Photoshop file. All Snapshots are stored on the top of the History Palette. Snapshots will appear as long as an image is opened. When an image is closed, all snapshots associated with the image are removed. Snapshots are located at the top of the History Palette actual file name or with the name Snapshot #.

Create a Snapshot Create a snapshot by clicking on the Camera icon at the bottom of the History Palette. Navigate to the top of the History Pallet to see the snapshots. Snapshots are given the name Snapshot 1, Snapshot 2, etc. To rename a snapshot, double click on the “Snapshot #” name and then type in a new name.

View a snapshot by clicking on the thumbnail on the top of the History Palette.



Lasso Tools (L) The lasso tools allow for precise selections of an image by drawing or tracing a selection outline on an image. When any of the Lasso tools are selected, the lasso tools options bar will appear. To add or remove from a selection, select the Add to selection, or subtract from selection icons in the Options bar. Note: The shortcut to add to a selection is to press and hold the Alt key. The shortcut to remove from a selection is to press and hold the Shift key.

Lasso Tool The Lasso tool is used to draw a freehand selection on an image. Select the Lasso Tool from the Tools pane. Navigate to the area on the image to select and then click the mouse button and draw a selection. If the mouse button is released while a selection is being made, Photoshop will connect the selection back to the starting point.

Polygon Lasso Tool The Polygon Lasso tool best used to select an image that consists of straight lines. To use the Polygon Lasso tool, start by clicking on an area of the image, then navigate to another location and click with the mouse. Photoshop will connect a straight line between the mouse clicks on the image. Continue clicking on the image until the selection is complete. To complete the selection, move the mouse close to the starting point. The cursor will change to display a circle to the right of the Polygon lasso icon. When this circle appears, click on the image and Photoshop will automatically connect the selection back to the starting point.

Magnetic Lasso Tool The magnetic lasso tool is best used for selecting areas with compound edges against a high-contrast background. Before using the Magnetic lasso tool, there are a few options on the Options bar that may need to be changed.

• Width – The width in pixels that Photoshop will look for an edge from the location of the cursor. • Contrast – Sets the contrast sensitivity of the edges in the image. Contrast is set between 1-

100%. A higher number will detect highly contrasting edges. A lower number will detect low contrasting edges.

• Frequency – Sets how often selection points are added to the image. Frequency is set between 0-100. A higher number indicates more selection points, a lower number indicates less selection points added to the image.



To make a selection, click on a starting point on the image. Now, move the cursor along the edge to make a selection. As the cursor is being moved, Photoshop will add selection points to the strongest edge in the image, within the confines set in relation to the Width, Contrast and Frequency. If the selection edge does not stay on the anticipated selection area, click with the mouse to manually add a selection point. To complete the selection, move the mouse close to the starting point. The cursor will change to display a circle to the right of the Magnetic lasso icon. When this circle appears, click on the image and Photoshop will automatically connect the selection back to the starting point.

Quick Selection Tool (W) The quick selection tool is used by painting over an area on the image to make a selection. To use the Quick Selection Tool, click, hold, and drag over an area on the image. As the mouse is moved, Photoshop finds and follows defined edges within the image. On the Quick Selection tool options bar are the options to add to and remove from a selection, as well as an option for the brush size. To change the brush size, click on the brush size dropdown to set the size, or use the shortcuts, left bracket [ to decrease the brush size, or right bracket ] to increase the brush size.

Magic Wand Tool The Magic Wand tool selects pixels based on the color of the originally selected pixel. The Magic Wand tool is located under the Quick Selection Tool. On the Magic Wand Tool Options bar is a setting for Tolerance. Tolerance determines the color range of the pixels that are selected, with a range from 0 to 255. A tolerance of zero (0) would select all pixels that have the exact same color as the original pixel. A tolerance of 255 would be the similar to a Select All, where all pixels in an image would be selected.

The Contiguous option means that all colors within the color range are selected, even if the colors are not touching each other, so the color range on the entire image. If contiguous is not checked, only the colors in the color range that are touching each other will be selected. To use the Magic Wand Tool, set the appropriate options bar settings and click on the color sample within the image. Photoshop will select all colors, based on the tolerance settings, in the image, either contiguous, or non-contiguous.



Eraser Tools (E) The eraser tools remove pixels from an image by changing them either to the background color, or to transparent. There are three eraser tools in Photoshop; Eraser, Background eraser, and the Magic Eraser tool.

Eraser Tool The eraser tool will remove pixels on a layer by painting over the pixels. On the Eraser Tool options toolbar, change the size and hardness of the brush that will remove the pixels, by clicking on the brush size dropdown. Tip: Hardness is the crispness of a line. The higher the hardness, the more crisp the line will be, the lower the hardness, the fuzzier the line will be. To use the Eraser tool, click, hold and drag over the portion of the image to remove. The pixels being removed will be replaced with the background color in the background color picker.

Background Eraser Tool The background eraser samples the color in the center of the brush, also called the hotspot, and deletes that color wherever it appears inside the brush. Background Eraser Option bar options; Sampling options

• Continuous – as the brush tool is moved, it is continuously sampling pixels to erase • Once – the first color under the hotspot will be the only color removed from the image. • Background swatch – the only color that is deleted from the image is the background color.

Limits

• Contiguous – only the colors that are adjacent to each other will be erased • Discontiguous – all colors that are inside the brush circumference are erased. • Find Edges – Works similarly to contiguous, but will work better if there is a fine edge that has to

be kept within an image Tolerance – Tolerance will change the range of erasable tones. A low tolerance will remove color ranges that are similar to the sample pixel. A high tolerance will widen the color range of pixels being removed To use the Background Eraser, navigate the hotspot, the plus inside of the background eraser brush, over the color to remove from the image. Click on the color to be removed and all colors that are similar to the color at the center of the background eraser tool that are contained within the brush boundary will be deleted. Tip: To increase the brush size, use the left bracket key [, to reduce the brush size, use the right bracket key ].



Magic Eraser Tool The Magic eraser tool works similar to the background eraser tool, but it will erase all pixels within the Canvas at once, versus having to move your cursor around the entire Canvas. The Magic Eraser options bar has options for both a tolerance and a Contiguous setting.

Tolerance determines the color range of the pixels that are selected, with a range from 0 to 255. A tolerance of zero (0) would select all pixels that have the exact same color as the original pixel. A tolerance of 255 would be the similar to a Select All, where all pixels in an image would be selected. The Contiguous option means that all colors within the color range are selected, even if the colors are not touching each other, so the color range on the entire image. If contiguous is not checked, only the colors in the color range that are touching each other will be selected. To use the Magic Eraser Tool, move the cursor over the color to be removed and click. The sample color to be removed is located on the lower left side of the Magic Eraser cursor.

Layers Layers are one of Photoshop’s most powerful features. Layers work like transparencies stacked on top of each other. Each layer can have different objects, pictures, etc. that can be moved and edited separately of each other. Layers are located in the Layers Panel, which is typically located on the bottom right size of the Workspace panels. If the Layers Panel is not visible, it can be added by navigating to the Window Menu and selecting Layers, or by pressing F7 on the keyboard.



Reviewing the Layers Panel On the bottom of the layers panel, there are seven buttons that can be used for visual manipulation or layer organization.

A. Link Layers – Allows layers to be linked together so they can be edited, moved, etc. as a single layer.

B. New Layer Style – Add styles to layers such as, drop shadows, bevel and emboss, stroke, etc. C. Add Layer Mask – Allows for the ability to control the transparency of all pixels within a layer. D. New Adjustment or Fill Layer – Allows for non-destructive adjustments to layers such as

brightness and contrast, hue/saturation, gradient, etc. E. New Group – Creates a group of layers that can be moved, edited, and or selected together as

one layer. F. New Layer – Creates a new layer within the Layers panel G. Delete Layer – Deletes the selected layer(s) within the layers panel

The Background Layer When an image is opened, or a new document is created with a white or colored background, that image or document will contain a single layer called the Background layer. A Photoshop document may only have one background layer and the background layer order cannot be changed, it must always be the bottom layer. Neither the blending mode nor the opacity of a background layer may be changed. To make changes on the background layer, the layer must be converted into a regular layer. To change a background layer into a regular layer, double click on the background layer in the Layers panel. On the New Layer window, the default name for the new layer will be Layer 0. A new layer name may be typed into the Name text box. When the layer has been named, click on the OK button.



The Background layer will now become a regular layer that can be moved, blending modes may be added to it, as well as the ability to change the opacity on the layer. The background layer can also be changed to a regular by going to the Layer menu, selecting New, and then selecting Layer from background.

Note: If a new document is created with a transparent layer, that document will contain a regular layer called Layer 1 and will not have a background layer

Rename a Layer Renaming a layer in Photoshop can make it easier to distinguish layer contents editing a document. To rename a layer within Photoshop, double-click on the layer name in the Layers panel. The layer name will become highlighted. Enter a new layer name and then hit the Enter key to accept the new name.

Creating New Layers To create a new layer, click on the Create a new layer icon (it looks like a piece of paper with the lower left corner folded) on the bottom of the layers panel.

When a new layer is created, it will be placed on top of the layer that was selected prior to creating the new layer. The new layer will be given the default name of Layer 1, 2, 3, etc. To change the name of the layer, double click on the layer name, enter in a new name and then hit the Enter key. Another way to create a new layer is to click on the fly-out menu on the upper left corner of the Layers panel, and then select New Layer.



On the New Layer window, provide a name for the new layer in the Name textbox. then click on the OK button to create the new layer within the Layers Panel.

Tip: The shortcut to create a new layer is Shift+Ctrl+N.

Duplicate a Layer Duplicating a layer will make and exact copy of an existing layer so the layers may be edited independently. To duplicate a layer, click, hold, and drag the layer to be copied over the New Layer icon, which is located on the bottom of the layers panel. Photoshop will produce an identical layer with the same name as the original layer with the text copy after it. To rename the duplicated layer, double click on the layer name and type in the new name and then hit Enter. A layer can also be copied by right clicking on the layer to be duplicated, then select Duplicate layer from the menu. When duplicating a layer this way, Photoshop will ask to rename the new layer.



Reordering Layers Layers are similar to a transparency sheet. The data on a layer will cover up any data on a layer underneath it. Any layer within the layers panel, with the exception of the background layer, can be moved in the layer order. To reorder any of the layers, click and hold on a layer and drag in to a new location. As the layer is being moved through the layers panel, a line will appear to indicate the new location of the layer. Release the mouse button to place the layer in the new location.

Moving Objects on a Layer A layer may contain one, or many objects. To move an object on a layer the layer containing the object must be selected from the Layers panel. With the layer selected, select the Move tool (V) from the toolbox and then click, hold and drag the object to its new destination.

Note: The background layer cannot move until after it has a new name.

Show and Hide layers To the right of every layer in the layers panel there is an eyeball icon, which indicates layer visibility. When the eyeball icon is visible, it means that the layer is visible on the document. To toggle the visibility of a layer on and off, click on the eyeball icon to the left of the layer. Layer 0 and Layer 1 are both visible Layer 0 is visible; Layer 1 is not visible



Type Tool The type tool is used to add text to a document. On the Type Tool options bar there will be options to select the font style, font size, color, alignment, etc.

To add a text layer onto an image, navigate the cursor on the image to add the text and then click, hold, and drag to create a text box. Note: Getting the textbox size to the exact size is not extremely important immediately, as the text box may be resized. When a type layer is added in Photoshop, a new layer will be created within the layers panel. The layer name for the type layer will display as the actual text that is typed into the textbox on the document. To rename the layer to a more meaningful name, double-click on the type layer and from the Layer Properties dialog box, type a new name.

Format Text Formatting paragraph text is made easy when using the Type tools in the Options bar.

It is best to apply the formatting before adding text to the textbox. To make any edits to existing text, the Type Tool must be selected from the Tools Panel. With the type tool selected, move the cursor over the text to edit and then click on the text to select it.

Text Size Change the text size by clicking on the text size dropdown.

Text Color To change the text color, click on the color swatch from the Font Color icon located on the Type Tool Options bar. Tip: It is may be difficult to see the change in the color of text because of the highlight on the text selection. To remove the visible highlight from the selected text, press the shortcut key Ctrl-H to toggle the highlight off/on for the selected text.



Anti-Aliasing Anti-Aliasing will smooth out the edges of text and blend the edge colors so that the text does not appear jagged. Tip: Anti-Aliasing is recommended for web graphics that contain text larger than a 14-point size. Applying anti-aliasing to text layers with a font size of less than 14 points could cause the text to blur or be not as readable. The Anti-aliasing options are;

• None - No Anti-aliasing applied • Sharp – Text appears the sharpest • Crisp – Text appears somewhat sharp • Strong - Text appears heavy • Smooth - Text appears smooth

Tip: Typically, larger text sizes appear better with either Smooth or Strong anti-aliasing, whereas smaller text sizes appear better with Crisp or Sharp. It may be useful to select a couple anti-aliasing options to compare and choose the best option for the particular font and font size that is being used.

Spell Check Text To use the Photoshop spell checker, navigate to the Edit Menu, and select Check Spelling. Tip: If the document contains multiple text layers, make sure the Check All Layers option is selected on the bottom of the Check Spelling window.

Photoshop check all of the text in the document and will pause when it finds a possible error. The word in question will appear in the Check Spelling Dialog box. To correct a misspelled work, select one of the suggestions, or retype the word in the Change To text box, and then click Change. If the term is spelled correctly, click on Ignore or Ignore All to navigate to the next term. To add a specialized term to the Photoshop spell checker, click on the Add button.


Documents

Photoshop Creative Cloud (CC) - Colorado State University · Introduction to Photoshop 1 © Technology Training Center Colorado State University Photoshop Creative Cloud (CC) Photoshop