Lesson 1 Exploring Photoshop

In this lesson, you are offered the opportunity to dive right into Adobe Photoshop CS5 and put together an exciting composition. This lesson was created to help current users (or fast learners) quickly discover some of the hottest new features in Photoshop CS5.

• How to work with multiple documents in Photoshop CS5
• Creating a simple composition using Photoshop CS5
• New masking features in Photoshop CS5
• Introduction to 3D feature in Photoshop CS5

Starting up with Photoshop CS5

Before starting, make sure that your tools and panels are consistent by resetting your preferences. See "Resetting Adobe Photoshop CS5 preferences" on page 3.

Note that users of all levels can follow this step-by-step exercise, but if you are a new user, it is recommended that you start with Lesson 2, "Getting to Know the Workspace," and return to this lesson when you have completed the remaining lessons.

You will work with several files from the ps01lessons folder in this lesson. Make sure that you have loaded the pslessons folder onto your hard drive from the supplied DVD. See "Loading lesson files" on page 5. Now, let's take a look at what's new in Photoshop CS5.

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  See Lesson 1 in Action! Use the accompanying video to gain a better understanding of how to use some of the features shown in this lesson. The video tutorial for this lesson can be found on the included DVD.

Photoshop CS5: Taking a look at the final project

In this lesson, you’ll create photocomposition that will come from several different sources, allowing you to use some of the new tools and features available in Adobe Photoshop CS5.

1 Choose File > Browse in Bridge, or click on the Launch Bridge () in the Application bar. You will be using Adobe Bridge to locate your images for this lesson, but it can also help you to search for, organize, and manage your documents. Refer to Lesson 3, “Using Adobe Bridge,” to find out more about Adobe Bridge.

2 In Bridge choose Window > Workspace > Essentials to see the entire workspace.

If you are unfamiliar with Adobe Bridge, simply click on the Folders tab in the
upper-left corner of the workspace to navigate from one folder to another. If you saved your lesson files on the desktop, use the slider and click on Desktop; all the folders on your desktop appear in the Content panel.

3 Navigate to the ps01lessons folder and double-click to open the file named ps0101_done.psd. An image of a wakeboarder appears. If you receive a warning dialog box about your video card, click OK.

In addition to some standard Photoshop features, some need-to-know new features have been integrated into this lesson, including some improved selection features and content-aware retouching.

4 Now that you have seen the final image, choose File > Close. If a Warning dialog box appears, click No (Windows) or Don’t Save (Mac OS).

Creating a panorama from three images using Photoshop CS5

In this part of the exercise, you will merge three images together into one using the Auto-Align feature in Photoshop.

1 Choose File > Browse in Bridge, or click on the Launch Bridge () in the Application bar. Using the Favorites tab in the upper-right of the Bridge workspace, choose Desktop and locate the ps01lessons that you copied from your DVD to the Desktop.

2 Open the ps01lessons folder and double-click to open the ps0101.psd file. An image of an ocean appears.

3 Choose File > Save As, to open the Save As dialog box. Using the Save In drop-down menu, navigate to the ps01lessons folder. Type ps0101_work in the File Name text field and choose Photoshop from the Format drop-down menu. Then click Save. If the Photoshop Format Options dialog box appears, press OK.

This ocean image file contains three layers that were shot separately, and then copied and pasted into one image. In the next part of this lesson, you will align these into one large panoramic image.

4 If your Layers panel is not visible choose Window > Layers to locate it now. You see the three layers; Layer 0, Layer 1, and Layer 2.

5 Select Layer 0 by clicking on it in the Layers panel, then hold down the Shift key and click on Layer 2. This selects all three of the layers.

6 Select your Move tool () and click on the Auto-Align layers button () on the Move tool Options bar. The Auto Align dialog box appears.

7 Select Auto and press OK. The images are automatically aligned into a panoramic image.

8 Choose File > Save, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+A (Mac OS) to save the file. Keep it open so that you can crop it in the next part of this lesson.

Cropping your image in Photoshop CS5

A fundamental task to creating a successful composition is having the ability to crop an image. In this part of the exercise, you will crop the image to even out the edges where the panoramic image doesn’t perfectly fit.

1 Before you start it will be helpful to see the entire image. A helpful keyboard shortcut to know is Ctrl+0 (zero) (Windows) or Command+0 (zero) (Mac OS). You can also use the menu item View > Fit on screen. This allows you to see the entire image.

2 With the ps0101_work images still open, select the Crop tool () from the Tools panel. Click and drag from the upper-left corner to the lower-right corner. A crop preview area appears.

3 Choose View > Snap so that the Snap feature in Photoshop is deactivated. This makes it easier for you to control resize your crop area.

4 Using the handles on the corners, click and drag to reposition the crop area so that the transparent edges are eliminated.

5 When you have the crop area positioned correctly, click on the Commit checkmark button () in the far right of the Options bar, or press the Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS) key.

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  If you make a mistake and need to release the crop tool and start over, press the Esc key in the upper-left of your keyboard.

6 From the Layers panel menu (), choose Flatten image to combine the three layers into one.

Adding a selection to your image in Photoshop CS5

In this next section, you will move an image from one file into another. You will then take advantage of the new and improved selection features to create a mask.

1 Choose File > Browse in Bridge, and double-click on the image named ps0102.psd that is located inside the ps01lessons folder. An image of a surfer running on the beach appears.

You now have two images open. In the default setting, multiple images appear as tabs across the top of the Photoshop work area. Because it is important to see both images at the same time, you will choose to tile your images.

2 Choose 2 Up from the Arrange Documents button () in the Application bar at the top of the Photoshop workspace. The images now appear side-by-side.

3 Select your Move tool () and click on the beach image and drag it on top of the panoramic image. Release your mouse when you see the cursor with the plus sign (), or a border appear around the panoramic image. You have just added the beach image as a layer in your panoramic image.

4 Click on the tab for the ps0102.psd image and then choose File > Close. If you are asked to save changes, choose No (Windows) or Don’t Save (Mac OS).

5 Using the Move tool, click and drag the newly added layer to align the water line in both of the images. A perfect match is not necessary.

6 Choose File > Save. Keep the file open for the next part of the lesson.

Fading one image into another using Photoshop CS5

In this part of the lesson, you will create a layer mask to allow you to blend the beach image into the large panoramic image.

1 If your Layers panel is a not open, choose Window > Layers. Click on the topmost layer.

2 Click the Add layer mask button () at the bottom of the Layers panel. A mask, that specifically applies to the selected layer appears to the right of the Layer thumbnail in the Layers panel.

Since you did not have an active selection, nothing visually changes in this image. A layer mask offers you the opportunity to paint a mask. In this example, you will use a gradient so that you can fade the transition from one image another. The lines on the corners of the layer mask indicate that the layer mask is selected and ready for you to edit. If you deselect a layer mask, you can click back on the thumbnail to reactivate it.

3 Select the Gradient tool () from the Tools panel, and press the keyboard shortcut, D. This assures that you are at the default foreground and background colors of Black and White.

4 Click and drag a small distance from the left to the right in the beach image. The length and angle determine the gradient’s result. If you want a large fade from one image to another, click and drag further. If you want a short transition, click and drag a shorter distance.

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  If you want to keep the gradient straight, hold down the Shift key as you drag with the Gradient tool.

When you release the Gradient tool, you see that you have created the gradient on the mask, not the actual image. The gradient functions as a mask, masking out any area that is black, and exposing any area in white.

5 Choose File > Save. Keep the file open for the next part of this lesson.

Using the new Content-Aware feature in Photoshop CS5

In the next part of the lesson, you will remove the surfer from the beach image using the new content aware option in the Spot Healing Brush tool.

1 Select the Spot Healing Brush tool () from the Tools panel.

2 With the Spot Healing Brush tool selected, note that the Options bar offers the opportunity to turn on the Content-Aware feature. Click on the Content-Aware option.

3 Since you are no longer working on the layer mask, and want to retouch the actual image, click once on the Layer thumbnail for Layer 1 in the layers panel.

5 With the Spot Healing Brush tool selected paint over the head of the surfer and then release. Notice that Photoshop tries to match and replace the head with the surrounding content.

Now continue and paint over the rest of the body, including the reflection. The initial result may not be perfect, but you can return to the problem areas and paint over them again until you have a better result.

6 Choose File > Save and keep this file open for the next part of this lesson.

Using the improved selection features in Photoshop CS5

In this section, you have the opportunity to take advantage of the new and improved Refine Edge feature. The improvements make it easier for you to make difficult selections like fur and hair.

1 Choose File > Browse in Bridge and locate the image named ps0103.psd, which is located in the ps01lessons folder. Double-click to open the file in Adobe Photoshop. Again, you will position the images so that you can easily drag one image file to the other.

2 Choose 2 Up from the Arrange Documents button () in the Application bar at the top of the Photoshop workspace. The images now appear side-by-side.

3 Make sure that Layer 1 is the active layer in the Layers panel. This assures that the new layer lands on top of the stacking order.

4 Select the Move tool () and click and drag the image of the wakeboarder on top of the large panoramic image. Release when you see the cursor with the plus sign (). You do not have to put the wakeboarder in any specific location, just make sure that you can see the entire boarder’s body, as you will be masking that part of the image.

5 Click back on the ps0103.psd image and choose File > Close to close the file. If asked, do not save the file.

6 Select the Quick Selection tool () from the Tools panel and paint over the wakeboarder’s body. Notice that Photoshop automatically builds a selection based upon the image area you are painting.

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  When you release your mouse and then continue painting the selection is added to. You can delete from the selection by holding down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key while painting the selection. Find out more about selections in Lesson 5, “Making the Best Selection.”

7 If necessary, hold down the Alt (Windows) of Option (Mac OS) to delete the inside section of the boarder.

Refining your selection in Photoshop CS5

In this next section, you will refine you initial selection by using the new and improved Refine Edge feature.

1 With your selection still active, click on the Refine Edge button in the Options bar. The Refine Edge dialog box appears.

2 Using the View drop-down menu select the On White preview.

3 Press Ctrl++(Plus sign) (Windows) or Command++(Plus sign) (Mac OS) to zoom into the present selection of the water skier. You can hold down the space bar and click and drag to reposition the view. As you can see, the selection, especially around the hair, leaves a lot to be desired. You will fix this selection by taking advantage of the newly added Edge detection feature.

4 Click and drag the Radius slider (in the Edge Detection section) to the right until you reach a value around 8. You can already see a refinement in the selection.

5 Select the Refine Radius tool (), located to the left of the Edge Detection section of the Refine Edge dialog box. Click in the area of the hair to refine the selection around the hair.

When you feel the selection is complete, choose Layer Mask from the Output To drop-down menu in the Output section of the Refine Edge dialog box. Press OK.

6 Using the Move tool (), reposition the boarder to the right side of your image.

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  If your mask did not eliminate the entire background area, you might see it as you reposition your water skier image. If this is the case, you can simply click on the layer mask for the water skier image, and then press “X” to bring black forward as your foreground color. Take your Brush tool and paint over those areas, essentially masking them out.

Adding a Type layer in Photoshop CS5

You will now add a text layer to this document.

1 Select the Type tool () from the Tools panel and click on the left side of the image. A cursor appears, and the Options bar reflects properties for your text.

2 In the Set the font family drop-down menu, type Myri to enter the Myriad Pro typeface. If you would prefer, you can select the drop-down menu and scroll to the Myriad Pro typeface.

3 In the Set the font style drop-down menu, select Bold.

4 In the Set the font size dialog box, enter 130.

5 Click once on the Set the text color box (on the right side of the Options bar). The Color picker appears. Select white, or a light color. Press OK

6 Type SUMMER in all caps.

7 Press the Commit check button () in the upper right of the Options bar.

8 Press 3 to set the opacity of the type layer to 30%. If you would prefer, you can drag the Opacity slider (in the Layers panel) to 30%.

Adding the Vertical text

You will now add the text for the year, and then rotate and position it on the left side of the image.

1 Press the letter D, as this sets the foreground and background color back to the default of black and white.

2 Select the Type tool () from the Tools panel and click anywhere on the artboard.

3 When the cursor appears, type 2010, or whatever year you prefer.

4 To confirm your text and exit the type editing tool, you can press Ctrl+Enter (Windows) or Command+Return (Mac OS). You can click on the confirmation checkbox () in the upper-right of the Type tool Options bar.

5 Once you exit the type editing mode, press 3 to set the opacity of this new text layer to 30% as well.

6 Choose Edit > Free Transform, or press Ctrl+T (Windows) or Command+T (Mac OS) to turn on the Free Transform bounding box. Note that the Options bar now offers resources that allow you to resize and rotate this layer.

7 Type -90 into the Rotate text field and press the Enter /Return key.

8 Select the Move tool () and reposition the new text layer on the left side of the image.

Making some waves using the Puppet Warp feature in Photoshop CS5

In this last part of the lesson you take advantage of the new Puppet Warp feature. Before you start you will create a copy of the bottom Background layer.

1 With the Move tool select the Background layer and hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and drag it to the Create new layer button in the Layers panel. By holding down the Alt/Option key you have the opportunity to name this layer before it is duplicated. Name this layer Warp.

2 Choose Edit > Puppet Warp. In this example, you create your own wave design using the Puppet Warp feature,

3 Click once on the far right of the image, at about the water line, then click below, then again at the water line and again below, and so on, creating a zigzag pattern with the pins.

4 Click on one of the top pins and then Shift+click on the remaining pins positioned at the top.

5 Release the Shift key and click and drag up into the sky. The exact amount is not important.

6 Click once on one of the bottom pins, then Shift+click to select the remaining bottom pins. Click and drag downwards; again, the exact amount is not important.

7 To see the result you can uncheck the Show Mesh checkbox in the Options bar. When you are finished, select the Confirmation checkbox in the upper-right corner of the Options bar.

8 Choose File > Save and File Close.

Congratulations! You have finished Lesson 1, “Exploring Photoshop” in Photoshop CS5.