Meeting 2

Chi ben comincia e' a meta' dell'opera

Topics: Lab basics, tools basics, and preliminary selection techniques.

Lab basics:

IMPORTANT NOTE: After you copy a file to the server, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REPLACE IT OR OVERWRITE IT. This may cause an empty file containing no data. If you have an update to your file, change the name of the file slightly, i.e. smith_keyassign.jpg -----> smith_keyassign2.jpg before you attempt another upload.

Also, do not save a file from Photoshop directly onto the server. Save it locally first, then copy it to the server.

Once you have chosen a network drive, the network connection can be appended to a list (Macs only) in the Go>Favorites menu item. Click the "+" button to add it to the list. This becomes a shortcut for future network logons.

Flash Memory "keys": If you insert a removable memory key, be careful not to physically remove it until you have done a software "Eject". This is done by dragging the icon of the removable memory key to the location of the Trash. The operating system will turn the Trash icon into an Eject icon when it senses that you wish to dismount a removable drive.

Failure to "Eject" a removable drive/key before you physically disconnect it may result in a loss of data or permanent damage to the unit!

External hard drives: If you are thinking about an external hard drive to store your files, many students buy LaCie or Firelite brands. Make sure that you get one that is powered by the computer connection and doesn't require a separate power block. Also be very sure that you follow the manufacturer's instructions for un-mounting the drive after you are done copying files. Generally that involves dragging the icon to the Trash/Eject icon on the computer desktop just like for flash memory devices. If you just yank the cord without proper shutdown procedure, you could lose all the data on the hard drive, or worse.

Recording on CD-R or DVD disks: If you wish to save your files to a blank CD-R or DVD disk that you have inserted into the machine, first save the files to the desktop where you can find them. Then drag the desired files onto the CD icon on the desktop that appears after you insert a writeable disk. When all files you wish to save have been dragged onto the icon, make sure the disk icon is highlighted (click once on it if it isn't highlighted) and record the disk by choosing File>Burn Disk. Eject the disk when done by pressing the Eject button on the keyboard or by dragging the disk to the Trash/Eject icon.

Photoshop basics:
Launch Photoshop by clicking on the Photoshop icon from the dock that appears when the mouse cursor is moved to the bottom of the screen. Note that although VisCom computers are configured to have the dock at the bottom by default, a previous user may have moved it to another part of the screen (left side, etc.). If it doesn't appear on the dock, then launch it from the hard drive>applications folder.

Previous users may have altered the standard locations and behaviors of tools and palettes within the Photoshop program. When starting fresh, it's a good idea to reset as much as you can to the default to prevent confusing surprises.

To reset palette locations to default: Choose Window>Workspace>Reset Essentials

To reset tools: Click on a tool in the vertical toolbox (i.e. the Paintbrush tool), go to the left-most icon on the Options bar at the top, click the down arrow, click the little round button with an arrow in it, choose "Reset All Tools", click OK.

To reset tool presets: Click on a tool in the vertical toolbox (i.e. the Paintbrush tool), go to the left-most icon on the Options bar at the top, click the down arrow, click the little round button with an arrow in it, choose "Reset Tool Presets...", click OK.

These steps will not reset everything to their defaults, but will take care of a majority of potential problems.

TIP: Resetting nearly everything...
If you want to reset nearly all settings in case of strange Photoshop behavior, close the program and restart while holding down the Command-Option-Shift keys until a dialog box appears asking if you want to delete the Photoshop settings file. Choosing "Yes" resets everything except color settings. This could be very useful if your copy of Photoshop "misbehaves" and you can't figure out what setting has caused the behavior.

TIP: Checking Color Settings...
The lab's Epson printers expect to have RGB files in the AdobeRGB(1998) color space. Reasons for this will be explained later in Meeting 12, but for now, check to see if your copy of Photoshop is set correctly.

When Photoshop is running, choose Edit>Color Settings, and select North America Prepress 2 in the Settings list.

Note that "resetting nearly everything in Photoshop" does NOT affect the settings chosen here. They stick unless changed by the user.

 

Creating a new file from scratch - use File>New or type Command-N on the keyboard. The resulting dialog box will have a number of settings where you specify print size, resolution, color mode of the picture, and assign a file name if desired.

Saving a file to different file types - use File>Save or Save As. This dialog box will let you name the file, specify its location, and in which file format you wish to save the file (JPG, TIF, etc.). Notice that you cannot save to a camera RAW format file, not even to Adobe's own DNG file format. Consider that a good thing so that original camera files aren't accidentally overwritten.

In the last meeting, different file types were compared. On the web, only a handful of different file types will display properly across all browsers. For other file formats (i.e. PICT, TGA, TIF, PSD, etc.), different web browsers behave differently. For example, Safari on the Macintosh will display a Photoshop PSD picture, but Internet Explorer on a Windows machine will not.

Here's a test page that will show how various graphic file formats (EPS, JPG, TIF, etc.) are displayed (or not displayed!) in web browsers. File formats that are incompatible with your web browser won't display properly.

Tools Basics
Commonly used Photoshop tools will be introduced in class.

TIP: Before you begin, change preferences for tool icons Photoshop>Preferences>Cursors) to show "Normal Brush Tip" for Painting Cursors and "Precise" for Other Cursors. This presents the best combination of cursors for the experienced user.

Painting
Make a new 5x7 inch x 200 dpi RGB picture (File>New...)

Make a second new document to see how additional documents display in new tabs in CS5. It makes new tabs for each new picture added, and doesn't put each picture in a separate window. Merely click on the appropriate tab to see each picture. If this new behavior is not desired, choose Window>Arrange>Float All in Windows to temporarily return the older way of displaying multiple documents.

TIP: Use Preferences>Interface>Open Documents as Tabs to choose whether to open new documents as tabs or not as the default behavior.

Use the paintbrush tool in standard mode and in airbrush mode (click button on Options bar to toggle between regular paintbrush and airbrush). Change brush options (mode, opacity, flow, etc.) on the Options bar at the top of the window. To change a brush size, click the blue down arrow to the right of the brush tip shape on the Options bar. There is a slider to allow brush size changes.

Select the pencil tool (nested under the paintbrush icon in the tools palette), eraser, gradient fill tool, etc. and notice how the options change depending on which tool is selected.

Brush size changes can be done using the Brush list on the Options Bar near the top of the screen. These options change depending on which tool is currently selected.

TIP: Keyboard shortcut - if you want to quickly change the size of a brush while working, simply press the keyboard bracket character ( [ ) to make it smaller and the left-facing bracket ( ] ) to enlarge the brush.

TIP: To quickly change Opacity or Flow settings in the Options bar, click on the words "Opacity" or "Flow" and drag the mouse left or right. Watch the number settings change. These are called "scrubby sliders"  by the Adobe folks.

NOTE: CS5 has a new default brushes list with more artistic brushes and fewer basic brushes. If you prefer the older one that shows many different sized circles (both hard-edge and soft-edge), then change the defaults. Click the round arrow at the top right of the open brushes list, select Replace Brushes, and navigate to the Applications>Adobe Photoshop CS5>Presets>Brushes folder. Choose Basic Brushes to get the selection of basic round brushes.

Changing Colors - Using the Swatches palette is one option.  You can also click once on the Foreground Color in the Tools palette to bring up the Color Picker. The Color palette is another place to select colors either by number or by manipulating the sliders. Lastly, you can directly choose a color by clicking on the portion of the rainbow palette at the bottom of the Color palette.

Switching foreground and background colors can be accomplished by clicking the double-headed arrow near the tool box swatches or by pressing an "X" on the keyboard.

TIP: Command-click (press and hold the keyboard Command key down and then click) on a swatch in the Swatches palette to directly choose a new Background Color. NOTE: Older Pre-CS versions of Photoshop used the Option key instead.

Zooming Around
There are many ways to change your view of a picture in Photoshop. Listed below are a few ways that you can do it...

Zoom Tool
There are numerous ways to zoom in and out in Photoshop. The most obvious way is to employ the Zoom tool (it looks like a magnifying glass in the Tool palette). Clicking on the picture magnifies your view of the picture incrementally. Option-clicking zooms back out to a smaller view of the picture.

Keyboard Shortcut
Other keyboard shortcuts include Command  "+" (hold the Command key and press the plus sign key) to zoom in and pressing Command "-" (hold the Command key and press the minus sign key) to zoom back out. You should remember these two keyboard shortcuts for zooming because there are certain situations where they are the ONLY method that works.

Navigator Palette
The Navigator palette is not displayed by default in CS5 (I suppose that few people used it). If you want to use it, go to Window and choose Navigator. It has a zoom slider which permits zooming in and out. In addition, clicking on the little or big "mountain" icon in the Navigator palette zooms out and in respectively.

Numerical zoom % changes
You can also swipe over the magnification percent in the Navigator palette and change the zoom numerically. This also works on the zoom percent shown on the lower left corner of the picture itself.

Double Click the "Grabber" Hand tool
There are ways to enter preset views quickly. Double-click the Hand tool in the Toolbox to magnify the picture enough to just fit on screen. With some tools selected, this option is also achieved by clicking on the "Fit On Screen" button on the Options bar. The keyboard shortcut Command-0 (a zero character, not an O) also makes a picture fit the screen.

Double Click the Zoom tool
Double-click the Zoom tool to quickly go to the 100% view - the view that shows how big your image will be when viewed on a web page. (The 100% view is likely NOT the size at which the picture will print! It means that each individual pixel in the image is displayed on one screen pixel - it's a one-to-one mapping of the image pixels to the screen. Note: This fact is a likely candidate for a final exam question.)

Option-mouse wheel to zoom in and out
On a Mac with a scroll wheel, hold Option and scroll the wheel to zoom in and out.

Control-Click or Right Click in picture (if right clicking is enabled on your computer)
When using the Zoom tool, you can hold the Mac's Control key down and click in the picture (or use a right-click without the Ctrl key) to show a pop-up zoom menu with five choices -

Fit on Screen
Actual Pixels
Print Size
Zoom In
Zoom Out

The Actual Pixels choice is the 100% magnification view. It shows the size of the picture as seen on the web.

Note: To enable right-clicking on a modern Macintosh computer, go to System Preferences>Keyboard and Mouse and click on the Mouse tab. If your computer and mouse support it, choose Secondary button in the menu pointing to the right side of the mouse.

Note2: Introduced in CS4 and continued in CS5 is the Pixel Grid which becomes visible at high magnification (>500%). To disable the pixel grid, go to the menu item View>Show and uncheck Pixel Grid.

Note3: New in CS5 is "scrubby zoom" behavior which you may either love or hate. To disable it, uncheck it on the Options bar when the Zoom tool is selected.

Gradient filling a selected area
Open Golfer Silhouette.tif (found in the Exercises 1 folder).

Change the file's Mode to Grayscale, then change it once more to RGB Color...
    (Image> Mode> Grayscale, then Image> Mode> RGB).

Select the background. We'll find that the venerable Magic Wand tool works perfectly well with this picture. Photoshop CS3 introduced a useful Quick Selection Tool that is grouped with the Magic Wand tool. The Refine Edge button on the Options bar for this tool appears to give a fair amount of control over the initial selection. However, we won't use it for this exercise.

Choose the Magic Wand tool (NOTE: don't confuse it with the Quick Selection Tool added in CS3).

Turn anti-aliasing OFF in the Magic Wand tool's Options bar (uncheck the box). Anti-aliasing should be OFF when selecting black and white line-art like this picture or you could get grayish edges on the artwork after subsequent editing.

Select the white background around the golfer with the Magic Wand tool by clicking on it. You should see an animated marquee - often called 'marching ants'.

Fill the selected background area with a gradient fill of your choice of colors using the Gradient Fill tool and different background and foreground colors.

After filling with a gradient, then try to select the background gradient with the Magic Wand after filling to see how poorly the Magic Wand works on objects comprised of varying colors. The workaround for this file is to first select the golfer silhouette then choose Select>Inverse to select the background. That works because the silhouette itself is all one color (black).

More tools using Clocks1.tif
Open clocks1.tif in the Exercises 1 folder. Use Zoom tool to see how the faces are backwards. Then use Image> Image Rotation>Flip Canvas Horizontal to correct the mistake.

Handy Tip: When you are zoomed in on a picture, you sometimes need to get to another part quickly. To do that, hold the keyboard spacebar down to change whatever tool you are currently using into the Hand tool. This enables you to quickly pan around the zoomed view. When you release the spacebar, the cursor switches back to the tool you were using before. This saves a lot of mousing around between the picture and the toolbox.

TIP: Beginning in CS4, "Flick Panning" is enabled as a default. This lets a panned picture "coast down" to an eventual stop. To disable Flick Panning, go to Photoshop>Preferences>General and uncheck "Enable Flick Panning".

Practice using the Dodge/Burn, Sharpen/Blur tools and their options on the Options bar.

Rubber stamp tool -- select a source area by Option-clicking from where pixels are to be copied, then move the mouse to a new location and begin painting. Notice how the cross-hair cursor shows where pixels are being copied from, and the other cursor shows where they are being copied to. A common problem for beginners is selecting a source point too close to the destination point - odd repeating artifacts appear. Another problem is trying to do all the retouching in just one extended click/drag of the mouse which will also invite repeating artifacts.

Note: Beginning with CS4, Photoshop now shows the clone tool cursor with the content carried inside. If you wish to return to the earlier way the rubber stamp tool worked, choose Window>Clone Source to show the Clone Source palette, and uncheck Show Overlay in the palette.

Selecting an area using the lasso tool
Use the Lasso selection tool to select the clocks then choose Select> Inverse to select the background. Gradient fill the selected background.

Rotate command - first Select>All (or type Command-A), then choose either Image>Image Rotation, or better yet, choose Edit>Transform>Rotate. (Helpful Tip: drag non-printing guidelines from rulers if they are visible to ease the task of alignment for either horizontal or vertical lines. To make rulers visible, choose View>Rulers or type a Command-R).

Note: CS4 introduced a new Rotate View Tool which rotates the view of the picture ONLY, but does not alter the picture itself. In other words, it doesn't change the rotation of the picture when printed. In CS5, it's found nested with the grabber hand tool.

It is meant to aid illustrators working with a tablet creating sketches onscreen, working in a way as if they rotated their art paper on the desk when working. For a short online video on how this feature is meant to be used, go to:
http://www.vimeo.com/2218899

After selections have been made, they can be modified. Use the Option key with any selection tool to subtract parts away from an existing selection, and use Shift with any selection tool to add additional parts to an existing selection. In summary....

Shift adds,
Option subtracts!   
turtle