Learn the fundamentals of Photoshop file opening and management: opening, searching and working with files. Discover how to utilize the new Home screen and distinguish between JPEG and raw formats when opening files.
Learn to use layers to separate aspects of an image so they can be edited individually and how to alter layer opacity and blending modes.
Basics
Adobe Photoshop can help your business edit photos for social media or add graphics to its website quickly and professionally. As an accessible design program, this software enables you to produce professional-looking images without an in-house graphic designer onsite, making this program indispensable across fashion, architecture, and advertising industries. However, learning how to use it may appear intimidating for beginners.
Beginners must remember a few points when using Photoshop for the first time. First and foremost, you must set out precisely what you wish to accomplish with your image – from simply eliminating blemishes in photographs to adding text or filters. Having an idea of your goals will simplify navigating this program.
An essential component of Photoshop is understanding its layers system. When you open an image, it begins as a new layer at the bottom of your document and can be renamed by double-clicking and giving it a name; layers can also be moved around by dragging. Furthermore, adding new layers automatically generates a white background underneath them so that it’s easy to see your work, especially if its background is dark or light.
Quick Selection is one of the best tools for quickly selecting areas in an image, acting like a rectangular marquee and magnetic lasso that allows you to click and drag contiguous regions of an image. Other helpful selection tools include Selection Brush/Magic Wand for specific shapes or cloning Stamp tool for replacing unwanted spots on photos with clean areas.
Layers
Understanding layers is integral to becoming an accomplished photo editor in Photoshop. Layers enable you to add or alter images or effects without altering the original photo – like stacking sheets of clear plastic; they allow you to add and change content or effects without altering their original form. Imagine taking five pictures and stacking them one upon another – each picture would show through all others on top, allowing each layer to function as a distinct image that can be edited independently of all the others stacked on it.
Photoshop always begins by creating the Background Layer, which cannot be edited. You can add as many additional layers as desired, including Text Layers and Adjustment Layers. It is essential to give each new layer an apt name, which helps remind you why its purpose exists – named layers appear in the Layers Panel with an eye icon so you can toggle their visibility as changes are made to ensure the visibility of all of your work as it happens.
Understanding opacity and fill is vital when working with layers. By default, new layers are set to have 50% grey as their fill colour, meaning only half of its pixels will be visible immediately. However, when you increase its opacity to 100%, all its pixels will become visible.
Layers provide another helpful feature – adding a Layer Mask is an effective way to target specific parts of an image with any edits made, mainly when working with Adjustment Layers, which automatically include one when created.
Filters
Filters are an invaluable component of Photoshop, enabling you to easily create effects, modify pixels, repair images, define or obscure things, add texture and convert images for specific uses. Filters can be applied globally or selectively depending on their type and settings – impacting varying numbers of pixels depending on each filter type’s settings.
Artistic filters recreate various artistic styles, from oil painting textures to vintage and glitch effects. These artistic filters can help set the right atmosphere in images, direct viewer attention, or add visual dynamism to compositions.
Render filters alter an image’s virtual space by producing three-dimensional structures and shapes, refraction effects, cloud patterns, texture fills, or textures with texture fills. They can also create textures or add vignetting effects around the edges of an image and recreate lighting effects and shadows on subjects within.
Other filters work to blur an image in a specific direction and at an intensity that can be varied, like the Lens Flare filter, which emulates light coming from one particular direction by creating an oval spot near the centre of an image. Radius and Amount of Blur settings control its size and intensity, respectively.
Pixelate filters like Craquelure resemble pixelated paintings or can cover sensitive information for privacy purposes, providing an abstract retro pixel look or hiding people’s faces in crowd scenes. These are perfect for adding an abstract retro pixel look or hiding sensitive information within an image.
Noise reduction filters help to minimize digital image artefacts such as grains, speckles or dirt in digital images. They should be utilized early in editing to avoid accentuating image noise and ensure an optimal balance between sharpening and preservation.
Masks
Layer masks are at the heart of many Photoshop edits, providing infinitely customizable control of raster layer opacity in an infinitely flexible manner. Layer masks are not just limited to image composites; they also enable users to target specific elements within layers and apply any technique or filter only to those pixels – never impacting entire layers! Mastering layer masks is essential if anyone wishes to advance their Photoshop skills.
Mask editing can be a revolutionary game-changer in your workflow, giving you more flexibility to realize your creative vision. Although often considered reserved for professionals with advanced skills, such as Photoshop black belts, this tutorial will show that creating and editing masks is relatively straightforward and accessible to all ability levels.
By default, layer masks are filled with white to represent areas that should remain 100% visible in your document. You can paint onto this layer mask using various brushes or tools to hide or reveal areas of it. Multiple shades of grey can represent partial transparency (darker values being more transparent than lighter ones).
To create a mask from an existing selection, select the layer, then click the the Add Layer Mask button in either the the Options Bar or Layers Panel flyout menu. Alternatively, clicking the Layer Mask thumbnail opens a dialogue box that lets you edit its edges and alter its properties.
Turn any pixel layer into a mask by right-clicking its thumbnail and choosing Edit in Place from the dialogue box. Be aware, though, that resizing a mask based on pixels rather than vectors could reduce quality when resized subsequently; to prevent this scenario from occurring, it’s advisable to always work with masks via Smart Objects.
Selections
Selections are an effective way of isolating an image for editing without touching other portions. Various tools exist for selecting images – marquee, lasso and magic wand are three options; quick Selection is another feature available (but unfortunately, this feature is unavailable in Photoshop Elements).
Once a selection has been activated, marching ants will indicate where it lies. You can select all or parts of an image with Select-All (Mac) or Ctrl+A; once selected, it becomes an adjustment layer that only affects that Selection.
Change the shape of a selection by clicking Refine Edge in the options bar or by holding down (Mac) or Ctrl while you drag. Add or subtract from an existing selection by using Add To or Subtract From Selection buttons in the options bar, drawing across it using a brush, or by clicking Subtract From or Add To buttons respectively in the options bar – plus use Refine Selection Brush tool for fine-tuning an already selected area and getting more precise edges.
Selections can be an indispensable resource, from changing backgrounds to correcting colour or lighting in specific parts of an image and acting as masks for applying filters such as the Sharpen or Blur filter to particular areas (Chapter 9). Furthermore, selections allow you to use an adjustment layer that will only impact areas within its Selection (Chapter 7); you can do this regardless of how your Selection was created.