Module 2

Tools and Layout: Getting Started with Adobe Photoshop

Starting this week, we will be focusing on Photoshop intensively for four weeks. Each week, a different set of Photoshop skills will be introduced. You are required to obtain legal access to Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 from Adobe.com. The subscription fee for students and teachers is $9.99/month. For the rest of the courses, you will be required to submit your works created with Photoshop.

In this module, we talk about how to work as a designer. Although this course is not intended to train you to be a professional graphic designer, it is hoped that you could produce professional-looking graphics to facilitate learning. Prior to this course, many software applications (free and paid) were explored by the IT instructional team. We examined Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, iPiccy.com, and pixlr.com. Adobe Photoshop is chosen for the following reasons:

• Compared to GIMP, Adobe Photoshop’s interface is clearer and consistent.
• Online Photo Editing tools, such as iPiccy.com and pixlr.com, do not have the sophisticated functions necessary for graphic design for this course.
• Finally, Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard. Files created with Adobe Photoshop can be easily converted to other formats for print or online display.

Given these reasons, Adobe Photoshop is adopted for this course. The major task for this module is to get you familiar with Adobe Photoshop. An online tutorial (free) was identified to meet our needs:

• Photoshop for Beginners(PDF, 1.5 MB).

The following is an overview of this online tutorial

This video-based training is divided into three sections with a total of 33 short episodes. In this module, we will be looking at Section 1 (Episodes 1 – 8). Specially, we will be learning:

• Interface Introduction
• Panels & Workspaces
• Raster Image principles
• Image size, Dimension, & Resolution
• Layers
• Common file types
• Color
• Handy tips for beginners

Goals and Outcomes

Goals

During this module, students will:

• be exposed to the interface of Adobe Photoshop
• understand how to arrange the workspace of Adobe Photoshop
• understand how to work with different file types with Adobe Photoshop
• gain basic knowledge about image formats and their best uses.

Outcomes

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• recognize Interface of Adobe Photoshop
• recognize panels & workspaces
• identify raster Image principles
• set image size, dimension, & resolution
• manipulate layers
• save common file types
• select intended color
• select the appropriate image format for various purposes.

Selected Readings

Required

• Chapter 3 from the following book:
  Malamed, C. (2015). Visual design solutions: Principles and creative inspiration for learning professionals. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
• Section 1 (Episodes 1 – 8) from the following online resource:
  Photoshop for Beginners (PDF, 1.5 MB)
  Download corresponding files: MAC practice files (ZIP, 261 MB), PC practice file (RAR, 242 MB)
  (Note: It is highly recommended to download these practice files and open them while viewing the video tutorials. You will remember those techniques better by following the tutorials with your operations of Adobe Photoshop.)

Recommended:

• Chapters 1 – 7 from the following text:
  Weinmann, E., & Lourekas, P. (2016). Photoshop CC: visual quickstart guide (2015 release). San Francisco: Peachpit Press.
  If you are interested in learning more and prefer to read from paper, the above text is highly recommended and is available at campus bookstore. This book is recommended, but not required. You should be able to complete the course assignments without this text.

“To Do” List

Adobe Photoshop Exercise #1: Size, Layer, and Format

Outcomes

After completing this assignment, you will be able to:

• be familiar with Adobe Photoshop Interface
• manipulate panels and workspace
• change image size, dimension, and resolution
• manipulate layers
• save common file types.

Overview

After viewing Episodes 1 – 8, you should feel comfortable with Adobe Photoshop’s interface, panels, and workspace. Now, let’s perform some similar procedures on your own.

Instructions

1. Download Exercise #1 Practice file (PSD, 5.9 MB) and open it with Photoshop.
2. In the layer panel/window, perform the following:
   • Remove the “Text” layer
   • For “Circles-a” layer, set Opacity to 80%
   • Link “Sparkles” and “Bubbles” layers
   • Lock “Scale” layer
   • Create a new group and rename it to “Vegetable”
   • Drag layers “Leaves-a”, “Leaves-b”, and “Scale” into “Vegetable” group folder

2. Change image mode to CMYK color
3. Change resolution (pixels/inch) to 72 (72 PPI is standard for web display)
4. Use Type tool to add your full name to the upper-left corner
5. Save or export your edited file as PSD, GIF, JPG, and PNG-24 separately.
6. Create a new page on your Weebly site and upload these four files.

Submitting and Posting

1. 1. To submit your work, post URL of your Weebly page to the corresponding link under Submissions inside Moodle before 11:59 p.m. U.S. EST/EDT on the following Monday.