Everything you want to learn about Photoshop is grouped into sections that are easy to identify and access. Tutorials are continually being made simpler and clearer so that everyone is included. If however, you think that the tutorials are not enough there are DVD Rom tutorials that you can purchase and have to access anytime that you forget how to do something and need to refresh your memory. This DVDROM has 120mins (yup, 2 hours) of tutorials that will help you know how to use Photoshop even in your sleep. If you already have more than a basic knowledge of using Photoshop you can take a look at the Photoshop Secrets Special FX. It's a tutorial CDROM with 19 lessons that are packed into 2 hours that will teach you exactly how to use the special cutting edge effects that the advance Photoshop users' use.
New features in Photoshop CS2 make it easier to composite images in multiple layers. In earlier versions it was necessary to select a required layer in the Layers palette. But now it's possible to select multiple layers by using a marquee tool. The Show Transform Controls feature allows objects to be reshaped faster than ever before, and it works across multiple layers. Smart Guides is another innovation that makes it easier to align objects, even if they're on different layers. People who learn on their own sometimes discover the best way to do things, but usually they discover the wrong way to do things, which causes recurring frustration and limits their ability to go on learning new things. The time and money you invest today in your Photoshop training will reward you in ways that you can't even begin to imagine.
CROPPING. Select the "Crop" tool icon from your Tools bar, then drag it downward diagonally from the upper left corner to the bottom right corner. Release the mouse and then use it to manipulate the image size with the crop "handles." Hit "Enter" or "Return." RESIZING. Go to "Image" in your top menu, then choose "Image Size." Enter the dimensions you need and hit OK. (You can radically change the outer shape of the image by un clicking "Constrain Proportions" at the bottom of the page and entering different dimensions, then clicking OK.)
Unleash the power of the Gradient Editor to customize Photoshop's default gradients. The key to using the Gradient Tool effectively is to be able to master its editing options. Select the Gradient Tool and click on the gradient preview in the options bar to open the Gradient Editor. You'll see a variety of preset gradients displayed, from the default Foreground to Background gradient to the more complex Chrome gradient. All these preset gradients can be edited to create new gradients. You'll notice that some gradients have more colour 'stops' than others; the Foreground to Background gradient has two colour stops - black and white - while the Spectrum gradient has seven colour stops.
Photoshop offers blending options unsurpassed in the design industry in your "Layer Style" dialog box, you will first find "General Blending" options, which are often enough for any task. Experiment with the Blend Modes and their opacity to see just how incredibly flexible the normal Blending Options can be.To find your advanced blending options in Photoshop, double-click a layer or click the "Add a Layer Style" icon at the bottom left of your Layers palette, and then choose "Blending Options." Your "Layer Style" dialog box will appear.At the bottom of the Layer Style box, you will find, under "Advanced Blending," something called the "Blend If" tool. What is the Photoshop "Blend If" tool, exactly? Blend If is a "smart" blending tool. You can use it to blend images or create a more transparent image with almost infinite precision. This one tool is so flexible and handy it behooves any serios Photoshop designer to learn to use it, and use it well.
Indeed, Adobe's online push has as much to do with consumers' expectations as encroaching competition from Google, said Peter O'Kelly, an analyst at Burton Group."From a digital-media consumer experience, Adobe really needs, for competitive and customer value reasons, to be the end-to-end products and services supplier," O'Kelly said. "It doesn't portend well if Adobe can't get on top of it." The latest version of Google's Picasa, which is a desktop application, introduces features to post photos on the Web. It also allows people to read Photoshop files, O'Kelly noted. Showdown with Picasa? Chizen said that although hosted Photoshop is meant to be a low-end product, the company intends to ensure that it is of a higher quality than free alternatives. As an online image-editing application, Adobe faces a challenge in providing a good experience for customers, he added.
You can use adjustment layers to do all kinds of experimenting and not one pixel will be damaged. There are ways to do this and they are not time consuming or difficult to learn.Sometimes you may use Photoshop to do some magic pixel manipulation but other times you may just want to make a few small changes. What about the times when you just want to make a minor change to an image's color balance? Maybe you have had occasion to tweak a contrast balance to achieve a print that is more pleasing to look at. You can do this by learning how to take control over the way in which you adjust the image. It's a good thing to be able to try various things in the adjustment department while being able to go back and retrace your steps if you encounter a problem. Smart layering allows you the ability to do these things. - 16039
New features in Photoshop CS2 make it easier to composite images in multiple layers. In earlier versions it was necessary to select a required layer in the Layers palette. But now it's possible to select multiple layers by using a marquee tool. The Show Transform Controls feature allows objects to be reshaped faster than ever before, and it works across multiple layers. Smart Guides is another innovation that makes it easier to align objects, even if they're on different layers. People who learn on their own sometimes discover the best way to do things, but usually they discover the wrong way to do things, which causes recurring frustration and limits their ability to go on learning new things. The time and money you invest today in your Photoshop training will reward you in ways that you can't even begin to imagine.
CROPPING. Select the "Crop" tool icon from your Tools bar, then drag it downward diagonally from the upper left corner to the bottom right corner. Release the mouse and then use it to manipulate the image size with the crop "handles." Hit "Enter" or "Return." RESIZING. Go to "Image" in your top menu, then choose "Image Size." Enter the dimensions you need and hit OK. (You can radically change the outer shape of the image by un clicking "Constrain Proportions" at the bottom of the page and entering different dimensions, then clicking OK.)
Unleash the power of the Gradient Editor to customize Photoshop's default gradients. The key to using the Gradient Tool effectively is to be able to master its editing options. Select the Gradient Tool and click on the gradient preview in the options bar to open the Gradient Editor. You'll see a variety of preset gradients displayed, from the default Foreground to Background gradient to the more complex Chrome gradient. All these preset gradients can be edited to create new gradients. You'll notice that some gradients have more colour 'stops' than others; the Foreground to Background gradient has two colour stops - black and white - while the Spectrum gradient has seven colour stops.
Photoshop offers blending options unsurpassed in the design industry in your "Layer Style" dialog box, you will first find "General Blending" options, which are often enough for any task. Experiment with the Blend Modes and their opacity to see just how incredibly flexible the normal Blending Options can be.To find your advanced blending options in Photoshop, double-click a layer or click the "Add a Layer Style" icon at the bottom left of your Layers palette, and then choose "Blending Options." Your "Layer Style" dialog box will appear.At the bottom of the Layer Style box, you will find, under "Advanced Blending," something called the "Blend If" tool. What is the Photoshop "Blend If" tool, exactly? Blend If is a "smart" blending tool. You can use it to blend images or create a more transparent image with almost infinite precision. This one tool is so flexible and handy it behooves any serios Photoshop designer to learn to use it, and use it well.
Indeed, Adobe's online push has as much to do with consumers' expectations as encroaching competition from Google, said Peter O'Kelly, an analyst at Burton Group."From a digital-media consumer experience, Adobe really needs, for competitive and customer value reasons, to be the end-to-end products and services supplier," O'Kelly said. "It doesn't portend well if Adobe can't get on top of it." The latest version of Google's Picasa, which is a desktop application, introduces features to post photos on the Web. It also allows people to read Photoshop files, O'Kelly noted. Showdown with Picasa? Chizen said that although hosted Photoshop is meant to be a low-end product, the company intends to ensure that it is of a higher quality than free alternatives. As an online image-editing application, Adobe faces a challenge in providing a good experience for customers, he added.
You can use adjustment layers to do all kinds of experimenting and not one pixel will be damaged. There are ways to do this and they are not time consuming or difficult to learn.Sometimes you may use Photoshop to do some magic pixel manipulation but other times you may just want to make a few small changes. What about the times when you just want to make a minor change to an image's color balance? Maybe you have had occasion to tweak a contrast balance to achieve a print that is more pleasing to look at. You can do this by learning how to take control over the way in which you adjust the image. It's a good thing to be able to try various things in the adjustment department while being able to go back and retrace your steps if you encounter a problem. Smart layering allows you the ability to do these things. - 16039
About the Author:
Did you like this article? Curious about learning photoshop fast? Well now you can by getting this free report...what are you waiting for?
