Hello followers, welcome to this video! Let's get a general and complete
overview on everything you need to know to start using Adobe Photoshop CC
Release 2019!
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dedicated to Photoshop CC!
Adobe Photoshop is a professional digital imaging software product, used to
realize photo corrections and manipulations; vector graphics and titles;
and artistic drawings and creations for advertisements and illustrations.
This product is available just under a subscription plan.
When opening Photoshop, the Home Screen page shows up, divided in
several sections from the left. Under Home, you can take a quick tour if
you start Photoshop for the first times and, under Recent, you get all your
documents and photos edited with Photoshop. Inside Learn, you find all the
latest news, tips and tutorials from Adobe. Under LR Photos all the photos
taken from your Lightroom collections.
In addition, use Create new... to start with a new Photoshop document, or
Open... to open and start from an existing project or photo.
When creating a new document, the New Document dialog box shows up to pick
the right template to use. On top, under Recent or Saved, you can find all
your recent or saved custom templates; otherwise you can choose any section
from Photo to Film & Video to start from any ready template available. Once
the template is chosen, use the Preset Details panel to customize the
document options, such as its Width and Height, its Orientation,
Resolution, Color Mode and other properties.
Once you click on Create, the new document shows up as a single empty page
with a white solid background. You can also open other projects or photos
by going to File and then to Open. All documents and photos are listed
under tabs on top, complete with their own name.
The main workspace is divided in several parts. On the left you have the
Tools bar, collecting all the tools and features inside several buttons,
from top to bottom. Some of these show a white corner and group multiple
tools inside. In this case, just right-click on these to open the full list
of the tools inside.
On top you have the Menu and also the Options bar, showing all the
properties for the current object or tool selected. It also includes the
Home button, used to open the Home Screen page seen before. You can come
back to the main Photoshop interface from here by clicking on its icon.
On the right you have several panels to manage your corrections and
modifications. In case any window is missing, you can reopen it by going to
the Window tab.
The rest of the workspace is dedicated to the main preview, where you check
and edit your document in progress. You can also zoom in and out around
your pointer with your mouse wheel while holding down the ALT key, and pan
through the document by holding down the Space bar key and clicking and
dragging on it.
Let's understand how Photoshop works. When you create a new project with a
chosen template and size, or you simply open an existing photo, you always
work within a Photoshop document, which is the page shown on the main
preview. This document can collect several independent objects called
layers, which can be images, vector shapes, text and adjustments, all shown
under the Layers window on the right. At first you have just a single
layer, which represents the white background in case you start with a new
document; or the image itself, if you open a photo. In case any layer is
locked and in italic, just double-click on it to start editing it.
You can adjust the document size anytime by enabling the Crop Tool and
editing the grid appearing on the document. Use its nodes to scale and size
the document and click and drag on the grid to move it. You can also
rotate it by clicking and dragging from outside. Any checkerboard area you
see is just an extra empty space created, completely transparent and
without any background.
Inside the Options bar above, use Cancel to undo the tool, and Commit to
apply it.
Now, let's see how to work with photos and pictures.
To import an image inside your document, just open it on the preview,
enable the Rectangular Marquee Tool and click and drag on the image to
select it. After this, go to Edit, Cut, and then switch to the document
where the image must be imported. At this point, go to Edit and then to
Paste. The image is added as a new layer and shown under the Layers window.
Images, photos and backgrounds are also called pixel layers, which are
rendered objects with defined pixels.
To start editing, just select one from the Layers window, and enable the
interested Tool from the Tools bar. Use the Brush or the Pencil Tool to
brush freehand on the picture. From the Options bar above adjust the brush
size, hardness and style. Use Mode to set the way to apply your brush and
Opacity to adjust its transparency level. To choose the brush color, you
can use the Color window on the right, or pick the color directly from the
screen by holding down the ALT key.
Use the Healing Brush and the Clone Stamp Tools to correct and cover parts
of the image by using its same pixels as reference.
First of all, hold down the ALT key and click on the image to fix a
reference point. When you brush on the picture, you paste a copy of the
pixels that are under the reference in that moment, represented as a small
cross. If you use Clone Stamp, you paste the exact pixels of the picture;
if you enable Healing Brush, you paste the pixels by saving the highlights
and the shadows of the original part you brush on. Always use the Options
bar to adjust and set any brush property.
Use Spot Healing Brush to apply Healing Brush corrections on limited
portions without defining any reference.
Other tools can apply advanced corrections and effects by brushing on the
picture. Use the Blur Tool to adjust blurriness; the Sharpen Tool to sharpen
the details of the picture; the Smudge Tool to drag and slide its pixels;
the Dodge and the Burn Tool to increase or decrease the exposure level.
In this case, use Range on the Options bar to set where to edit the
exposure, such as the image Highlights, Midtones or Shadows.
Use the Sponge Tool to decrease or increase the color intensity, according
to what you choose on top, between Desaturate and Saturate.
You can also delete pixels from the picture by brushing with the Eraser
tool, setting brush size, feather and hardness on the Options bar.
If you make any mistake, use CTRL (or CMD) and Z to undo your last actions in
order. You can open the History window to get the list of all your actions
to undo or redo these.
Inside Photoshop you can also realize custom drawings and illustrations
by using vector shapes. In respect to images, these are not rendered in the
pixels, so they do not lose quality and resolution when you size or edit
these, until they are converted into pixel layers.
You can use any Shape Tool to draw vectors, such as polygons, lines or
custom regular shapes by clicking and dragging on the workspace. From the
Options bar above, adjust the Fill color and the Stroke color, thickness
and style.
Besides these kinds of vectors, you can also create pieces of text called
Type layers. Just enable the Type Tool and click and drag on the preview to
create a text box, which delimits the text distribution. After this, type
inside it, horizontally or vertically, depending on the kind of Type Tool
you have chosen. Then use the Options bar above or the Character window to
adjust the font family, size, style, distribution and color. All your
changes are applied just on the piece of text you have selected.
To undo or apply text, just use Cancel or Commit on the Options bar.
Vector shapes and text can be rendered into pixel layers in order to apply
brushes and corrections on these. On the Layers window, right-click on the
vector or text interested and go to Rasterize Layer. Consider that this
action is permanent, so you can't come back to the original vectors.
You can apply basic editing to any pixel or vector layer selected from
the Layers window by going to Edit, Transform. At this point, click and
drag the object to move it and use its nodes to scale, rotate, skew or
distort it. In case you use Scale, hold down the Shift key to scale freely.
In case you rotate, enable the anchor point above to change the reference
point as you rotate.
Use the Options bar to adjust the object properties, such as its position
with X and Y, its size in Width (W) and Height (H), saving the aspect ratio
with the link button, its inclination and its skew degrees. Use Cancel or
Commit to undo or apply your modifications.
You can also right-click on any layer and go to Blending Options... to add
transparency, contours and special effects such as shadow or glow outside
or inside the layer. These are also shown within the Layers window.
The Layers window is also used to manage the layers and arrange their
visibility order in case they overlap. For example, if a text layer is
placed below another object, this gets completely covered by it. If you
click and slide the text above the object in order, this appears in front
of it.
In addition, you can use the eye button to hide or show a layer, or the
Lock buttons above to block several modifications on the selected layer
properties.
To remove and delete an object, just click on it to select it and use the
bin button at the bottom.
Inside Photoshop you also have the Selection Tools. These are used to take
just a limited portion from a selected layer from the Layers window, in
order to cut, copy, paste or brush just on such region.
There are different kinds of selection tools. Use the Marquee Tools to
create a rectangular or an elliptical selection area by clicking and
dragging on the workspace. Use the Lasso or the Polygonal Lasso to draw the
selection area freehand or polygonal, and choose the Magnetic Lasso to
select the region by following the color contours and contrasts.
Enable the Quick Selection Tool to brush and select portions sharing the
same color gradients. You can also use the Horizontal and the Vertical Type
Mask Tools to select parts by following a typed text.
To deselect all, just use CTRL (or CMD) and D.
Inside Photoshop you also have the adjustment layers, used to apply
advanced corrections on any kind of layer inside your document.
From the Adjustments window, click on one kind of correction to add an
adjustment layer inside the Layers window, correcting brightness, contrast,
saturation, threshold and other properties on all the layers placed below
the adjustment layer in order. This layer is made by two parts: its
properties on the left, and its Layer Mask on the right.
Double-click on the properties to open the Properties window and tune the
corrections applied by such layer while checking the Preview.
Click on Masks above to start editing the Layer Mask. This sets all the
regions where the adjustment must be applied, represented under a white
color over a black background. By default, a new adjustment layer is
applied on the whole workspace, showing a Layer Mask completely white. But
in case you create an adjustment layer while having any selected region,
only this part will be affected, as it is shown on the Layer Mask.
The Layer Mask can be edited just like a picture: you can extend its white
region by using the Brush Tool, or remove any part by using the Eraser Tool.
Let's see how to save and export your Photoshop document! Select the
document interested and then go to File, Save As.... And choose
where to save it and its File name. Under Save as type, set its file format,
such as .psd to save the Photoshop document as it is, with all its layers,
adjustments and options; .pdf to render and print your document; and .jpg
or .png to save the document as a picture, with all vectors converted into
pixels. A .png format also saves any transparent region, whereas a .jpg
format allows to balance the picture quality with its overall file size.
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