Photoshop: An Introduction Part 2 - Basics

This tutorial is aimed at users who just begun using Photoshop. It covers the very basics of the program, and is the second out of a series of beginner tutorials. It covers the following topics: layers, blending modes, adjustment & fill layers, using the text tool, saving files and shortcuts.

Introducing Layers

Layers lets the user edit images in a non-destructive way. It's one of the most basic and important functions in Photoshop. But what is a layer exactly? It's very simple. A layer is an image put above another image. You can create as many layers as you want, put them in groups to organize them, alter opacity and add blending modes.

The example below shows three layers. Layer 1 is in this case the background, layer 2 is the image above it, and layer 3 is the image above layer 2.

This is how it looks in the Layers palette with the layers aligned in order:

The Layers palette also contains many different options and effects that you can apply to your layers. If you right-click a selected layer, more options will appear such as layer properties and flatten image. Below is a short explanation of the various options.

  • Blending Modes - Changes the way layers interact with each other.
  • Opacity - Changes the opacity of a selected layer. 100% means it's oblique.
  • Fill - Changes the fill of a selected layer. 100% means it's oblique.
  • Lock - Lock a layer's transparent pixels, image pixels, position or lock all of it.
  • Hide / Reveal Icon - Hides / reveals a selected layer.
  • Delete Layer - Deletes a selected layer.
  • New Layer - Creates a new layer.
  • New Group -Creates a new group. You can place several layers inside them to keep them organized.
  • New Fill / Adjustment Layer - Adds an adjustment layer. Non-destructive color-editing of a layer.
  • Add Layer Mask - Non-destructive erasing of a selected layer.
  • Add Layer Style - Adds a layer style to a selected layer.
  • Link Layers - Links two or more layers.

How to Use Blending Modes

The ability of being able to use blending modes is one of the greatest things in Photoshop. If you'd like to see a list of what each of the modes does, please take a look at this tutorial.

In order to reveal what blending modes can do, I will use the following two photos.

The image below this paragraph is the result of setting layer 2 to Hard Light via the Layers palette.

What is a Filter?

Filters are the different effects you can apply to your image. In order to acess the filters, go to the Menu Bar - Filter and view the drop-down list of available filters. Used together with blending modes, filters can be very useful.

As of Adobe Photoshop CS3, you can also apply Smart Filters to your image. This lets you add any amount of filters without affecting the original image. In other words, you can edit or remove any filter you previously applied. To apply a Smart Filter, select your image and go Filter - Convert for Smart Filters.

If you'd like more filters than the default ones, it's possible to download new ones. In order to add new filters, they need to be placed in your Plug-Ins directory: C:\Program\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Plug-Ins.

Adjustment & Fill Layers

Adjustment and Fill Layers applies color and tonal adjustments to an image without altering the original image. Just like with Smart Filters, you can edit or remove adjustments at any time.

In order to apply an Adjustment or Fill Layer, click on the icon located on the Layers palette. You can also access the options via Layer - New Fill / Adjustment Layer (the options are seperate).

Typing with the Text Tool

Adding text is another one of those very basic things that everyone should know. If you followed part 1 of this tutorial, you should know that the Text Tool can be accessed through the toolbox. Adding text is done by simply clicking on the canvas. The image below demonstrates some of the effects that can be accessed through the Character palette. Besides the Character palette, you can also alter text via the Paragraph palette. Both windows can be opened by going to Menu Bar - Window.

Saving Files

When saving your files, you can choose between the basic Save as or the Save for Web. When choosing Save as a basic OS dialog will pop up with basic save options. After clicking OK, another box will appear that lets you customize your image. Below is the saving options for a JPG file.

  • Quality - Ranges from 0 to 12. 0 being the lower, 12 the highest.
  • Baseline (Standard) - Makes the image display in line-by-line passes.
  • Baseline Optimized - Standard format with Huffman encoding.
  • Progressive - Makes the image display in multiple passes.

When using the option Save for Web, a lot more options becomes available. You can preview the original and the optimized image at the same time, alter colors, dithering, slice your image and more. A example of the Save for Web dialog can be viewed here.

Shortcuts

Shortcuts are valueable as they speed up your workflow. This is a short list of the most basic shortcuts. If you want to view further shortcuts, please take a look at this tutorial.
  • Ctrl + O - to Open.
  • Ctrl + S - to Save.
  • Ctrl + Z - to undo/redo.
  • Ctrl + Alt + Z - to undo several times.
  • Ctrl + W - closes the window.
  • Ctrl + Alt + W - closes all windows.
  • Ctrl + Q - closes Photoshop.
  • Ctrl + E - merges the selected layer into the layer below.
  • Ctrl + Tab - switches between open document windows.
  • V - to choose the Move tool.
  • M - to choose the Marquee tools.
  • L - to choose the Lasso tools.
  • W - to choose the Quick Selection / Magic Wand tools.
  • C - to choose the Crop tool.
  • K - to choose the Slice / Slice Select tools.
  • J - to choose the Spot Healing Brush / Healing Brush / Patch / Red Eye tools.
  • B - to choose the Brush / Pencil / Color Replacement tools.
  • S - to choose the Clone Stamp / Pattern Stamp tools.
  • Y - to choose the History Brush / Art History Brush tools.
  • E - to choose the Eraser / Background Eraser / Magic Eraser tools.
  • G - to choose the Gradient / Paint Bucket tools.
  • R - to choose the Blur / Sharpen / Smudge tools.
  • O - to choose the Dodge / Burn / Sponge tools.
  • P - to choose the Pen / Freeform Pen tools.
  • T - to choose the Type tools.
  • A - to choose the Path Selection / Direct Selection tools.
  • U - to choose the Shape tools.
  • N - to choose the Notes / Audio Annotation tools.
  • I - to choose the Eyedropper / Color Sampler / Ruler / Count tools.
  • H - to choose the Hand tool.
  • Z - to choose the Zoom tool.
  • X - to toggle foreground / background colors.
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