Archive for July, 2009

Introduction

Photoshop is a graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Systems. It is used for editing and the manipulation of images. Through the use of a variety of tools, it provides different functions and then saves the images in the particular format desired. Right now, it is the most commonly used tool for graphic designing, media editing and animation and is a choice product for both amateurs and professionals. The various tools that are provided by Photoshop are;

Selection tools

Lasso tool

The Lasso tool is essentially used for freehand selection of certain parts of images according to need. It is done by manually moving the mouse pointer over the image parts to be selected and, as you move on, some points that are already visited get fastened making the selection valid. To delete the fastened points, push down the delete key until the points you desired get unfastened.

Polygonal lasso tool

This tool is used for selection of images both by freehand and also along straight edges. In order to create a straight segment, you must position the pointer in the spot where you want the first segment to finish, and click. Click continuously to set different endpoints for following segments. In the instance that you may want to draw a different freehand segment, you should hold down the ALT button and drag the mouse. When the segments are finished you can release both buttons. After this process unfastening and fastening different points remains the same.

Magnetic lasso tool

The main purpose for the magnetic lasso tool is to select objects quickly even though they have complex edges that are placed against high-contrast backgrounds. Just keep on moving the pointer along the edge that you want to trace. The part of the selection border that was most recently used will remain active. When you move the pointer the segment will instantly stop to the strongest edge of the picture depending upon the settings used in the options bar. From time to time the magnetic lasso tool will also add different fastening points to the border in order to connect earlier segments used.

Marquee tools

There are different types of marquee tools. These are;
> The rectangle marquee ( ) which is used to make a rectangular selection.
> The rounded rectangle marquee ( ) which is used to select a rounded rectangle which looks like a Web-page button.
> The elliptical marquee ( ) which is used to make an elliptical selection
> The single row ( ) or single column ( ) marquee which is used to define the border as a 1-pixel-wide row or column.

With the rectangle, rounded rectangle, or elliptical marquee, drag over the area you want to select. Hold down Shift as you drag to constrain the marquee to a square or circle. To drag a marquee from its center, hold down Alt after you begin dragging. With the single row or single column marquee, click close to the area you want to select, and then drag the marquee to the exact location.

Magic wand tool

The magic wand tool is a pretty powerful feature that allows you to select consistently colored areas without having to slowly trace the precise outline. You can instantly specify the color range for every selection you make with the magic wand. You can choose whether you want to add a new selection, add to an existing choice, subtract or select an intersected area. Depending upon the choice you make, the cursor will change. The key here is to select only areas that are adjacent and with the same colors and select Contiguous. If you don’t, all the pixels in the picture with the same colors will be automatically selected.

Crop tool

Cropping is the process of selecting and removing a portion of an image to create focus or strengthen its composition. You can crop an image by either hiding it or deleting it.

Hiding conceals the cropped area outside of the rectangular selection. The cropped area is still in the image file and can be made visible by moving the layer with the move tool. You can use this feature when creating animations with elements that move from off-screen into the live image area.

Well, this may not be the end but it is still a good beginning for you when trying out Photoshop as a beginner. At least it is better than getting frustrated and irritated while trying to do everything on your own and ending up with no results.

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