Adobe Photoshop CS 6

Topics: • Masks• Channels• PenTool • VectorGraphics• SmartObjects

Level III

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Masks

Tip:InCS6,layerscannowbeclippedtogroups,whichallowdifferentvariationsofmaskingcapabilities.Usethiswithwhenusinggrouplayerstylesforenhancingyourproject.

PhotoshopCS6Level3

Chapter 6

Masks

InPhotoshop,youcanmaketemporarymasks,calledquickmasks,oryoucancreatepermanentmasksandstorethemasspecialgrayscalechannelscalledalphachannels.Photoshopmasksisolateandprotectpartsofanimage,justasmaskingtapeprotectswindowpanesortrimfrompaintwhenahouseispainted.Whenyoucreateamaskbasedonaselection,theareayouhaven’tselectedismasked,orprotectedfromediting.

Puppet Warp

ThePuppetWarpfeaturegivesyouflexibilityinmanipulatinganimage.Youcanrepositionareas,suchashairoranarm,justasyoumightpullthestringsonapuppet.Youplacepinswhereyouwanttocontrolmovement.

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PhotoshopCS6Level3

Channels

Justasdifferentinformationinanimageisstoredondifferentlayers,channelsalsoletyouaccessspecifickindsofinformation.Alphachannelsstoreselectionsasgrayscaleimages.Colorinformationchannelsstoreinformationabouteachcolorinanimage;forexample,anRGBimageautomaticallyhasred,green,blue,andcompositechannels.

Red

Intheredchannel,colorinformationwithahighredcontentvalueshowsupaswhite.Thehelmet,onesleeve,andhalfofthesignappearaswhiteandlightgraytones.Skintonesmostlyfallintheredchannel.

Green

Thisimagedoesn’thavemuchtoitthatisonlygreen.Thewhitepartswhichcontainahighamountofallthreecolorsshowaswhite,butnothingelsedoes.

Blue

Inthebluechannel,thebiker’ssuit,thesideofthehelmet,andthebackofthesignshowupaswhiteandlightgraybecausethesearethepartsoftheimagewiththemostblue.

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PhotoshopCS6Level3

Chapter 7

Clipping Mask from type

Aclippingmaskisanobjectorgroupofobjectswhoseshapemasksotherartworksothatonlyareasthatliewithintheclippingmaskarevisible.Ineffect,youareclippingtheartworktoconformtotheshapeoftheobject(ormask).InPhotoshop,youcancreateaclippingmaskfromshapesorletters.

Type on a path

InPhotoshop,youcancreatetypethatfollowsalongapathyoucreatewithapenorshapetool.Thedirectionthetypeflowsdependsontheorderinwhichanchorpointswereaddedtothepath.WhenyouusetheHorizontalTypetooltoaddtexttoapath,thelettersareperpendiculartothebaselineofthepath.Ifyouchangethelocationorshapeofthepath,thetypemoveswithit.

When will the wristwatch strap shop shut?

Designing Paragraphs of type

Manydesignscallforfullparagraphsoftext.YoucandesigncompleteparagraphsoftypeinPhotoshop;youcanevenapplyparagraphstyles.Youdon’thavetoswitchtoadedicatedpagelayoutprogramforsophisticatedparagraphtypecontrols

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PhotoshopCS6Level3

Chapter 8

Vector Graphics

Photoshopcanbeusedtoworkwitheitherbitmapimagesorvectorgraphics.Bitmapimages,technicallycalledrasterimages,arebasedonagridofdotsknownaspixels.Eachpixelisassignedaspecificlocationandcolorvalue.Inworkingwithbitmapimages,youeditgroupsofpixelsratherthanobjectsorshapes.

Vectorgraphicsaremadeupoflinesandcurvesdefinedbymathematicalobjectscalledvectors.Thesegraphicsretaintheircrispnesswhethertheyaremoved,resizedorhavetheircolorchanged.Vectorgraphicsareappropriateforillustrations,type,andgraphicssuchaslogosthatmaybescaledtodifferentsizes.

Pen Tool

InPhotoshop,theoutlineofavectorshapeisapath.ApathisacurvedorstraightlinesegmentyoudrawusingthePentool,FreeformPentool,orashapetool.ThePentooldrawspathswiththegreatestprecision;shapetoolsdrawrectangles,ellipses,andothershapepaths;theFreeformPentooldrawspathsasifyouweredrawingwithapencilonpaper.

Custom Shapes

Anotherwaytouseshapesinyourartworkistodrawacustomshapeorpresetshape.DoingsoisaseasyasselectingtheCustom

Shapetool,pickingashapefromtheCustomShapePicker,anddraggingintheimagewindow.

Smart Objects

SmartObjectsarelayersthatyoucaneditinPhotoshopnondestructively;thatis,changesyoumaketotheimageremaineditableanddon’taffecttheactualimagepixels,whicharepreserved.Regardlessofhowoftenyouscale,rotate,skew,orotherwisetransformaSmartObject,itretainsitssharp,preciseedges.

Tip:Logosandiconsarecommonlymadeasvectorsfortheirscalabilityandcrispness.

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PhotoshopCS6Level3

Wrap-up

Bytheendofthisworkshop,youshouldbeableto:

• Applyquickmasks

• Storeamaskorselectionasachannel

• Editchannels

• Understandthedifferencebetweenchannelsandlayers

• CreateandedittypeinaPhotoshopdocument

• Workwithtextlayersandparagraphstyles

• Givetextabackgroundusingaclippingmask

• Usethepentooltocreatesharpselections

• Understandtheroleofbitmapandvectorimages

• Buildgraphicsfromshapecomponents

• ImportaSmartobject