Introduction to photoshop Basics
Tools
This section attempts to outline some of the most fundamental tools of Photoshop, and aims to give you enough of a base to be able to start drawing straight away. It wont cover every tool otherwise we will be here all year, but as I said before it will cover the fundamental and most useful.
One important thing to note about the tools panel straight off, is that most tool buttons hide multiple tools underneath them. On such buttons you will notice a small black arrow in the bottom right, to access the hidden menu below simply click and hold the arrow and the menu will pop up.
The image to the left demonstrates such a 'sub-menu', as found on the marquee button. This ability vastly increases the capacity of the tools menu, and can sometimes be overlooked when you are new to the program and searching for a tool.
Marquee tool
The image above shows the position of the marquee tool on the tools panel. The marquee tool button hides within it;
Rectangular marquee
Circular marquee
Single Column marquee
Single row marquee
If you use Photoshop YOU WILL USE THE MARQUEE TOOL . . . period. Its uses are innumerable.
You can use the marquee tool to select areas of artwork to move, delete and modify, as well as using it to create shapes ranging from simple squares to more complex structures.
Photoshop is the king of giving buttons, palates and tools multiple uses as you may have noticed previously, unsurprisingly whilst using tools this trend is continued. Whilst using tools in Photoshop, different functions of that one tool can be performed by holding the shift, alt and ctrl key either individually or in multiples. (note these are shortcuts and the button equivalent can mostly always be found on the options toolbar Windows-Options)
For the purpose of this tutorial I will highlight these variable options for each tool and their function within Photoshop.
So back to the marquee tool . . .
The first marquee tool we will cover is the rectangular marquee. To construct a rectangular selection simply click and drag anywhere on the canvas to create a free form rectangle selection (designated by the ‘ol marching ants).
Marquee Tool Options |
|
(No other selection) |
|
| Shift Key | Perfect square/circle |
| Alt Key | Creates selection using first clicked point as dead centre |
| CTRL Key | Move tool |
| Shift + Alt | Creates perfect square/circle using first point clicked as dead centre |
(Active selection present) |
|
| Shift Key | Adds to current selection |
| Alt Key | Subtracts from current selection |
| CTRL Key | Move tool |
| *Note: For example, to subtract a perfect square from a current selection, first hold the Alt key and click and drag then release the alt key and press and hold the shift key. Any such multiple can be obtained.* | |
Move Tool
This is probably the most fundamental tool in Photoshop, used to move objects around on the canvass. To access this tool at any time simply press its hotkey (V). While working on two different files press and hold ALT while dragging one layer in one file to the other file, this will automatically create a copy of that object in your other files canvass.
The move tool can be used in conjunction with snap settings, grids and rules for precise alignment on your canvass. To adjust snap settings View – Snap, or to select snap options, View – Snap to.
There is not a lot to say about the move tool really, but it will become more of an intuitive tool as you use Photoshop increasingly.
Crop Tool
If you are in the least familiar with any photo editing software or graphical programs, chances are you are familiar with the crop tool. If you are not familiar with it then basically it allows you to remove unwanted areas from your image, almost like taking scissors to a real photo, the crop tool allows you to snip edges off of your image and discard them.
An alternative way to look at the crop tool is it allows you to select the ‘Active’ region of your picture (i.e. the face of a subject that is in the right hand side of the photo) and select that face, then on applying the crop (by hitting return) all other material around the edge will be discarded, instantly making the face the main subject in the photo.
To use the crop tool you simply click and drag, much like the marquee tool, also in similarity to the marquee tool by holding the SHIFT button whilst dragging it constrains the selection to a perfect square. By holding the ALT button down whilst dragging it references the point of first click as the centre of the selection, and therefore the selection is made around that point.
Another, often unrealised, potential of the crop tool is to EXPAND your canvass area. For instance, make a selection that is the total size allowed, i.e. the size of the canvass currently. Then, release the mouse button. Now that the selection box is active, you can drag the edges outside of the canvass area. On application of the crop, the canvass with then be expanded to match the size of the selection box.
Also note the options available in the Options toolbar, this allows you to assign proportions to your crop, before dragging your selection.
Brush/Pencil
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, I give you the brush tool/pencil tool. Now dependant on what you will use Photoshop for this may be the tool responsible for the transition of your artistic genius from your mouse to your work canvass. In this brief introduction I will not even scratch the surface of its possibilities but instead aim to show you where the respective controls are etc, just to allow you to start playing with it yourselves.
So the first thing to notice is that the one button plays home to both the BRUSH tool and the PENCIL tool. Like others simply click the small arrow in the bottom right of the button to access both options.
As soon as you select either of the tools, notice the options available on the Options toolbar. This is where you will select your brush/pencil options from; i.e. configure the size, type.
The above image shows the various options available on the left hand side of the Options toolbar.
A- You can ignore this for now, but it is where you can store/save brush presets you have created previously; since you are new to Photoshop though, the chances are that you will not be saving complex presets at the moment.
B- This is where you select your brush ‘tip’ or ‘shape’ from. By clicking the little arrow you will be presented with a selection of types that you can pick. You should also note the size slider, and hardness slider, which can be adjusted to vary the size of the brush tip and the hardness of the edge of the tip also. *Note – This box can be brought up at any point by simply right clicking on the canvass when the brush tool is active.
C This is where you can select the mode in which you are brushing in. This is slightly advanced however for the purpose of this tutorial
D This option allows you to alter the opacity at which you are brushing. It is invaluable if you are doing complex brush pieces, and is comparable to being able to create ‘Lighter’ brush strokes when used in conjunction with the FLOW option (see E)
E The flow option, when decreased it lowers the flow of colour from the brush, as stated above, when used in conjunction with the OPACITY function it allows you to modify the weight of your brush strokes.
F Airbrush option basically allows you to turn your brush into an airbrush, so by holding down the mouse button for prolonged periods of time the paint is applied in increasing amounts.
So those were the options available for the brush/pencil. On the left hand side of the Options toolbar, you will also notice than on the right hand side of the toolbar there is a tab with “Brushes” written on it. This is where you can further adjust your brush’s appearance by altering the settings contained within it. I wont go into these now as that’s a whole tut on its own (and a long one at that), but you can get some amazing effects by playing with these. And once you have a good one then you can always save it as a preset ;) (See option A).
Text Tool
To wrap up the brief introduction to some of the most important tools in Photoshop we will finish with the text tools. As to be fair, most people want to add text to their image, even if it is to just tag their work etc.
First thing to notice, again, is the presence of the little black arrow, indicating the presence of multiple options for the button. On opening of the various options you will be presented with the following; Horizontal Type Tool, Vertical Type Tool, Horizontal Type Mask Tool, Vertical Type Mask Tool. The first two are kind of self explanatory, i.e. whether you want to be typing on a vertical or horizontal axis, the second tool can pretty much be ignored for now as you wont have a great deal of use for them at this stage.
So on selecting the text tool, again notice the Options tool bar, and the settings it provides you with. You can change the Font here, the font type (italic, bold etc) and the font size as well. After the font size option you are provided with the anti-aliasing options for the font, you can just play with this setting to see which gives you the clearest result, dependant on the font you are using at the time.
With all your settings correct you can then start to add the text. This can be done in two different ways, you can simply left click where you want your text (remembering it can always be moved later with the move tool :P) and then start typing, or alternatively you can click and drag a box in which the text will be placed, this is helpful when you have both left and right constraints on where you want the text to go. After the text is placed it can be set by clicking simply hitting the enter key (not return). Remember that text can always be modified after it has been typed and set be simply clicking on your text again with the text tool (making sure you are on the right layer) or double clicking the layer icon with the text tool selected.
So that wraps up the brief introduction to a few of the tools, click on the linvk below to view the brief introduction into Layers.