Lynda.com Photoshop Lesson Summaries

Lynda.com Summaries

Photoshop Tutorial Summaries

Ch. 1: Opening an Image

To open an image from the Windows Desktop, you first need to find the folder in which the file is located. By default, file extensions are hidden on Windows. For accessibility, click on the “View” tab at the top of the folder, and then select the checkbox titled “File name extensions” to show the file’s extension. The four major file types we will be using in Photoshop are: JPEG (.jpeg), PNG (.png), PSD (.psd), and TIFF (.tiff). You will know when Photoshop is opened after you have double-clicked the image and the initials PS are in the top left corner, a menu bar is at the top of the screen, and a vertical toolbox and panels are to either side. In the case that the photo is on the screen but the Photoshop client does not surround it: right-click the file, choose “Open With,” select “Choose another app” at the bottom of the submenu, and select Photoshop. If you have recently used an image in Photoshop, you can quickly open it by clicking its thumbnail. In Photoshop, you can also open a file by clicking the open button, going to the File menu and choosing the Open command, or by using the keyboard shortcut (Control + O). Make sure that the file filter is set on “All Formats.”

Ch. 2: Getting Around

To zoom in on your image, go to “View” > “Zoom In” (or Control + +), to Zoom out, go to “View” > “Zoom Out” (or Control + -). To scroll up, go up on the scroll wheel, to scroll down, go down on the scroll wheel, to go left and right, hold Control and use the scroll wheel. You can also drag the image by holding spacebar and selecting the hand tool and dragging. To switch between images, press Control + Tab.

Ch. 3: Image Size and Resolution

Digital images are made of pixels. A pixel is a single dot of color. The more pixels an image has, the better the quality and bigger the size. The Resolution value only matters on print, not on screen. Sometimes you have to upsample to provide better results for printed images. The more pixels shown on an image, the less quality it has.