An Introduction to Photoshop
This course introduces you to the premier Windows (and Macintosh) tool for 'high end' raster image manipulation - Adobe Photoshop - part of the Adobe Creative Suite. It assumes no prior knowledge of digital image manipulation.
Adobe Photoshop comes in a number of versions, but is most commonly purchased as part of the Creative Suite rather than a stand alone product.
We show you how to design and build a comprehensive range of illustrations, starting with straightforward photographs and scanned material, leading to more complex multi-layer 'publications'. You will learn to download images from a digital camera, accept material from professional photographers and graphic artists, scan prints of your own 35mm photographs and manipulate images of these using Photoshop. We will add and manipulate text, enhancing images by applying filters and illustrate the use of different printing techniques. One of the prime aims is to prepare material suitable for inclusion in desktop publishing software such as Adobe's InDesign software.
At the end of the course, we will work with you build at least one illustration which is focussed on your own particular interests.
Sample some course material
Click here to play one of the instructional movies from the course. We invert a selection made by the magic wand tool. If the movie works well on your computer, then your equipment is suitable for the distance learning version of this course at a considerable discount $AUD75.00 vs. $AUD550.00 for face to face training. We provide details of costing later in this article.
Samples of student work
Click here to view a Photoshop image created by one of our students. Some further examples can be seen in the figures below.
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| Point of display material for a hotel chain - B Haynes. |
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| Wetlands along the River Nile - N Kelly. |
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| Banner Advertisement for Bianco - Stephanie Gaskell |
Cost of courses
- Online learning via broadband
The most popular option is to take a course as an online learning student. Our online broadband learning courses features rapid enrolment, many multi media instructional movies, online forums, multi-choice reviews, questionnaires, submission of assignments, email support etc. This is an enhanced learning experience at an affordable price. Click one of the broadband online learning sites above and click on the blue information button to sample a course. Visit http://www.softwaretutor.net now and enrol. The course cost is $AUD75.00 for >30 hours of high quality training.You can pay by PayPal which accepts direct deposit and credit cards and start immediately or send us an email requesting an enrolment. We will enrol you and post out an invoice. Payment can then be made by direct deposit. Our bank details will be on the invoice. We do offer reduced rates for students from the same organisation.
One-on-one training (Adelaide or Canberra - in our offices or yours).
We can provide face-to face training. Each course takes one day and costs $AUD550.00. We do require some information about what it is that you or your organisation hopes to achieve by training so that we can prepare appropriate materials in advance of the course.Each participant in one-on-one full day courses is automatically enrolled at no extra cost in the broadband learning version of the matching course (at either softwaretutor.net or landscapetutor.net). This would normally cost an additional $75.00 per person. In this way, students get a double benefit - personal tuition and the ability to access any of the written instructional materials online, replay any of the demonstration movies, download sample files, log questions, take quizzes and submit assignments for review.
We continue our drive to reduce our carbon emissions by using digital delivery of course materials. If you do need to a paper print of part of the course notes (say to print the steps in an operation), we encourage you to print just the web page you are currently viewing rather than the whole module. This can usually be done through the preview option in the print facility of the browser you are using, and selecting print the current page. Another option is to press the Shift PrntSc key combination which puts a copy of what you are viewing onto the Windows clipboard. Then start your word processor Microsoft Word or WordPad (available in everyone's computer) and paste the clipboard contents into the page and print from Word or WordPad.
About our courses & methodology
Experience over many years has taught us that adults learn best by progressing through a course of study at their own pace and at times that suit them. Wherever possible, they like to learn by working on their own materials, rather than work through long unrelated practice exercises. Our courses are specifically designed so that this can occur. We introduce a topic, provide a movie showing you how to do the task with your software and then give detailed step-by-step instructions for you to follow.
Locations & times - face to face group training
Courses may be taken at our training facility in the University of Adealide Commerce Precinct at Thebarton in Adelaide, South Australia, in Canberra in your offices or in hired facilities. If a course is taken 'in-house' in our offices at Thebarton, it normally runs for a whole day with a break for lunch. Starting time is 9.15 am and finish time around 4.15 - 4.30 pm.We provide tea & coffee and a light lunch.
Credit card payment
We use PayPal, an organization which takes all credit cards using a secure Internet facility. PayPal is a partner within the eBay system. We have chosen PayPal because it is independent of us, allows us to hold money in trust until we have delivered the course. Paypal is now operational in Australia. We will provide a tax invoice on receipt of payment in addition to the PayPal receipt if requested.
When you have finished this course
Please remember to build on your knowledge of Illustrator after you complete this course. We strongly recommend that Illustrator be used quite intensively after these early stages of learning. You will lose a lot if you let new-found skills ‘wither on the vine’. Practice is the key to learning sophisticated software. The key to success is to complete your first real project as soon as possible.
Prerequisites
An understanding of basic computer operation including the ability to create, save and locate files. We would expect that you have used a computer with the Windows or Macintosh operating system for some time and perhaps developed reasonable facility with a word processor such as Microsoft Word.
What we will cover:
The table below provides an overview of the course content.
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Title |
Description |
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The Photoshop Process |
Opening some image files in Photoshop. Applying artistic filters to produce some unique artwork which is suitable for inclusion in other documents such as those produced by Adobe PageMaker/InDesign. Applying a filter to one of your own images. |
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Preliminaries |
Installing PhotoShop. Checking the version number of Photoshop. Setting preferences for important tools - grid, display, cursors, measuring units, tool tips etc. True type, OpenType and Postscript fonts. Creating a suitable folder structure for your work. |
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Interface 1 |
Creating a poster for an exhibition of wildflower paintings. Exploring the Photoshop interface. Setting up guides. Using the marquee tool, the move tool, the text tool, deleting a layer, setting the foreground colour, transforming text and rotating text. The value of an image library. Images from professional photographers. Creating a new image file. The difference between canvas size and image size. The arrangement of the Photoshop screen - drop down menus, status bar, palettes and toolbars etc. Common tools in the toolbox. Activating and selecting tools. Using the marquee tool, cropping images for better composition, the options palette - feathering an image onto a new layer. |
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Interface 2 |
Using the various options in the Lasso tool - the magnetic option. The move tool. The magic wand tool; using the magic wand in concert with the invert selection option. The airbrush tool. Using the colour picker to set foreground colour. The paintbrush, erase, pencil, rubber stamp (copy), smudge, blur, sharpen & dodge tools. Bringing it all together - creating an image for the cover of a flyer. Using the text tool, selecting a font, positioning text using layers, colouring a hand written font, applying a drop shadow effect to text. |
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Using Fonts |
Which font to use? Choosing the correct font for meaning. Installing new fonts in the Photoshop environment. Serif and sans serif fonts. TrueType, PostScript and OpenType fonts. Purchasing fonts from others. Downloading and unpacking fonts. |
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Levels |
Making adjustments to image quality. Using Auto levels, letting Photoshop make a 'best effort' attempt at adjusting colour balance in an image. the levels command; the curves command. |
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About Image Files |
An overview of the types of files that you are likely to encounter using Photoshop - RAW, JPEG, BMP, PCX, PNG, WMF, PSD etc. Defining at the outset what the Photoshop image will be used for - size, colour space, resolution, destination application. Reducing the file size of a JPEG file. Using the TIFF format - using it wherever possible when storing 'master' copies of images. Inserting a Photoshop image into an InDesign document. Databases for image libraries. |
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From Digital Camera to Computer |
Installing camera software. Bringing images from your digital camera into the Photoshop environment. Browsing through collections of photos. Filing images in a logical way. A discussion of JPEG and GIF image types. Saving files with different JPEG compression values. Using the database features of Excel to create an image library. |
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Filters |
Selecting filters and applying them to various Photoshop images. |
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From Scanner to computer |
Getting the most from your scanner and bringing those images into Photoshop for subsequent editing. |
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Layers |
What is a layer? Stacking layers, the special properties of the background layer. Examining an image file which uses multiple layers. Editing objects on different layers. Moving layers, merging layers, flattening a layer. Flipping layers. The value of an adjustment layer. Making a logo suitable for a web site. |
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Making a jigsaw puzzle - A Photoshop project |
Using Photoshop to make a jigsaw puzzle. Cutting material from one layer to another. Sophisticated use of the marquee tool. Inverting selections. Setting a watermark, blending layers, GIF files - country flags. Applying a vignette to an image. |
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PowerPoint Projects |
Using Photoshop to create original artwork. Developing a logo; creating an image suitable as a background for a PowerPoint presentation. |
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Understanding colour |
More about colour. Understanding the use of colour on your computer screen. Various colour models - RGB, CYMK and Lab. Setting up the PhotoShop environment. Gaining an understanding of how humans perceive colour and how Photoshop models our impressions of colour. |
Locations
Courses may be taken at Thebarton in Adelaide, South Australia, in Canberra in hired facilities, or by distance learning or broadband learning. If a course is taken 'in-house' at Thebarton, it normally runs for a whole day with a break for lunch. Starting time is 9.15 am and finish time around 4.15 - 4.30 pm.