Graphics Design

Introduction of Graphics

• Welcome to Photoshop CS5
• Making Photoshop your default image editor
• Installing the DekeKeys keyboard shortcuts
• Remapping Mac OS shortcuts
• Installing the Best Workflow color settings
• The color settings explained
• Loading the CS5 color settings in Bridge

Photoshop basic, Part 1: The Avatar

• The power of Photoshop
• Duplicating a layer
• Liquifying an image
• Adding a layer mask
• Loading an alpha channel
• Selecting with Color Range
• Making a Hue/Saturation layer
• Luminance blending
• Mask density
• Making a knockout layer

Setting Up ‘Shop

• The best way to work
• Setting General preferences
• Changing the pasteboard color
• File handling, performance, and units
• Touring the Photoshop interface
• Creating and saving a workspace
• Changing settings and updating the workspace
• Resetting the preferences

Opening and Organizing

• The amazing Adobe Bridge
• Making a new image
• Opening an image
• Opening and closing multiple images
• Opening a problem image
• Adding file information
• Introducing Adobe Bridge
• A whirlwind tour of Bridge
• Adjusting the interface and thumbnails
• Using the full-screen preview
• Rotating images on their sides
• Assigning star ratings and labels
• Filtering thumbnails in the Contents panel
• Moving, copying, and deleting files
• Creating and assigning keywords
• Searches and collections
• Batch-exporting JPEG files
• Batch-renaming
• String substitution and regular expressions
• Grouping images into stacks
• Comparing images in Review mode
• Playing images in a slideshow
• Customizing and saving the workspace
• Using Mini Bridge in Photoshop CS5

Navigation

• Learning to swim inside an image
• The tabbed-window interface
• Arranging image windows
• Common ways to zoom
• New zoom tricks in Photoshop CS5
• Hidden old-school zoom tricks
• Scrolling and panning images
• Viewing the image at print size
• The Navigator and “bird’s-eye” scrolling
• Nudging the screen from the keyboard
• Scroll wheel tricks
• The Rotate View tool
• Cycling between screen modes
• Using the numerical zoom value

Image Size and Resolution

• Imaging fundamentals
• What is image size?
• The Image Size command
• Selecting an interpolation option
• Upsampling versus “real” pixels
• The penalty of pixels
• Print size and resolution
• Downsampling for print
• Downsampling for email
• Options for upsampling
• Better ways to make a big image

Cropping and Straightening

• Frame wide, crop tight
• Using the Crop tool
• Fixing out-of-canvas wedges
• Crop tool presets
• Previewing the crop angle
• The Crop command
• Straightening with the Ruler tool
• Cropping without clipping
• Perspective cropping

Basic Color Correction

• Making drab colors look better
• Brightness and contrast
• Adjusting numerical values
• Introducing adjustment layers
• Editing adjustment layers
• Saving adjustment layers
• Adding a quick layer mask
• Introducing the Histogram
• Working with the Histogram panel
• Using Color Balance
• Introducing the Variations command
• Luminance and saturation controls
• Fading a static adjustment
• How hue and saturation work
• Rotating hues and adjusting saturation
• Creating a quick and dirty sepia tone
• Adjusting hues selectively
• The Target Adjustment tool
• Photoshop CS5 Target Adjustment enhancements
• Adjusting the color of clothing
• Enhancing a low-saturation image
• Refining saturation with Vibrance

Making Selections

• Photoshop versus the real world
• Meet the selection tools
• Marking the center of an image
• Drawing a geometric selection outline
• Blurring a selection outline with Feather
• Copy and paste versus drag and drop
• Creating a graduated selection
• Aligning one image with another
• Accessing the Move tool on the fly
• Invert and Match Colors
• Matching colors selectively
• Feathering and filling a selection
• Dressing up a composition with effects
• The incredible image rotation trick
• The Magic Wand tool
• Tolerance and other options
• Grow, Similar, and Inverse
• Quick selection and the Magnetic Lasso
• Evaluating a selection in Quick Mask
• Saving and loading selections
• Placing an image with a layer mask
• Eliminating edge fringing

Retouching and Healing

• Brushing to correct
• How brushing works
• Working with spacing
• Changing size and hardness
• The heads-up Color Picker
• Flipping a mirror image
• Setting the source for the History brush
• Brightening details with the Dodge tool
• Darkening details with the Burn tool
• The Sponge tool
• Backing off edits
• Patching eye bags
• Evening out flesh tones
• Smoothing away whiskers
• Reducing shadow noise
• How healing works
• The enhanced Spot Healing brush
• Using the better Healing brush
• Introducing the Clone Source panel
• Cloning from one layer to another
• Working with multiple sources

Layer Essentials

• The layered composition
• Making a new background layer
• Working with “big layers”
• Move, Duplicate, and Scale
• Transforming a copy and repeat
• Stacking order and eyedropping a layer
• Adjusting multiple layers at once
• Switching between layers
• Making a digital star field
• Blend mode and clipping mask
• Dragging and dropping from your desktop
• Black + Lens Flare = glow
• Locking transparency
• Adding gradient layers
• Stacking an adjustment layer
• Adding shadow and stroke

Printing, PDF, and Web Gallery

• Outputting from Photoshop and Bridge
• Printing an RGB composite
• Customizing the subjective print file
• Gauging print size
• Scale, position, and page orientation
• Three important printing curiosities
• Introducing the Output options
• Establishing a bleed
• Using the Color Management options
• Generating a PDF contact sheet
• Creating a contact sheet template
• Saving and opening a PDF contact sheet
• Introducing the Web Gallery
• Exporting and editing an HTML site
• The Airtight Photocard site

Saving Images for the Web

• Rules of the web
• Introducing web graphics
• A first look at Save for Web
• Scaling a layered image versus a flat one
• Incremental downsampling
• Adding text, bar, and stroke
• Assigning copyright and metadata
• Comparing GIF, JPEG, and PNG
• Determining the perfect JPEG settings
• Saving metadata
• Working with an unprofiled RGB image
• Downsampling graphic art
• Saving a GIF graphic
• Antiquated GIF versus the better PNG