Friday, May 31, 2013

DIGITAL IMAGES BASIC

Before you begin improving your images that you have created on your digital camera, there are just a few other things that you will need to be familiar with.

When working on images in Photoshop, you will need to consider different file formats, based on what your images are and what you plan to do with them. For example, you may want to place your images on a website or

email them, in which case they need to have a small file size so that they load quickly. This page describes four file formats and how and when they should be used.

Photoshop (PSD) File Format
The PSD file format is essentially the only file format that supports Photoshop features such as layers (which is discussed in another chapter). Most other file formats flatten all layers in the image into a single layer during the conversion. Once flattened, you cannot edit any changes that you made on the individual layers. So, although PSD files are quite large, you should always keep a copy of the PSD image just in case you need to edit the image later. You can then open this file, edit it and save it to the desired file format, such as JPEG.

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) File Format
JPEG is a standardised image-compression mechanism that is designed for compressing full colour or greyscale images of natural, real-world scenes. As a result, it works well on images with a subtle blend of colour such as portraits, photographs and gradients, but not so well on lettering, simple cartoons and line drawings. Because JPEG was designed for photos it can handle as many colours as there are in the photo. It can actually support up to 16 million colours.
JPEG utilises lossy compression which means that some information is removed during the compression. Normally, the fact that information is discarded during a lossy compression is not a problem because it is discarded in such a way that the changes are too subtle to be picked up by the human eye. But, the changes can become apparent when images are edited and resaved several times in the JPEG format. Each time a JPEG image is resaved, dirty marks (known as artefacts) are added to the image. To overcome this, work on the file in the PSD format and only save it in JPEG format once you have finished making all changes.

Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) File Format
GIF is another file format ideal for the web. However, as the GIF file format restricts you to 256 colours, it is ideal for compressing line drawings such as cartoons and logos, and illustrations or images with large areas of similar colours. GIF is faster to decode and on a small, limited colour image, GIF compression makes a much smaller file size compared to JPEG because it only needs to carry information about the colours that are actually present in the image.
The GIF file format utilises lossless compression which means that the image is compressed with no loss of data. The GIF file format supports transparency. For example, if you want to create a heading image for a web page which has a textured background, you can create the heading with a transparent background. The web page’s background texture will then appear around and between the letters of the heading, rather than the heading image appearing as a rectangular shape.

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) File Format
PNG (pronounced PING) is the ideal file format if you want to use your images in Macromedia Flash.
PNG is a newer file format that has been designed to eventually replace the GIF file format (it is not intended to replace the JPEG file format). PNG uses lossless compression, similar to GIF, but typically a PNG file can be 10 – 30% more compressed than in a GIF format. The PNG file format supports transparency (without jagged edges) and up to 16 million colours. Be aware, however, that some browsers do not support PNG images.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Photoshop CS5 Shortcut (Continue)

Painting
Fill selection with background color
Ctrl-Backspace
Fill selection with foreground color
Alt-Backspace
Fill selection with foreground color using Lock Transparent Pixels
Shift-Alt-Backspace
Fill selection with source state in History panel
Ctrl-Alt-Backspace
Display Fill dialog box
Shift-Backspace
Sample as background color
Alt-Click w/Eyedropper tool
To get Move tool
While in any painting/editing tool-hold Ctrl
To get Eyedropper with Paint tools
Alt
Change paint opacity (with Airbrush OFF)
Number keys
Change paint opacity (with Airbrush ON)
Shift-Number keys
Change Airbrush flow (with Airbrush ON)
Number keys
Change Airbrush flow (with Airbrush OFF)
Shift-Number keys
Cross-Hair Cursor
Any painting/editing tool-turn Caps Lock on
Decrease/Increase Brush Size
[ or ]
Decrease/Increase Hardness of Brush
Shift-[ or Shift-]
Switch between preset Brushes
< or >
Open Brushes pop-up panel
Right-Click in Image window
Erase to History panel's source state
Alt-Eraser
Cycle down or up through blend modes
Shift-Plus(+) or Minus(–)
Change to a specific blend mode
Shift-Alt-letter (ie: N=Normal, M=Multiply, etc.)
Create fixed color target from within a dialog box
Shift-Click in image window
Delete fixed color target
Alt-Click on target with Color Sampler tool
Create new spot-color channel from current selection
Ctrl-Click on New Channel button in Channels panel

Photoshop CS5 Shortcut (Continue)

Layer Shortcuts
Create new layer
Ctrl-Shift-N
Select non-contiguous layers
Ctrl-Click layers
Select contiguous layers
Click one layer, then Shift-Click another layer
Delete Layer
Delete key (while in the Move tool)
View contents of layer mask
Alt-Click layer mask icon
Temporarily turn off layer mask
Shift-Click layer mask icon
Clone layer as you move it
Alt-Drag
Find/Select layer containing object
Right-Click on the object w/Move tool
Change layer opacity
Number pad keys (w/Move tool selected)
Cycle down or up through blend modes
Shift-Plus(+) or Minus(–)
Change to a specific blend mode
(w/Move tool) Shift-Alt-letter (ie: N=Normal, M=Multiply. etc.)
Switch to layer below/above current layer
Alt-[ or Alt-]

Type Shortcuts
Select all text on layer
Double-Click on T thumbnail in Layers panel
Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 2 pts
Ctrl-Shift->/<
Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 10 pts
Ctrl-Shift-Alt->/<
Increase/Decrease kerning/tracking
Alt-Right/Left Arrow
Align text left/center/right
Ctrl-Shift-L/C/R


Sunday, March 24, 2013

Photoshop CS5 Shortcuts

To save your time in editing image... you should use the keyboard shortcuts.. below are the keyboard shortcut key that you need to remember.....

Selecting
Draw Marquee from Center
Alt-Marquee
Add to a Selection
Shift
Subtract from a Selection
Alt
Intersection with a Selection
Shift-Alt
Make Copy of Selection w/Move tool
Alt-Drag Selection
Make Copy of Selection when not in Move tool
Ctrl-Alt-Drag Selection
Move Selection (in 1-pixel Increments)
Arrow Keys
Move Selection (in 10-pixel Increments)
Shift-Arrow Keys
Select all Opaque Pixels on Layer
Ctrl-click on Layer Thumbnail (in Layers panel)
Restore Last Selection
Ctrl-Shift-D
Feather Selection
Shift-F6
Move Marquee while drawing selection
Hold Space while drawing marquee

Viewing
Fit on Screen
Double-click on Hand tool or Ctrl-0
100% View Level (Actual Pixels)
Double-Click on Zoom Tool or Ctrl-Alt-0
Zoom in
Ctrl-Space-Click or Ctrl-Plus(+)
Zoom out
Alt-Space-Click or Ctrl-Minus(–)
Hide all tools and panels
Tab
Hide all panels except Toolbox and Options bar
Shift-Tab
Rotate through full screen modes
F
Scroll image left or right in window
Ctrl-Shift-Page Up/Down
Jump/Zoom to part of Image
Ctrl-drag in Navigator panel
Toggles layer mask on/off as rubylith
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Photoshop Tools

The Photoshop toolbox holds 20 tools that allow you to paint, select, navigate and edit images. To select a tool you simply click on the icon with your mouse.


Toolbox for Photoshop CS5 Version


There are bit different between each version of Photoshop....Image below shows the Photoshop CS5 Toolbox.


Photoshop’s tools are kept in a palette called the Toolbox. They can be selected by either clicking on them or pressing the relevant shortcut key. There are many more grouped behind other tools. Grouped tools have a black triangle in their bottom, right corner. To access hidden tools, click on a tool to display the options in the Options bar.