(Click here to read Part 1 of this article series.)

When creating any image in Photoshop, it helps to establish goals. Photoshop can do practically anything to an image, so it’s essential to set limitations and work by the adage “just because I can do anything doesn’t mean that I should.”

Less is usually more, and if you’re familiar with Photoshop’s capabilities, and have an inkling of where to go to get the job done, you should have no trouble making it happen. Of course, a background in graphic arts technologies combined with an artistic eye helps produce quality work.

LAYER IT
Photoshop provides the ability to divide and isolate content with layers. Think of a layer as an imaginary clear sheet of glass. Content on the glass is surrounded by transparency. Since the content is isolated on the layer it can be easily accessed and moved or transformed without affecting the content of other layers. Layers keep the editing process dynamic and non-linear. In fact, layers perform so many tasks that they are essential to Photoshop’s workflow.

Layers determine the visual depth of elements in the picture plane, and the opacity of pixels. Adjustment Layers control color and contrast. Layer Masks conceal and reveal content. Fill Layers apply solids, gradients and patterns. Type Layers contain text. Shape Layers enable the creation and editing of vector based shapes, and Smart Objects control the application of vector data and filters. Photoshop Extended (the high-end version of the program) additionally offers 3D and video layers.

There are a number of other features that are dependent on layers, including layer and vector masks, clipping masks, blending modes, layer styles and blending options, all of which work to extend capabilities during the imaging process.

The Layers palette (shown in Figure 1 at left) is the control center from where many of the layer functions are performed. Layers are stacked and each is separated from the one directly below or above it by a thin line. Each layer contains a thumbnail of the layer’s contents; the layer’s name appears to the right of the thumbnail. Layer styles, masks, or locks are indicated by icons. In the far left column is a little eye icon that controls layer visibility.

The options menu at the top left of the palette contains a list of blend modes. Blend modes are preprogrammed formulas that affect the color relationships between aligned pixels on two consecutive layers. When layers are blended, interesting color relationships can be created that darken, bleach, invert, or saturate blended layer content, as in Figure 2 at left.

COLOR IT
Photoshop’s painting and editing tools go far beyond just the ability to apply color. They are essential for spot editing and photo retouching and creating textural surfaces. Picking a color in Photoshop is as simple as squeezing paint from a tube. It is a matter of choosing a color from one of Photoshop’s color interfaces or by sampling colors directly from any open image with the Eye-Dropper tool.

There are two color swatches near the bottom of the Tools palette, representing the current foreground and background colors (left, Figure 3). The swatch on the left is the foreground color, which is applied directly by any of the painting tools. The default foreground color is black. The background color on the right is applied with the Eraser tool, or by cutting a selected portion of an image on the background layer. The default background color is white.

To choose a foreground or background color, click one of the swatches to display the Color Picker (see Figure 4 at left). The Color Picker presents four methods of defining color: HSB, (Hue, Saturation, Brightness) RGB (Red, Green, Blue), Lab (Lightness, Red/Green, Blue/Yellow) and CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black). By default, the vertical ramp - which is actually a color wheel cut at the zero degree mark (red) and straightened - defines hue.

Drag the slider up or down anywhere on the bar, and the hue value changes to a number between 0 and 360 degrees and the field to the left changes color. The large color field’s horizontal coordinates represent saturation and its vertical coordinates represent brightness. Drag the small circle in the color field to the left to decrease the saturation or the right to increase it. The values in the Saturation box change from zero, gray, to 100 percent, or the fully saturated color. Drag the circle in the color field up to lighten a color or down to darken it. The values in the Brightness field change from 0 percent, black, to 100 percent brightness.

Another method of choosing color is the Color palette. The icon is on the dock or by choosing Color from the Window menu. By default, the RGB color model is displayed, but HSB, Grayscale, CMYK, Lab, or Web Color sliders can be selected from the palette pull-down menu. Click a swatch in the upper-left corner of the palette to designate whether to affect the foreground or background color.

PAINT IT
A selected area can be filled with the Paint Bucket, with the Edit > Fill command (Figure 5 at left) or the Gradient tool. Color can also be applied with the Brush, Pencil, Eraser and the Color Replacement tools. There are also several tools that alter or clone pixels, like the Rubber Stamp tool, and the Healing Brush (among others).

A huge list of brushes are available in the Options bar when these tools are selected, and custom brushes can be created with selected or layered content. Brush behavior can further be controlled by selecting one or more of several brush dynamics from the Brushes palette (right, Figure 6). In fact, the paint engine in Photoshop is so extensive that the program rivals any dedicated paint software.

ADJUST IT
Most images need some color or contrast adjustment and correction after scanning and before printing. Features like Levels, Curves, Color Balance or one or more of 23 different adjustments can be applied directly to selected image content. Adjustments are found in the Image >Adjustments submenu and can be applied globally or to a selected region. Curves (Figure 7 at left), for example, can alter the brightness values of pixels by increasing or decreasing their numerical RGB values. Adjustments are crucial to the appearance of images and can make the difference as to whether the image is lackluster or brilliantly colorful.

Adjustments can be attached to an Adjustment Layer (see Figure 8 at right) to isolate the data and keep the editing process dynamic. After the Adjustment Layer is made, the icon in the Layers palette can be clicked to reveal the adjustments dialog box and the settings can be further tweaked.

Adjustment Layers also enable the application of all of the other layer features such as opacity, blending modes, and layer styles. The Layer Mask that is created with the Adjustment Layer can precisely control the region of the image where the adjustment is applied.

SIZE IT
An image’s resolution is essential to the quality of the print. All aspects of image size and resolution are editable in the Image Size dialog box (see Figure 9) found in the Image menu.

Size and resolution are interchangeable factors. An image can be enlarged while decreasing its resolution or reduced by increasing its resolution if the resample box is unchecked.

If the resample box is checked, then the image can be resized using any one of five interpolation algorithms; Nearest Neighbor, Bilinear, Bicubic, Bicubic Sharper and Bicubic Smoother. Each has a specific method in the way it manufactures or eliminates pixels to add or subtract them from an image. It should be noted that enlarging an image by adding pixels is generally not recommended, as it decreases sharpness and contrast.
Photoshop images can also be enlarged by adding canvas with the Image > Canvas Size dialog box, or reduced by cropping.
Layer content or selected areas can be enlarged, reduced, rotated or distorted with the transformation features in the Edit menu or with the Move tool with the Show Transform Controls box checked in the Options bar.

FILTER IT
Some really eye-popping effects are achieved with Photoshop’s extensive Filter menu. There are nineteen categories of filters in the menu and over one hundred individual filters that perform every conceivable task from converting a photograph into a watercolor to liquefying an image into grotesque distortions to sharpening an image for better clarity and focus.

Most filters have a specific dialog box that controls the characteristics and the intensity of the effect, as in Figure 10 at right. Several of the filters are mini-applications unto themselves that enable extensive and precise control of the effect.

Filters are very powerful indeed and constitute a major piece of Photoshop’s arsenal. Combined with the features discussed in this article and the numerous other features that space did not permit me to mention, virtually anything imaginable can be created or modified.

Be warned: Photoshop is not an application that can be mastered overnight. Because of it’s sheer size, its extensive features, its versatility and complexity, it’s a good idea to start small by working simply on low-resolution images (72 ppi) and experiment with Photoshop’s numerous features to see how they all fit together.

(Click here to read Part 1 of this article series.)