Learn Photoshop CS3 Tutorial

This site provides you with a foundation for working with Adobe Photoshop. Follow along with the tutorial, download the lesson files, and view the videos. For more Adobe Photoshop training options, visit AGI’s Photoshop training classes.

Excerpt from Dynamic Learning - Photoshop CS3

Creating a vector shape

In this section, you’ll discover how to use a basic vector shape with the vector tools available in Adobe Photoshop. Use the vector tools for creating artwork that can be resized and output at any resolution. Since the vector tools create graphics with paths, not pixels, the shapes you create will be scalable without any loss of image quality.

1 Have the ps0201_work.psd file open. If you do not see gray area (pasteboard) showing around the outside of the image, click on the lower right corner of the document window and drag it to the lower right of your screen. It is helpful to have some of the pasteboard showing when creating shapes or selections that are positioned at the edges of an image.

2 Select the Rectangular tool (), or press U, the keyboard shortcut for the Rectangle Vector tool. Make sure that you do not select the Rectangular Marquee tool, as you are creating a shape, not a selection.

3 In the options bar, make sure that the Shape layers () option is selected, then click and drag across the lower eighth of the image to the lower right corner. You might cross over part of the bicycler’s chin, which is fine; he can be repositioned later. The exact size of the rectangle is not critical, and can be adjusted later. When you release, a vector shape layer is created. The color of the shape is based upon the last selection you made for the foreground color. You will change that color now.

4 If the Layers palette is not visible, choose Window > Layers. You see a newly added Shape 1 layer. In the Shape 1 layer is a Layer thumbnail (on the left) that includes the color of your vector shape. Double-click on that thumbnail to open the Color Picker. A dialog box appears, asking you to pick a solid color. You will sample a color from the image.

5 When you position the cursor over the image, it changes into the Eyedropper tool (), so that you can sample colors directly from your image. Position the cursor over a green area of the trees and click. The color is selected in the Color Picker. If you don’t like your first choice, continue selecting various areas in the image until you find a color you like. In our example, we used these color values: Red 101, Green 110, and Blue 57. Press OK.

You will now reposition the portrait layer. First, ensure that the Shape 1 layer is the active layer.

6 Select the Move tool (). You can easily switch from one active layer to another by selecting the layer in the Layers palette, or you can use this helpful keyboard shortcut: hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) key and click on the image content that you want to activate. In this example, click on the portrait of the bicyclist in the image file. The portrait layer becomes active.

By holding down the Ctrl or Command key, you have activated an auto-select feature available in Photoshop. If you have Auto-Select checked in the options bar, this keyboard shortcut will not work.

7 With the portrait layer selected, click and drag to reposition the portrait layer so that the bicycler’s chin is not being covered by the vector box.

8 Choose File > Save. Leave this file open for the next part of this lesson.

Adding artwork from Adobe Illustrator

You can import, or place, graphics from many different applications into Photoshop files, including native Adobe Illustrator files. In this section, you will place Adobe Illustrator artwork as a Smart Object, then you will edit the Smart Object, resizing and applying effects to it.

For this part of the lesson, you need to have Adobe Illustrator installed. If you do not have Adobe Illustrator installed, you can follow the steps up to the Editing a Smart Object section, and then just read the steps that explain the process.

Placing artwork

1 Choose File > Place; the Place dialog box appears. Navigate to the ps02lessons folder that you dragged onto your hard drive from the pslessons DVD. Select the file named bikelogo.ai. Choose Place.

2 When the Place PDF dialog box appears, leave it at the defaults and press OK. The image is placed into the document. Note that there is an active bounding box surrounding the image. Photoshop offers the opportunity to scale the logo before approving its placement. For this example, you’ll leave the size of the logo as is. Confirm the placement by pressing the Return or Enter key, or by selecting the Commit transform button () in the options bar.

The image has been placed, but it is not at the final size. Though you could have adjusted the size upon placement, you were instructed not to. Not to worry; Photoshop automatically turned the logo into a Smart Object. This Smart Object maintains its original image data, and, as long as it is a Smart Object it can be scaled, edited, and even have effects applied to it without destroying the original artwork.

3 Make sure the bikelogo is still the active layer. Then, press Ctrl+T (Windows) or Command+T (Mac OS), the keyboard shortcut for the Free Transform feature. The bounding box reappears.

4 Hold down the Shift key and click and drag the lower right corner to the right and down. This not only scales the logo to make it larger, but also constrains the scale so that it is proportional. The exact size to which you scale the logo is not important right now. If you want to follow the example in this lesson, drag until you see a value close to 225% in the options bar, then press the Return or Enter key.

5 Choose File > Save. Keep the file open for the next part of this lesson.

Editing the Smart Object

Keep in mind that Photoshop has embedded a copy of the original artwork into your image file. The artwork is not linked to the original bikelogo that you have just placed. This is helpful when you need to make adaptations to artwork multiple times to make it work on various images. For instance, if you have a company logo that is blue, and you are placing it on a blue sky, you might want to change the color for just that one instance. Give this workflow a try by following the next part of the lesson. You must have Adobe Illustrator installed for this part of the lesson, but if you do not have Adobe Illustrator, skip to the next part of this lesson, Apply layer effect to the artwork.

1 Double-click on the bikelogo layer in the Layers palette (make sure you double-click on the thumbnail of the bike logo). An Adobe Photoshop warning dialog box appears; press OK. The artwork opens in Adobe Illustrator CS3.

2 In Adobe Illustrator, choose Select > All or press Ctrl+A (Windows) or Command+A (Mac OS).

3 Click on the Fill drop-down menu in the options bar across the top and select white. The bikelogo is now not visible, as it is the same color of the paper.

4 Choose File > Save, and then File > Close to close the file. Note that this Illustrator file is embedded in your Photoshop image file.

5 Return to Adobe Photoshop, where you see that the logo has been automatically updated.

6 Choose File > Save. Keep the file open for the next part of the lesson.

If you do not have Adobe Illustrator installed, you can continue the exercise from this point forward.

Applying layer effects to the artwork

Even though the artwork is a Smart Object, you can still add Photoshop layer styles such as drop shadows, inner shadows, and outer glows. In the next part of the lesson, you’ll apply an inner shadow to the logo to add some depth to it.

1 Make sure the bikelogo layer is active, then click and hold on the Add a layer style
button () at the bottom of the Layers palette. Scroll up to select Inner Shadow; the Layer Style dialog box opens.

In the Layer Style dialog box, you see a list of all available layer styles on the left. Inner Shadow is checked, as that is the style you originally selected. You can add multiple styles, but for this lesson you will only add one.

Click on the Add a layer style button.	The Layer Style dialog box.

If you want to re-use a Layer Style, you can click on New Style and name the style. The style then appears in the Styles palette. Simply activate a layer and then click on the saved style in the Styles palette to apply it to another layer.

2 Experiment with the settings pane on the right side of the Layer Style dialog box, and watch as you change the attributes of the inner shadow. When you are finished experimenting, hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key and press the Reset button.

3 Position your mouse over the image and click and drag; note that you can change the distance, direction, and angle of the drop shadow visually. You can also enter exact values in the structure section on the right. Position the shadow where you feel it works well; no exact settings are necessary for this lesson.

4 Soften the shadow by dragging the Size slider to the right to about 18 px, or type 18 into the Size text field. Press OK.

5 Choose File > Save and leave this file open for the next part of the lesson.

Adding a text layer

In Photoshop, you have all the features that you need to create text, including spellcheck and paragraph formatting controls. In the next section, you’ll add the word “Massachusetts” to the bottom of your image, completing the final composition.

1 Select the Type tool () and click in the area of the vector rectangle you created. A cursor appears.

2 Before typing, select the Center text button () in the options bar.

3 Type MASSACHUSETTS. If you need to reposition the text, DO NOT SELECT THE MOVE TOOL. To reposition the text, keep the Type tool selected, hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) key, and then click and drag the type to fit in the approximate center of your vector shape.

You’ll learn more about type in Lesson 9, “Getting to Know Layers,” but you can pick up some helpful tips in the next few steps.

4 With the Text tool still selected, choose Select > All, or Ctrl+A (Windows) or Command+A (Mac OS) to select all the letters in the word Massachusetts.

5 Hold down Ctrl+Shift (Windows) or Command+Shift (Mac OS) and press the > (greater than) or < (less than) keys until the text is a size that you like. In this example, the text size is 22 points. Using this keyboard shortcut, you can visually resize text without having to type numbers into the Size text field in the options bar.

6 Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and press the right arrow key repeatedly to apply tracking to the word, essentially spreading out the space between the letters. If you go too far and want to decrease the space, press Alt/Opt and the left arrow.

7 With your text still selected, click on the Set the text color box in the options bar. The Color Picker appears.

8 With the Color Picker open, position your cursor over a region of the image that contains yellow, such as the leaves, and click. Yellow is applied to the text. Press OK.

9 Choose File > Save. Keep your file open for the last part of this exercise, saving the file for use on the Web.

Using the new Zoomify feature

Perhaps you want to send someone this image, or post it on the Web. You have created many layers; the image is relatively large. In fact, if you look in the lower left corner of the document window, you might notice that your layered image is close to 23 MB. The number on the left of the forward slash is the size your file would be if it were flattened. Now you will use the new Zoomify feature to export an .swf file, decreasing the size of the file and offering your viewer the ability to pan and zoom into your final image.

1 Choose File > Export > Zoomify. The Zoomify Export dialog box appears.

2 Press the Folder button in the Output Location section and choose the ps02lessons folder. For this example, leave the other settings at their defaults. Press OK.

Your image is instantly saved as a Zoomify image and opened in the browser. Note that you can scale and pan, using the navigation tools at the bottom of the .swf image. If you want to use the image in this form, you must keep all the elements together in ps0201_work_img folder that was created in your ps02lessons folder.

Congratulations! You have finished the Exploring section for Adobe Photoshop CS3. Now you can dive into the rest of the lessons in this book to learn more about some of the features and tools you used in this lesson.

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