Photoshop Crash Course
QUICK Masks
The next task was to practice and demonstrate some basic Photoshop techniques and processes, as Photoshop is used in many areas of design, it is fundamental to have at least some knowledge of this primary photo-editing software, the first process I decided to experiment with was the quick mask tool, which allows users to cut, copy and paste manually selected images or document elements and then either layer them on top of oneanother or hide them completely. Although this sounds very simple, it can in fact be quite difficult when actually completing the process. I chose this technique first and formost, because Photoshop is widely used in Photomontage, and the quick mask tool is almost fundamental in creating Photomontage, as it mimics the process of traditional cutting and pasting with scissors and glue, but offers more detailed and realistic results, and as Photomontage is sometimes about making something surreal believable, learning this technique is fundamental. I then moved onto actually creating a Photomontage using Photoshop as my program. Photoshop is the most widely used Program for Photomontage, and for good reason, it's image editing filters and masking tool are essential to creating realistic, interesting Montage's. I had a little difficulty finding images as the brief stressed that I used non copyrighted images, but I managed to do okay, I wanted my Photomontages to either be dream-like or realistic, or a combination of the two, my first idea was an elf in the woods, surrounded by mystical animals, but I had difficulty finding suitable images, so I had to stick with the first image I had found, of a woman sitting down in a flowy dress.
I called this Photomontage Elven Woods, because that was the theme basically. To create this Photomontage, I used Photoshop's masking tools to cut and paste images, not to mention the layers pallete to change the layer opacity and layer images on top, in front and behind, the layers pallete becomes essential if you want to layer multiple images on top of a background, or place multiple images in the background, foreground and horizon line. I learnt very quickly that the masking tools are not too easy to use, and that different brush settings really alter the way a selection or mask turns out or translates when pasted, I also learnt that when it comes to keeping things looking realistic, different images need to have different types of edges, for example, some, with fur, like the fox on the left will need to have soft edges to create the illusion of fur, others, such as the lady, will need smooth or hard edges to make the image "fit in" with the background, so as to not look out of place. Computers are a very valuable and powerful tool in the arts, because you can edit images much more efficiently, and with more detail, than you would traditionally. The masking tool is mostly needed if you wish to edit a photo, or paste things into a background that aren't part of the original image, masking and selecting are practically essential within the area of Photomontage, as it, in it's entirety, allows you to actually create the montages themselves. I found that the quick selection tool wasn't as reliable as Photoshops masking tools so I generally used the mask tool rather than the quick selection tool.
The next Photomontage I created was that of a troupe of Fairy Ballerinas dancing upon a lake, this was very much a dream-like and surreal idea, and I had difficulty making it believable because of just that. As with Elven Woods, I primarily used the layer mask tool and then positioned that elements as I wished, I also utilised the transform tools to an extent too, to make sure that they all fit within the image frame. The transform tool is incredibly helpful when it comes to keeping things in proportion, and scaling down pasted images if the original image to cut from was much, much bigger in canvas and file size than the background you are pasting onto. Scaling also helps keep things believable, so the transform tool is a valuable and essential tool in Photomontage.
The next Photomontage I created was that of a troupe of Fairy Ballerinas dancing upon a lake, this was very much a dream-like and surreal idea, and I had difficulty making it believable because of just that. As with Elven Woods, I primarily used the layer mask tool and then positioned that elements as I wished, I also utilised the transform tools to an extent too, to make sure that they all fit within the image frame. The transform tool is incredibly helpful when it comes to keeping things in proportion, and scaling down pasted images if the original image to cut from was much, much bigger in canvas and file size than the background you are pasting onto. Scaling also helps keep things believable, so the transform tool is a valuable and essential tool in Photomontage.
Reflective Log Q & A
.What's the point?
The main point of experimenting and teaching ourselves the layer mask technique is because it is a widely used technique that is almost the basis and foundation for digital Photomontage, which we are exploring briefly in this unit and also because further on we will be creating our own artwork using programs such as Photoshop, so it is only neccessary that we learn the techniques and tools that Photoshop has to offer, also because these tools are used regularly within any design industry. The other point of the Quick Mask tool is to do just that - mask layers, and also select and make layers from objects and elements within an already completed picture or image, to either edit that image or create a new one without having to create it from scratch.
.How is this tool useful and how could you use it in future?
The mask tool is very useful for many things, and many areas of design, photo-editing, digital illustration, photo-manipulation, photomontage, and the list goes on. There are many ways I could use this, I could use it to create commerical advertisments and personal leisure photo-editing, I could use it to create a cover for a magazine, there are many things I could use this tool for. The tool is incredibly useful as it lets you paste an image onto a different background, for let's say a magazine cover, or re position and model or article of clothing if the position isn't desirable.
.What Ideas does this process give you?
Well, most notably it gives me loads of ideas for my future work on this course, this process gives me all sorts of ideas, from creating my own digital scrapbook, to creating my own Photomontage pieces in future, knowing how to use this process has really opened my mind up to what I could use Photoshop for in general. I also have interests in music and if I were to, shall we say, release an album, this process would definitely come in handy when creating my own album cover art.
.How could you use this process in other ways?
There a couple of other ways I could use this tool, I could use it for Graphic Design, for other commercial purposes such as advertisements and book covers, I could even experiment with this tool in a traditional sense, by cutting and pasting images onto a collage, or even scan in a collage and use the layer mask tool to edit it further, along with the new addtion of 3-D printers, there is a lot that this tool can now be used for. You could also use this tool in animation, if you want a still foreground with a moving background or vice-versa. When you deeply think about it, the layer mask tool is an incredibly powerful by itself.
.What other processes could you combine this with?
Well, most of the other tools within Photoshop can be combined with this tool, such as the Liquify tool (not explored in this crash course), the selection and transform tools, colour management tools and basically anything Adobe creates really. You could combine this digital tool with something traditional, such as collage, a scanned illustration, paintings, and maybe even 3-D printed objects. On the note of traditional being combined with digital, anything that can be scanned in can be combined with this tool to reach more creative heights. Photography too, especially if you want to create specific and artistic pictures for a photo album or slideshow.
.How could this process support other projects you are working on?
This process could support my projects in a few ways, it could help me design my album art, a poster, or a creative presentation, by simply learning about Photoshops tools I have a whole new set of skills at my disposal that I can use to heighten my achievements on this course. It could also help me display my work on this blog in a more creative and innovative way.
How could you integrate them into your portfolio?
The main point of experimenting and teaching ourselves the layer mask technique is because it is a widely used technique that is almost the basis and foundation for digital Photomontage, which we are exploring briefly in this unit and also because further on we will be creating our own artwork using programs such as Photoshop, so it is only neccessary that we learn the techniques and tools that Photoshop has to offer, also because these tools are used regularly within any design industry. The other point of the Quick Mask tool is to do just that - mask layers, and also select and make layers from objects and elements within an already completed picture or image, to either edit that image or create a new one without having to create it from scratch.
.How is this tool useful and how could you use it in future?
The mask tool is very useful for many things, and many areas of design, photo-editing, digital illustration, photo-manipulation, photomontage, and the list goes on. There are many ways I could use this, I could use it to create commerical advertisments and personal leisure photo-editing, I could use it to create a cover for a magazine, there are many things I could use this tool for. The tool is incredibly useful as it lets you paste an image onto a different background, for let's say a magazine cover, or re position and model or article of clothing if the position isn't desirable.
.What Ideas does this process give you?
Well, most notably it gives me loads of ideas for my future work on this course, this process gives me all sorts of ideas, from creating my own digital scrapbook, to creating my own Photomontage pieces in future, knowing how to use this process has really opened my mind up to what I could use Photoshop for in general. I also have interests in music and if I were to, shall we say, release an album, this process would definitely come in handy when creating my own album cover art.
.How could you use this process in other ways?
There a couple of other ways I could use this tool, I could use it for Graphic Design, for other commercial purposes such as advertisements and book covers, I could even experiment with this tool in a traditional sense, by cutting and pasting images onto a collage, or even scan in a collage and use the layer mask tool to edit it further, along with the new addtion of 3-D printers, there is a lot that this tool can now be used for. You could also use this tool in animation, if you want a still foreground with a moving background or vice-versa. When you deeply think about it, the layer mask tool is an incredibly powerful by itself.
.What other processes could you combine this with?
Well, most of the other tools within Photoshop can be combined with this tool, such as the Liquify tool (not explored in this crash course), the selection and transform tools, colour management tools and basically anything Adobe creates really. You could combine this digital tool with something traditional, such as collage, a scanned illustration, paintings, and maybe even 3-D printed objects. On the note of traditional being combined with digital, anything that can be scanned in can be combined with this tool to reach more creative heights. Photography too, especially if you want to create specific and artistic pictures for a photo album or slideshow.
.How could this process support other projects you are working on?
This process could support my projects in a few ways, it could help me design my album art, a poster, or a creative presentation, by simply learning about Photoshops tools I have a whole new set of skills at my disposal that I can use to heighten my achievements on this course. It could also help me display my work on this blog in a more creative and innovative way.
How could you integrate them into your portfolio?
SElection and Transform Tools
The next technique and tools I experimented with was the Selection and Transform tools, although I had used them in the Photomontages above, I wanted to primarily use the Quick Selection tool in this collage. I tried to make sure that most of the images were high quality, as I was sure I would be scaling them up and down, and rotating them. Unlike the other image I used in the Photomontage's above, I completely forgot about making sure they weren't copyrighted and used images straight from Google. As you can see, some of the images have scaled very well, and have sharp, clear edges, whereas the highway and the skyscraper pictured here, have become blurry and a little pixelated upon Scaling. The selection tools allow you to, as their name states, select object or images within a document. The transform tools can be used to scale, warp, rotate, and edit width and height. These tools are extremely helpful in Photomontage, but are also widely used in many areas of the design industry, from Fashion Photography to PDF creation. When scaling objects, especially in Photoshop as it works with Pixels, it is important to make sure that all the images you transform are of the highest quality and as large a possible, as most images in Photoshop can be scalled down without any loss of quality, but lose quality when scaling upwards (increasing size). I found that the quick selection tool was much better at selecting geometric forms like diamond shapes and hexagons than organic shapes such as the human form. The selection and tranform tools are essential to creating convincing, and succesful Photomontage pieces.
Reflective Log Q & A
.What's the point?
The selection and transform tools that Photoshop has to offer are a big part of Photomontage, they are also generally helpful for cutting, pasting and changing the dimensions of an image or element within illustrations or photos. Learning to use these tools efficiently is essential to innovative digital art and Photomontage, while it may seem easy to use these tools, using them in an innovative way is much more difficult to grasp as so many more things come into play, composition, dimension and quality are all easy to mess about with, but they take practice to master.
.How is this tool useful and how could you use it in future?
This tool is, like the layer mask tool above, incredibly useful, and as I have stated many times before, essential in the area of Photomontage, after all, cutting and pasting, and changing the size of objects within a picture or composition is the bread and butter of Photomontage. I could use this tool in many ways, to create my own Photomontage pieces, in my own album covers, or for personal and leisurely photo manipulation.
.What Ideas does this process give you?
Since the selection and transform tools are related to Photomontage and Graphic Design, most of my ideas form around
those subjects, this tool gives me ideas about how I could further emphasize my skills within Graphic Design, by creating innovative typographic art and magazine layouts using this tool, creating Photomontages, and just generally using these tools in my leisurely time, for fun or for my interest in scrapbooking.
.How could you use this process in other ways?
I could use this process in similar ways to what I described in the section "Layer Masks" above, this section is going to be quite short as most of my ideas with this tool are the same to that of the other above, selection tools basically do the same things as Layer Masks, or at least they operate in the same way technically. The only difference is the addition of the transform tool, which is used to, you guessed it, transform objects within a illustration. The transform tool can be used in many other ways, it can be used to skew, stretch and distort images, rather than just re-sizing them or shrinking them, so it can be used in a few different ways. I could use it to create a whole new or distorted image out of one that has already been made, apply little adjustments to things, or just generally mess about with shape and form.
The selection and transform tools that Photoshop has to offer are a big part of Photomontage, they are also generally helpful for cutting, pasting and changing the dimensions of an image or element within illustrations or photos. Learning to use these tools efficiently is essential to innovative digital art and Photomontage, while it may seem easy to use these tools, using them in an innovative way is much more difficult to grasp as so many more things come into play, composition, dimension and quality are all easy to mess about with, but they take practice to master.
.How is this tool useful and how could you use it in future?
This tool is, like the layer mask tool above, incredibly useful, and as I have stated many times before, essential in the area of Photomontage, after all, cutting and pasting, and changing the size of objects within a picture or composition is the bread and butter of Photomontage. I could use this tool in many ways, to create my own Photomontage pieces, in my own album covers, or for personal and leisurely photo manipulation.
.What Ideas does this process give you?
Since the selection and transform tools are related to Photomontage and Graphic Design, most of my ideas form around
those subjects, this tool gives me ideas about how I could further emphasize my skills within Graphic Design, by creating innovative typographic art and magazine layouts using this tool, creating Photomontages, and just generally using these tools in my leisurely time, for fun or for my interest in scrapbooking.
.How could you use this process in other ways?
I could use this process in similar ways to what I described in the section "Layer Masks" above, this section is going to be quite short as most of my ideas with this tool are the same to that of the other above, selection tools basically do the same things as Layer Masks, or at least they operate in the same way technically. The only difference is the addition of the transform tool, which is used to, you guessed it, transform objects within a illustration. The transform tool can be used in many other ways, it can be used to skew, stretch and distort images, rather than just re-sizing them or shrinking them, so it can be used in a few different ways. I could use it to create a whole new or distorted image out of one that has already been made, apply little adjustments to things, or just generally mess about with shape and form.
Blending Modes
And then there are Blending Modes, Blending Modes basically decide how each layer within a Photoshop document will interact with each other, and what effect that interaction will have, here I have demonstrated some Blending modes, I have demonstrated that Blending modes titled "Difference" "Exclusion" "Colour Burn" and "Hue". I overlapped each layer slightly so that you could see how each layer interacts with each other, what the effect is and also that using Blending modes and overlapping layers affected, can create a piece in it's own right. I don't generally tend to use Blending modes in my own Photoshop work, but I know that they give effects to overlapping layers, in illustration, a scanned image will usually tend to have the "Multiply" mode applied to it, so that an artist can create cleaner lineart, the "Mulitply" mode means that one layer will sit on top of another layer, while also showing the layer beneath it, instead of covering it, however, the black in lets say, and illustration or lineart will appear darker as a result. These modes aren't really essential to Photomontage, but can be used in a myriad of other ways, to create an effect on a photo, to help create lineart, or to just generally make a cool Photoshop image or Poster.
Reflective Log Q & A
.What's the point?
The point with acquainting ourselves with the Blending Modes is because they can be used to aid in line art creation, photo-editing and digital illustration, the layers palette is a very powerful tool that can be used to layer images, and organise elements within a document. Blending modes can be applied effortlessly but can really transform an image, by changing the hue, the saturation or even given it a luminescent glow. It is important to know how to use this tool correctly and successfully, especially within the area of Graphic Design.
.How is this tool useful and how could you use it in future?
Blending modes are incredibly useful to artists, photographers and graphic designers, you can use them to change the colour, contrast and many other things. There are a couple of ways I could use this tool in future, I could use the tool to colourize an image, using the hue or colour tool, I could use it to invert the colours, use it to aid me in creating line art, or just use it to add an effect to a specific layer.
.What Ideas does this process give you?
Most of the ideas this process gives me relate to photo-editing and making final adjustments to things, such as giving an image sections using different Blending Modes, adding an effect to a photograph, creating line art from a scanned drawing, even giving effects to a photo montage.
.How could you use this process in other ways?
I could use it to edit photographs, create a piece in it's own right using the blending modes, I could use it to create a unique and colourful font, edit text within photoshop, or I could use them to create an effect in a digital illustration.
The point with acquainting ourselves with the Blending Modes is because they can be used to aid in line art creation, photo-editing and digital illustration, the layers palette is a very powerful tool that can be used to layer images, and organise elements within a document. Blending modes can be applied effortlessly but can really transform an image, by changing the hue, the saturation or even given it a luminescent glow. It is important to know how to use this tool correctly and successfully, especially within the area of Graphic Design.
.How is this tool useful and how could you use it in future?
Blending modes are incredibly useful to artists, photographers and graphic designers, you can use them to change the colour, contrast and many other things. There are a couple of ways I could use this tool in future, I could use the tool to colourize an image, using the hue or colour tool, I could use it to invert the colours, use it to aid me in creating line art, or just use it to add an effect to a specific layer.
.What Ideas does this process give you?
Most of the ideas this process gives me relate to photo-editing and making final adjustments to things, such as giving an image sections using different Blending Modes, adding an effect to a photograph, creating line art from a scanned drawing, even giving effects to a photo montage.
.How could you use this process in other ways?
I could use it to edit photographs, create a piece in it's own right using the blending modes, I could use it to create a unique and colourful font, edit text within photoshop, or I could use them to create an effect in a digital illustration.
Layer Styles
Layer Styles add patterns and gradients to layers, most of the time layer styles are applied to text, but can be used for any other type of layer (text is usually created as its own layer). Here I have demonstrated some of the default layer styles in Photoshop, using some varied fonts. The backgrounds in these images are also layer styles, which I applied to the layers beneath the text. As you can see there are various layer styles to choose from, you can also create and download custom layer styles online. Layer styles are great for customizing text quickly and efficiently.
Reflective Log Q & A
.What's the point?
.How is this tool useful and how could you use it in future?
.What Ideas does this process give you?
.How could you use this process in other ways?
.How is this tool useful and how could you use it in future?
.What Ideas does this process give you?
.How could you use this process in other ways?
Portrait Using Custom Brushes
I created this portrait in Photoshop using only a photo of myself and custom brushes that I myself had created, although the snowflakes I downloaded online. There is a section on how I created my own brushes in the drop down menu on this blog, under "Unit 2". I had a lot of fun creating this peice, and I really like the way it turned out, I reminds me of one of those "hidden image" opitcal illusions, and of a kaleidoscope. I had a little bit of difficulty figuring out what would look good and being creative when making my own brushes, but with the help of my tutor I managed to become more creative with designing this portrait. I did another portrait before this but it wasn't creative or colourful enough, so I decided to create another one from scratch using some other brushes I had created.
REflective Log Q & A (Continued)
.What other processes could you combine this with?
Most, if not all photoshops tools can be used in unison with one another to create dazzling effects and art, the layer mask tool can be used in unison with the transform tools, the liquify tools allow you two pucker, move and bloat photography, or just generally warp it. Any art created can be further edited and re-imagined using the edit and image tools, such as Hue and Saturation, Colourize, copy, past and cut, and many others. Photoshop even now has 3-D editing tools, so you can even create a 3-D art and forms now too. The blending modes and layer styles can be used together too, there really isn't much you cannot combine in Photoshop, and combining and utilising Photoshops tools and filters will give you an unstoppably creative palette.
.How could this process support other projects you are working on?
Learning about Photoshop greatly supports any future projects and the projects I am working on because it introduces me and teaches me to use the tools within Photoshop, which I will most likely be using later on within Graphic Design. For example, I could use Photoshop to aid me in creating my CD cover. I could also use Photoshop in any future design work that I do on this course. I could also use Photoshop to edit photos I have taken for this course, for example editing the exposure values, or contrast and saturation.
Most, if not all photoshops tools can be used in unison with one another to create dazzling effects and art, the layer mask tool can be used in unison with the transform tools, the liquify tools allow you two pucker, move and bloat photography, or just generally warp it. Any art created can be further edited and re-imagined using the edit and image tools, such as Hue and Saturation, Colourize, copy, past and cut, and many others. Photoshop even now has 3-D editing tools, so you can even create a 3-D art and forms now too. The blending modes and layer styles can be used together too, there really isn't much you cannot combine in Photoshop, and combining and utilising Photoshops tools and filters will give you an unstoppably creative palette.
.How could this process support other projects you are working on?
Learning about Photoshop greatly supports any future projects and the projects I am working on because it introduces me and teaches me to use the tools within Photoshop, which I will most likely be using later on within Graphic Design. For example, I could use Photoshop to aid me in creating my CD cover. I could also use Photoshop in any future design work that I do on this course. I could also use Photoshop to edit photos I have taken for this course, for example editing the exposure values, or contrast and saturation.