To open Adobe Photoshop in the Open Access Labs, click Start > All Programs > Applications > Graphics > Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Creating an Image

To open a blank page, click File > New.

A dialog box appears allowing you to customize your new page (Figure 1).

Figure 1. New image options

1. Name your file in the Name text box.
2. Choose the size of the new image you want to create by either selecting from the Preset list or typing numbers in the Width, Height, and Resolution text boxes.
3. Select the desired Color Mode to customize the color palette of the image.
4. Image Size tells you the current file size of the blank page; in this case, it is 3.75M (megabytes).
5. In Background Contents, select the desired backdrop color; in this case, the current background color occupies the entire image contents. (Note: Select Transparent if you are creating a GIF image for the web and need to “see through” parts of the image.)
6. Click OK. Your screen should now look similar to Figure 2.

Figure 2. Image zoom and size

Notice the white box in the bottom left corner of the image. This box tells you the current zoom percentage of the actual image that is showing on the screen. In this case, it is 80%. The Doc bar to the right of the image percentage white box shows the file size, which is .712M. Watch this size carefully when editing your images. The home drive (H:) storage space provided in the Open Access Labs is 500MB. You may need to have other storage alternatives ready, such as a flash drive or writeable CD.

Open an Existing Image

To open an existing image, click File > Open.

A dialog box similar to appears (Figure 3), which allows you to open an existing image file for editing.

1. Use the Look in drop-down file tree at the top of the window to navigate to the folder where the image file you want to open is saved. As you navigate from folder to folder, all formats that Photoshop can open are displayed in this window.

2. When the image file you want to open appears, select the image file by clicking its name.
3. Click Open to display the image.

Adjusting The Image Size

The size of the image you see on the screen is not the size of the printed image. To see the printout size, click Image > Image Size. A dialog box appears (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Image size

1. Under Document Size, adjust the size of the actual printout image by changing the numbers in the Width, Height, and Resolutions text boxes. The printout size as shown above has a Width of 5.971 inches and a Height of 6 inches, with a Resolution of 72 pixels/inch. Keep the option Constrain Proportions box checked, so the Width and Height adjust proportionally with each other when you change one of them.
2. Pixel Dimensions tells you the size of the file when you change the Document Size.
3. If the image is only for on-screen viewing, Resolution should be no more than 120 pixels/inch, because computer monitors usually cannot display differences of images with resolution above 120 pixels/inch. Lowering the Resolution also decreases the size of the file.
4. If the image is going to be printed on a fine printer, Resolution of 240 pixels/inch can be used. You can see more details of an image on a printout than on a computer monitor. However, most human eyes cannot tell the difference on images with Resolution set to above 240 pixels/inch.
5. Click OK when you are done adjusting the image size, or Reset if you make a mistake and want to start over.

Cropping The Image

1. Select the Crop tool , which is the third one down on the left tool pane.

2. Click and drag to create a rectangle with your mouse. The enclosed area is the part of the image you want to keep. The part of the image that will be cropped (removed) turns dark.

3. Press [Enter] to crop.

Rotating The Image

There are two ways to rotate the image:

1. Click Image > Rotate Canvas. Select one of the rotation options.

OR

2. Select the image with the Rectangular Marquee tool , which is the top left button on the tool bar. Select the tool, then use the mouse to select the entire image. Click Edit > Transform > Rotate. Use the mouse to rotate the image as desired.

Adjusting the Brightness/Contrast of the Image

1. Select the image with the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Then click Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Color Contrast.

A dialog box similar to Figure 5, below, appears.

Figure 5. Adjust brightness/contrast

2. Click OK.

A dialog box appears (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Adjust brightness/contrast

3. Adjust the image accordingly. Check and uncheck the Preview box to view the image before and after the adjustment you make.

Filling a Section of the Image With Color

1. Select the Magic Wand tool , which is the second from the top on the right side of the tool pane.

2. Click the part of the image you want to fill with a certain color with the Magic Wand. A flashing dashed line appears around the selected section.

3. Click Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color.

A dialog box appears (Figure 7).

Figure 7. New fill layer

4. Click OK.

A dialog box appears (Figure 8).

Figure 8. Color chooser

5. Pick the color to fill in the selected section of the image, then click OK.

Frequently Asked Questions

What file type should I use to save the image?

Four types of image files are most commonly used:

• Photoshop (.PSD): If you intend to continue editing it later.
• CompuServe (.GIF): If the image is mostly text, contains crisp color changes, has less than 256 colors, or you want to preserve part of the image as transparent.
• JPEG (.JPG): If the image is mostly graphics, pictures, or has blended/gradient color changes.
• Bitmap (.BMP): If high image quality is very important and you are capable of storing a large file size.

I'm using Photoshop to design a graphic for a public service announcement (PSA) to be displayed in OAL labs. What are the image requirements?

Find the requirements and submit your PSA request online at http://cis.tamu.edu/oal/services/PSAs.php

What are some keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop?

Keyboard shortcuts are basically the same in all software programs. Here are some frequently used keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop:

• ALT+CTRL+Z: Undo Last Step (Very useful, because art is always created by trial and error)
• Shift+Ctrl+Z: Redo the undone step.
• Ctrl+O: Open File
• Ctrl+W: Close File
• Ctrl+S: Save File (Please save often!)
• Shift+Ctrl+P: Save File As
• Ctrl+P: Print with Preview (Take a minute to look at what the printout will look like. This will help you avoid costly errors!)

 
Table 1. Resolution Guidelines

I want to have a screen saver running on the Open Access Labs computers.  What are the requirements? 

The requirements, along with the place to submit a PSA/Screen Saver, can be found at http://cis.tamu.edu/oal/services/PSAs.php .

What other resources does CIS provide if I want to learn more about Photoshop?

The manual for Photoshop is available for checkout in the SCC. For students interested in expanding their software knowledge, Texas A&M Computing & Information Services also offers short courses throughout the semester that cover several different software applications. The cost is FREE. For more information and registration of CIS Short Courses, visit http://cis.tamu.edu/shortcourses/

For More Help

If you need more assistance, please feel free to ask the CIS Support Staff in any Open Access Lab, or call Help Desk Central at (979) 845-8300.