Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Photoshop CS4 in 24 Hours

Kate Binder is a graphics expert who works from her home in New Hampshire, doing design and production for books, magazines, e-books, and websites. She is the author of several books, including iMac Portable Genius (Wiley, 2008), Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 in 24 Hours (Sams, 2008), Easy Mac OS X Leopard (Que, 2007), and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Mac OS X (Alpha, 2001). She is the coauthor of several more books, including Microsoft Office: Mac v.X Inside Out (Microsoft Press, 2002), SVG for Designers (McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media, 2002), and Get Creative: The Digital Photo Idea Book (McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media, 2003). To those interested in a successful career as a designer, photographer, or computer book writer, Kate recommends acquiring several retired racing greyhounds (find out more at www.adopt-a-greyhound.org); she finds her own pack of greyhounds extraordinarily inspirational. Kate can be reached via her website at www.prospecthillpub.com.  

Introduction

 

Downloading the Book’s Source Images

Conventions Used in This Book

 

PART I: Getting Started

 



HOUR 1: Exploring Photoshop Basics

Finding Your Way Around

What’s on the Menus?

Setting Preferences

 

HOUR 2: Opening and Saving Files

Working with Files

Saving Your Work

Undoing and Redoing

Using Version Cue

 

HOUR 3: Making Selections

The Selection Tools

The Select Menu

Selecting Large Areas

Advanced Selection Techniques

Cutting and Copying

Cropping

 

HOUR 4: Specifying Color Modes andColor Models

Color Models

From Models to Modes

Color Bit Depth and Why It Matters

 

HOUR 5: Adjusting Brightness and Color

Evaluating Your Color Adjustment Needs

Adjusting by Eye with Variations

Making Other Adjustments

Preserving the Original with Adjustment Layers

Understanding Color Channels

Making Spot Fixes

Converting Color to Black and White

 

HOUR 6: Choosing and Blending Colors

Foreground and Background Colors

Specifying Colors

Blending Modes

 

PART II: Painting with Pixels

 

HOUR 7: Drawing and Combining Shapes

Drawing and Editing Shapes

Combining and Editing Shapes

Creating Your Own Shapes

 

HOUR 8: Different Ways to Paint

Making the Most of Brushes

Using Other Painting Tools

Using the Focus Tools

 

HOUR 9: Advanced Painting Techniques

Simulating Different Media

Painting from Your History

Using a Pressure-Sensitive Tablet

 

PART III: Photoshop Power Tools

 

HOUR 10: Using Transformations

Resizing

Rotating

Flipping

Skewing, Distorting, and Changing Perspective

Using Free Transform

Warping and Liquifying

 

HOUR 11: Creating Layered Images

Using the Layers Panel

Working with Multiple Layers

 

HOUR 12: Using Masks

Applying Masks

Using Quick Mask

Working with Layer Masks

 

HOUR 13: Using Paths

Creating Paths

Editing Paths

Using Paths

 

PART IV: Fantastic Filters

 

HOUR 14: Getting Started with Filters

Using the Filter Gallery

Applying and Editing Smart Filters

Combining and Fading Filters

 

HOUR 15: Applying Filters to Improve Your Picture

Sharpen Filters

Blur Filters

Noise Filters

 

HOUR 16: Applying Filters to Turn Your Picture into Art

Artistic Filters

Brush Strokes Filters

Sketch Filters

 

HOUR 17: Applying Funky Filters

Distort Filters

Pixelate Filters

Stylize Filters

 

PART V: Using Text and Special Effects

 

HOUR 18: Adding Type to Pictures

Using the Type Tools

Setting Type

Creating Special Effects with Type

Checking Your Spelling

 

HOUR 19: Taking Advantage of a Few Useful Tricks

Creating Special Effects

Making Notes

Printing Contact Sheets

 

PART VI: Repairing and Enhancing Your Photos

 

HOUR 20: Creating Composite Images

Making One Picture from Two (or More)

Tricks to Make Compositing Easier

Putting the Pieces Together with Photomerge

 

HOUR 21: Repairing Black-and-White Photos

Easy Fixes

Cleaning Up a Picture, Step by Step

Applying Tints

Vignetting

 

HOUR 22: Repairing Color Photos

Color Retouching

Editing a Picture’s Content

 

PART VII: Publishing Your Pictures

 

HOUR 23: Printing and Publishing Your Images

Choosing a Printer

Preparing the Image

Printing the Page

Picking the Paper

Placing Photoshop Images in Other Programs

 

HOUR 24: Going Online with Photoshop

File Formats and File Size

Web Tricks

Sharing Your Photos Online

Creating Images for Phones and More

 

APPENDIX A: Photoshop CS4 Panel Quick Reference

3D Panel

Actions Panel

Adjustments Panel

Animation Panel

Brushes Panel

Channels Panel

Character Panel

Clone Source Panel

Color Panel

Histogram Panel

History Panel

Info Panel

Layer Comps Panel

Layers Panel

Masks Panel

Measurement Log Panel

Navigator Panel

Notes Panel

Paragraph Panel

Paths Panel

Styles Panel

Swatches Panel

Tool Presets Panel

 

APPENDIX B: A Quick Walk on the Extended Side

Working in 3D and Video

Taking Measurements, Counting Objects, and Analyzing Data

Exploring New Frontiers

 

Index