2. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started
Objective: You will learn about the basic tools that are often
used in Adobe Photoshop.
Requirements: You must have Adobe Photoshop CS3 or higher.
(The interface is not exactly same for older versions)
3. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 1
Step-by-Step
Below is the user interface for Adobe
Photoshop CS5.1 and is relatively similar
to a few of the previous versions.
4. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 2
Step-by-Step
To get started, lets make an empty canvas
for you to edit on. Click on File -> New...
5. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 3
Step-by-Step
A window will appear on your screen like the one in the picture
above. Use the same parameters as displayed in the picture,
although you may use your own name for the file. (500 x 500 pixels
with a resolution of 72. Use RGB Color affiliated with 8 bit.
Background contents should be white.)
6. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 4
Step-by-Step
Now that you have an empty canvas to edit on, you are able to
make whatever you want. Before you do so it's a good idea to learn
what each tool is and what it is used for, so let's do that now.
7. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 5
Step-by-Step
The image to the right is the main toolbar for Adobe Photoshop and
will be used most often when creating graphics. Experiment with
these tools often to get used to what they do and how they work.
Below all of the tools is your color selector. The color in the front is
your foreground color, and the color in the back is your background
color. The small icon next to the arrows will put your colors at a
default black/white foreground/background colors. The small
arrows icon will swap the active background and foreground colors
with each other.
8. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 6
Step-by-Step
Getting used to each of the tools will help you create your graphics
quicker and more efficiently. Let's use the basic Brush tool. Click on
the brush tool, and draw anything you wish. For this example, I am
going to draw a smiley face. (You can right click on the canvas with
the brush tool active to change the size, shape, and stiffness of the
brush. Experiment to get results you like.)
9. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 7
Step-by-Step
Now that you know how the brush tool works, you might want to
learn how to change the colors. Double click on the active
foreground color and select any color that you wish. Get used to
how this color picking tool works for future projects. For our
example, I will select a blue color.
10. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 8
Step-by-Step
Try drawing like you have done before. Your newly selected color
should now be in use with the brush tool. For this example I will draw
a square around my previous drawing. (tip: If you hold in shift while
drawing, you can make a perfectly straight line.)
11. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 9
Step-by-Step
You should now know how to properly use the brush tool in Adobe
Photoshop. Let's move on to another basic tool known as the "Paint
Bucket Tool". Select the Paint Bucket Tool now. If you cannot find it,
it is located under the eraser tool. If you see the Gradient tool, Right
click it and select the Paint Bucket Tool
12. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 10
Step-by-Step
Select a new color (following step 7 again) and click anywhere on
the canvas to fill it with that color. The Paint Bucket Tool is used to
color large areas.
13. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 11
Step-by-Step
Now we want to select a color that we already used. Let’s select the
first color that we used to draw with. In this example, I want to select
black from my image. Select the Eyedropper Tool and click on the
first used color that you drew with. My example is the color black.
14. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 12
Step-by-Step
Try drawing with the color that you just selected. If you are drawing
with the color that you selected, then you used the Eyedropper Tool
correctly.
15. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 13
Step-by-Step
Now that you know how to draw and select colors in Adobe
Photoshop, let’s erase what you have done to learn one more tool.
Click on the Eraser Tool, and then Right click on the canvas. Choose
a 100px sized brush, and brush over everything you drew.
16. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 14
Step-by-Step
If you did this correctly, you should now have a blank canvas again.
Let’s learn one more tool. Click on the Type Tool located near the
bottom of the toolbar.
17. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 15
Step-by-Step
Once you select the Type Tool, click anywhere on the canvas and
type something. For this example, I will type “test”.
18. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 16
Step-by-Step
With the type tool still active, try highlighting the text you typed by
holding left-click, and dragging your mouse over the text. With the
text being highlighted, we can change it’s color. Using the color
picking tool as you did previously, choose any color to change your
text to. For this example, I will change the color to blue.
19. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 17
Step-by-Step
You can now click “ok” to apply the new color to the text. To see the
effect, deselect the text by clicking anywhere in the canvas with the
type tool active. (tip: you can edit the font, size, and properties of
text on the toolbar at the top of the Adobe Photoshop window.)
20. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Step 18
Step-by-Step
To move the text around the canvas, hold down left click anywhere
outside of the text and drag your mouse in different directions. Try this
now. In this example, I moved the text from the middle of the screen,
to the top left corner of the canvas.
21. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Completed
Conclusion
This concludes Lesson 1, and you should now be able to use the most
common tools in Adobe Photoshop on your own. You should now
know how to do the following:
• Create a new canvas
• Use the Brush tool
• Use the Paint Bucket Tool
• Use the Eye Dropper Tool
• Use the Eraser tool
• Use the type tool
• Change sizes of brushes
• Change colors of Photoshop Elements
• Understand the interface of Adobe Photoshop
22. Adobe Photoshop
Lesson 1 – Getting Started Review
On-Your-Own
Now that you know some of the basics of Adobe Photoshop, try the
following project on your own. You can revert back to the lesson if
you need help.
1. Create a 550 x 250 canvas for your project
2. Draw a blue square, and fill it in with any color of your choice
3. Using a different color and brush size, draw a triangle inside the square
4. Place text under your drawings reading “Geometry”
5. Using the same color as your square, place text under “Geometry”
that reads “Square”
6. Move the text “Square” to the top right corner of the canvas
7. Change the font and size of “Square” to anything you like
This concludes the exercise for Getting Started. Move on to Lesson 2 when you
feel you have a strong understanding of Lesson 1.
