Pscc slides p4

Editor's Notes

• #2: This project has two primary focuses: color management and working with type. This layout could — and possibly should — be built in a page layout application rather than Photoshop. That being said, we created this design for several reasons: First, it is important for students to understand the issues related to designing for print-specific applications. The “book cover” layout reinforces the concept of page geometry with a more complex page grid that includes spine area and fold-over allowance. Second, combining the multiple elements in this composition introduces issues related to color models and color management. The information introduced in this project is foundational for understanding print design issues — both in this book and in a professional environment. Finally, Photoshop does include a number of tools for setting type. Although some designers prefer to do most (if not all) typesetting in a page-layout application, students still need to learn how to use the tools that are available in Photoshop. This book cover design includes the different kinds of type objects that were necessary to meet this goal.
• #3: Rather than opening an existing file (as in previous projects), this project introduces students to the issues related with creating a new file from scratch. Remember, it is important to consider the overall composition when determining a file’s dimensions. Although the cards you create in these exercises are only 7˝ x 5˝ when finished, the layout needs to incorporate sufficient bleed area.
• #4: When you create a new file, you can define the background contents of the canvas in the New dialog box. Remember: •Choosing White or Background Color results in a locked Background layer. •Choosing Transparent results in an empty Layer 1 rather than a Background layer. Regardless of which option you choose, you can change the active foreground and background color at any time. Simply click one of the swatches at the bottom of the Tools panel to open the Color Picker dialog box. You can define a color numerically, or use the Eyedropper cursor to sample a color from the document window. The current foreground color will be used when you use one of the painting tools, such as the Brush tool. The background color has no effect on the existing file unless you intentionally apply it in some way. Changing the background color in the Tools panel does not automatically change the color of the canvas. You can convert the regular Layer 1 to a Background layer by choosing Layer>Flatten Image. Even in this case, however, the background color is not applied to the new Background layer. You would have to use the Edit>Fill option and fill the active layer with the defined Background color.
• #5: You might have noticed that stretching a selection in regular transform mode affects the entire selection — which can negatively affect certain elements of the selected area. Photoshop also includes a sophisticated Content-Aware Scale option for scaling a photo without distorting important detail. When you stretch a selection in Content-Aware Scale mode (explained in depth on Pages 216-218), Photoshop identifies areas of detail and tries to protect those as much as possible Content-Aware Scaling can also protect an area based on an existing mask; only areas outside the mask will be stretched. You can also have the option to automatically protect skin tones. This protects people from being distorted — but be aware that it does not protect their clothes. To truly protect a person from unwanted distortion, create a mask over the required area (including their clothing).
• #6: Using the regular Move tool, you can click inside a selection marquee and drag to move the selected pixels to another position on the active layer. This method has several drawbacks: (1) The original selection becomes empty, and, (2) if you deselect the marquee, the moved pixels permanently obscure the underlying pixels on the same layer. To solve these problems, designers frequently copy a selection and paste it onto a new layer before moving it. Even using this solution, however, the edges of the moved selection are often easily detectable against the new surrounding pixels. The Content-Aware Move tool provides a new solution to the first and third problems. Rather than leave an empty space in place of the original selection area, Photoshop calculates new fill pixels based on the surrounding image. When you drop the moved pixels into a new location, Photoshop also performs a number of calculations that allow the moved pixels to blend smoothly into their new background. Even using the Content-Aware Move tool, the second problem is still an issue — the underlying pixels are permanently removed. You have to decide what you need to accomplish before determining what method best suits your needs.
• #7: Photoshop CC includes three powerful blur filters: Iris blur applies a blur around a defined point in a oval shape; the center point remains in focus. Tilt-Shift blur applies a blur in a linear manner, in both directions, away from defined “focus lines”. Pixels in between the two focus lines remain in focus. Field blur applies an overall blur to the image. These filters are applied and controlled in a separate interface, called the Blur Gallery, which is accessed by choosing any of the options at the top of the Filter>Blur submenu. Specific options for the three blur filters are explained in depth on Pages 221-226. The important thing to point out here is that Photoshop now includes a number of options for clicking and dragging on screen to dynamically change the settings of a specific option. This type of interface makes it much easier to experiment with the various options by simply clicking and dragging on the image rather than a separate dialog box with the image in the background. You will see this type of interface again when you use 3D features at the end of this project.
• #8: It is extremely important to understand that, when a job is output, type layers will be rasterized at the resolution defined in the file. To maintain the best-possible clarity in vector-based type, it is usually best to set type — especially long blocks of type such as the poem on the back cover — in a vector-based application (i.e., Illustrator or InDesign). However, we can’t ignore the Photoshop type tools, so we created Stage 2 of this book cover design to teach how to create and manage both point and area type layers. If this is your first exposure to digital typography, the vocabulary might seem foreign and sometimes confusing; understanding the terms on Page 227 can make your work far easier.
• #9: When working with a type layer, you can use the Move tool to reposition the entire type layer (including the orientation point). When a type layer is selected and the Move tool is active, you can enter Free Transform mode to show the type layer’s bounding box handles. Dragging those handles transforms the type, just as it would for a regular layer. You can change the layer’s height and/or width, rotate it, skew it, and even warp it; the only transformation not available for live type is the Custom warp style. After applying a transformation to a type layer, the type remains editable — called “live type”. If the Type tool is still active and the insertion point is flashing in a type layer, you can press the Command/Control key to show the type layer’s bounding box. As long as you hold down the modifier key, you can click inside the bounding box and drag to move the entire type layer, or drag one of the bounding box handles to transform the type layer.
• #10: A few basic type formatting options are available in the Control panel when the Type tool is active. A number of other common typesetting options are accessed in the Character and Paragraph panels. These can be opened in the Window menu, or using the Toggle button on the Control panel. Although Photoshop is not primarily intended to be a typesetting application, it does include enough options for relatively tight control over the appearance of both individual characters and entire paragraphs. When you create a new type layer, the type adopts the currently defined settings. After creating type, you can select specific characters or paragraphs to change their formatting. It is important to understand the difference between the two: •Characters are individual glyphs — letters, punctuation marks, etc. •Paragraphs are all characters that exist between two ¶ symbols (even if the paragraph exists on a single line). Both kinds of Photoshop type layers (point and area) can include multiple paragraphs. Each of those paragraphs can have different formatting options. It is important to understand that paragraph alignment for a point type object applies based on the position of the point where you clicked. If the point-type object has more than one paragraph, alignment still applies to each paragraph based on the origin point.
• #11: Advise students to be patient if they see a scroll bar with the message “Initializing…” after choosing the Type tool. It might take a few seconds for the application to process the available font information. After choosing the Type tool, you can use the Control panel to define basic type settings: font, size, paragraph alignment, and color. When you click to create a new type layer, the type will adopt the currently defined settings. Keep in mind that clicking with the Type tool creates a new type layer as long as the insertion point is not already flashing in an existing type layer. Simply clicking creates point type, which is oriented around the point where you click. After creating type, you can select any or all characters to change their formatting. For options that are not available in the Control panel, you can use the Character and Paragraph panels. (Click the Toggle button in the Control panel to open these panels, or simply choose them in the Window menu.)
• #12: If students are familiar with InDesign, you can associate area type with the type frames that are created in a page-layout file. Area type, created by clicking and dragging with the Type tool, is basically an invisible frame that contains type within a defined area. If more type exists in the story than fits in the area, a red overset text icon appears in the bottom-right corner of the area bounding box. Resizing a type area can be a confusing issue. The primary difference depends on which tool is active: When the Type tool is active and the insertion point is flashing within the type area, you can drag any of the type area bounding-box handles to resize the area. Text in the area reflows based on the new area dimensions; formatting is not affected. When the Move tool is active, you can drag the type area bounding box handles to transform the type within the area. In this case, the type is resized but remains “live”; the new size, skew, etc., that results from the transformation is reflected in the character settings. Tip: While the Type tool is active, you can press Command/Control to temporarily enable transformation for the active type area.
• #13: When you work with text, many of the same formatting options are often applied to different text elements throughout the story (such as headings). To make your work easier, you can now use styles in Photoshop to store and apply multiple formatting options in a single click. Styles can be created from scratch, or they can be imported from other files (using the Load options in the panel Options menu). Applying a style is as simple as clicking a name in the panel. You can edit a style definition at any time by double-clicking the style in the panel. Changes to the style automatically reflect in any text where the style is applied. Keep in mind that the first click in the double-click will apply the style to any selected text. You might want to first deselect all text objects before double-clicking to edit styles. A plus sign next to the applied style name means something other than the style definition has been applied. To remove the non-defined formatting from the selected text, you can choose the Clear Overrides option in the menu.
• #14: Digital type is naturally a vector-based element. Some editing options in Photoshop are not available for type layers or vector-based shape layers. Before you can apply filters or custom warp transformations (for example), the type layer first must be rasterized (or converted to a regular pixel-based layer) or converted to a Smart Object layer. If you intentionally rasterize a type layer, you can no longer edit the text. The resulting pixels in the shape of the letters can be treated as any other raster-based layer content. If you want to maintain live type but still be able to apply filters to the type layer, you can convert the type layer to a Smart Object layer. The type remains editable in the linked layer, but is treated as pixels in the primary composite file. As a vector element, live type (font) data is processed by the output device to output the type at the highest possible resolution. If you rasterize type, it will be output as any other raster element based on the standard principles of output resolution. Type edges might appear less crisp than if it were output as actual text.
• #15: Stage 4 of this project explores a number of options for manipulating layers to enable specific tasks, including enhancing visual impact. There are many times when you might want to protect the content of a layer, so you don’t inadvertently change pixels that you’ve spent time perfecting. The Photoshop Layers panel includes a number of options for locking certain aspects of a layer, or locking an entire layer. When Lock All is active, you can’t affect the contents of the locked layer. (You can reposition the layer in the layer stack by dragging it in the panel.) When Lock Position is active, you can still paint new pixels or change the appearance of existing pixels; you can’t use the Move tool to move the contents of the layer, or access the layer’s bounding box to transform the layer. When Lock Image Pixels is active, you can move or transform the existing pixels on the layer; you can’t affect the appearance of existing pixels or paint new ones. When Lock Transparent Pixels is active, you can move, transform, or paint existing pixels. You can’t add any new pixels to the transparent areas of the layer. If the Lock All option is active, the layer shows a black lock icon. If any of the other lock options are active, the affected layer shows a gray lock icon.
• #16: Working in three dimensions — the focus of Stage 5 — can be very difficult to understand for the traditional 2D artist. 3D editing is a separate specialty, typically requiring an entirely separate application and separate study in the field of modeling. Although this book does not claim to teach every detail of 3D modeling, it does provide a foundation for the different options that are available directly in Photoshop. Important note: If you don’t have at least 512 MB vRAM and OpenGL video capability, you will not be able to take advantage of Photoshop’s 3D editing capabilities. Before you start exploring the Photoshop 3D tools, you should understand a few different terms: •2D art is based on the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) axes. In 3D, the Z axis adds dimensionality or depth. •A mesh (or wireframe) is the skeleton of a 3D object. •Materials are the surface coverings of 3D objects. •Lighting affects the way highlights and shadows are cast on a 3D object. •Camera position affects the point of view, or the way the 3D object appears in the document window.
• #17: The 3D interface can be overwhelming at first until you are more comfortable with the terms and options relating to 3D modeling. The exercises in this project (Pages 254-267) were specifically designed to familiarize you with the various elements of the 3D workspace.
• #18: The final exercise of this project explores one of the ways for experimenting with different versions of a document, without the need to save multiple different files. The built-in Layer Comps to Files script makes it easy to export each variation at one time. In this project, layer comps are used to show how the file would look with a solid color overlay. You could just as easily add more animals to the map (for example), and then create comps to show different animals in different versions. It is important to realize that layer comps store settings related to layers — their position, visibility, opacity, and visibility of effects. Layer comps do NOT store the actual settings of applied layer effects, which means you can’t use layer comps to show different filter settings applied to the same layer. In this case, you would need to use duplicate layers with different settings; you could then show or hide the layers with different settings and use layer comps to show the different settings.