Illustrator: The absolute first thing you should know about Illustrator is that it is use to create vector graphics. Vector graphics are very different than the raster graphics that you typically create in Photoshop (It's true that Photoshop has some limited vector capabilities, but no where near you can achieve in Illustrator). Instead of being comprised of static individual pixels, vector graphics are mathematically drawn by your computer and can therefor be drastically changed with absolute zero loss in quality. The first thing that you are likely to notice when you start using Illustrator is that there is a whole lot of stuff going on when you select and edit something. This is something that lots of new users tend to hate right off the bat because it looks confusing, but in reality all of the information and controls that Illustrator throws at you are extremely helpful. The Bounding Box: For starters, whenever you select anything, you will see its bounding box. This is an intuitive feature that you should instantly understand, the part that's not intuitive In Photoshop, you only see an object's bounding when you are in the midst of a transform. In Illustrator, you see the the bounding box whenever you have a complete object selected and the active tool is the Direct Selection Tool (V). If you have multiple objects selected, the bounding box will appear around all of them, allowing them to move or transform them together. The same rules apply as you are used to in Photoshop: hold shift to scale uniformly, throw in the alt/option key to scale from the center, etc. Smart Guides: Smart guides are the major thing that bugs many newbies and pros alike. These are the little bits of information and outlines that pop up as you hover over, move or transform something. They may seem like they are just getting in your way but try to get used to them and use them as much as possible, you will soon start to see their value. Smart guides allow you to size objects on the fly using precise measurements and align whatever you have selected with points and line from other objects around it. They make it really easy to create complex layouts very quickly and are much easier than "eyeballing" things. You also of course have a full set of alignment tools for these types of operations: Layers Are Different: When switching from illustrator, it is important to note the conceptual changes in the workflow. Despite the fact that the two applications share so many features it is frequently the case that the feature is used in a very different way. Layers are an excellent example of this. In Photoshop, every piece gets its own layer. In fact, an individual object is really defined by the layer it is on. So, for example, instead of having a layer for every item, it would be pretty typical to create one layer that holds all your various text items, another for your vector graphics, and possibly even a third for your imported Photoshop art. The colored square indicates the color of that layer. For convenience, the bounding box and other popup graphics are color-coded based on layers, that way when you select something you can instantly see which layer it belongs to. C.R.A.P: Contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity The Pathfinder is Awesome: Lets face it, drawing on a computer is hard. Even simple shades can be difficult to create if you are not a master of the Pen Tool. As with most professional vector software, Illustrator makes creating complex shaped much easier through the use of boolean operations found in the path finder palette. You create as many art boards as you want in a single document. They can even be different sizes. Functionally, there are a lot of benefits to using multiple art boards within a single document instead of creating simply multiple documents. You can easily move/ copy objects back fourth and print or export selected artboards all at once. Photoshop: (ctrl, alt and/or shift keys mainly used) 1. Open each image (not place it) drag with the selection arrow, one image into another. 2. Lasso (3) Tool = making selections - list what each one does 3. Image/ Canvas size -- you can change this, see it, etc. (72 dpi = low resolution, 300+ = High resolution) 4. Layers - each image you drag in, gets its own layer; Lock it, turn on/off, change order - Layers on top are above. 5. History - Lets go back many steps in time. 6. Selections; Magic Wand, Marquee, Quick Mask, etc. 7. Adjust scanned or digital camera images for better screen display or printing. Photoshop lets you easily change the file format of images to use as email attachments, on web pages, or in printed documents such as brochures and newsletters. 8. Edit photographs, especially those taken with a digital camera or digitized with a scanner. Photoshop becomes an electronic darkroom. 9. (11-14) Because it is so complex, there are often several ways to do the same task. Photoshop Elements is less expensive, consumer level graphics editing application. Elements is terrific for simple image editing, but does not have nearly the range of capabilities as the full Photoshop application. - Button to display palette in two columns - Gripper bar - Move Tool (v) - Rectangular Marquee Tool (m) - Lasso Tool (L) - Quick Selection Tool (w) - Crop Tool (c) - Slice Tool (k) - Spot Healing Brush Tool (j) - Brush Tool (b) - Clone Stamp Tool (s) - History Brush Tool (y) - Eraser Tool (e) - Gradient Tool (g) - Blur Tool (r) - Dodge Tool (0) - Pen Tool (P) - Horizontal Type Tool (T) - Path Selection Tool (A) - Rectangle Tool (U) - Notes Tool (N) - Eyedropper Tool (I) - Hand Tool (H) - Zoom Tool (Z) - Switch Fragment and Background Colors (X) - Default Foreground and Background Colors (D) - Set Foreground Color/ Set Background Color - Edit Quick Mask Mode BMP - Bitmap EPS - Encapsulated GIF - Graphics Interchange Format JPG or JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group PDF - Portable Document PSD - Photoshop Document RAW - Photoshop Raw TIF or TIFF - Tagged Image File Format
Modifier Keys Windows = ctrl, alt, and/or shift keys Mac = Apple, Command, control, and/or shift keys Alt + click to do certain functions, click with mouse and keys
TONAL RANGE or Dynamic Range of an image is determined by the way its pixels are distributed throughout the image .
How many light, dark, or medium level pixels are in it
How much contrast is in the image
If it is light or dark
If the image was captured with an incorrect exposure
Pixels range in brightness from 0 (Black) to 255 (white)
HIGHLIGHTS 205 - 255 MIDTONES 65 - 204 SHADOWS 0 - 64 *Properly balanced images had pixels in all three ares but some images are meant to look mainly light or dark due to lighting Flat Image = pixels are in the midtone range Too Light = lacking shadows Too Dark = lacking highlights Special Tools - Step #3
Spot Healing Brush Tool
A. Skin tones are a challenge because the gentle curves of a face capture light with varying highlights and shadows. B. This tool works much better than the clone stamp tool. C. The pixels are first applied and then blended into the surrounding area. D. This tool is a simplified version of the Healing Brush tool, don't get them mixed up. E. This tool works well for things like dust, blemishes, etc. It is a quick one click spot remover. F. Be aware, it is very sensitive to sudden changes in tone or areas of sharp contrast. (Best to use a duplicate layer) G. You and your partner - Post all of the pics you improved to your website - JPEG H. Turn in to me on the flash drive - save as high resolution - TIFF
LAYERS: 1. The background layer - when you open an image, the single layer you see in the background. Made of pixels, it has special features. *always is the bottom level of the document. 2. Opacity - the percent to which a layer hides the pixels of those beneath it. The background is completely 100% opaque. 3.The move tool - can be used to move any of the layers. 4. Blend Modes - Determine how the visible pixels of each layer combine with the layers beneath it. 5. Altering any layer such as erasing part of it will show the layer underneath it. 6. Layers - Panel has create, hide, display, duplicate, group, link, lock, delete. The panel displays the "stacking order" from top to bottom of all layers. Casa Home Site: 6 photos, school logo, multi colored, 9 links, 3 paragraphs at the bottom, bottom address bar, cal/ news/ links. 8.