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PHOTOSHOP BASICS



If you are beginners, this is all you need to know about Adobe Photoshop to follow my tutorials :

 

THE BRUSH TOOL


Select the Brush tool in the tool box.


The options for the Brush tool will be displayed in the Options Bar at the top of the screen :

Click on the Brush Preset Picker (1) :

You can change the width (master diameter) and the hardness of the brush

You can directly select the brush you want : hard round brush of 38 px (3) or soft round brush of 100 px (4) for example.

Choose the opacity  (2)

By clicking (5) you can replace the existing brushes with other brush sets

By clicking (6) you can set the pressure of your pen if you have a pressure-sensitive digitizing tablet.

Now you have to choose a color at the bottom of the tool box.

Click on the foreground color (red in the example) to choose the color you want.
You can directly tape the number of the color in this box that appears.

 

OTHER TOOLS



Eraser tool : It erases whatever information wherever you click and drag it. You can set the width and the opacity of the eraser in the Option Bar.

Smudge tool : The smudge tool simulates the actions of dragging a finger through wet paint. You can set the width and the strength of the eraser in the Option Bar.

Lasso tool : Use this tool to select what you want. Double-click to close the selection.

Move tool : Use this tool to move a layer or a selection and place it at the right place. You can hold the Shift key to move vertically or horizontally

Gradient tool : Use this tool to create nice color fill with smooth color changing effects

 

LAYERS PANEL


(1) You can change the blending mode of the selected layer

(2) You can change the opacity of the layer

(3) This option confines editing to the opaque portions of the layer, transparent pixels are locked.

(4) By clicking here, you change the visibility of the layer

 

(1) Add a new adjustment layer

(2) Add a new layer

(3) Delete a layer


Double-click on the icon of the adjustment layer to set the options

 

In the options of the adjustment layer gradient map, click here to edit the gradient  :

A new box appears :


Then click anywhere under the gradient to add a color

Click on the color (1) to choose it

Click (2) to choose an other color

Enter a position in (3) or by dragging the color (1) left to right

In my tutorials I give a number and a position for each color.

 

Some other tips

To create a new document : Files/new

To apply a Gaussian Blur : Filter/Blur/Gaussian Blur

To merge layers : select them and Ctrl+E


If you need some other advice, feel free to ask me ;-)


Now, you can start painting or retouching with my easy Photoshop tutorials (click on the links below) :

- Painting tutorials videos

- Drawing tutorials (text and pics)

- Photoretouching tutorials