Week 2 Discussion Post

September 3, 2014

Instructions

Whether you are a PhotoShop newbie or experienced user, you can always learn new tips/tricks when it comes to this complex, dynamic system. Even if you have used the system for years, one little setting can change the whole way you use a tool.

After reading Chapter 1 and watching the assigned videos for the week, answer the following:

  • What are 3 new items you have learned about from these materials?
  • What are 2 features you would like to learn more about in this class? And in what capacity –(for work, for personal photo editing etc)?

Remember to write in complete sentences, use images to back-up any points you make, and comment on at least 2 classmates’ posts.

Ideas to post about:

  • Use of brackets to decrease/increase brush sizes (Figures 1.53 and 1.54)
  • Mobile document presents (Figure 1.5)
  • Selection Tools – the example of changing only the color of the object selected seemed very cool (Figure 1.44)

Things to learn more about

  • Healing brush
  • Automation / Actions

While I’ve used Photoshop since version 5 more than 15 years ago, I know there’s a ton more for me to learn. Reviewing the text and video, I found the following features helpful for my day-to-day work:

Marquee Tools – the book highlighted the opportunity to use the marquee selection tools to select a part of an image to directly change that selected area. The example provided was an elliptical selection that was then recolored, but I realized the opportunities would be endless, especially with the Magic Wand and Lasso tools to make broad changes to specific selections.

Mobile Document Presets – we launched mobile ecommerce and a new mobile website layout & design last year. Additionally, we’ve migrated the management of content and images/details for our park mobile apps within our content management system. The opportunity to use the standard mobile presets when initiating a design, or even comp/mock-up work, is a great new feature.

Use of Brackets to Increase/Decrease Stroke Size – I’m constantly using trial and error to find the right size brush/stroke. The opportunity to adjust on the fly without having to navigate back up to the selection bar might seem small, but I could see this as a huge time saver as I’m working through an assignment.

For me, the two features I’m most interested in learning about are the Healing & Spot Healing Brushes and Automation/Actions.

http://www.slidetodigital.co.uk/images/plane-example-dirty-big.jpg

I was first introduced to the Healing Brush in PS 6 or 7, but the Spot Healing Brush is new to me. This tool was especially valuable when working with scans from negatives, but I’d be interested to see what other uses it might have.

Automation/Actions, while I used once upon a time in CS 1.1 for creating web galleries, I now can see the value in having to adjust and resize the same image into multiple formats for desktop, tablet, mobile, and various app resolutions. The ability to make the changes automate, especially when working with images from a photo shoot that might all have the same color saturation adjustment, glare, etc., would be extremely beneficial.

Overall, I’m interested in learning more features and functions, especially since I’m jumping more than five versions of the application. Time-saving actions are great and definitely beneficial when working through projects on deadline.

Post Tags:

Adobe, Healing Brush, Photoshop, VIC5325,