Assignment 2: Making a Scene - Layers Are Your Friend
Digital Imaging: A Photoshop Workshop
Teacher: Ken Kimura
email: ken_kimura at lsrhs dot net
telephone: (978)443-9961 XT2221
Learning Objectives:
- Working with Layers Including:
- Rearranging layers
- Turning the visibility of a layer on and off
- Locking the transparency of a layer
- Changing the opacity of a layer
- Renaming a layer
- deleting a layer
- Filling selections with the foreground color
- Working with gradients
- Using the "Clouds filter"
- Option-dragging
- Moving a selection
Assignment:
Create a scene using four or more layers; including background, middle ground and foreground.
- Launch Photoshop and create a new document:
- File menu> New...
- From the preset dropdown menu, select 800 x 600
- Name it A2_[lastnamefirst initial]
- If the default layer is a background layer in italics, convert it to a transparent layer.
- Double click on the layer name “Background”
- A dialog box asks you what you want to name the layer. Click OK.
- Select all the white "stuff" - Select menu > All (Apple A)
- Delete all the white "stuff" - delete key (the big one)
Painting Selections
- Use a selection tool (like the Marquee tool) to make a selection
- Fill the selection with "paint."
- Choose the foreground color you want to use
- Option-Delete - hold down the option key and the delete key
- If you make mistakes that you can easily select, select it and use the delete key (it’s much faster than using the eraser).
- If you're painting things that are in front of other things, think about how to best make use of multiple layers.
Option Drag Duplication
- Using a selction tool (like the Marquee tool) to select some painted area.
- Switch to the Move tool
- Option-drag: While holding down the option key, click and drag the selection to a new location. This will make a new copy in a new location while leaving the original copy intact - all on the same layer.
- If you do this again while skipping step one (making a selection), your new copy will be on a new layer.
Using the Render Clouds Filter
- Create a new layer - Click the new layer icon (the post-it note) at the bottom of the layer palette.
- Fill this layer completely with any color - Select All > Option/Delete
- In your tool bar, set the foreground color to a darkish sky blue - click on the foreground square to set it's color
- In your tool bar, set your background color to an almost blackish blue - of the two colored squares, click on the square that is behind.
- Apply the Render Clouds filter - Filter menu > Render > Clouds
Using the Gradient Tool
- The Gradient Tool can be found in nested with the paint bucket tool.
- The Gradient Tool has two main section as options.
- The left side is for editing how the colors are used in the gradient.
ie. you can choose foreground color to background color, foreground color to transparent, or you can create a custom gradient with multiple colors.
- The right side is for editing the gradient "pattern,"
ie. does the gradient radiate outwards, does it rotate around, does it fade in a linear way, etc.
- To apply the gradient, click and drag the mouse across your image
Edited 9-13-06 |
