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Create The Project Document
1. Download the course assets by clicking the links below. Save them in a convenient location on your computer.
1.1. Open Photoshop.
From the initial Photoshop start screen, you have the option to view several small tutorials on how to use various aspects of the program and its interface. I recommend that you take some time after you have completed this course to explore the built-in Photoshop tutorials to learn even more about the functionality this fantastic application has to offer.
1.2. Click Open to open an existing document, or select ‘Open’ from the Photoshop file menu.
1.3. Navigate to where you saved the project files and open the document named ‘scene.jpg.’
1.4. Select ‘Save As’ from the Photoshop file menu and give the new project a name, for example, ‘Photoshop Project FDI21.psd’. Choose a destination folder, and, very importantly, change the file format to ‘Photoshop.’ Then click save.
To minimize the risk of losing work in a computer or application crash, it is good to save changes to your project document after each step in the workflow.
2. The Photoshop Workspace.
The workspace refers to specific layouts of the Photoshop interface elements that are optimized for typical workflows. In this tutorial, we will be using the default ‘Essentials’ workspace. To ensure that we have the correct workspace selected:
2.1. Click ‘Window’ in the Photoshop menu and choose ‘Workspace.’ Select ‘Essentials’ if it is not already selected.
2.2. If desired, select ‘Lock Workspace’ to prevent it from being modified accidentally.
The Photoshop interface is determined by the chosen workspace configuration and consists of several panels, a toolbar, and other interface elements. In this tutorial, I will reference the setup in Adobe Photoshop 2021, but please be advised that the user interface may be revised and changed in future versions of Photoshop.
The Document Window
In the center of the screen, you’ll find the document window, which shows you the document you are working on. It updates in real-time as you make modifications and edits.
Please note that you can UNDO any edit in Photoshop by holding down Command + Z on a Mac and Control + Z on a PC.
The Toolbar
On the left side of the screen, you’ll see the Photoshop toolbar. In this tutorial, we will use the following tools:
- Move tool
- Quick selection tool
- Crop tool
- Spot healing brush tool
- Brush tool
- Eyedropper tool
- Rectangle tool
- Horizontal type tool
The tools are organized into groups. If you hover your mouse over a tool button for a second, you’ll see a tooltip with additional information about the tool. If you click and hold down the mouse pointer on the small triangle in the bottom right corner of the tool button, you’ll see a flyout menu with all tools in that group so you can change the active tool if you need to.
This tutorial will work on non-destructive image editing, so we will never use the eraser tool. More on non-destructive image editing later.
The Options Bar
Situated along the top of the Photoshop interface is the ‘Options Bar.’ This is a contextual menu that changes depending on which Photoshop tool has been selected.
The Document Tabs
Just below the Options Bar sits the document tabs. New documents are loaded into tabs so you can quickly switch between them without having to swap windows.
The Panels Area
In the default workspace configuration, the right side of the document window contains a set of three panels. From top to bottom, they are:
- The Color Panel
- The Properties Panel
- The Layers Panel
The Layers Panel
The Layers Panel is the central feature in Photoshop. Everything we’ll be doing revolves around the use of layers to accomplish our work, so you may want to adjust the proportions of each panel to maximize the size of the Layers Panel specifically. You can resize a panel by clicking and dragging the dividers between the panels up or down.
Below the Layers Panel is an essential set of functions that we’ll use extensively in this course. Because the icons themselves are tiny and placed right at the screen's bottom edge, they can be hard to see at first. Just make a note of where they are at this point so you can find them when you need them later.
The Photo Editing Workflow
3. Straighten and Crop.
The first step I like to take in the photo editing workflow is to straighten and crop my source image.
3.1. Click the Crop Tool in the tools bar.
3.2. Since we are working with non-destructive editing techniques, ensure that the ‘Delete cropped pixels’ option is unchecked.
3.3. Click the Straighten option in the options bar. (4th from left.)
3.4. With Straighten selected, find a line in the image that should be horizontal and drag along the line to create the straightening path.
3.5. When you are satisfied that your image has been straightened, click the ‘Commit current crop operation’ checkmark in the options menu.
3.6. Select the Crop Tool again to bring up the crop frame.
3.7. Hold down the SHIFT key to preserve the image’s aspect ratio and click and drag from either corner of the crop frame to crop the image to your liking.
3.8 When you are satisfied with your crop, click the ‘Commit current crop operation’ checkmark in the options menu.
3.9 Press Command + S on a Mac or Control + S on a PC to save your changes.
4. Color Editing With Adjustment Layers
Non-destructive editing allows us to make edits to an image in Photoshop without actually altering the source image itself. This is accomplished by using an adjustment layer on top of the source layer.
The photo we are working with is under-exposed, so the first thing we’re going to do is adjust the white balance and the exposure using an adjustment layer.
4.1. Select image layer 0 and double click where it says layer 0. Give the layer a descriptive name, for example, ‘scene.’
4.2. Select the scene layer by clicking on it and then click the ‘Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer’ button (4th from right) at the bottom of the Layers Panel and choose ‘Exposure.’
4.3. Adjust the white balance in the image by choosing the third eyedropper tool from the properties panel directly above the layers panel and click on an area of the image that should be white.
4.4. Move the Exposure slider in the properties panel to the right to increase the exposure further until the desired exposure has been achieved. (+1.5 seems about right).
4.5. View the before and after effect by toggling the eye button associated with the new adjustment layer in the Layers Panel.
By default, an adjustment layer affects every layer below it in the stack. In a simple project with just one source layer and a couple of adjustment layers, that is what we want. However, in more complex projects where you work with composites consisting of multiple source layers, you need to decide which source layer an adjustment layer modifies. Thankfully, Photoshop provides for this through a function called Clipping Mask.
We will work with more than one source layer in this project, so we have to tie the adjustment layer we just made to the scene source layer.
4.6. Control-Click on a Mac or Right Click on a PC on the exposure adjustment layer and select “Create Clipping Mask” from the popup menu to tie it to the first source layer below.
Next, we will work on vibrance and saturation to make the colors in the scene stand out more.
4.7. Select the scene layer by clicking on it and then click the ‘Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer’ button (4th from right) at the bottom of the Layers Panel and choose ‘Vibrance.’
4.8. Move the Vibrance and Saturation sliders in the properties panel to the right to achieve the desired effect.
4.9. If not already enabled, Control-Click on a Mac or Right Click on a PC on the vibrance adjustment layer and select “Create Clipping Mask” from the popup menu to tie it to the first source layer below.
4.10 Press Command + S on a Mac or Control + S on a PC to save your changes.
5. Spot Healing
The last set of modifications we’re going to make to the main scene in this workflow is to clean up any unwanted or distracting details in the image. For this, we are going to use the Spot Healing Brush tool.
5.1. Select the image layer (scene) from the Layers Panel.
5.2. Click and hold the Healing Brush tool button in the Photoshop tools bar and select Spot Healing Brush Tool.
5.3. Click on Brush Options (third from left) in the top Options Bar and set the brush diameter appropriately. (For example, 63 pixels).
5.4. Zoom in on the image to see details better. (Command + Plus on a Mac, and Control + Plus on a PC).
5.5. Paint over the details you wish to remove from the image. Repeat this step as many times as needed.
5.6. Zoom out to see the entire image and evaluate your result. (Command + Minus on a Mac, and Control + Minus on a PC).
5.7 Press Command + S on a Mac or Control + S on a PC to save your changes.
The Compositing Workflow.
Compositing Part 1: Layer Masking.
The second workflow that I’ll be covering in this tutorial focuses on compositing using layer masks. This is a compelling feature of Photoshop that is used extensively. The main scene that we are working with, the sky, is dull and white. To fix that, we’re going to replace it with a new sky to serve as the background in our project. Since we are working only with non-destructive editing techniques, the source photo will not be altered by applying a new sky.
We begin by opening our next source file, which contains a lovely blue sky with some clouds.
6.1. Choose Open from the Photoshop File Menu. Navigate to where you saved the project files and open the document named ‘sky.jpg.’
6.2. The image ‘sky.jpg’ opens in a new tab—press Command + A on a Mac or Control + A on a PC to select it. Then press Command + C on a Mac or Control + C on a PC to copy it.
6.3. Switch back to the first tab and paste the image into the project we are working on by pressing Command + V on a Mac or Control + V on a PC.
6.4. Select the new source layer and double click on the layer name. Give the layer a descriptive name, for example, sky.
6.5. Photoshop automatically creates a new layer above the currently selected layer. Since we want the sky to be the background in our scene, it needs to sit behind or below the other layers. To move the layer Sky to the bottom of the stack, simply click on it and drag it to the bottom.
We are now ready to create a layer mask on the scene layer to hide the sky and let the new sky below shine through. There are a couple of different ways to achieve this. This tutorial will demonstrate how to do it using the Quick Selection Tool and the Brush Tool. Let’s start with the Quick Selection Tool.
6.7. With the selection active, go to the row of layer functions at the bottom of the Layers panel and click the button ‘Add Layer Mask.’ (5th from the right.)
Take a close look at the new layer mask thumbnail next to the scene layer thumbnail. As you can see, it has a white area on top and a black area below. Layer masks in Photoshop work off of a simple principle that black conceals and white reveals. This means that what is masked by black in the scene layer will be hidden from view allowing the layer below to show through, and what is masked by white will show normally.
Create or Edit a Mask Using the Brush Tool.
You can also use the Brush Tool to create or modify the mask. All you have to remember is that areas painted black will be concealed, and areas painted white will be revealed. Let me demonstrate how it works by editing the mask we have already created for the scene layer.
6.9. Click on the mask thumbnail in the scene layer to select it.
6.10. Click on the Foreground/Background color picker in the Photoshop toolbar and set the foreground color to black and the background color to white. OR simply press D on the keyboard to set the foreground to white and the background to black. Press X to swap the colors, so the foreground is black.
6.11. Click and hold the Brush Tool/Pen Tool button in the Photoshop tools bar and make sure Brush Tool is selected.
6.12. Click on the Brush Tool Preset Picker in the Photoshop Options Bar and set size and hardness to the desired values.
6.13. Find an element in the image that you want to hide, and add it to the mask by painting over it with black.
6.14. If you accidentally painted over something by mistake, Press X on the keyboard to swap the foreground and background colors and paint over it again with white to bring it back into view.
When you are happy with the mask's appearance, use the Photoshop Move Tool to situate the sky how you want it.
6.15. Click on the sky layer to select it, then choose the Photoshop Move Tool and reposition the sky as desired.
You can also apply adjustment layers to the sky layer if you want to bring out the colors in the sky even further. Follow the instructions under step 4 above to add vibrance to it.
We have now completed the background and middle ground of our image. It is time to move on to the foreground.
6.16. Press Command + S on a Mac or Control + S on a PC to save your changes.
Compositing Part 2: How to Isolate a Subject From the Background.
Isolating subjects from the background is a frequently performed task in Photoshop. In this tutorial, we are going to use this technique to add a person to our scene. Let us begin by opening the third and final source document to Photoshop.
7.1. Choose Open from the Photoshop File Menu. Navigate to where you saved the project files and open the document named ‘subject.jpg.
7.2. Select the Quick Selection Tool from the Photoshop tools menu and drag across a portion of the background to get the selection started. Note that it is much easier to select that which isn’t going to be used than what is, so that’s why I choose to select the background rather than the subject itself.
7.3. Hold down the SHIFT key on the keyboard and select new background areas until only the subject is outlined.
We will return to this image in step 10 below, so keep the tab open for now. Now we will move the image and its new associated mask into the main project window.
7.6. To ensure that the subject ends up at the top of the project layers stack, quickly switch to the Photoshop Project FDI21 tab and make sure all layers are deselected by clicking on the layers panel background. Then switch back to the subject.jpg tab.
7.7. Click on the Layer 0 thumbnail and drag it to the Photoshop Project FDI21 tab. Wait until the tab opens and move your cursor to the document window before you release. This will move the image along with its mask intact into the project.
7.8. With the Photoshop Move Tool selected, click and drag the image into place. Adhering to the rule of thirds from photography, we want to create some depth in the scene by placing our subject to a side in the image.
7.9. With the Photoshop Move Tool selected, hold down the SHIFT key on the keyboard and click and drag from a corner of the selection to scale the image up or down. Then reposition it in the scene as needed.
7.10. Press Command + S on a Mac or Control + S on a PC to save your changes.
The Text Visualization Workflow
We are almost done with the project. What remains is to add some informative text to it. For this purpose, we will use the Horizontal Type Tool in Photoshop to create a re-editable type layer. While you could place text directly on the image, I wouldn’t recommend doing so in this particular instance. The reason is that the background is saturated with too many colors for us to create enough contrast and clarity to make the text readable. To get around this problem, we can create a separate contrast-enhancing background element for the text to sit on. For this, we are going to use the Rectangle Tool in the Photoshop toolbar.
The Rectangle Tool
8.1. Click and hold the Shape Tools button in the Photoshop toolbar and choose the Rectangle Tool.
8.2. Place the cursor in the document window and drag down and to the right to draw a simple rectangle.
8.3. Click on either one of the small circles inside the rectangle corners and drag inward to convert to rounded corners if desired.
With the rectangle layer selected, the Properties panel lets you edit the appearance of the shape, such as changing the fill color, adding a stroke, and more. In this example, we are not going to make any changes to the appearance here, though. Instead, we will adjust the opacity of the layer itself.
8.4. Select the rectangle layer in the layers panel and change the opacity to 40%.
We now have a more uniformly colored background for our text, making it much easier to read.
8.5. Press Command + S on a Mac or Control + S on a PC to save your changes.
The Horizontal Type Tool
9. Click on the Horizontal Type Tool in the Photoshop toolbar and go to the options menu above to choose Font Face, Font Type, Font Size, and Font Color.
9.1. You can select a type color that is already present in the image if you click on the color picker (3rd from right) in the options bar and use Photoshop’s eyedropper tool to select a color from anywhere in the image.
9.2. Click somewhere on the background element we just created to make a new re-editable type layer.
Photoshop automatically adds filler text to the new type layer so you can preview your font style and color choices. Since this text layer is re-editable, you can always return later and make edits to the text or its appearance.
9.3. With the Re-editable Type Layer selected, click anywhere on the sample text and press Command + A on a Mac and Control + A on a PC to select the whole text. Replace it by typing in your text.
9.4. Press Command + A on a Mac or Control + A on a PC to select the text you just entered and change its alignment within the layer if desired. Go to the Options bar and chose an alignment option (5th from the right.)
9.5. Click the Checkmark in the options menu if applicable to commit the changes you made.
9.6. Switch to the Move Tool in the Photoshop Tools Bar and reposition the text as needed. Photoshop presents you with several alignment guides to help you position your text just right.
The last thing we will do for this project is to add a simple stroke to the text to make it stand out a bit more. For this, we’re going to add a layer style to the re-editable text layer.
9.7. With the re-editable type layer selected, click on the button “Add a Layer Style” (Red arrow in illustration points to the Layer Style Button) from the menu at the bottom of the Layers panel (6th from right) and choose Stroke.
9.8. In the Layer Styles Options window that opens, change the width of the stroke to 2 pixels and change the color of the stroke to black. Click OK to save the changes.
9.9. Press Command + S on a Mac or Control + S on a PC to save your changes.
Final Steps
10. Save and Export Your Work.
The Photoshop document that we have created isn’t suitable for publishing in its source form, so we need to develop exports targeted at specific use cases. Let us begin with exporting a full-size version of the document that is suitable for print scenarios where you need a lot of resolution.
10.1. Click on the Photoshop File menu and select Export and Export As.
10.2. Set format to JPG and quality to 100%. You can leave the other values as they are. Click ‘Export’ to export the image.
10.3. Click on the Photoshop File menu again and select Export and Export As.
10.4. Choose format JPG, but this time lower the quality to 80%. Also, change the width to 1024 and note that the height changes automatically to retain the correct aspect ratio.
10.5. Name this file ‘Photoshop Project FDI21 SMALL.jpg’ to avoid overwriting the previous export.
If we compare file sizes now, we’ll see that the original Photoshop document is 228MB. The high-quality JPG export is 12MB, and the lower quality small export is only 340KB making it ideal for most web uses. Create as many exports as you need to always have an appropriately sized file for whatever need might arise.
The JPG format is ideal for most online use cases because it is compact and lightweight, and viewable on any device or platform. However, it does have one drawback in that it does not preserve transparency. Often we want to use images with transparency both in digital and print and for that, we have the PNG format. To demonstrate how to export to PNG with transparency intact, let us switch to the image of our student subject that we worked on in step 7.
10.6. In Photoshop, click on the tab named subject.jpg.
10.7. From the Photoshop File menu, choose Export and Quick Export As PNG.
10.8. Name the file and choose a location, then click ‘Save’ to save it.
We have now created a transparent image containing only our student subject. This will come in handy when you need a picture with an isolated subject on a transparent background.
Always keep the Photoshop source file denoted by the PSD extension safely stored if you wish to make edits or new exports in the future.
10.9. The final task before we close Photoshop is to save the original project document once again. Click on the Photoshop Project tab and then press Command + S on a Mac or Control + S on a PC to save it.
This concludes the Non-Destructive Image Editing With Photoshop tutorial for Adobe Creative Campus 2021. You can find many more helpful tutorials on using Photoshop on by clicking this button.
Good luck on your Photoshop journey!