In Photoshop, there are many different options for saving files (e.g., PICT, TIFF, GIF, PSD).

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1 experiencing the joys of Adobe Photoshop, part 1 due by 10am on Su 10/15 Having the critical tools to understand the forms through which knowledge and ideas are brought into being and disseminated is a crucial part of what it means to be informed, which includes an awareness of design as the facilitator of ideas. (Anne Burdick & Louise Sandhaus, Emigre 34, 1995) The professional profit-driven world can never expend the time and effort necessary for pure experimentation. That s what school is for. (Michael Rock, Emigre 31, 1994) PURPOSE OF THIS MODULE This module is the first of two modules we ll do in Adobe Photoshop, an industry-standard graphicdesign application used to create and manipulate images specifically, photographs (get it? Photoshop). Photoshop may very well be a document designer s best friend when we re working with photos. It s an incredibly powerful application that allows you to make your design dreams a reality if you know how to use it, and use it well. SAVING YOUR FILES For each of the tasks below, you will create an image file. In Photoshop, there are many different options for saving files (e.g., PICT, TIFF, GIF, PSD). Depending on how you might eventually use the images you create, you might want to save your original images as.psd files. However, because JPEG/.jpg files are compressed, they save as small files and upload to D2L very quickly. Thus, save the four files you produce for this module as JPEG/.jpg files.

2 GETTING STARTED 1: DOING SOME BACKGROUND EXPLORING You can decide when to take a look at the sites linked from our class web site, on the Module 3 page. For instance, you might want to skim through them first for ideas and inspiration. Or you might want to wait until you get stuck and then reference them for help. Regardless, these sites offer some helpful information regarding Photoshop generally and regarding the tasks of this module specifically: help and tutorials, file type and resolution basics, and showcases. GETTING STARTED 2: LAUNCHING PHOTOSHOP The Adobe Creative Suite 6 is installed on all campus computers, PC and Mac. These instructions were created for Adobe Photoshop 6. The newest version of Adobe Creative Suite, version CC, is available as a free, full tryout download from the Adobe site. ACTIVITY 1: EXPERIMENTING WITH FILTERS 1. Download a head shot photograph. 2. Open the image you downloaded in Photoshop, and save it with a different name, so you don t have to worry about wrecking the original, which you may need later. 3. Select Filter Gallery, and from within the gallery, apply the following filters: a. Select Artistic, and select Cutout. Experiment with the No. of Levels, the Edge Simplicity, and the Edge Fidelity. b. Select Artistic, and select Sponge. Experiment with the Brush Size, the Definition, and the Smoothness. c. Select Brush Strokes, and select Sprayed Strokes. Experiment with the Stroke Length, the Spray Radius, and the Stroke Direction. d. Select Distort, and select Glass. Experiment with the Distortion, the Smoothness, and the Texture. e. Select Sketch, and select Chrome. Experiment with the Detail and the Smoothness. visual rhetoric. module three. page. 2

3 : There are two ways to undo an action in Photoshop: Selecting Edit > Undo will allow you to undo the one most recent action. Viewing the History window will allow you to see and undo/redo all past actions in a particular image file. 4. Once you have explored these filters (3a f): Experiment with some of the other filters. Experiment with applying multiple filters to one image. Experiment with selecting part of an image and filtering just the selection. 5. When you are done experimenting, save the image you have created (or, if you filtered multiple images, one image you want to submit for the module) with the following name: yourlastname_filters.jpg There are hundreds of other Adobe Photoshop brushes available for download (some free, some for a fee) online if you find the built-in brushes set limiting. visual rhetoric. module three. page. 3

4 ACTIVITY 2: COLORIZING A GRAYSCALE IMAGE 1. Download a photograph of a person, object, or landscape. 2. Open the image in Photoshop, and save it with a different name, so you don t have to worry about wrecking the original, which you may need later. 3. Desaturate the image by selecting Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. 4. Choose the Brush tool from the tool palette. The Options bar at the top of the Photoshop window should change to look something like the image below: a. Choose a brush size. b. Set the brush opacity somewhere between 20% and 40%. 5. Double click on the foreground color in the Color-picker Box on the tool palette. A Color Picker should appear. Select a color you would like to paint with and click on OK. 6. Use the brush tool to add color to the picture. a. Experiment with different brush sizes. b. Experiment with the opacity to make the color darker and make the opacity stronger. You can use the magnifying tool in the toolbar to magnify parts of the image you want to work on in detail (to zoom back out, hold down the ALT key and click on the image while the magnifying glass tool is selected). 7. When you are done, save the image with the following name: yourlastname_color.jpg visual rhetoric. module three. page. 4

5 ACTIVITY 3: MERGING IMAGES 1. Download a photograph of a person and a photograph of a landscape. The landscape image should be slightly larger than the picture of the person. If the landscape image is smaller, click on Image, drag down to Image Size, and make the landscape image a bit bigger (or follow the same steps to make the person image smaller). 2. Make sure that you re working on the picture of the person (the selected or working image should appear on top of any others on your screen. Nonselected images will appear behind the selected image). 3. Select the Pen tool from the tool palette. Be sure to check that the Pen tool is set to create Paths. 4. Click on the image until you have drawn all the way around the person. Once you ve drawn all the way around the person, your image should look something like our friend Vin here. 5. Select Window and drag down to Paths to open the Paths tab. 6. In the Paths box, click on the third tiny circle at the bottom of the box. It should appear as dashed lines. Once you've clicked on the third tiny circle, you should be returned to your image, which should now have a flashing set of lines around it. You have changed the path you created to a selection. visual rhetoric. module three. page. 5

6 7. Now that you have the person selected, click on Edit and drag down to Copy. 8. Toggle to the landscape image by clicking on it (again, the selected or working image should appear on top of any others on your screen. Nonselected images will appear behind the selected image). 9. Paste your selection into this image by clicking on Edit and selecting Paste. You may have to use the eraser tool to make adjustments to the image so that the merging looks seamless. 10. When you are done, save the image with the following name: yourlastname_merged.jpg ACTIVITY 4: REPRESENTING YOUR POSTMODERN IDENTITY Living in a postmodern world ruptures our sense of having a stable, unified sense of self instead, postmodern theory allows us to read and understand ourselves as multiple, fragmented, pulled in different directions. For this activity, you re going to alter a head shot image of yourself to better represent your multiple identities and your complex sense of self. You can use the techniques above to create your piece for instance, filtering an image, colorizing aspects of it, and/or merging images together. Save the image as yourlastname_pomo.jpg visual rhetoric. module three. page. 6

7 EXTRA CREDIT ACTIVITY (this is optional!) Create a celebrity food landscape. Gather three images: a celebrity, a food item, and a landscape. Merge. Refine. Save the image as yourlastname_food.jpg TURNING IN YOUR WORK AND GETTING CREDIT Make sure you have named and saved your files properly. Upload all four of your required files (and your extra credit image if you choose to create one) to the upload your module 3 files here dropbox on our D2L site. visual rhetoric. module three. page. 7