To begin working with a new Macintosh program, it's usually good to just play around for a while, so you can make lots of mistakes without risking anything. Then, after you've explored a bit, its time to do something specific (like your homework assignment).
Remember that you can undo effects you don't like, but Undo only works for the very last action -- you have to give the Undo command before you do anthing else successfully reverse what you did.
Some general Macintosh concepts that apply
Simple selection; compound selection, shift constraints; cut, copy & paste.
Selection Tools --allow you to select areas by various different methods. Commands only work within selected areas. To de-select just click anywhere on the picture with a the Rectangular Marquee or the lasso selection tools (or type command-D). Working with other tools, these also let you draw specific shapes.
Lasso tool allows freehand selections
Magic wand tool allows you to select images based on the color similarities of adjacent pixels -- often faster and easier than using the lasso tool
Painting Tools --click on icon to select the tool, double click on icon to select associated options-when you select one of the tools and position the pointer on the image the pointers changes into the icon of the tool you selected-for real precision you can change the icon into a crosshair applicator with the Caps Lock key
airbrush tool allows you to lay down a diffused spray of the foreground color
line tool lets you draw line segments onto the image
pencil tool lets you paint freehand or straight hard edge lines (shift-click for straight)
paint bucket tool lets you fill in areas that are similar in color with the foreground paint color
Zoom tool --allows you to magnify areas of an image when you are performing close, detailed work, and reduce them to get an overall view of the image. Type command-space bar to zoom in (note positive icon) and option-space bar to zoom out. Look at the window title for the current zoom ratio.
Type tool --lets you enter text into the image-select type tool and click once on image-a type dialog box will appear with options to select from including size, font, and style. Long text will appear to wrap around in dialog box but will not on image -- to specify the end of a line, press return. When you click OK the text will appear on the image as the current selection. Position the cursor on one of the text characters so the arrow pointer appears, then hold down the mouse button to drag the text to the position you desire. When you deselect, the text is put into the painting.
Eraser tool --lets you erase pixels until they are the same color as the background color-the eraser in magic eraser mode(option key + eraser)allows you to restore part of an image to the last saved version.
Blend tool --allows you to create a gradient fill, which displays a gradual transition from the foreground to the background color
Smudge tool --lets you simulate the effect of dragging a finger through wet paint or charcoal
Colors --single click on upper-left box for foreground color, and single click on lower-left box for background color. Color-picker dialog box appears with palette--three dimensions of color--brightness, hue, and saturation
Background color is the color that appears "underneath" when you use the eraser or the blend tool, when a selection is moved, or when a selection is deleted
Note Also
The Shift key and the Option key, used with the regular tools, provide important additional functions in Photoshop as in most Macintosh applications. The Command key, marked on the keyboard wtih an apple icon and a sort-of propeller, gives you keyboard shortcuts for commonly used menu commands.
For the purposes of Architecture 222, 410/510, and 610, some key things not to spend time learning are:
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http://www.dil.uoregon.edu/courses/96.4/a222.f96/a222.f96.pstools.html
- Posted 95.09.28 KMM, rev. 96.10.08