Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 [Electronic resources]

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Demonstrating some Photoshop CS2 basics: Lesson 16-1

I present a basic introduction to Photoshop CS in this mini-lesson followed by a few tips specifically for DV projects.

At its core, Photoshop CS is an image touch-up tool. You can import images, then burn and dodge, change contrast and brightness levels, repair scratches, remove dust, fix redeye, and add tinting. Photoshop generally doesn't make these changes directly on the original image. Rather, it places them in layers above the image.

It's sort of like the way cartoon animators work. They build a background image and draw characters on sheets of clear film. Then they layer those sheets one over the other. You can see through the unpainted portions while opaque sections and those elements with reduced opacity completely or partially cover up what's below.

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But Photoshop CS goes way beyond image touch-ups. That layering lends itself to graphics creation, editing and effects. Photoshop CS enables you to position graphic elements in those layers, add effects to them individually or collectively, and make adjustments on a layer-by-layer basis.

Taking a tour of Photoshop CS

To see how this works, I'll take you through some standard Photoshop CS image editing and creation tools. Then I'll cover some effects. If you don't have a copy of Photoshop CS2, you can download a trial copy at www.adobe.com.

View the Lesson 16 Intro video.

Open Photoshop.

Select File > Browse (that opens Adobe Bridge), navigate to the Lesson 18 folder (not Lesson 16) and open the Lesson 18 Behind the Scenes folder.

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Double-click on any image.

That opens the image in its own window. You can drag its corners to expand the view and use menu commands to zoom in or out (View > Zoom In/Out) or keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+- to zoom out or Ctrl++ to zoom in).

Select Image > Adjustments.

That opens a list of tools to fix the overall look of the image. Most will be familiar to you because of your work with Adobe Premiere Pro and with photos in general.

Select Photo Filter.

As shown in the next figure, Photoshop offers more than a dozen preset tinting options, including a few that give a warm or cool feel to your photo. You can make a change and click OK or Cancel.

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Take a look at the Toolbox shown in the next figure.

Roll your cursor over its buttons, and Photoshop CS tool tips will tell you each button's name.

Click on the Rectangle tool (highlighted in the previous figure) and hold down the mouse button. It reveals five other shape tools.

10.

Select the Rounded Rectangle tool to open its features in the menu bar at the top of the workspace.

11.

Click the small triangle to the right of Style to reveal a default set of Styles associated with shapes.

You can append that default list by clicking the Fly-out Menu, selecting a group from the drop-down list, and when prompted clicking Append.

12.

Click on a Style.

13.

Just as you did in the Premiere Pro Titler, click in the document window and drag to create a rounded-rectanglesomething like a DVD menu button.

14.

Press Enter to apply it to your image.

A new layer appears in the Layers palette (if the Layers palette is not visible, select Window > Layers). Click the Shape 1 layer disclosure triangle to see all its effects.

15.

Click the Text tool (the large T in the Tools palette), select a font and other text characteristics from the parameters now displayed in the Main Menu bar (or click the Toggle the Character and Paragraph Palettes button), and add text.

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16.

Click the Commit Any Current Edits checkmark to the right of the text options in the Main Menu bar.

17.

Click on the text layer in the Layers palette and select Layer >Layer Style >

Drop Shadow.

That opens the Layer Style dialog with Drop Shadow selected.

You can choose from the same styles you find in the Premiere Pro Titler along with a few extras like the three Overlays.

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18.

Select the Background layer in the Layers palette.

19.

Select Filter > Filter Gallery (in Photoshop, effects are called filters).

20.

Open any of the Filter groups and select a filter.

As shown in the next figure, that immediately displays how that filter will work with your photo. This is a wonderful and creative tool. Consider using it to create backgrounds for DVD menus or text.

Note

One very slick feature of the Filter Gallery is its layering window. It's in the lower right corner and is highlighted in the next figure. To add more than one effect to the background image, click the New Effect Layer button (bottom right corner next to the trash can), then click on a different Filter .

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