Day Two

The Basics of Brushes:

Brushes allow you to paint in Photoshop  You can also use them to add in designs, write words, retouch images and a million things more! To get started let’s go over the basics of accessing your brush tools.

First, hit “B” for easy access to your brush tool, or select it from the tool box.In the top left hand corner you will see a little box with a drop down menu. Click the arrow to see the full menu. Photoshop automatically gives you access to the basic brushes to begin with. Size affects how large or small your brush is. To make the brush larger, slide this to the right; to make the brush smaller slide this to the left. The shortcuts on your keyboard to change the size of your brush are [ (which makes it smaller), and ] (which makes it larger). Hardness affects how soft or hard the edge of your brush is. You can slide it to the right to make the edge harder, and slide it to the left to make the edge softer.

Try this:

1. Create a new document (8 inches by 10 inches; 300 dpi) *pic*

2. Unlock the background layer by double clicking on it and pressing okay.

3. Add a new layer (Layer> New> Layer), or click on this icon. *pic*

4. Select your brush tool.

5. Experiment with a basic brush by changing it’s size and hardness. Write your name or draw a picture. You can change the color of your brush by double clicking on the color box below the tool box and changing the color.

Now, in the same box that allows you to change the size and hardness you will see an icon in the top right hand corner, click on it. There are many different sets of brushes, and these are the ones you can choose between in Photoshop.

Try this:

1. Click through each different brush set and experiment with using them. Remember, you can add new layers and paint on separate layers so that you can move pieces around or add effects to what you have painted.

Now there is a lot more to brushes than just that.

To access more brush changing potential:

1. Click Window>Brush

The easiest way to find out what all of these buttons do is to click through them and experiment. Click on the word to change settings regarding that topic, and click the check mark if you want that topic to come into play when you are using the brush tool. Under “Brush Presets” you can choose which brush you want to customize, and under “Brush” you can customize it. Now try it!

How to Create Your Own Brush in Photoshop:

1. Open an image that you want to create a brush out of, or draw your own.

2. Select all or part of that image using a selection tool (Polygonal Lasso tool, rectangular selection tool, etc.)

3. Click Edit> Define Brush Preset

Your new brush should now appear in your brushes tool box!

Try this out by writing your name and then making a brush out of it. Create a piece of art by changing the size, hardness, and colors of the brush. Don’t forget to work on separate layers so that you can go back and add more things as we learn if you want to. Save this image as “Name Art” in your Photoshop file. Make sure to save it as a PSD so you can work on it later.

How to Download Brushes:

Go to a website with free brushes to download.

1. Go to www.brusheezy.com

2. Find a brush set you would like to work with.

3. Click Download.

4. Open the file that appears.

5. Double click on the icon with the name of your brush.

The brush should now appear under your current brushes, here. *pic*

The Basics of Typography:

Typography basically means the design of words. There are so many things you can do with simply words!

Select your type tool. The first drop down box will allow you to select what is called a font. The third drop down box will allow you to change the size of the type. The next drop down box allows you to choose a style for the letters. Next to that you will find these three icons.

The first will “left justify” your font which basically means the words will line up on the left. The middle option will center your font, and the third option will “right justify” your font. Look at the picture above to see an example of what that means in visual terms.The box next to those options will allow you to change the color of your font. This icon (look to the left)

will give you many different options to warp the text, or in other words, make the letters follow a certain shape.

Try this:

1. Select your type tool.

2. Type your name in a font of your choice.

3. Select the warping option and look through the drop down menu to try each option out and see what each does.

(You may have to rasterize your type layer in order to edit it. Right Click on the layer with your type and hit “Rasterize Layer”.)

Now let’s look at the character window. Click Window> Character. The top drop down once again shows you the fonts to choose from. Please refer to this picture to know which box I am 
talking about.

1. This allows you to change the size of the letters.

2. This allows you to adjust how much space is in between lines of words.

3. This allows you to adjust how much space is in between each letter.

4. This will bold or unbold the letters (This means it will make the letters look larger and stronger).

5. This will italicize the letters (make the letters look slanted).

How to Download New Fonts:

Sometimes you will want to use a font that cannot be found in Photoshop. There are many websites out there which will allow you to download free new fonts. The one I use most often is called dafont.com. Let’s go there and discuss how to download a font.

Try this:

1. Go to www.dafont.com

2.Select the Espanol option in the top right hand corner.

3. As you can see there are many different options to choose from when looking for a font. You can explore these options a little later, but for now find one font you like.

4.Click on the box to the right of the font that says “Download”.

5. Click Okay.

6.Double click on the folder that appears.

7. Double click on the font icon.

8. Install.

Your new font should now be located in the list of fonts in Photoshop  If it is not, try closing out of Photoshop and reopening it.

Layer Styles:

The easiest way to teach this is for you to try it out.

1. Create a document.

2. Place a shape of your choice, with a color of your choice in your document.

3. Now double click on the layer containing the shape.

You will be brought to a box that looks like this. 

 
If you check the boxes, these options will be put into affect for whatever is on that particular layer, in this case, the shape you just created. However, if you click on the word you will be able to change smaller details and customize the layer style.

Let’s quickly go over the different options.

·         Bevel&Emboss-Use this to create unique highlight and shadow effects on a layer’s content.

·         Stroke-Use this to create an outline on layer contents.

·         Inner Shadow-Creates a shadow on top of the layer’s contents.

·         Satin-Gives the layer contents a satin-like, glossy appearance.

·         Color Overlay-Fills the layers content with a solid color.

·         Gradient Overlay-Fills the layer contents with a gradient.

·         Pattern Overlay-Fills the layers contents with a pattern.

·         Outer Glow-Creates a glow behind the layer’s contents. This cannot be distanced like a drop shadow.

·         Drop Shadow-Creates a shadow behind the layer’s contents.

Now please try it out.

 Go through the different options and experiment with them. I will be coming around to help answer questions as needed.