Adobe Photoshop is a very popular graphics editing program. It is used by millions of people around the world, and is the standard for many graphic designers and photographers.
Photoshop can be used for a wide variety of tasks, from simple photo editing to complex graphics design. In this article, we will focus on how to use Photoshop for basic photo editing.
When you first open Photoshop, you will see the main workspace. This is where you will do most of your work. The main workspace is divided into several different areas:
- The Toolbox: This contains all of the different tools you can use in Photoshop. We will go over each of these tools in more detail later on.
- The Menu Bar: This contains all of the different menus in Photoshop.
Each menu contains different options and settings.
- The Layers Panel: This is where you can see all of the different layers in your image. You can add, delete, and rearrange layers as needed.
- The History Panel: This shows a history of all the actions you have taken in Photoshop. You can go back to previous steps if needed.
Now that we have a general overview of the workspace, let’s start with some basic photo editing. For this example, we will use a simple image of a flower.
First, let’s crop the image so that it is square. To do this, we will use the Crop Tool.
Select the Crop Tool from the Toolbox, then click and drag on the image to select the area you want to crop. When you are satisfied with your selection, press Enter or Return on your keyboard to crop the image.
Next, let’s increase the contrast of the image so that the colors are more vibrant. To do this, we will use the Contrast Adjustment Layer.
First, make sure that your Layers Panel is open (if it’s not, go to Window > Layers). Then, click on the Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers Panel and select Contrast from the menu.
A new layer will be added to your image called “Contrast.” By default, this layer has its effect set to 100%.
If we increase this number, the contrast in our image will increase as well. Let’s increase it to 200%. You can also decrease contrast by decreasing this number.
Now that we have increased the contrast in our image, let’s add some color.
To do this, we will use two Adjustment Layers: Hue/Saturation and Vibrance.
First, let’s add some saturation to make our colors more vibrant.
With your Layers Panel still open, click on the Adjustment Layer icon again and select Hue/Saturation from the menu.
A new layer called “Hue/Saturation” will be added to your image.
By default, this layer has its Saturation setting set to 0%. If we increase this number, the saturation in our image will increase as well.
Let’s increase it to +50%. You can also decrease saturation by decreasing this number.
Now that we have increased saturation in our image , let’s add some vibrance.
With your Layers Panel still open , click onthe Adjustment Layer icon again and select Vibrance fromthe menu .
A new layercalled “Vibrance”will be addedto yourimage .
By default , thistoolhas itsVibrancesetting setto 0 % . Ifwe increasethisnumber ,the vibrancein our imagewill increasewell .
Let’sincrease itto +50% .You candecreasevibrancybydecreasingthisnumber .
Now that we have increased saturation and vibrancy in our image ,let’s add some brightness.
With your Layers Panel still open, click on Adjustment Layer icon again and select Brightness/Contrast from the menu. A new layer called “Brightness/Contrast” will be added to your image .By default ,this tool has its Brightness setting set to 0 % .
If we increase this number ,the brightness in our image will increase well .Let’s increase it +50%. You can also decrease the brightness by decreasing this number Now that we have made our colors more vibrant and bright ,let’ s add some sharpness.
With your Layers Panel still open ,click on Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask from the menu .
In the new window that opens up ,you will see three settings : Amount , Radius ,and Threshold .
Amount :This determines the amount of sharpening you want to apply to your image .A higher number will result in a more drastic change , while a lower number will result in a more subtle change .For this example , we set some number between 100-150%Radius.
This determines the size of the noise or details you want to capture with your sharpening filter .For this example we set some numberbetween1-2 pixels Threshold.
This determines the level of details you want to capture with your sharpening filter For this example we set some number between 0-10 Now that we have made our colors more vibrant and bright and added some sharpness let’s save our image for web.
Go to File > Save for Web( legacy) from the menu . In the new window that opens up ,you will see four tabs : Original ( top left) Optimized ( top right) 2 – Up( bottom left) 4 – Up( bottom right).
The Original tab shows you what your saved image will look like before any compression or optimization is pressed upon it while the Optimized tab show your saved image will look like after compression and optimization is pressed upon it. For most images you will want to select JPEG from the drop down menu below these two tabs with a quality level of around 60 -70%.
And with that settings your image should load pretty quickly on most websites without losing too much quality!
