Photoshop Tips - Getting more info on Photoshop

Posted by David Peters

July 20, 2008

Color Model: When you hear the term color model we are referring to the method from which we define or classify the color we are to work with. Examples of such are RGB, LAB, CMYK, etc. Color Space: A color space is simply a variation of your color model. For instance, within your RGB framework some common variations are, sRGB, Adobe RGB, and so on. Some of these spaces are better for display e.g. sRGB and Wide Gamut RGB while other color spaces are more suited to printing e.g. ColorMatch RGB and Adobe RGB. Now, it is important to note that every device in our workflow utilizes it’s own unique color space. Meaning, while your monitor, scanner, and printer will base their color spaces basically on what we can see their actual gamut (range of colors) will differ. This is where we lose our consistency across devices. This is the problem we must attend to.

Printer targets: Like transparent IT8 targets, printer targets are more complex. Similar to film, different papers or media can produce incredibly different color results. This has to be taken into account in the profiling stage. When creating a printer profile, you are essentially creating a description of the differences between what is ideal color and what is the result of the specific paper/ink/quality setting you choose. A profile created for a professional glossy photo paper will generally not produce good results if used to print on a matte heavy weight paper. The same holds true for differences in ink or quality/speed settings.

I would recommend using Relative Colorimetric as your Rendering Intent when doing the Convert to Profile step and when printing with Print with Preview out of Photoshop. Rendering intents control how the profile is applied to either the scanner or printed image. Relative Colorimetric has proven to be the best in my testing. Read the documentation that came with your CMS in order to learn more about the other available rendering intents.

Adobe Photoshop has also led to a whole new level of art and animation. Did you know that tablets were developed specifically with Adobe Photoshop in mind? Artists of today have gone beyond using paints and a canvas. Today’s painters make use of tablet sensors and Adobe Photoshop to produce their masterpieces. With the technology of Adobe Photoshop, people are able to take the art of drawing, add a bit of computer technology, and come up with a whole new genre of animation. In the past, images had to be saved as specific file types in order to be usable for Adobe Photoshop. However, because of the proliferation of digital cameras and camera phones today, Adobe Photoshop can actually import the photographs directly from the sources. This means that the gap between taking the picture and sharing it is reduced.

If the convenience is hard to find, there are other ways on how you could get a tutorial for using the Photoshop CS. You could decide to have your own pacing, meaning, you could speed up the process or take it slowly. There are many self-help books published and distributed through the bookstores that would tutor you on how to use the Photoshop CS on procedural narrative formats. All you have to do is to absorb and understand by heart the content and instructions contained in such reading materials. If the printed books are not convenient, there are online and downloadable versions. Such e-books, as they are called nowadays, can be accessed online within minutes. They are actually like the book versions, only that they are soft copies and are faster to retrieve and access.

Customize menus and workspaces. Photoshop CS2 lets you highlight commonly used menu items, and set up custom menus and workspaces. Now all the power of Photoshop is (literally) at your command, and can be tailored to your requirements. See what each font looks like before you use it. Finally! Photoshop gets a WYSIWYG font drop-down menu. Now you don’t have to keep text highlighted while you cycle through all the fonts until you get to the right one! Manipulate images with Image Warp. Image Warp allows you to bend, peel, and stretch images the same way as type. Now you can put an image on a mug or soda can with ease. See what video graphics will look like, while you’re doing them. If you’re a video professional like me, you’ll know how frustrating it can be: You make a graphic that looks fantastic on a flat computer monitor, but when you import the .psd file into your Avid timeline, and look at it on the TV screen, it’s not quite what you had in mind. You then have to go back into Photoshop and make your artwork look “wrong”, so it will look right on a video monitor. With Photoshop CS2 you can preview your images on a video monitor directly from the software, and see exactly how they’re going to look in your video, even if your editing software is on a different computer.

PhotoshopSecrets Special FX: This tutorial video contains 19 lessons packed in approximately 2 hours of fast-loading CD-ROM. If ‘cool!’ is the one word that you want to hear to feel validated for your Photoshop efforts, this video tutorial will teach you exactly how to use special effects like the pros. Learn about 3D lathing, liquid splashes, CS branding, pixel stretching, thermal vision, toxic waste and lots more. These are cutting-edge effects, the kind you find in more advanced Photoshop users’ works so you might want to try it out for yourself. Photoshopsupport.com. This site features some of the best and latest Photoshop tutorials, including those in video. Use Photoshop confidently in no time with the free video tutorials. You can even click on the links provided to find out about Photoshop products for more detailed tutorials. If you’re using Photoshop to come up with a cooler, meaner website, you’ll like the short tutorials on SiteGrinder 2, an Adobe Photoshop Plugin.

About the Author:

Did you enjoy this article? Curious about learning photoshop fast? Well now you can by reading this free report…what are you waiting for?