Introduction to Photoshop

John M. Facun
Prerequisites
Before you begin to use Adobe Photoshop CS6 Classroom in a Book,
you should have a working knowledge of your computer and its
operating system.
Make sure that you know how to use the mouse and standard menus
and commands, and also how to open, save, and close files.
If you need to review these techniques, see the documentation
included with your Microsoft® Windows® or Apple® Mac® OS X
documentation.
The Photoshop Interface
 Canvas
The Document Window
It is the large area in the center of the
interface where the image is displayed.
It's also where we edit the image.
The actual area where the image is
visible is known as the canvas.
The dark area surrounding the image is
the pasteboard. The pasteboard The Document window displays the image.
doesn't really serve a purpose other
than to fill in the space around the Pasteboard
image when the image itself is too small
to fill the entire Document window.
The Document Tab
At the top of the Document window is the document's tab. The tab
displays the name and file type of the document (“vp_planning.psd")
and its current zoom level (100%).
The tab is also how we switch between document windows when we
have more than one image open in Photoshop.
The Zoom Level and Status Bar
In the bottom left of the Document window, we find more information
about the image. The current zoom level is displayed, just like it is in
the document's tab. And to the right of the zoom level is the Status
Bar. By default, the Status Bar displays the color profile of the image.
The Zoom Level and Status Bar
Click and hold on the Status Bar to view additional information about
the image, like its Width and Height, Resolution, and color information
(Channels):
The Zoom Level and Status Bar
You can also change the type of information that the Status Bar displays
by clicking on the arrow on the right of the Status Bar to open a menu
where you can choose to view different details, like Document Sizes
(the file size) or Dimensions (the width, height and resolution).
The Toolbar
The Toolbar (also known as the Toolbox or the Tools
panel) is where Photoshop holds all of its tools.
You'll find it along the left of Photoshop's interface.
There's tools for making selections, for editing and
retouching images, for painting, adding type or
shapes to your document, and more.
Expanding The Toolbar
By default, the Toolbar appears as a long, single
column of tools.
Clicking the double-arrows at the top will
expand the Toolbar into a shorter, double
column.
Click the arrows again to return to the single-
column layout.
The Toolbar's Hidden Tools
Most of the tools in the Toolbar have other tools nested in with them in
the same spot.
Click and hold on a tool's icon to view a menu of the other tools hiding
behind it.
The Options Bar
Displays options for whichever tool you have selected in the Toolbar.
You'll find the Options Bar along the top of the interface, just above the
document window.
The Menu Bar
The Menu Bar is where we find various options and commands, all
grouped into categories. The File menu, for example, holds options for
opening, saving and closing documents. The Layer menu lists options
for working with layers.
The Panels
Panels give us access to all sorts of commands and
options, and there are different panels for different
tasks.
The most important panel is the Layers panel. It's
where we add, delete and work with layers in our
document.
Canvas
Panel Groups
To save space on the screen, Adobe groups related panels together.
Thank you!