Intermediate Photoshop CS4

Objectives

Recommended as a follow up to the two day Fundamentals of Photoshop CS4 course, or can be taken in its own right by those with equivalent experience.


Pre-requisites:

Existing competence in Photoshop CS4, at least to the level of the Transmedia Fundamentals course.


Course Includes:

A comprehensive set of reference notes covering course topics, follow-up telephone support and, for training on Transmedia premises, lunch and refreshments.


Course Outline


Layers


· Duplicating layers
· Layer masks
· Preserve transparency and locking layers
· Grouping
· Adjustment layers and adjustment layer masks
· Layer comps
· Using layer auto alignment and blending
· Smart objects including Smart filters
· Video and 3D (Photoshop CS4 Extended only)


Painting modes and layer modes


· Colorising
· Hand-tinting


Clipping masks


· Clipping paths to create selected areas
· Using displacement maps with type to create special effects


Shape tool


· Working with and editing shapes
· Creating and importing custom shapes, eg logos for re-use
· Saving in shapes panel









Montages


· Creating montages with layer masks
· Creating realistic photo montages to include reflections on various surface types (eg metal, water etc) and custom shadows
· Using the Masks panel for creating editable, feathered, density-controlled masks


Automation and Scripts


· PDF Presentation
· Droplets
· Photomerge
· Web Gallery
· Using Adobe Kuler for creating and sharing colour schemes


Using the Actions panel


· Using, adjusting and creating textures
· Batch-processing several files


History panel


· Reverting to snapshots
· Using the history brush for effects


Sharpening techniques and blur
·

Unsharp mask
· Lens blurs