Photoshop Help :D

[chitose-himura]

So I've got this friend who asks for PhotoShop help all the time. I've told her about layers, different tools, and what-not. She always seems gratefull and I always feel good about helping someone. So now, you lucky people, I'm bringing my advice to you.

I've been working with PhotoShop for the better part of 4 years. Though I don't consider myself an expert in any peticular kind of photoshopping, I'm most knowledgeable in art and web graphics. Recently I've been dabbling in textures. So I can help you from inking a scanned picture to making a fancy sig.

NOTE: I use Photoshop 7. Any info I give you will be in that format. I'm pretty sure that PS 5-CS(8) are fairly similar. I'm not sure about anything below that. Before you ask a question, please tell me which version you are using.

Ask away!

[wanderer-zero]

CS2 is quite similar to PS7.

anyway, I'd consider myself quite knowledgeable as well so if anybody has questions, feel free to ask.

[Polygon]

How similar is PhotoShop to GIMP?

[chitose-himura]

Well, I've never actually used GIMP, so I can't say for sure. From the screenshots, they look somewhat similar. I'll give you a definite answer after I download it a look at it a bit.

EDIT: And, unfortunetly, my computer is being an ass and wont let me download it. If you want, you can PM me with a discription of some features and tools. We'll go from there.

[Pepsi]

Oo.. We are going to learn how to use Photoshop in school now. ^^

[Carly]

GIMP is very similar to Photoshop; I use it myself. I mean, it's like getting the same program for 1/6th the space and totally guilt-free, why wouldn't I use it

I do think Photoshop is more user-friendly however.

[wanderer-zero]

oh trust me it is, GIMP is actually working on getting more user friendly.

[Rasengan Zero]

I've been playing with Photoshop for a little while now, but I wouldn't say I'm pro at it (yet, ha ha). I'm quite sure Jeece would be willing to lend a hand here. Perhaps even Crocodile (nice sigs!). I might be able to help out with a few things here too.>__>

Anyways, on the GIMP thing, I remember trying to help out a few people who were using GIMP. It's not that bad and is similar to Photoshop for a good part I suppose. Although, I only really skimmed the top layer of it. One thing that was noticably different was the shortcuts. Ctrl+D no longer meant Deselect. Then there was some other interesting things to GIMP that I didn't really like. But it is free I suppose. Still, not too shabby.

[Polygon]

So basicly GIMP is almost the same as Photoshop, Execpt harder to use? I've only been using it for 6 days now, so I've been reading Gimp-savvy.

[Rasengan Zero]

I wouldn't say harder to use. Maybe just takes a little bit to adjust to if one's used to Photoshop.

[Polygon]

How do you take a background out of a pic using GIMP?

[wanderer-zero]

what do you mean take out? If you mean remove it, then you do it the same way you would in photoshop, slowly erase away the background with the eraser tool.

[oceanizer]

Maybe he meant transparent background?

[Polygon]

@oceanizer:

Maybe he meant transparent background?

Nevermind learned how to do it.

[chitose-himura]

Since not everyone knows how to, I'll post it here for PhotoShop users.

So start out with your background. I may do a tutorial on how to make them later:

Select an image you like and add the effects you want. Do yourself a favor though and use a better quallity image than what I've got here. This is for demonstration purposes only.

This is important: Make sure you have an empty layer behind your background, otherwise it won't work.

So select your background layer(if it's locked, double click it) and use the Rectangular Marquee tool to choose the area you want to be transparent. Hit delete.

Add a border or something if you want to. Time to save! Go to file>Save As or hit Shift+Ctrl+S. Save it as a GIF file. A menu should pop up. Under the Matte sub-menu, select Netscape Gray. This will make the image transparent for the web.

And you're done!

[Thedevil]

Im not a pro but i work on Photoshop… ive doen quit a few sigs see my sig but if someone can tell me how to do a border... simple and something like kaku's sig

[chitose-himura]

Do you mean like where it's in a fancy shape?

OK, so start out with your image:

There's a couple of ways to do this, but I like using the Pen tool. So use the pen tool to outline where you want the picture to be cut off. The area inside will be your picture.

Go around the outside of the image with the pen tool and close it. Go to the Paths tab and click the 'Load Path as a Selection' button. It's the one that looks like a little dotted circle. This will select the area of the image you want transparent. Hit Delete.

Outline the picture with the pencil tool. If it's a light color, put a dark color on a layer under it.

If you like what you have already, you can skip this part.
This is pretty much what you did before, just with a different picture, the same one, or a larger version of the image you're using. So put the second picture on a layer underneath the first, select which area you want to keep with the pen tool, select, delete, outline. Add any effects you want to the layer.

Delete your background layer. Make sure there's an empty layer behind it. So Save As a GIF file. When this window pops up:

Select Netscape Gray. This will make it transparent for zee Web.

[Thedevil]

thanks can you tell me how to do a simple border 1pt

[Polygon]

It's amazing how similar gimp and photshop are, both the tutorials work for me perfectly.

[Rasengan Zero]

Thedevil, make sure you have your entire picture/signature done. Then, create a new layer. Select all of it, then go Edit >> Stroke. Set the width to 1. Done, and you should be good to go. Sorry, I'm too lazy to do pictures. =P

If you haven't done so, then I'd recommend checking back to MustyProductions' forums for more Photoshop tutorials. Jeece has done some border ones there (although, you can already find plenty border tutorials on the web).

And Octogon, glad things are working for you.

[Tony Tony Chopper]

Soz to be a noob.. but how do u get it? is it free?

[Polygon]

@Tony:

Soz to be a noob.. but how do u get it? is it free?

Gimp or photoshop?

[chitose-himura]

@Tony:

Soz to be a noob.. but how do u get it? is it free?

GIMP, Yes. Photoshop, No. If you do decide to get PS, I suggest GradWare.com. If you're a student, you get great discounts. I only paid 99 bucks for my PS7. If you're not a student, well, I'd try ebay, if you trust it.

[Thedevil]

thanks zero that was helpful

[lxn]

where can I download photoshop?

[Ms. Suave Debonair]

@lxn:

where can I download photoshop?

Trial versions from here…

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/

[bevin]

Okay, I have a question and I hope someone can help me out. I'm trying to resize a picture for a sig, and while the outside dimensions are right, the actual size of the file is still too large and I can't seem to figure out how to fix it. I've tried saving the resolution quality at about 5, but I think it's still too large. Then again, I'm not entirely sure I'm looking in the right place for the file info. I'm running PS 5.5 but hopefully that info isn't too different from 7.0. Thanks in advance.

Edit: Okay, I got the sig all squared away, but I actually uploaded it to figure out the file size. I have no idea how to do that in PS, so help would still be appreciated.

[wanderer-zero]

…5.5? <_<
I wonder if it has the save for web feature...it should o.o

Go to File > Save for Web
and twiddle around with the different file formats there. Just some basic knowledge. GIF and PNG will almost always be larger than JPEGs. GIF and PNG are lossless formats while JPEGs is a lossy format. So if you're looking to reduce file size, I suggest fudging around with the JPEG format and trying the different options.

[CosmicDebris]

Also, when you save the file for the first time as JPG, it should ask you about the quality of the file from low to maximum. Usually medium or even lower on the high scale is fine for the web.

[bevin]

wz– Thanks! For the record, I actually have 7.0 as well, but I didn't like it as much as 5.5, so I reinstalled the older one. ^^; I never would have thought to try the Save For Web option, thank you.

Cosmic-- Thanks as well. I did originally save it at around a medium quality but it still read as too high and after that I couldn't get it to ask me again so I could change it. ^^;

[CosmicDebris]

Just curious, what about 5.5 did you like better? I think I have old 5.5 somewhere, but I got used to 7.0 a lot faster.

[wanderer-zero]

the save for web option goes much further than just chosing a quality number, you can also change other aspects of the way it is saved…don't remember what, usually deal with PNGs myself ><

[bevin]

Well this might have been due to a general lack of knowledge of how to use it, but I couldn't find the brushes I used to use in 5.5 anywhere in 7.0. Since all I use it for is coloring my art and I use the brushes more than anything, I got frustrated really fast. I might give it a try again, though, I've been thinking about it lately. ^^

[CosmicDebris]

I'm still looking for brushes too…most of the ones that I found were for CS instead.

[oceanizer]

Old is good; I purchased CS2 but still using PS7… >.>; Maybe I'll move to CS2 once I get a new computer. (When?)

[CosmicDebris]

I have a question…I've been trying to use the pen tool, but the result is a big thick shape to go with it. I know how to stop that in Illustrator, but I can't get it to go away in place of a nice thin black line in Photoshop.

[oceanizer]

Pen… Pencil? Change the stuff circled in red in attached image o.o I hope I'm talking about the same thing.

(Woot for Japanese PS o.o!)

[wanderer-zero]

no you're not =p

time to screencap and show ocean up! just kidding, but here's the screencap

and actually, I know exactly what you're talking about, just diddled about a bit and I can't figure out how to get it as a stroke instead of fill in. I suppose this is only something you can do in illustrator….easily =\

[CosmicDebris]

Ah, thanks for trying anyway. I'll try searching the internet more, the sites I found showed a lot of information on the pen but completely ignored the fill v. stroke issue. As if it didn't exist.

[wanderer-zero]

well it's possible it doesn't exist in photoshop >_>

[CosmicDebris]

It must, because I see people and websites talking about how you can use the pen tool to do lineart. If you can't get rid of the chunky fill, it's useless. Seems like it would be nice for smooth, curved shapes.

[KamenRiderNeko]

eh, i could never get the damn pentool to work in Photoshop, but that's pretty much all I use in Illustrator.

I have PS 7 on my home computer and CS2 on my laptop. i like CS2 more because of the fact that you can select multiple layers much more efficiently. a lot of people don't like CS2, i don't understand why, it works just fine for me.

oh and where can i download GIMP? is there a version for macs?

[StrawHatLuffy]

GIMP Binaries:

Windows - http://www.gimp.org/windows/
Mac - http://www.gimp.org/macintosh/

[oceanizer]

@ Cosmic + wz, I knew it was too easy, lol.

Either way…

When you don't want to fill in whatever the path+area you created, you need to make a "new path" in Path window. After you make the new path, draw whatever line on the drawing area, then go back to Path window and choose "draw path boarderline with brush tool" or something like that. (Don't know what's the exact word in English.)

You should be able to just outline it without filling this way :]

Good thing I still remember some of the stuff. I was forced to take one day PhotoShop class 5 years ago xD;

[CosmicDebris]

Thanks ocean, I'll try that out when I get home. Maybe PS shoud work on making that as easy as Illustrator. I guess I could just open it in Illustrator…

Edit: It worked, yay! Thanks again. ^^

[wanderer-zero]

actually, the reason it's much easier in Illustrator because it's vector based >_>

[CosmicDebris]

Anyone have a good link for Photoshop 7 brushes? :unsure: