learning photoshop

[leroy]

i have been ps'ing for a while. and it's going nicely.

but i get confronted with my lack of knowledge of the program.
never do i use the multiply and screen options for layers, or masks or anything. simply because i know to little of it all.

please share knowledge or experiences, so that i can pull my cg up to the level of my sketches.

[Ian Jones]

There's too much to say really. A lot to learn.

Keep looking at tutorials on the net, like Spoono.com, Phong.com etc...

Maybe ask some more specfic questions, that way we will be able to help more easily.

eg.. do you want to know how to use layer masks?

[leroy]

yeah i was kinda unclear.
well i decided on finding a book

in the mean time i've been fiddeling with the blending options

like screen and multiply settings for layers.

share your experience with em. when do y ou use em, why etc?

[Ian Jones]

You pretty much just learn from experimenting.

Screen takes any lighter pixels in a layer and affects the underlying layer with those lighter pixels. It's almost the opposite to multiply which darkens with only the dark pixels of the upper layer. That is why ppl use multiply for colouring line art. Becuase when they scan in a drawing it is black pencil and white paper. So the way to easily make only the black affect the underlying layers is to use the multiply mode. Screen would do the opposite.

Colour dodge sort of lightens and saturates an underlying layer increasing its exposure (remember photoshops origins are based on manipulating photographs, and thus it uses similar photography terminology). Colour dodge also shifts the hue towards the colour of the layer set to dodge very slightly. Colour burn saturates and darkens colours.

It is all really hard to explain, and I would have to spend ages trying to figure out how to say it properly. There is bound to be some explanations if you went to google and searched for it.

Hope that helps.

[jezelf]

yeah - can't really tell you everything in one post. I would recommend using the layer options, multiply is a great tool, don't forget you can change the opacity of the layer at the same time.

the best book in my humble opinion and well worth the investment, especially to a beginner is thePhotoshop Wow books

they have great exercises which you can adapt for your own stuff very easily. explains the maze of the program very well, and most importantly the pages are in colour (for some reason other books print in B&W, which I always found stupid)

anyway - a solid worthy purchase for any PS user

best wishes
jez

[TJ Verhagen]

What you should do is just experiment.
Just try out those things you have no clue of what they might do. When my dad introduced me to Photoshop (i think it was something like PS 2.0 or something)
I had no clue what it was all about either. So.. without book or whatever I started to experiment.

Just remember to save your originals tho

bwahahaha... hah.. heh.. err...

[leroy]

i have been experimenting.

i learned to use it to color my scanned pencils. and the likes.
using a filled screen layer

i just want to know experiences. things and uses in photoshop that you found really helpfull and you feel like sharing.

[jezelf]

Ok well a few things then -

I do a lot of compositing as well as original work. you find that over time you use tools here and there when needed and some stuff can save you heaps of time.

layers (and the layer options)

paths (kept away from this as it looked scary, but once I got my head around it it's a brilliant tool...plus the same thing bleeds over to other packages)

Alpha channels - a god-send, but depends if you need to use them. good for importing 3d renders into a composite.

extract tool - great tool for removing elements from their backgrounds (PS 5.5+)

eraser tool. helps you work backwards sometimes (dark>light) bung a fill of a black/dark colour on a new layer or simply duplicate your image layer and choose multiply, use the eraser to bring out the highlights.

clone tool, paintbrush, line tool and gradient tool all are fun to play with and can give you great effects if used well - or example, instead of using an air brush to colour in a figure, you can give it a more cubic look if you marquee with the polygon lasso tool and then use the gradient tool with your desired colour-->transparent.

Image-->adjust>posterize/threshold can help clean up pencil work if it's grubby from your hand while you drew it.

Image-->adjust>curves/colour balance/hue & saturation are all usually in constant use with me to get my images right as I'm always reviewing my work.

back to alpha channels- these can be used with
Filter>render>lighting effects to great effect. good texturing tool, as is
Filter>other>offset - to help you make tillable textures.

Filters - great starting points, but don't just finish there unless you mean to, otherwise your work can look unventured.

for instance - the only time I probably leave a filter as it is, is with watercolour (unless Im looking for a specific graphic like colour halftone - but usually I combine filters and on multiple layers which themselves have different degrees of opacity.

I've been learning since V3 - you pick this stuff up as you go along - there's too much to learn in one go, so as said before - experiment - there are online tutorials all over. I intend to do some myself (once I get time to put my site up)

there are others - but I could be here all night. there are others I've not even got round to playing with myself.

good luck with your experimentations. hope I've been of some help.
best wishes
jez

[mannela]

Where I study we have special Photoshop-classes where we study the program. But I actually knew most of the things taught there as I had used Photoshop for about 2 years and I had learned a lot by experimenting with it.

So, you can either take classes (and you WILL learn how to use every tool in the program) or you can experiment (which takes more time and patience but it doesn't cost anything and not everyone has the change to take classes).

[leroy]

that's what i'm talking about jezelf!
those are the kind of replies i've been looking for.

for instance. the path and channel tools...I never even dared touching em! how do you use em? if anyone has experiences with these pleiase share.

i'm going to try that extract tool too! immediately, see if i can figure it out. if you hadn't pointed me towards it, i would never have found it!
that's why i started this thread. experimenting is good, and i always do it. but no point in looking for things you wouldn't find if no one points you to em.

[Wietse]

Hello Leroy, how are things ?

Question: Which language do you use Photoshop?
working in your own language and using a book alongside with it in that same language helps out a thousand times better than any tip/tutorial on the internet....

Anyhow, keep us posted on your PS_skills, if they come out just as great as your pencil_work, it'll be quite a pleasure.

:chug: ....

Seeya.

[linK]

I would really like a photoshop board where we could discuss and help each other with techniques and features.. I've been working with PS 5.0 for several years and recently used PS 7.0. I was completely lost with some stuff..could be helpful to have a board to ask questions.