Interesting Ideas with Adobe PhotoShop 7.0 ?

I suggest literally just playing with it. If you want to do any real art with it (more than just fiddled filters or cut and paste) I agree that you'll need a class or at the very least a book. At that it depends on what you want to do. If you just want to cut and paste into other shots try to take the picture you're cutting from on a solid background, and use your "magic wand" to select the background, then right click to reveal options where you can "select inverse". You can have two files open and drag selections from one file window into another too. If you want to draw comic stuff there are some great books - I think the title is "coloring comics" :) If you really want to create from scratch on the 'puter I'd suggest a tablet so you can draw easier - unless you are fantastic with a mouse. I'm looking into tablets for myself right now - I hope to get one by Christmas! :) Happy Creating! ;)
 
I use Photoshop every day. Its a great program but even using it every day I only scratch the surface of what it can do. If all you want to do is crop and resize photos there are simpler programs but if you are serious about digital photography or creating art, its great.

Joe, get a decent Photoshop book. One of the bible type books is good because you can use it for reference for a while. If you feel way over your head to start with, begin with one of the "Dummy" or "Idiot" books to kickstart you.

Then, play around. Always save a raw copy of your files before playing and always save the construction file under a different name. Two things will help you immensely, the Layers Pallette, and the History Pallette. Layers lets you add pieces to the file with layers instead of integrating it. History allows you to back up to undo multiplte steps in the history of the piece.

Also, for photos, play with the Extract tool under filters. It allows you to separate objects in the foreground of a photo from the background. Takes some practice but its pretty valuable.

T
 
Thanks all, and any more ideas?

I will get the book on it-- I need it.

I hope to get some nice, "portraitable", framable photos, some with special editing...

Thanks for the website sivic!
 
125gJoe said:
Thanks all, and any more ideas?

I will get the book on it-- I need it.

I hope to get some nice, "portraitable", framable photos, some with special editing...
Click to expand...

Well, if you are using digital photos, I generally have good luck cleaning things up by first doing Auto Levels, Auto Contrast, and Auto Color under Image/ Adjustments. Be ready to undo because it sometimes screws things up but I find its a quick way to correct minor color and contrast problems in my photos. Levels can tend to change color trueness a bit so be wary.

I would experiment with all the options under the Image/ Adjustments menu. Many are very useful. I'm pretty fond of Variations for a lot of things because its easy to use and gives a preview.

To experiment with things like sepia tones or monochrome images, change your image to Grayscale under Image/Mode. Then change it to Duotone under the same menu. This will allow you to creat images that use only a few colors that you choose. Its a pretty neat option.

Try the healing brush to rid portraits of blemishes. Its the fourth tool down on the left. A little band aid. It will copy a texture and color from one area of the image and allow you to paint that texture over another area but blend it with the area being pasted over. Its great for hiding freckles, pimples, that sort of stuff.

T
 
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