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1 – Using Adobe Photoshop's Layers Window

Click File > New, and create a new image of any size you desire.

Hit F7 to toggle the display of the Layer window.

The Layers window shows the various layers that your image is made up of.

The Layers window shows the various layers that your image is made up of.

To make a new layer, click the New Layer button, as shown by the red arrow.

To work on a different layer, click on that layer. The eyeball will appear next to that layer.

You can drag layers up and down the list.

Remember – create a new layer for each part of your image. This allows you to go back and edit the layers individually. Every Adobe Photoshop novice at some time makes a masterpiece, only to find out that they did it all on one layer, and now they can't remove those pink clouds they put on it. :)

2 – Learning about Selection

One of the most important concepts in Adobe Photoshop is Selection.

This is the Rectangular Selection Tool.

Use this tool on your image to select a rectangle.

3 – Adding to a Selection and Making a Square

To add to a selection, hold Shift before dragging.

To make the selection exactly square, start dragging, and then hold Shift.

You can press Ctrl+D to "deselect" and remove the selection at any time.

4 – Elliptical Selections and Subtracting Selections

Hold down on the Selection Tool on the Toolbar, and choose the Ellipse.

To move the selection, just click inside it and drag.

Holding Alt while selecting subtracts that area from the selection. I've done that with the Ellipse Selection Tool.

5 –  Selection Exercise

Reproduce the selection below.  Show the teacher when you have finished.

6 – Choosing a Colour

This part of the Toolbox is where you select your colours

The top square is the foreground colour. If you use a brush or paint bucket, it will apply this colour.

The bottom square is the background colour.

Click on either square to change its colour.
Click the arrow to swap the two colours.
Click the little squares to reset the colours to black and white.

7 – The Paint Bucket and Gradient tools

Open a new file.

On a new layer, just click the Paint Bucket tool inside the area of your selection to fill it with the colour you've selected.

Fill in the selection area from the previous assignment using the pand save in your Photoshop folder as:

H:\Course\P1\Selection.psd

Click and drag from one area to another to fill the area. The point where you started to click will be the colour of your foreground colour, and the point where you took your finger off the mouse button will be the colour of your background colour. The area in between will gradually change from one colour to the other.

In this case, I went from corner to corner, with the default white and black selected.

8 – Colour exercise

With what you've learned so far, you should be able to recreate this:

Remember to create each step on a new layer. 

Other Adobe Photoshop tools of interest include

The Text Tool – Just click it wherever you want text to appear. Choose a font, colour, and size, and start typing.

The Move Tool – Use this tool to drag things around. If you have a selection, it will drag the contents of the selection. If not, it will drag the contents of the layer you're on.

Add your name to the drawing.  Change the position of the flower and the square using the move tool.

 Save as H:\Course\P1\Colours.psd

9 – Adding Effects

Now that you know the basics, it's time to start adding some easy special effects.

To demonstrate Adobe Photoshop's special effects,  create a button similar to the one below.  Make sure each part of this image is on a separate layer.

10 – Layer Styles and Filters

In the Layers Styles (from the menu Layer>Layer Styles) list:

Drop Shadow

Selecting this option will make your layer cast a shadow on layers below it.

Bevel and Emboss

Makes the layer like a block of gold bullion - raised in the center, with edges that slope down. (This is a good effect for creating buttons.)

Pattern Overlay

Makes the surface of the layer look like it's made of wood, stone etc.

11 – Effects Exercise

Using Layer styles and filters modify your button so that it resembles the one below.  Experiment with other features and create at least 5 different buttons.  Save you file as H:\Course\P1\Button.psd

A final few Adobe Photoshop features

Zoom: Press (Ctrl and +) to zoom in. Press (Ctrl and -) to zoom out. This is very useful if you're a bit of a pixel pirate :)

Transformation: To Transform (resize/rotate/distort) an object, press Ctrl+T. To Transform a selection, click Select > Transform Selection. Use the Shift key while transforming to stop the image distorting.