Photoshop Graphics in 4 Easy Steps.
Sometimes the most difficult part is knowing where to start. Have you ever had someone show you just how to do some something. They go click, click, and click - Done! And you’re none the wiser; You see everything is easy once you know how. That’s my purpose here. It is to help you see it as easy. So let’s look at these four steps.
Step 1. Begin
To start move your mouse to “File” and click “New”. Next you are asked to specify the size of the new graphic. Usually you will already know what size you need as you will be creating a graphic for a particular purpose. Let’s say we are going to make a header graphic for a web page. On a sales page the headers are usually about 700 pixels wide by about 120 pixels high.
Step 2: Choose A Background.
There are three options to choose from. 1. We could put in a solid color as the background. 2. For more flair we may decide on a gradient. 3. We could insert a picture as our background.
If we choose a solid color we need to specify what color we want. We can do this on the floating toolbox, usually on the left-hand side of the work area. You will see 2 color boxes one over the other. Click on the top box and a color chooser comes up. Choose your color. Now click on the bucket tool. If you don’t see a bucket tool move your mouse over the tools until you find the gradient tool. Right click on the gradient tool and you will see two options, gradient or bucket.
Once you have chosen the bucket tool, move your mouse over the new graphic you are creating. You will see the mouse pointer turn into the bucket tool. Just one click and you have your chosen color as your background.
If you decide that you want a gradient as your background, you will need to turn the bucket tool into the gradient tool. Once again you will need to choose a color. This time you will need to use both boxes. The gradient starts with the top color and finishes with the bottom color you have chosen.
On the top bar of the work area you now have a choice of different looking gradients. You will need to experiment with this to get the effect you want. To make the gradient, click and hold the mouse where you want to start and drag it to where you want it to finish.
To use a picture is easy. With the newly created graphic still in the work area, open a file of the picture you want to use. This picture needs to be the same size or larger than the graphic you are creating. Pick up this picture with the mouse and drag and drop it into the graphic you are creating. If the picture is larger than the new graphic you will be able to move it around until it looks to be in the best position.
This works with JPEG Files but does not work with Gif files.
Step 3: Import more images.
Photoshop works with layers. Each time you add something new to the graphic you are working with you add a layer. On the right hand side of the work area you should see “Layers”. Click on it and a whole list of the layers of the active graphic will be shown. You can click on any of these to make them the active layer.
To import a picture is exactly the same as what you did in dragging and dropping the background into the graphic. When you drag in a picture you always have some background with the picture. If the background is mostly one color you can easily remove the background and thus expose the background you want seen. To do this you will need to use the eraser.
If your background is all one color, let’s say white, you can use the magic eraser. Right click on the eraser. Three options will appear. Choose “Magic Eraser”. Move your mouse to the part of the picture you want to get rid of and click. In one click it will remove the unwanted background of the picture you dragged in. While you are in that layer you can move this picture to where you want it by picking it up with your mouse.
Step 4: Add Text
Each time you start new text you create a new layer. This means that the text can be moved into any position just as any layer. Photoshop does not always space the lines of text as I like. I overcome this by making each line a new layer and them I can move them where I want them.
In the left hand tool box there is the text tool “T”. as in any word processor program fonts, styles and size can be chosen in the bar above the work area.
Once you have set your text you have a lot of things you can do to make them stand out. On the top bar of the work area you will find “Layers” Click on it. In the drop down box that appears choose “Layer Style”. This opens up a lot of thing you can play with. Drop shadow, inner shadow, outer glow, inner glow, and bevel & emboss satin, color overlay, pattern overlay and stroke. You will need to play with these to see what they do. As you play with them you will see instant results before you commit them.
With this you have created a simple and professional graphic to use on the web.
Just save it in Photoshop PSD format. This will allow you to come back and change anything you like. To save it as a smaller file suitable for the web, go to “File” and choose “Save For Web & Devices”. This will produce an image that will load faster.
