How-to-Guide [Part 1] Tools

In the creation of a poster there are numerous tools that can be used to create a professional looking image that may be used for numerous print media texts. In this instance I have identified numerous tools to help me in the creation of my Movie Teaser Poster. These tools can be found on the left-hand side of the screen when you open the Photoshop programme such as the example shown on the left. The five tools I have selected include:



The Tool Bar in Photoshop.

Tool 1 – Quick Selection Tool; this tool enables me to select an area quickly. By clicking on the dotted line surrounding the area I have selected I am able to tighten or expand the selection around the part of the image I wish to edit.





The Lasso Tool being used to prior
to cutting out the moon.

Tool 2 – Lasso Tool; this tool enables me to be able to select parts of my images where I am then able to edit. For example, If I wish the area that I selected I can CUT and PASTE elsewhere, either on the same image or on a different layer. I could, also, if I chose change the colour or tone of the selected segment or add an effect. The screen grab shows that I have selected an area using the Lasso Tool.




The crop grid is evident in
this image as an example.

Tool 3 – Crop Tool; with this tool I am able to select parts of my image and either CUT or TRIM my images to a required size. In essence, the crop tool acts a guillotine to cut an image or a selected part of an image, to size.  In the exapmle shown to the left, if I were to cut this as the areas inside the white grid would be the new image, removing the excess outside of the grid.

 

I used the Brush Tool to cover the moon in
red "paint". A look that I would not use
for this poster.

Tool 4 – Brush Tool; with this tool I am able to paint or draw colours over a specific part of the image. In this example I have attempted to darken the area around the moon as I felt that the shine from the moonshine was over empowering.  However, on this occasion the colour I used was too dark and the brush type was too heavy and the size too large. In the example shown I have used the brush tool and covered the moon in red. Obviously I would not use this tool as I have to use on a project but I can see how it would come in useful to add effects to an image. 



The Eraser Tool has removed the dark
"paint" and the layer to reveal more
of the moonshine.

Tool 5 – Eraser Tool; this enables me to delete areas, or rub out, section of a layer so that the layer behind can be seen through it. This tool is useful when blending in two images on different layers so that the edges of the images become smoother. This makes, in this instance, a poster, seem one image as opposed to several images randomly placed together. In this example I have erased the black that I initially used to eradicate the excessive moonshine and “rubbed away” more of the dark area to reveal more of the moonshine.

Each of these tools has numerous hidden tools. By selecting one of these I am then able to customize the tool in the options bar. By customising the options I can fine tune any element of an image I wish to alter. Below I have listed three tools with a hidden tool. The tools with hidden options I have selected are; the Brush Tool [below, on the left are the hidden tools within the Brush Tool section; on the right the options that the Brush Tool has].

the Crop tool [below, on the left are the hidden tools within the Crop Tool section; on the right the options that the Crop Tool has].

 

 

and the Eraser tool [below, on the left are the hidden tools within the Eraser Tool section; on the right the options that the Eraser Tool has].

The colour swatch enables me to change colours within my poster. Also with this tool I can customize my own colour and add it to the colour swatch so that I can easily access it when I need to do so. To enable me to do this I first click on the two coloured squares on the Tool Bar  [as indicated on the left] which brings up the Colour Picker [on the right].

I can then position the small circle in the square to get white, black or any shade of green in between. By adjusting the sliders either up or down the coloured bar will enable me to change to a wider selection of colours. Each colour has a different value of Red, Green and Black. I could also change colour by changing the different these three different values. However, I would need either an expansive memory bank or lots of luck on guessing the right values to get the colour I want or need! Once I have selected a colour it will have its own value. In the colour I have chosen the value is #b4e515 and this is shown in the box at the bottom on the screenshot. Knowing these values is great should I ever need to replicate this colour for any other project. By typing this value in other design software the same colour would appear. But, for simple access within Photoshop, should I need this colour again I simply click on 'Add to Swatches'.

A box will appear where I can name the colour that has been created. The Green I have created I have named 'Photoshop How-to Green'.

When I click OK the colour I have created appears in the Colour Swatch as you can see on the bottom row of colours.