How To ★ Photoshop Edition ★ Updated: Aug 24

[asterravos]

★ HOW TO: PHOTOSHOP EDITION ★

Do you have Adobe Photoshop and don't know how to take full advantage of it? Well, you've clicked on the right thread! These tutorials are likely transferable to other programs; however, I use Adobe Photoshop CS3 and won't be able to help you with Gimp or Jasc Paint Shop Pro.


List of Tutorials:
True Transparency (with text)
True Transparency (with pictures)
True Transparency (with webkinz)
Color to Black and White (includes a mini-tut on selective coloring)


Upcoming tutorials:
Black and White to Color


Have a questions about a certain tutorial? ASK! Don't be shy, I don't bite.


Want to learn how to do something that I haven't written a tutorial for yet? Just comment on this thread and I will add it to my upcoming tutorial list

[asterravos]

True Transparency!

First things first, star a new project. File > New... I recommend using the settings you see in the image bellow. Width and height are completely up to you; however, Background Contents is mandatory.

Now put what you want onto the transparent background. I chose to write my WI ID for this quick tutorial. Not only can you do all solid colors, like the image on the left, but you can also do translucent colors, like the glow to the image on the right.

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All you have left to do is save! File > Save As... And select .png under the Format choice.

[asterravos]

True Transparency with Pictures!

In this tutorial you will learn how to make parts of a picture transparent. Let's start with a cute picture. Remember, when putting the photo into photoshop to make the Background Contents transparent!

Next, select the Polygonal Lasso Tool. Use the setting I list below as well. You can play around with them, but this is what I recommend.

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Now start outlining what you want to delete. You may need to do only parts at time. OR, you can outline what you'd like to keep and then go to Select > Inverse. Here is what I have:

/

Now just press the Delete button on your keyboard. Ta da! Just save as a .png file and you're all done.

[asterravos]

Webkinz Transparency!

As you can see in my siggie, webkinz look pretty cute with a transparent background! The first set is to place your webkinz in a solid color room. Any color is fine, it just has to be one color. To take a screenshot of your webkinz, press the Print Screen button on your keyboard.

Now select the Magic Wand tool.

Change the wand's settings to what is shown below. The Tolerance is important. If it is set any higher than zero, instead of just the background being deleted, part of your webkinz will likely go too.

Now just select the solid color floor with your wand and press the Delete key on your keyboard. Save as a .png!

Woah! Nice job on this thread!

[ICanHasWebkinz?]

Wow, cool! I will definitely try out the pet one. Thanks for this guide!

[asterravos]

Color Images to Black and White

Color can be great, but so are black and white photos. Photoshop allows for several different black and white methods that result in different outcomes. I'll go through a few of my favorites. It's up to you to decide which looks best for your image!


Black and White: Most Comprehensive

We'll start with this yummy cupcake. You can use any image though, even black and white photos for this tutorial!

To start, go to Image > Adjustments > Black & White...

Below is the popup that will come up. You can use any of the presets at the top; however, I prefer to make my own. Make sure preview is checked so that you can see what you are doing to your image. Just slide those arrows around until your image is the way you like it.

This is what I ended up with using the above settings:

Black and White: Shades of Black and White & Selective Coloring

We'll use the cupcake again since it's so cute. This time, go to Image > Adjustments > Hue & Saturation...

Slide the Saturation arrow to the left to make the image black and white. You can decide the degree of black and white your image is with this method.

Selective Coloring. This is one of my favorite things to do. At the top of the pop-up (Edit), select the color in the drop down you want to make black and white. You can even do this multiple times to make more than one color become black and white. I chose the yellow cupcake wrapper. I then moved the Saturation arrow to the left again. Some of the orange parts were still visible (yuck!), so I chose to open up that grey area between the two rainbow bars at the bottom of the pop-up.

Black and White: Quick and Dirty

Don't have much time but need and black and white image? Great, this is the method you want. All you need to do is go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. You're done!

[asterravos]

Originally Posted by ebaday

Woah! Nice job on this thread!

Thank you

Originally Posted by ICanHasWebkinz?

Wow, cool! I will definitely try out the pet one. Thanks for this guide!

I'm glad you found something to try out!

[Smile]

How do you know if you have Adobe Photoshop? And do you have to pay for it?

[asterravos]

Originally Posted by smile=]

How do you know if you have Adobe Photoshop? And do you have to pay for it?

A lot of computers these days come with this program. To get to it: Start Menu > All Programs > Adobe > Adobe Photoshop
If you don't already have it, it's fairly expensive. Usually in the $500 to $700 range. Students are sometimes able to get it a lot cheaper though.