The Warp Options Bar
On the right side of the Transform options bar, is a Switch between transform and warp modes button, which causes Photoshop to display the Warp options bar (Figure 2-25). You also can access the Warp options bar, by clicking Warp on the Edit menu’s Transform submenu.
Figure 2-25
On the left of the Warp options bar is the Reference point location button that works in the same way as it does on the Transform options bar, applying the warp in relation to the selected reference point. The Warp Style box arrow displays a list of standard shapes including things such as arc, wave, shell, and flag. The warp styles are malleable by using the other buttons on the options bar, including the ability to change the orientation of the warp, adjust the amount of bend in the warp, and set the horizontal and vertical skews.
To Warp a Selection
The following steps warp the selection to change it slightly, creating a unique copy.
1
• On the Transform options bar, click the Switch between transform and warp modes button to display the Warp options bar and the warp grid on the selection (Figure 2-26).
Figure 2-26
2
• In the grid, drag several points in the grid to warp the selection (Figure 2-27).
[EXP] Drag various lines and control points to create different skews and distortions. After each one, press ctrl+z to undo the warp. [END EXP]
Figure 2-27
3
• Press the enter key to commit the transformation (Figure 2-28).
Figure 2-28
Other Ways
1. Press ctrl+t, right-click selection, click Warp, adjust control points
[END Other Ways]
To Deselect Using Shortcut Keys
You are finished with the green bell pepper. The following step deselects the selection.
1 Press ctrl+d to deselect (Figure 2-29).
Figure 2-29
The History Panel
The History panel is displayed by clicking History on the Window menu. The History panel records each step, called a state, as you edit a photo (Figure 2-30). Photoshop displays the initial state of the document at the top of the panel. Each time you apply a change to an image, the new state of that image is added to the bottom of the panel. Each state change is listed with the name of the tool or command used to change the image. For example, when you deselected the green bell pepper, the word Deselect was displayed as a step in the history of the file. The step just above Deselect in the History panel denotes the free transformation of the green bell pepper when you warped the selection.
Figure 2-30
In an initial installation of Photoshop, the History panel appears to the left of the other displayed panels. Like the Navigator panel that you learned about in Chapter 1, the History panel also has a panel menu where you can clear all states, change the history settings, or dock the panel. To display the panel menu, click the History panel menu button. To move the panel, drag its title bar. To change the size of the panel, drag its border. Buttons on the History panel status bar allow you to create a new document, a new snapshot, or delete the selected state. The panel can be collapsed by clicking the History button in the vertical docking, or by clicking the Collapse to icons button. To redisplay a collapsed History panel, click the History button in the vertical docking or choose it again from the Window menu.
To Display the History Panel
The following steps display the History panel using the Window menu.
1
• On the menu bar, click Window to display the menu (Figure 2-31).
Figure 2-31
2
• Click History in the menu to display the History panel (Figure 2-32).
Figure 2-32
Using the History Panel
The History panel is used in several different ways. When you select one of the states, the image reverts to how it looked when that change first was applied. Some users use the History panel to undo mistakes. Others use it to try out or experiment with different edits. By clicking a state, you can view the state temporarily, or start working again from that point. You can step forward and backward through the states in the History panel by pressing ctrl+shift+z or ctrl+alt+z respectively.
Selecting a state and then changing the image in any way eliminates all the states in the History panel that came after it; however, if you select a state and change the image by accident, you can use the Undo command on the Edit menu to restore the eliminated states. If you select the Allow Non-Linear History check box in the History Options dialog box (Figure 2-30), deleting a state deletes only that state.
You can use the History panel to jump to any recent state of the image created during the current working session by clicking the state. Alternately, you also can give a state a new name called a snapshot. Naming a snapshot makes it easy to identify. Snapshots are stored at the top of the history panel and make it easy to compare effects. For example, you can take a snapshot before and after a series of transformations. Then, by clicking between the two snapshots in the History panel you can see the total effect or choose the before snapshot and start over. Snapshots are not saved with the image — closing an image deletes its snapshots. To create a snapshot, right-click the step and then click New Snapshot on the shortcut menu, or click the Create new snapshot button on the History panel status bar.
Not all steps are recorded in the History panel. For instance, changes to panels, color settings, actions, and preferences are not reflected in the History panel, because they are not changes to a particular image.
By default, the History panel lists the previous 20 states. You can change the number of remembered states by changing a preference setting (see Appendix C). Older states are deleted automatically to free more memory for Photoshop. Once you close and reopen the document, all states and snapshots from the last working session are cleared from the panel.
To Use the History Panel
The following steps show how to use the History panel to view a previous state.
1
• In the History panel, click the Duplicate state, to display the selection before you flipped and warped it (Figure 2-33). Do not click anywhere else.
Figure 2-33
2
• In the History panel, click the Deselect state at the bottom of the list to return the image to its most recent state (Figure 2-34).
Figure 2-34
Other Ways
1. To step forward, press ctrl+shift+z
2. To step forward, on History panel menu, click Step Forward
3. To step backward, press ctrl+alt+z
4. To step backward, on History panel menu, click Step Backward
[END Other Ways]
To Collapse the History Panel
You can redisplay the History panel whenever you need it; however, the following step collapses the History panel to a button in the vertical docking, so you can see more of the document window.
1
• Click the History button to collapse the panel (Figure 2-35).
Figure 2-35
Other Ways
1. Click the Collapse to Icons button
[END Other Ways]
Plan Ahead
Use grids and guides.
Showing grids in your document window gives you multiple horizontal and vertical lines with which you can align selections, copies, and new images. Grids also can help you match and adjust sizes and perspective.
Create guides when you have an exact margin, location, or size in mind. Because selections will snap to guides, you easily can create a top-left corner to use as a boundary when you move and copy. Guides do not print and are turned on and off without difficulty.
[END Plan Ahead]
Grids and Guides
Photoshop has a grid of lines that can be displayed over the top of the image. The grid is useful for laying out elements symmetrically or positioning them precisely. The grid can appear as nonprinting lines or as dots. To display the grid, click the View Extras button on the Application bar and then click Show Grids. Alternately, you can click Show on the View menu and then click Grid.
A guide is a nonprinting ruler line or dashed line that graphic designers use to align objects or mark key measurements. To create a guide, you turn on the ruler display and then drag from the horizontal ruler at the top of the document window or from the vertical ruler at the left side of the document window. When you release the mouse, a light, blue-green line is displayed across the image.
Table 2-3 displays various ways to manipulate guides.
Table 2-3 Manipulating Guides
|
Action
|
Steps
|
Change color and style
|
Double-click guide.
|
Clear all guides
|
On the View menu, click Clear Guides.
|
Convert between horizontal and vertical guide
|
Select Move tool, alt+click guide.
|
Create
|
Drag from ruler into document window; or, on View menu, click New Guide, and then enter the orientation and position.
|
Lock in place
|
On the View menu, click Lock Guides.
|
Move
|
Select Move tool, and then drag the guide to a new location.
|
Remove
|
Select Move tool, and then drag the guide to the ruler.
|
Snap guide to ruler tick
|
shift+drag the ruler.
|
Turn on/off display
|
On the Application bar, click View Extras, and then click Show Guides; or, on the View menu, point to Show, and then click Guides, or press ctrl+;.
|
The term snapping refers to the ability of objects to attach, or automatically align with, a grid or guide. For example, if you select an object in your image and begin to move it, as you get close to a guide the object’s selection border will attach itself to the guide. It is not a permanent magnetic hold. If you do not wish to leave the object there, simply keep dragging. To turn on or off snapping, click Snap on the View menu.
In a later chapter, you will learn about smart guides that are displayed automatically when you draw a shape or move a layer. Smart guides further help align shapes, slices, selections, and layers. Appendix C describes how to set guide and grid preferences using the Edit menu.
The next sections illustrate how to display grids and then create both a horizontal and vertical guide.
To Display a Grid
The following steps display the grid.
1
• On the Application bar, click the View Extras button to display its list (Figure 2-36).
Figure 2-36
2
• If the Show Grids command does not display a check mark, click it to display the grid (Figure 2-37).
Figure 2-37
Other Ways
1. Press ctrl+’
2. On View menu, point to Show, click Grid
[END Other Ways]
To Turn Off the Grid Display
The display of a grid is a toggle, which means that you turn it off in the same manner that you turned it on, in this case with the same command.
1 On the Application bar, click the View Extras button to display its list.
2 Click Show Grids to remove the check mark and remove the grid from the display.
BTW
Displaying Extras
On the View menu is an Extras command with which you can show or hide selection edges, guides, target paths, slices, annotations, layer borders, and smart guides. You also can use ctrl+h to show or hide those items.
[END BTW]
To Create Guides
To copy and place peppers in a way that provides some symmetry in the advertisement, guides will be placed in the image. A horizontal guide will be placed at the top of the second green pepper. Vertical guides will be placed to divide the final advertisement into approximate thirds. When you create a new guide, Photoshop enables the Show Guides command even if it is not on. The following steps create guides.
1
• Click the horizontal ruler at the top of the document window and then drag down into the image until the ruler guide is just below the stem of the second green bell pepper as shown in Figure 2-38.
• Release the mouse button.
Figure 2-38
3
• Click the vertical ruler at the left of the document window and then drag right, into the image to create a vertical guide even with the stem of the second green bell pepper as shown in Figure 2-39.
• Release the mouse button.
Figure 2-39
4
• Using the same technique, drag another guide from the vertical ruler and release the mouse button at 6.5 inches as measured on the horizontal ruler Figure 2-40).
Figure 2-40
Other Ways
1. To show or hide guides, press ctrl+;
2. To create guide, on View menu click New Guide, enter value, click OK
[END Other Ways]
BTW
Guides and Grids
You can change the color or style of guides and grids. On the Edit menu, point to Preferences, and then click Guides, Grid, & Slices or Guides, Grid, Slices & Convert.
[END BTW]
The Quick Selection Tool
The Quick Selection tool is used to draw a selection quickly, using the mouse. As you drag, a selection is created automatically, expanding outward to find and follow the defined edges in the image. Dragging a quick selection is almost like painting a stroke with a brush. The Quick Selection tool does not create a rectangular or oval selection; rather it looks for a contrast in color, and aligns the selection border to that contrast. It is most useful for isolated objects or parts of an image that contain a contrasting background.
The Quick Selection Tool (W) button is nested with the Magic Wand tool on the Tools panel. You can access it from the context menu or by pressing the w key; or if the Magic Wand tool has been used previously, press shift+w. When using the Quick Selection tool, the mouse pointer changes to a brush tip that displays a circle with a centered cross inside. You can increase or decrease the size of the brush tip by using the [ or ] keys respectively, or by using the options bar.
The Quick Selection Options Bar
The Quick Selection options bar (Figure 2-41) displays the size of the brush and contains some of the same selection buttons as other selection tools. It also contains an Auto-Enhance check box that reduces roughness in the selection boundary when the box is checked.
Figure 2-41
Using the Quick Selection Tool
You will use the Quick Selection tool to select the orange bell pepper. Then, when moving the pepper leaves a shadow behind, you will undo the move and refine the edges. Finally, you will move the pepper to a location near the others in the advertisement.
As you use the Quick Selection tool, if you make a mistake and want to start over, you can deselect by pressing ctrl+d, and then start again.
To Use the Quick Selection Tool
The following steps use the Quick Selection tool to select the orange bell pepper.
1
• Right-click the Magic Wand Tool (W) button on the Tools panel and then click Quick Selection Tool to select it.
• On the options bar, click the New selection button, if necessary. Click the Auto-Enhance check box so it displays a check mark, if necessary.
• Move the mouse pointer to location over the top of the stem of the orange bell pepper.
• If necessary, adjust the mouse pointer tip to be approximately the same size as the stem by pressing the [ or ] key (Figure 2-42).
Figure 2-42
2
• Slowly drag down until the selection border is displayed around the pepper (Figure 2-43).
Figure 2-43
Other Ways
1. Press w or shift+w until Quick Selection tool is active, drag photo
[END Other Ways]
To Move a Selection
The following steps move the orange bell pepper using the Move tool. If you make a mistake while moving, press ctrl+z and then move again.
1 On the Tools panel, click the Move Tool (V) button to select it.
2 Drag the selection up and to the right until the bottom of the stem aligns with the horizontal ruler and the right vertical guide (Figure 2-44).
Figure 2-44
To Undo Using the History Panel
Notice in Figure 2-44 that a halo or ghost border was left in the previous location of the pepper. That sometimes happens with any of the selection tools, especially when fringe pixels are faded. The following step undoes the Move command so the error can be corrected.
1
• Click the History button in the vertical docking of panels to display the History panel.
• Click the Quick Selection state in the History panel to go back one step (Figure 2-45). Do not press any other keys.
[Q] Could I have pressed ctrl+z to undo the move? [END Q]
[A] Yes, if you only need to undo one step, pressing ctrl+z will work. If you need to go back more than one step, you must use the History panel. [END A
Figure 2-45
2
• Click the History button again to collapse the History panel.
Other Ways
1. Press ctrl+alt+z
[END Other Ways]
The Refine Edge Dialog Box
Recall that the Refine Edge button displays a dialog box where you can make choices about improving selections with jagged edges, soft transitions, hazy borders, or fine details. The Refine Edge Dialog box has controls to improve the quality of a selection’s edges and allows you to view the selection against different backgrounds for easy editing (Figure 2-46).
Figure 2-46
Table 2-4 displays the controls in the Refine Edge dialog box and their functions.
Table 2-4 Controls in the Refine Edge dialog Box
|
Control
|
Function
|
Radius slider
|
used to adjust the size of the selection boundary by pixels
|
Contrast slider
|
sharpens the selection edges to remove any hazy or extraneous pixels, sometimes called fuzzy artifacts or noise; increasing the contrast percentage can remove excessive noise near selection edges caused by a high radius setting
|
Smooth slider
|
reduces irregular areas in the selection boundary to create a smoother outline with values from 0 to 100 pixels
|
Feather slider
|
softens the edges of the selection for blending into backgrounds using values from 0 to 250 pixels
|
Contract/Expand slider
|
shrinks or enlarges the selection border for subtle changes
|
preview buttons
|
used to adjust display to monitor changes
|
The various settings in the Refine Edge dialog box take practice to use intuitively. The more experience you have adjusting the settings, the more comfortable you will feel with the controls. To improve selections for images on a contrasting background, you should first increase the radius and then increase the contrast to sharpen the edges. For grayscale images or selections where the colors of the object and the background are similar, try smoothing first, then feathering. For all selections, you might need to adjust the Contract/Expand slider.
To Refine Edges
First, you will refine the edges of the selection in the following steps.
1
• On the Tools panel, click the Quick Selection Tool (W) button to return to the Quick Selection tool.
• On the Quick Selection options bar, click the Refine Edge button to display the Refine Edge dialog box (Figure 2-47).
Figure 2-47
2
• Click the Standard preview button to display the entire image in the document window.
• To increase the radius, drag the Radius slider until the Radius box displays 3
• To increase the contrast, drag the Contrast slider until the Contrast box displays 25.
[EXP] Drag the Contract/Expand expand slider to various percentages and watch how the selection changes. [END EXP]
• Drag the Contract/Expand slider until the percentages is 55% to expand the selection (Figure 2-48).
Figure 2-48
4
• Click the OK button in the Refine Edge dialog box to apply the changes and close the box.
Other Ways
1. Right-click selection, click Refine Edge, choose settings, click OK
[END Other Ways]
To Move Again
Next, you will move the orange bell pepper again, without leaving behind a ghost border.
1 Click the Move Tool (V) button on the Tools panel to select it.
2 Drag the selection up and to the right until the bottom of the stem aligns with the horizontal ruler and the right vertical guide (Figure 2-44).The peppers will overlap.
Figure 2-49
To Create a Copy and Skew
Finally, you will create and skew a copy to create more diversity in the advertisement.
1 alt+drag the selection down and to the right to create a duplicate.
Share with your friends: |