Class Details
Adobe Photoshop Course: Level 1
Course summary
This two-day Adobe Photoshop introductory training course focuses on optimising and creating digital images. You'll learn how to add finishing touches to your photographs to render superb images and use powerful editing techniques to create images for web and graphic design.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- recognise and understand fundamental aspects of Photoshop
- create your first document
- navigate images
- understand the concepts of file formats, file size, colour modes and image resizing
- make effective selections in an image
- work with layers
- resize images using a variety of techniques
- select, use and work with colour
- create and format text layers
- draw and format standard and custom shapes
- understand the process of saving
- retouch and repair artefacts in images
- print and understand printing techniques
- use the Help menu and access online help resources.
Content
Getting to know the application
- Starting from the desktop
- The welcome experience
- Dark versus light interface
- The workspace
- Understanding panels
- Working with the panel dock
- Working with panels and panel groups
- Panel techniques
- Understanding the tools panel
- Working with the tools panel
- Resetting the tools panel
- Understanding the options bar
- Opening an existing file
Your first document
- Creating a new document
- Customising and saving workspaces
- Understanding the rulers and ruler tool
- Understanding the preferences dialog box
- Saving a document
Navigating images
- Understanding the document window
- Navigating with the zoom tool
- Navigating with the hand tool
- Navigating with the navigator panel
- Understanding screen modes
- Working with tabbed documents
- Arranging multiple documents
- Working with multiple documents
Digital image basics
- Understanding file formats
- Understanding image size versus resolution
- Understanding file size
- Understanding colour mode
Making selections
- Using the marquee tools
- Understanding the lasso tools
- Using the lasso tool
- Using the polygonal lasso tool
- Using the magnetic lasso tool
- Using the quick selection tool
- Using the magic wand tool
- Growing a selection
- Add to or subtract from a selection
- Saving a selection
- Understanding the refine edge dialog box
- Refining hard-edged selections
- Redefining soft-edge selections
- Selecting with colour range
- Moving and copying selections
Working with layers
- Understanding layers
- Understanding the layers panel
- Creating a new layer
- Working with layers
- Adding images to layers
- Working with layers
- Working with the background layer
- Changing the layer stacking order
- Changing layer opacity
- Transforming layers
- Organising layers into groups
Resizing images
- Understanding resizing and resampling
- Resizing an image for printing
- Using the print dialog box to resize images
- Resampling an image for email or web
- Guidelines for cropping images
- Understanding the crop tool options bar
- Cropping images
- Cropping images to a preset size
- Applying a non-destructive crop
- Using the crop tool to add a border
Colour
- Understanding colour
- colour fundamentals
- Understanding the colour panel
- Applying colour with the colour panel
- Selecting colours using the swatches panel
- Selecting colours using the eyedropper
- Selecting colours using the hue cube
- Identifying a colour using the eyedropper
- Using the brush tool to apply colour
- Changing brush styles
- Creating a custom brush
- Using the mixer brush
Working with text
- Understanding vector-based text
- Adding point text
- Changing text size
- Changing text colour
- Changing the font family
- Installing typekit fonts
- Editing text
- Creating a custom path frame
- Adding text inside a custom path frame
- Filling text with an image
- Creating and applying paragraph styles
- Creating and applying character styles
- Creating a watermark
Shapes
- Drawing a standard shape
- Drawing a custom shape
- Arranging shapes
- Drawing a straight line
- Selecting and editing shape layers
- Understanding guides
- Understanding smart guides
- Using smart guides to position shapes
Retouching and repairing
- Understanding the retouch and repair tools
- Removing blemishes
- Reducing wrinkles
- Removing stray hairs
- Whitening teeth
- Intensifying eye colour
- Removing red eye
- Sculpting with liquify
- Removing unwanted objects and wires
- Moving objects using content-aware
- Using the clone stamp tool
Saving
- Understanding saving
- Saving layered files
- Saving PSD images in another format
- Understanding the save for web dialog box
- Optimising photos for the web – Part 1
Printing
- Printing single images
- Understanding the print dialog box
- Using the print dialog box
- Understanding printing marks
Getting help
- Understanding the help menu
- Investigating new features
- Using online help
- Searching for online help
- Accessing online tutorials
Who this course is for
Suitable for beginners wanting to learn the basics of digital imaging and apply these skills to areas such as photography, graphic design and web design.
Prerequisites
This introductory course assumes little or no knowledge of the software.
Delivery modes
- Face-to-face, presenter-taught training using your own device
- Online training via the platform Zoom
Materials
Course materials are provided electronically using Dropbox.
What you need to do before the course
To participate in this course, you will need Adobe Photoshop installed on your device and an Adobe Creative Cloud account. If you do not already have an account, you can purchase one through the Adobe Creative Cloud website. Please bring your account login details with you to class.
- Recommended operating system: Windows or Mac
- Required software: Latest version of Adobe Photoshop
- AI features: Download the BETA version of Adobe Photoshop via your Creative Cloud app to access AI tools.
Face-to-face classes
Please bring your own laptop with all required software pre-installed.
Online classes
For the best experience, we recommend using a computer with a large monitor or dual screens/devices. Small laptop screens can make it difficult to follow the facilitator’s display while working in the software.
Sessions
Location
Face-to-face (CCE Building, Sydney)
Public transport
As bus and train timetables regularly change, we suggest you visit the Transport for NSW trip planner before you set out.
The nearest train stations are Newtown Station and Macdonaldtown Station. Macdonaldtown Station is closer by distance than Newtown Station, however trains do not stop as frequently as at Newtown Station.
Other information
Parking
Nearby parking is available at Wilson Parking - RPA Medical Centre Car Park (entry via Elizabeth Street off Carillon Avenue).
A Flexi Saver Rate is available but must be booked in advance online and includes the booking fee. Bookings can be made via the Wilson website or by downloading the Wilson Parking App. Otherwise, hourly parking rates will apply, as advertised on the Wilson Parking website.
Meet the facilitators
Xavier Beau-Davis
Xavier Beau-Davis has extensive qualifications and experience in design and graphic arts, including a Bachelor of Design and a Diploma in Graphic Arts. He also successfully runs his own company specialising in creating websites.
Xavier has operational experience in a myriad of industry sectors such as Financial Services, Insurance, Education, Information Technology, Local Government, State Government, Commonwealth Government, Not-For-Profit, Banking, Entertainment and the Media.
Xavier has been a computer trainer and teacher for many years in both corporate and educational environments and holds a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment. He has experience consulting or delivering training in all the aforementioned industry sectors.
Xavier believes that computers are just a tool to let people create their own designs and he enjoys providing learners with some simple techniques so that everyone can achieve this goal.
