Adobe Photoshop Course: Level 1
Adobe Photoshop. Transform your images into anything you can imagine.
COVID-19 update: arrangement of our courses
We are now delivering courses both online and in-person. Please check the delivery format for each class before you enrol.
Please note that course materials for all classes (excluding prescribed textbooks) are shared electronically within 48 hours of a course starting. Printing is not available.
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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 the powerful editing techniques to create images for web and graphic design.
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
Intended audience
Suitable for beginner’s 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 style
Delivery options:
- Presenter-taught computer-based training in a computer lab on University premises. You will have dedicated access to a computer so you can follow the instructor and work through in-class activities.
- Online training via the platform Zoom.
Materials
You will be provided with a link to access and download your own personalised eBook prior to class.
Additional information
Face-to-face classes
These classes run in a computer lab and you do not need to bring your own device.
Please bring a USB flash drive to class if you would like to make a copy of your work or any relevant class materials. Alternatively, you can save these to a cloud storage space or email them to your personal email address.
Online classes
If you are attending an online class, you will need your own device.
Recommended operating system: Windows or Mac
Recommended software for PC: Adobe Photoshop CC (any version from 2015 onwards)
Recommended software for Mac OS: Adobe Photoshop CC (any version from 2015 onwards)
Recommended browser: n/a
Features
- $50 repeat class - Conditions apply
- Expert trainer
- Small class size
- CCE Statement of Completion
What others say.
Teacher fantastic. Very patient for the slow ones like myself. A big thank you for the time and energy.
We had an exceptional teacher who explained concepts clearly, demonstrated the techniques for us all to see, then went around the room to each student in turn, to ensure that they understood what to do. The tutor was particularly patient and supportive to those (like me) who were less experienced.
The tutor was highly skilled, engaging and helpful. This course has equipped me with adequate skills of Photoshop that now I feel confident using them in a professional setting. Highly recommend!
The tutor was not only exceptionally knowledgeable but extremely engaging, patient and talented as well. I took far more away from this course than I have from hours of online tutorials.
I went from having near no knowledge of Photoshop to feeling comfortable enough to teach it myself! This course was great!
The tutor knew the Photoshop software in very fine detail and took time to pay attention to everyone’s needs, and was flexible as well. Showed us some very handy tricks and tips. The teaching materials were well prepared. The tutor was also very welcoming and pleasant, good humoured, very affable, and kept the class attention focused on the program, and at the same time made the program very enjoyable and productive. I am looking forward to attending Level 2.
The class content was great. What amazing teachers you have for these courses. Super happy with the course.
The tutor is an experienced, patient and knowledgeable instructor. The classes were well paced and delivered exactly what was promised.
A well presented, engaging and supportive program. It was also well structured and paced in its content. The tutor was professional and great, ensuring all participants were confident and able to keep up, irrespective of prior experience/ability and confidence. I would happily attend another of these programs. The support materials and handouts are great. The facilities and catering arrangements could not be faulted.
Fantastic teacher who was extremely helpful and had a lot of patience. The pace in the class was good, not too fast or slow. A good overview of what Photoshop can provide. It was great to learn what all the tools did! I’m looking forward to using the new skills I’ve learnt... fingers crossed!
Great tutor – patient when dealing with students with varying capacity to pick up the training content... and very knowledgeable of subject matter. Would definitely recommend this course to others.
The course was very good, well-structured and clear with lots of opportunities for us to practice the skills we were learning. The teacher is a knowledgeable and capable instructor and helped us individually as required, though the group made many demands on him. Everything was very well explained.
The tutor was very knowledgeable and also very approachable. He gave a very good insight into the basics of Photoshop, and made it possible to see how the program could be used in my work setting.
The course was very well organised and run, and the facilitator was definitely an expert on the program. It was a very positive experience and I look forward to partaking in more courses run by the Centre for Continuing Education.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course. I had never used the Photoshop software before but our teacher could accommodate my learning needs as a beginner as well as others who were more advanced.
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...| When | Time | Where | Session Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 13 Sep 2020 | 9:30am - 4:30pm (UTC+10:00) | Online via Zoom - Online via Zoom | |
| Sun 20 Sep 2020 | 9:30am - 4:30pm (UTC+10:00) | Online via Zoom - Online via Zoom |
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...| When | Time | Where | Session Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 06 Oct 2020 | 9:30am - 4:30pm (UTC+11:00) | Room 300 - Centre for Continuing Education | |
| Tue 13 Oct 2020 | 9:30am - 4:30pm (UTC+11:00) | Room 300 - Centre for Continuing Education |
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...| When | Time | Where | Session Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 17 Nov 2020 | 9:30am - 4:30pm (UTC+11:00) | Online via Zoom - Online via Zoom | |
| Tue 24 Nov 2020 | 9:30am - 4:30pm (UTC+11:00) | Online via Zoom - Online via Zoom |
If there isn't a class to suit you, please join the waiting list.
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What others say.
- The tutor was very knowledgeable and also very approachable. He gave a very good insight into the basics of Photoshop, and made it possible to see how the program could be used in my work setting.
- The tutor was wonderful. I had a very enjoyable experience and will be back for more courses.
- A very useful and well laid out course. I came to the course self-taught and just wanted some kind of official training to fill in the gaps. It was perfect for that. I will definitely be doing the Level 2 course.
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