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Photoshop 101: The Essentials (6 weeks)
May 19, 2008 - June 27, 2008
Creative Concepts 101
This is a 6-week design intensive course that focuses on the ins and out of Photoshop. This class is taught at the beginner level so anyone with no or little Photoshop knowledge is welcome. Students will learn how to navigate their way around Photoshop and familiarize themselves with all the different tools present. This class will cover the essentials of Photoshop – what it is, working with palettes and different workspaces, photo manipulation, and the different tools of Photoshop. Students will be taught the importance of type usage and different color schemes. At the end of the class, students will be assigned a design project. Evaluations and input will be given to completed projects by the instructor.
Classes will consist of ten lessons and an end of course project of the student’s choice. Lessons will be posted on Monday and Wednesday morning of each week. Lessons will be held via a YahooGroups email loop and will also be posted in the files section.
Please Note: This is a design intensive class. Class participants do not need any design or Photoshop background. Students must provide their own Photoshop application. The class will be conducted using CS2, but Photoshop 6, 8, Elements, and CS3 can be used.
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Course Agenda
WEEK ONE
Lesson 1
Getting Around Photoshop
A) The Tool Bars
B) Working with Workspaces
C) The Different Windows
C) The Palettes
i. The Layer Palette
ii. The Color Palette
iii. The History and Navigation Palettes
Lesson 2
Document Creation
A) Creating a New Document
B) Document Resolution
C) Foreground and Background Colors
D) Rulers and Guides
E) Saving the Document
Homework: Bring a handful of images to class to work with for next week. Can be family photos or stock photos pulled from the internet. Photos will not be shared, but are for your personal use.
WEEK TWO
Lesson 3
Canvas and Image Manipulation
A) Adding Images to a Document
i. The Marquee Selection Tool
ii. The Selection Tool
iii. Step Backward and Forward Shorthand Keys
B) Image and Canvas Zoom
C) Changing Image and Canvas Size
D) Rotating Image and Canvas
E) Cropping an Image
i. The Crop Tool
F) Image Filters
i. Artistic
ii. Blur
iii. Brush Stroke
iv. Distort
v. Sketch
vi. Stylize
vii. Texture
Lesson 4
Layers
A) The Layer Palette
i. Creating Layers
ii. Moving Layers
iii. Duplicating Layers
iv. Locking Layers
B) Layer Styles and Effects
i. Layer Opacity
ii. Screens and Overlays
iii. Drop Shadow
iv. Bevel and Emboss
Homework: Figure out what was done to example and mirror example.
WEEK THREE
Lesson 5
Color Selection
A) Color Modes
B) The Color Palette
i. Document Color Palette
ii. PMS and Other Colors
C) Color Codes
i. RGB Color Codes
ii. CMYK Color Codes
iii. HTML Color Codes (Web-Safe Colors)
Lesson 6
Type Selection and Effects
A) Type Creation
i. The Text Tool
ii. The Text Box
iii. Horizontal and Vertical Text
iv. Text Alignment
B) Type Effects
i. Drop Shadow
ii. Inner and Outer Shadows
iii. Bevel and Emboss
iv. Stroke
C) Additional
i. Different Type Fonts
ii. Warped Text
iii. Text Color
iv. Text Opacity
Homework: Create a name logo for yourself using the elements learned and share with class.
WEEK FOUR
Lesson 7
Photo Retouching
A) Removing Red Eye and Blemishes
i. Using the Brush and Blur Tools
ii. Using Layers
iii. Using the Eye Dropper Tool
B) Tinting and Lighting Effects
i. Contrast and Brightness
ii. Exposure
C) Color Effects
i. Color Balance and Adjustments
ii. Hues and Saturation
D) Black and White Image Creation
iii. Using Greyscale
Homework: Practice removing red eyes and fixing blemishes from photo supplied.
Lesson 8
Additional Tools
A) The Pen Tool
B) The Pencil Tool
C) The Eraser Tool
D) The Gradient Tool
E) The Line and Shape Tool
F) The Magic Wand Tool
WEEK FIVE
Lesson 9
Brushes
A) The Brush Tool
B) Editing Brushes
C) Making Layouts with Brushes
D) More Brushes Online
Lesson 10
Putting It All Together
A) Helpful Websites and Resources
B) Project Assignment
Homework: Project creation. Turn in or post completed project for evaluation.
WEEK SIX
Project Evaluations
Page Evaluations
Project Evaluations and Wrap Up
Project Evaluations (cont'd.) and Wrap Up
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Registration Information
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!
This class will be offered here, at Creative Concepts 101. Class begins May 19, 2008 and will run until June 27, 2008. Registration is now available. Class registration fee is the standard $35 for a 6-week course.
About the Instructor
Mai Christy Thao is a freelance web and graphic designer. Before leaving the workforce, she worked as a web and graphic designer for an association management company, where her clients range anywhere from the state to international level. She's worked with a myriad of web and graphic design programs and applications, and is skilled in all aspects of design, from web designing (DreamWeaver, FrontPage, CSS, HTML, Script Writing), to photo and digital design (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign), to print designs (QuarkXpress, Adobe). Currently she's looking to expand her learning into Flash. Mai is also a freelance writer as welll.
Mai owns her own internet network marketing business and is an affiliate marketer for several Fortune 500 companies. She likes to spend whatever free time she has left over devoted to reading and writing. She's a member of RWA, an American Title finalist, and a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. You can visit her online at maichristythao.com or on myspace at www.myspace.com/maichristythao.
Signup for my mailing list!
Keep track of upcoming design classes with my announcement-only mailing list. Occassionally I'll send around a design-specific trick or two, but this list is strictly for announcing upcoming Creative Concepts 101 classes. Announcements will average 6-10 for the year, so it won't bog down your inbox.
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