Welcome

Why Photoshop? | How to use this module | Additional Resources

Welcome to Introduction to Photoshop! This module is designed to get you up and running with Adobe Photoshop.

This module covers of Photoshop CS (also known as version 8). The user interface is pretty much consistent from one version to another, but if you are using a version other than CS, some features may work differently.

Why Photoshop?

The Health Sciences Library is committed to helping people learn information skills that are critical to success in the the 21st century. Information includes not only text and numbers, but images as well. The expression "a picture is worth a thousand words" is as true today as ever. And digital imaging offers many ways of working with and using images that were never before possible.

Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard tool used for digital imaging, which makes Photoshop expertise a valuable commodity in the workplace of today and tomorrow. Learning Photoshop is also a good way to learn imaging concepts. Concepts you learn from working with Photoshop apply to other imaging tools as well.

How To Use This Module

The purpose of this module is to introduce you to basic Adobe Photoshop features and concepts so that you can use the program effectively. By the time you complete this module, you should be able to use Photoshop to open files and scan images, move around images using navigation tools, understand basic imaging concepts, do basic editing tasks, and prepare images for online presentations.

Note: Photoshop is a complex program, and this module does not cover some of Photoshop's advanced features. For help with learning additional advanced Photoshop techniques, see Additional Resources (below).

This instructional module includes the following sections:

Getting Started (Photoshop desktop, getting images into Photoshop, moving around an image, tips for using Photoshop)
Imaging Concepts (color modes, image size, resolution, and print size)
Scanning (using the HSL Media Design Studio scanner)
Basic Image Editing (cropping, removing imperfections, adjusting contrast, correcting colors, and sharpening images
More Image Editing (selection techniques, layers, adding type, and painting)
Preparing Online Images (Web imaging tips, Save for Web command, inserting images into Powerpoint)

The section headings are displayed on the left side of the screen on all pages in this site. To go to a section, click on its heading.

In this module, menu items are referred to in the format Menu > Item. In some cases the item may be a submenu with a sub-item. For example, Image > Adjust > Levels means choose the Image menu, Adjust submenu, Levels menu item.

Feedback

We hope you enjoy this module. We welcome and encourage your comments and suggestions, and we encourage you to provide feedback to us by completing the online evaluation form included with this module. Thanks, and good luck!

Additional Resources

For additional help in learning Photoshop, we encourage you to sign up to request a consultation.

We also recommend the following online and printed resources:

Photoshop online help (accessible from the Help menu within Photoshop)
Photoshop CS Studio Techniques, by Ben Willmore (Adobe Press, Peachpit Press).
An excellent, in-depth, well-written book about Photoshop.
Photoshop CS Bible, by Deke McClelland (Wiley). The most comprehensive book about Photoshop.
Adobe Photoshop training books and CD-ROMs available from http://www.Lynda.com and from Total Training (http://www.totaltraining.com/).
The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) at http://www.photoshopuser.com/