Region VI Western Visayas

School Division of Iloilo

PAVIA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Pavia, Iloilo

I. WHAT IS GRAPHIC DESIGN?

Graphic Design is a process and art of combining text and
graphics and communicating an effective message in the
design of logos, graphics, brochures, newsletters, posters,
signs, and any other type of visual communication.

Furthermore, a graphic designer is creative problem solver

who is trained to conceive, plan, and execute a design that
communicates a direct message in an imaginative and
visually arresting manner to an intended audience regardless
of the medium. Effective visual communication requires a
graphic designer to inform and motivate a viewer.

Elements of Design
The five elements such as lines, shapes, texture, size and color are the
building blocks of design.

A. Line -composed of dots that can denote direction of movement (as in diagonal lines
and arrows) or provide an anchor to hold elements on a page (such as lines at the top,
bottom, or sides of a page)
B. Shape -refers to the external outline of a form or anything that has height and width
C. Texture-is the look and feel of a surface.
D. Size -is how big or small something is in scale to other objects. Scale refers to the
process of making size relationship
E. Color - also known as Hue. With the addition of color, you can create and convey a
mood to enhance a strong concept. For example, Red is typically thought of as an
attention-grabbing, hot color. While, Blues are more calming or convey stability. Some
color combinations are used to create a specific identity (corporate colors, school
colors) or may be used in conjunction with texture to simulate the look of other objects
(the look of plain paper wrapping or neon lights, for example).

Principles of Design
A. Balance - occurs when all the design elements are equally distributed through the
design. There are essentially two types of balance: symmetrical and asymmetrical.
Symmetrical elements are arranged equally on both sides of a composition to suggest
a stable or static motion. Asymmetrical elements create a deliberate imbalance to
suggest variety or dynamic movement.
B. Emphasis - indicates the most important element on the page based on the
message .Its the element that stands out and gets noticed first. The most emphasized
visual element in a design is a called a focal point because it attracts the viewers
attention first.
C. Rhythm - is a pattern created by repeating elements. Rhythm denotes the movement
in the way that elements direct our gaze to scan the message for understanding or
information.
D. Unity - is achieved when all the design elements relate to one another and project a
sense of completeness. A viewer will always seek unity in a message.

1 PREPARED BY: MR. CHENO S. POLLAN

 Region VI Western Visayas
School Division of Iloilo
PAVIA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Pavia, Iloilo

References:
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/elements/
http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/principles_design.pdf
II. ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
Photoshop is a powerful application for editing photos, graphics, and other images.
Furthermore, Photoshop is an image editing software developed and manufactured by
Adobe Systems Inc. Photoshop is considered one of the leaders in photo editing software.
The software allows users to manipulate, crop, resize, and correct color on digital photos.
The software is particularly popular amongst professional photographers and graphic
designers. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/Photoshop.html)

III. ADOBE PHOTOSHOPS INTERFACE

Menu Bar
Menu bar located at the top of the screen which contains all the main functions of
Photoshop, such as File, Edit, Image, Layer, Select, Filter, Analysis, 3D, View, Window, and
Help.

Toolbar
Most of the major tools are located in the Toolbar for easy access.

Image
The image will appear in its own window when opening a file.

Image Name
The name of any image that can be seen at the top of the image window.

Palettes
Palettes contain functions
that help you monitor and
modify images. By
default, palettes are
stacked together in
groups. These are the
palettes that are usually
visible: Color,
Adjustments and
Layers. If none of the
palettes are visible, go to
Window in the Menu bar
and choose the palettes
you need

History

2 PREPARED BY: MR. CHENO S. POLLAN

 Region VI Western Visayas
School Division of Iloilo
PAVIA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Pavia, Iloilo

The History palette stores and displays each action performed allowing you jump to any
recent
stage of the image alteration. The alterations should be created during the current
working session; after saving or closing the document the History palette clears all the
contents. Each time you apply a change to an image, the new state of that image is
Figure 1: Photoshop
addedInterface
to the palette. It is important to know that once you click on any of the previous
stages, all the changes that were made after it will be lost.

IV. THE LAYER PALETTE

Layers organize work into distinct levels that can be edited and viewed as individual units.
Every Photoshop CS5 document contains at least one layer. Creating multiple layers will
control how artwork is printed, displayed, and edited.

You will use the Layers palette often while creating a document, so it is crucial to
understand what it does and how to use it.

A) Layer Visibility -The eye shows that the selected

layer is visible. Click on or off to see or to hide a layer.

B) Layer Locking Options -Click the checkered square

icon to lock Transparency; click the brush icon to lock the
Image; click the arrow icon to lock the Position; click the
lock icon to lock all options.

C) Layer Blending Mode-Defines how the layers pixels

blend with underlying pixels in the image. By choosing a
particular blending mode from the dropdown menu you
can create a variety of special effects.

D) Fill-By typing in a value or dragging the slider you can

specify the transparency. Layers Palette color of the
image or object.

E) Opacity-By typing in a value or dragging a slider you

can specify the transparency of the entire layer.

F) Layer Options Menu -Click the black triangle to see

the following options: New Layer, Duplicate Layer, Delete
Layer, Layer Properties, etc. Some of the options are
presented as icons at the bottom of the Layers palette.

G) Link Layers Can be used to link layers together.

Figure 1: Layers Palette

H) Layer Styles -If a layer has a style, an F icon shows at the bottom of the Layers
palette. Click the little black triangle to see style options.

3 PREPARED BY: MR. CHENO S. POLLAN

 Region VI Western Visayas
School Division of Iloilo
PAVIA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Pavia, Iloilo

I) Layer Mask-A grayscale image, with parts painted in black hidden, parts painted in white
showing, and parts painted in gray shades showing in various levels of transparency.

J) Layer Set -This option helps to organize images with multiple layers. Click the icon to
create a folder for several layers.

K) Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer-Have the same opacity and blending mode
options as image layers and can be rearranged, deleted, hidden and duplicated in the same
manner as image layers. Click the icon and select an option to create a new fill or
adjustment layer.

L) Create New Layer-Click this icon to create a new layer.

M) Delete Layer-To delete a layer, select a layer in the Layers palette and drag it to the
trashcan icon; or, select a layer and click the icon.
Figure 2: The Layer Palette

V. STARTING PHOTOSHOP
A. .psd: A .psd file is the file format in which Photoshop saves documents by default. It
is a multi-layer document that retains its full editing options when saved. In many
cases you will export webgraphics from a .psd document.
B. Layers: Photoshop documents are composed of layers, which can basically be
described as single transparent sheets which hold particular pieces of an image. These
layers can contain images, text, and vector graphics, and can be rearranged and
grouped according to user needs. Layers are controlled with the use of the Layers
pane or palette.
C. Resolution: Resolution refers to the number of pixels in a full size image.
D. Image Size: Resolution should not be confused with image size, which is also
expressed in pixels. Image size deals with the actual number of pixels tall and wide an
image is. For an idea of how the two differ, go to Image Size in the Image menu, and
plug in different numbers for image size and resolution.
E. Color mode: Color mode refers to the types of colors you will be using in your image.
CMYK and RGB are the most important of these modes to be familiar with.

4 PREPARED BY: MR. CHENO S. POLLAN

 Region VI Western Visayas
School Division of Iloilo
PAVIA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Pavia, Iloilo

1. CMYK is the setting for images that will be printed

to paper. The letters refer
to the four channels of
color used to create
every color available:
cyan, magenta, yellow,
and black.
2. RGB refers to the three
channel colormode
suitable for images to be
viewed on the web: red ,
green, and blue.

Figure 3: Document Setup dialog box

VI. PHOTOSHOP TOOLS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

The Photoshop Toolbar
Perhaps the most important element of the Photoshop interface is the toolbar. It contains
a bunch of icons that represent the different tools Photoshop offers to alter and create
images. These include tools for selecting specific areas of images, changing the colors of
the image, stretching, transforming, and erasing parts of an image, and many more.

5 PREPARED BY: MR. CHENO S. POLLAN

 Region VI Western Visayas
School Division of Iloilo
PAVIA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Pavia, Iloilo

Figure 4: Photoshop Toolbar

A. SELECTION TOOLS
Rectangular Marquee Tool (M)
Use this tool to make selections on your image, in a rectangular shape. This changes the
area of your image that is affected by other tools or actions to be within the defined shape.
Holding the [Shift] key while dragging your selection, restricts the shape to a perfect square.
Holding the [Alt] key while dragging sets the center of the rectangle to where your cursor
started.

Move Tool (V)

Use this tool to, well, move things. Usually you use it to move a Layer around after it
has been placed. Hold the [Shift] key to limit the movements to vertical/horizontal.

Lasso Tool (L).

Use this to draw selections in whatever shape you would like. To close the selection,
either click on the beginning point (youll see the cursor change when youre on it), or just
double-click. When holding the [Ctrl] key, youll see the cursor change, and the next time
you click, it will close your selection.

Quick Selection Tool (W)

Use this to select a color range. It will select the block of color, or transparency, based on

6 PREPARED BY: MR. CHENO S. POLLAN

 Region VI Western Visayas
School Division of Iloilo
PAVIA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Pavia, Iloilo

wherever you click. In the Options Bar at the top, you can change the Tolerance to
make your selections more/less precise.

B.CROP AND SLICE TOOLS

Crop Tool (C)
The Crop Tool works similarly to the Rectangular Marquee tool (see above if you have
no short-term memory). The difference is when you press the [Enter/Return] key, it crops
your image to the size of the box. Any information that was on the outside of the box is now
gone. Not permanently, you can still undo.

Slice Tool (K)

This is used mostly for building websites, or splitting up one image into smaller ones
when saving out. Its kind of an advanced tool, and since youre in here for the basics, well
kind of skip over it.

C. ALTERATION OR RETOUCHING TOOLS

Healing Brush Tool (J)

This is a really useful tool. Mildly advanced. You can use this tool to repair scratches and
specs and stuff like that on images. It works like the Brush tool (see below). You choose your
cursor size, then holding the [Alt] key, you select a nice/clean area of your image. Let go of
the [Alt] key and paint over the bad area. It basically copies the info from the first area to
the second, in the form of the Brush tool. Only, at the end, it averages the information, so it
blends.

Brush Tool (B)

This is one of the first tools ever. Its what Photoshop is based off of. Well, not really,
but its pretty basic. It paints one your image, in whatever color you have selected, and
whatever size you have selected. Theres a lot of options for it, but this is basic, so you dont
get to learn them.

Clone Stamp Tool (S)

This is very similar to the Healing Brush Tool (see above). You use it the exact same
way, except this tool doesnt blend at the end. Its a direct copy of the information from the
first selected area to the second.

7 PREPARED BY: MR. CHENO S. POLLAN

 Region VI Western Visayas
School Division of Iloilo
PAVIA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Pavia, Iloilo

History Brush Tool (H)

This tool works just like the Brush Tool (see above) except the information that it
paints with is from the original state of your image. If you go Window>History, you can see
the History Palette. The History Brush tool paints with the information from whatever History
state is selected.

Eraser Tool (E)

This is the anti-Brush tool. It works like an eraser and erases whatever information
wherever you click and drag it. If youre on a Layer, it will erase the information transparent.
If you are on the background layer, it erases with whatever secondary color you have
selected.

Gradient Tool (G)

You can use this to make a gradiation of colors. Gradiation doesnt appear to be a
word, but it makes sense anyway. It creates a blending of your foreground color and
background color when you click and drag it. Like a gradient.

Blur Tool (R)

The Blur tool is cool. It makes things blurry. Click and drag to make things blurry. The
more you click and drag, the blurrier things get.

Dodge Tool (O)

This tool isnt as crappy as the car brand. Its actually used to lighten whatever area
you use it on. As long as it is not absolute black. Absolute black wont lighten.

D. DRAWING AND TYPE TOOLS

Pen Tool (P)

I mentioned this tool above. Its for creating paths, in which you would use the Path
Selection Tool to select the path. Paths can be used in a few different ways, mostly to create
clipping paths, or to create selections. You use the tool by clicking to add a point. If you click

8 PREPARED BY: MR. CHENO S. POLLAN

 Region VI Western Visayas
School Division of Iloilo
PAVIA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Pavia, Iloilo

and drag, it will change the shape of your path, allowing you to bend and shape the
path for accurate selections and such.

Path Selection Tool (A)

You use this tool when working with paths. Since this is all about the basics, I wont
go into details. Its related to the Pen Tool (see below) though.

Horizontal Type Tool (T)

It makes type. Or text. Or whatever you want to call it. You can click a single point,
and start typing right away. Or you can click and drag to make a bounding box of where
your text/type goes. Theres a lot of options for the Type Tool. Just play around, its fairly
straight-forward.

Custom Shape Tool (U)

By default it draws a Shape Layer in the form of a rectangle. It fills the rectangle with
whatever foreground color you have selected. Its pretty complicated, dont hurt yourself
with this one.

Notes Tool (N)

Like post-it notes, but digital. You can use this tool to add small little note boxes to
your image. These are useful if youre very forgetful or if youre sharing your Photoshop file
with someone else.

Eyedropper Tool (I)

This tool works by changing your foreground color to whatever color you click on.
Holding the [Alt] key will change your background color.

9 PREPARED BY: MR. CHENO S. POLLAN

 Region VI Western Visayas
School Division of Iloilo
PAVIA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Pavia, Iloilo

E. ASSISTING TOOLS

Hand Tool (T)

You can really make short work of your job with the Hand Tool. Its for moving your entire
image within a window. So if youre zoomed in and your image area is larger than the
window, you can use the Hand Tool to navigate around your image. Just click and drag. You
can get to this tool at any time when using any other tool by pressing and holding the
[Spacebar].

Zoom Tool (Z)

Pretty obvious what this tool does. It allows you to zoom into your image. Dont be
dumb, it doesnt actually change the size of your image. Hold the [Alt] key to zoom out.
Holding the [Shift] key will zoom all of the windows you have open at the same time.
Double-click on the Zoom Tool in the palette to go back to 100% view.

F. COLOR BOXES AND MODES

Foreground Color
These are your color boxes. Foreground (in the front) and Background (in the back).
Click on either one to bring up the color select dialog box.

10 PREPARED BY: MR. CHENO S. POLLAN