Here are a few fun tutorials that will help you build your basic skills in Photoshop:

Once you click each link, look for the button that says “Begin Tutorial in Photoshop.” Clicking that will open the file and instructions right in Photoshop

Get to Know the App

Get to Know Layers

Add Text and Shapes to a Photo

Boost your Core Skills

Completing those tutorials will help you get used to the program and will help you to complete your next few assignments. You do not need to hand these files in, but completing them will be beneficial, and you may be asked to show them to me if it seems like you don’t know the basics.

For this project, you’ll need a series of high quality photos that will help you spell out a word or two. You’ll take those photos and fill in the letters that spell a word or phrase of your choice. Here’s an example:

Start off by creating a new blank file. I’m making mine the size of a standard piece of paper,  8.5 x 11 inches, but I’m putting it in Landscape orientation, so my measurements will be 11 wide and 8.5 tall. If you want to make yours 11 x 17 or 8 x 10, that would be fine.

Don’t forget to immediately save your work with the proper name in your OneDrive folder:

This is actually pretty simple. First, find a typeface that’s pretty big and blocky. You need a nice, thick, bold letter. Start off by making a letter in the top left corner:

PUT EACH LETTER ON ITS OWN LAYER!

You can copy layers (Ctrl + J) or alt + click/drag to copy out the letters until you have something like this:

Again, make sure that each letter is on its own layer!!!

Start by selecting whichever layer/letter you want to start with. Select the letter/layer.

Go into the File menu and choose Place Embedded…

Find your first photo and put it on top of the letter. Rename the layer.

You can move or resize the photo so that the most interesting part is right over top of the letter or move/resize later!

Right click on the letter and choose Create Clipping Mask

‘

Or… use the Layer menu and choose Create Clipping Mask’

You’ll notice that there’s a little downward arrow next to the layer icon:

And the photo now takes the shape of whatever is below!

You can move or resize the photo layer to get the most interesting part right inside of the letter:

Keep doing that until you fill all of the letters

Your layers panel will be staggered, with each photo “clipped” on top of a letter

Place another photo in the background and adjust that

You’ll notice that the really colourful letters don’t contrast with the colourful background, so use those Layer styles/effects. Select a letter layer and click the little fx button on the bottom of the Layers panel

Play around and find the right layer style for you. A Stroke makes a lot of sense to me:

Putting a fairly thick, dark stroke around a letter makes the shape stand out. Make sure the Preview box is turned on and move the panel so you can see what you’re doing. Play with the settings until you get a look that you like:

Once you find a Style/Effect you like, you’ll notice a little fx on the layers panel

If you want that same look on other layers, you can hold the Alt key and drag it onto another layer!

Have fun and be creative with this one!

Once you’re done filling your letters, feel free to find more photos on Unsplash to create different Photo Letters/words or use a camera to take photos around our school to make your own Westwood letters!

Make sure you have learned how to use Photoshop’s Selection Tools and Layers properly by following THESE INSTRUCTIONS before you attempt this assignment!

Your task is to take 4 or more images and create a composite image (which is just an image made up of multiple parts.) You should have fun and be creative with this one! Think of 3 parts/pieces that might go together, stick them in a new background, and you’ve got yourself a fun composite!

NOTE: I want to see an untouched copy of all of the images that you use! COPY pieces onto new layers as you PLACE images/Layers into your composite.

MAKE SURE YOU USE HIGH-QUALITY IMAGES! I HIGHLY recommend using Unsplash for this! Want to incorporate a picture of me for some reason? Get those HERE
If you want to use any of the images I downloaded when putting together mine, you can get those HERE

Example:

THIS odd creation:

is made up of all of these pieces:

Again, make sure you include an untouched copy of all of the images you use! You should also rename your layers!

My file’s layers look like this:

examples:

Once you’ve completed the sample, your assignment will be to create an original double-sided, trifold information brochure with your own design and content. It can be about any topic of your choice (school appropriate!) but you need to use InDesign and you need to include high-quality pieces!

InDesign document settings:

Before you start doing anything, SAVE!

Make sure OneDrive is RUNNING TODAY! OPEN THE PROGRAM! Opening the folder is NOT the same thing!

In your OneDrive, create a folder for this project! Mine is inside of a Graphic Tech folder (NOT the drop-off folder!)

All of the pieces for my project will go there!

I HIGHLY recommend grabbing some pictures before you begin. I HIGHLY recommend using Unsplash to download your photos!

When you see a photo you like, there’s an arrow right on top of the photo. Click it!

If you’re lucky, your computer will ask you where to save your file and you can choose to put them directly into your new Brochure folder

More likely, however, the file will just go into Downloads, which is fine for now.

You’ll see this box pop up. Copy that information and paste it into a Word document!

Save that document in your project folder

Put all of your sources into that document. You will PLACE that list of links on your BACK page.

When putting together your brochure, remember how the pages are laid out. The finished document will be folded into three. When folded, Page 1 looks like this:

Page 2 is a little more straightforward because it opens to reveal the whole “spread” so these pages are designed together.

You will need to take your time to design an interesting, appealing, and informative brochure on a topic of your choice. It will include:

• an appealing cover/title
• high-quality pictures related to your topic
• a placed document with information about your topic (can be copied from somewhere like Wikipedia, but you need to format/style it so it looks appealing)
• a list of the SOURCES of your photos and information
• at least one image with Text Wrapped around it

Remember to TAKE YOUR TIME and make your brochure look purty! Here are some reminders/tips/expectations:

• I don’t want to see any plain, white sections. Use colour!
• I NEVER want you to use the default font! You’ll lose marks if I see Myriad Pro anywhere!

Your finished file needs to be handed in as a PACKAGE! Make sure that you do not have any missing linked files!

Samples from previous students:

Next up, you can utilize a lot of the same skills you’ve used before, when you designed something for vinyl cutout and when you outlined an object for print/cut stickers.

You have the opportunity to use our super cool laser engraver to come up with a nifty gift for someone you love, decoration for your home, or just a neat item for yourself.

With the engraver, you can make things like coasters, ornaments to hang in a window or on a tree, earrings, necklace pendants, charms, and more!

Here are some examples:

PLASTIC hangable ornaments/key chain/pendant:

WOOD hangable ornament/key chain/pendant:

WOOD or PLASTIC coasters:

METAL engraving:

You have the opportunity to design and create whatever you like.

You can design or create in Photoshop or Illustrator.

Start from a file that is 7.5 inches by 7.5 inches. You don’t have to use all of that space. We could possibly make something larger if you have a good idea. You do not have to fill up the entire page, but please PUT SEPARATE OBJECTS AS CLOSE TOGETHER AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT TOUCHING! (we’ll review that further down)

It is VERY IMPORTANT that you choose RGB Color Mode! You need a very particular colour, and it’s easier if you start from a file that is RGB.

Illustrator:

Photoshop:

There are TWO colours you can use to start:

BLACK

and RGB Red

Anything that is BLACK will be engraved

Anything that is RGB Red will be cut.

As with vinyl cutting, we want a SIMPLE outline for our cuts. We do not want lines going all over the place. You can use simple shapes (ellipse/circle, rectangle/square, star, etc.) by using the drawing tools.

If you use a symmetrical shape, your design could be double sided! Here are some circular ornaments that can be double sided:

If you want something that is cut with an irregular shape, you would use the same technique that you used on the full colour stickers to create the outline.

These ones are irregular. The one on the top left could probably be double sided because it’s pretty symmetrical, but the others would not work. :

If you want some items double-sided and some single-sided, they should be SEPARATE FILES. Only files where everything on the page can be double-sided (symmetrical) will be engraved on both sides

Note that the red cut outlines are REALLY thin. The thickness of that cut line HAS TO BE .001 pt

If you are making more than one thing on a page, please PUT YOUR ITEMS AS CLOSE TOGETHER AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT TOUCHING!

BAD:

GOOD:

So… what will you come up with? Be creative and have fun! These make great gifts!

You don’t absolutely have to make the finished product, but you do have to come up with a design. If you don’t follow the directions very carefully, your design won’t work, so it won’t be engraved/cut.

If you would like something cut, you will need to check with me to make sure that you are eligible (you have paid your fee and completed earlier assignments) and you will need to decide what material you would like your items engraved on (wood or coloured plastic are most common.)

What is Photoshop?

Here’s a really brief history of one of the most iconic and recognizable pieces of software ever developed:

When starting with any quality project, you need to start from QUALITY ASSETS (ingredients.) The better the quality of the images you start with, the better your project will turn out. I HIGHLY recommend downloading HIGH QUALITY IMAGES as often as possible. You maybe used to using Google Images for everything. There are many reasons why this is a bad idea…

I almost always start with UNSPLASH: https://unsplash.com/

Unsplash contains HIGH QUALITY photography that you HAVE PERMISSION to use in your projects. Photos, like music, movies, video games, etc. are copyrighted by the creator. Each creator can decide whether to share a creation or not. Just because you see it on the Internet or Google Images, that DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN USE IT. The people who submit photos to Unsplash know that they are going to be used and have given permission to do so!

You can search for just about anything on Unsplash. The more general your search term, the more results you’ll get. If you’re looking for HOCKEY, you’ll find a lot of photos. If you want a photo of your favourite Winnipeg Jet (hint: it’s Nikolaj Ehlers, of course), you won’t find nearly as much.) Keep your search fairly general if possible:

Note that some photos are labelled Unsplash+. You have to pay for those ones!

Luckily, those ones are usually kind of lame, so there are lots of free options available.

If you see a photo you like and it is NOT Unsplash+, hover over the bottom right. You’ll see an arrow on top of the photo. The easiest way to download the best quality image is to just click that arrow!

There are many other FREE photo sites like Unsplash that you might find useful. I have links to a bunch of them on my LINKS page.

GOOGLE IMAGES

Sometimes, just can’t find what you’re looking for and must resort to using Google Images. It happens. If you have another option, please use a site like Unsplash, but if you really need that photo of Nikolaj Ehlers, Google Images might be the way to go:

Go here: https://images.google.com/

IMPORTANT TIP: Under the Search bar, there’s a button that says Tools. Click it!

You can limit the search to only give you (fairly) high quality images by going under Size and choosing Large

Sometimes you might want a photo without a background. You can click the word Color:

and set that to Transparent, which should give you photos without a background:

Honestly, it doesn’t always do a good job, but you can usually find something.

You’ll know a photo has a transparent background if it has a checker board pattern around it:

If you find a photo you like, RIGHT CLICK your mouse on it and choose Save Image As…

I HIGHLY recommend saving important images in your OneDrive folder. If you save something in Downloads and need it later, you may not have access to that image any more.

PHOTOSHOP

Open Photoshop

There is so much to learn in Photoshop! I’ve been using the program since before you were born, and there’s still so much that I don’t know! Spend some time looking at the great tutorials available sometime:

We are going to ope the photo that we downloaded though. Click Open (or Ctrl + O on your keyboard):

and find the photo. I have mine in my OneDrive’s Graphic Tech folder:

From there, we’re just going to add some text and modify it. Here are a couple of those handy tutorials:

Add text: https://creativecloud.adobe.com/cc/learn/photoshop/web/add-text-to-image?locale=en-CA

Edit text: https://creativecloud.adobe.com/cc/learn/photoshop/web/edit-text?locale=en-CA

You’ll save that in your OneDrive folder, work on it, then move it into the folder that you shared with me for a quick and easy mark!