Lesson 1 - Objectives 1-4 (Monday)
B01-01 Welcome, class overview, policies, and procedures
Objectives:
- Introduce myself. (Who am I? Why am I teaching this course? What do I hope to achieve along with you?)
- Class policies and procedures. (Assignments, Class structure, Class website, Canvas, Syllabus)
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Hi there! I am Nathan Smith, your learning facilitator for this course. I'm very excited to have you as a student this semester! I love teaching because I enjoy getting to know my students and helping them grow in creativity, knowledge, and skills. I'm always so amazed at how talented and awesome each of you are, and it's a joy to become a part of your life for a few months.
For the summer 2021 semester, Randall Haws will be the course instructor. You can learn more about me in the Instructor section of this website. The main thing I wish to share with you right now is that I'm here to help you as you learn Photoshop and Graphic Design! USU students, the best way to contact me is via my university (USU) email. Since we're online, you can arrange a Zoom meeting with me anytime you need help. Zoom will allow us to visit face-to-face virtually, and you can share your screen with me. I can virtually look over your shoulder and help you with Photoshop questions you might have. If you run into a problem that's really frustrating you, don't sit there banging your head against the monitor for hours - message me and let's arrange a Zoom visit, OK? I love helping my students! |
Nathan & Phyllis Smith
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Why aren't we jumping right into Photoshop first in this course? I have found through experience that understanding Bridge and Camera Raw will better prepare you for working in Photoshop. Bridge allows you full control over viewing, moving, creating collections, and tagging your images. It is the place where you open images into Photoshop or Camera Raw. Camera Raw has many powerful image editing features that are also in Photoshop, but are non-destructive, and have an easier workflow to understand and use. Be patient, and eventually you'll understand why we began with Bridge and Camera Raw first in this course.
Please note that Bridge and Camera Raw are very similar to Adobe Lightroom. So if you are an experienced Lightroom user, these tutorials on Bridge and Camera Raw will be very familiar. We will be using Bridge and Camera Raw in this course, but you're welcome to use Lightroom instead if you're already familiar with that application.
Please note that Bridge and Camera Raw are very similar to Adobe Lightroom. So if you are an experienced Lightroom user, these tutorials on Bridge and Camera Raw will be very familiar. We will be using Bridge and Camera Raw in this course, but you're welcome to use Lightroom instead if you're already familiar with that application.
B01-02 Overview of Photoshop, Bridge, and Camera Raw
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Objective:
Adobe Photoshop has developed over the years into three basic parts or programs. Photoshop itself is the main program for editing pixel-based images. It's considered to be the most powerful pixel-based image editing program on the market. Most Adobe products also ship with another program - Adobe Bridge - which acts mainly as an asset manager that connects to all the Adobe applications such as Photoshop, inDesign, Illustrator, Flash, Acrobat, etc. |
Click the image above to see the presentation.
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Bridge has grown in power over the years and is a very capable application on its own. In conjunction with Photoshop, the two work together to give you incredible tools for working with images. This week in lesson 1, we'll be focusing on Bridge. Please note that if you've subscribed to Creative Cloud, you may have to install Bridge before you are able access it. Just open your Creative Cloud application and install it (see image).
As digital cameras became more powerful, the ability to shoot and save raw data directly from the sensor became available. Adobe added Camera Raw into the suite as a plug-in to work with these higher resolution files in their native format. |
Image: If you've subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud, Bridge will need to be installed. Click on the Creative Cloud app icon in the menu bar (Mac) or the System Tray (PC). Go to the Apps section, and click install on Bridge CC.
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You'll find that you can do much of the same image processing in Camera Raw that you can do in Photoshop. In addition to working with Raw images, Camera Raw can also open JPEG and TIFF images and process them too. One advantage to Camera Raw is that all processing is done non-destructively - meaning that you don't actually change any of the pixels in the image. You can always go back to the original image anytime you want.
B01-03 Skill: Import, find, and view your files in Adobe Bridge
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Objectives:
Learn: Basically, all you have to do is get the photos on your hard drive. You don't have to use Bridge to do this, but Bridge includes a photo import function that will grab images directly from your camera, camera SD Card, etc. It also allows you to add metadata to your images as they import. Bridge lets you see all your photos at once, and allows you to organize them the way you want to. |
No required exercise file. Be sure to practice this on your own!
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Also note that Bridge also acts like the operating system. You can move files or folders from one location to another within the Bridge application. Adobe Bridge, as you learned in the last objective, is Adobe's file viewer, with many added tools and file handling abilities. Once your files are imported from your camera, then you need to be able to locate them, view them, and work with them.
Please go through the tutorial, Using Adobe Bridge - How to import, find, and view your files.
Please go through the tutorial, Using Adobe Bridge - How to import, find, and view your files.
B01-04 Skill: Using Adobe Bridge
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Objective:
Adobe Bridge has an interface that is completely customizable. It comes with several workspaces already developed, which you can tweak further to your liking. You can save your customized workspaces so you can always return to them. A workspace is an arrangement of panels to help you accomplish the job at hand. Please work through the tutorial, "Using Adobe Bridge - understanding the interface." Be sure to actually try things out, and not just read about them. That will help you internalize your understanding of Bridge! |
No required exercise file. Be sure to practice this on your own!
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