Photoshop Layer Masks

The layer masks was one of my favorite things that we learned in class. It is very simple and we had a lot of creative freedom. I did four collages with a music theme, I tried to do 4 different genres so that they were all somewhat different. The purpose of layer masks is to alter a layer without permanently changing it. I mostly used it to blend two images so they look like one. For example in the last image of Taylor swift, the piano and the music notes both have separate layer masks that are blended into the background. You do the blending by making the mask, taking the paint brush tool (on the color black) and painting over the image.

Photoshop Selections

 

These are the selections that I did for class. In class we learned how to use the magic wand tool and the quick selection tool. I found the quick selection tool to be the easiest for me, so that is the tool that I used the most. In order to make the selections look real on the background I used the refine edge option. In there I would smooth the image and feather the edges. Once that was done I copy and pasted the selection onto the background image. In the first image, the woman, the dog and the baking supplies are all selections. In the second image, Justin Timberlake and his wife is a selection with a separate selection of my head pasted on top. The dog is also a selection.

Resizing An Image

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In our first IDD class we learned three basic ways to re-size an image. The first way to re-size an image is by simply changing the dimensions in the “Image Size” tab. Just put in the appropriate numbers for length, width and resolution. The second way was by using the “scale” tool. Just take the corners and drag in to the size you need. The last way was by using the crop tool by putting the right numbers in the boxes in the “options bar.” We also played around with some tools and filter options. The above picture is my finished product from our first class. I think this was important to learn because you’re always re-sizing images when doing a PhotoShop project. It’s crucial to know the different ways to do so. It’s also good to know when your sizing an image for different screens and things like that.