Digital Imagery in a Semester, Ch.2

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WEEK 2 This week we are going to cover digital file formats, scanning, saving for web and print, printing, image resolution considerations, copyright on the Web, as well as get introduced to Adobe Photoshop.速

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File Formats

File formats provide standardized way of viewing, storing and organizing data. Since computers work only with bits, they must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s. There are different kinds of formats for different kinds of information.

Some file formats can only store very particular sorts of data, for example the JPEG format (.jpg) is designed only to store static photographic images. Other file formats, however, are designed for storage of several different types of data: the GIF format (.gif) supports storage of both still images and simple animations. A text file can only store text.

Other file formats, such as HTML (.html), or ASP (.asp) are in fact also text files, but have their own set of rules as how they are interpreted. Each file format is easily recognizable by their name following the final period. This is known as the filename extension.

How many various formats do you see and recognize?

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File Formats

Raster Graphics Raster images is a data structure completed by a rectangular grid of pixels.1 Raster images are called resolution dependent because they cannot be scaled up to a random size without loosing quality (getting pixelated). Example of raster images are digital photographs.

Raster images are stored in image files with varying formats, as listed on the next page.

Web vs. Print Anytime you are saving an image that is going to be published on the web, the image needs to be 72 ppi. PPI stands for pixels per inch and it is applied to digital images. It is also known as DPI, dots per inch, and it applies to printed material. Most computer monitors can only see that level of detail. Saving it at any higher resolution for the web is not going to give you any visible higher quality.

When saving images for print, you need to save them at 200 or 300 ppi because commercial printers, and even personal printers, can print more pixels per inch, which gives printed material a smooth and sharply focused image. Always check the width of the image before printing.

Digital cameras usually take the photos at 72 ppi (default setting) but have very large sizes, some as large as a poster print. Make sure you use the highest quality setting on your camera.

An image downloaded from the Web (72ppi) has been rescaled from 150 pixels width x 98 pixels height to 500 width x 327 pixels height. This scaling up enlarges the pixels but doesn't increases the number of pixels per inch.

Having a pixelated photo in your design is unprofessional and unacceptable for any type of graphic design work, personal or professional.

The only acceptable use would be when creating mockups to analyze for text and other elements' position up to scale.

CMYK vs. RGB CMYK refers to the four inks used in color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black).

For example if the image is 1800 x 2400 in width, divide the width with 300ppi. 1800/300=6. This means the image can be printed at 6 inches at full quality.

RGB stands for red, green, and blue light which are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors on digital devices such as digital cameras and computer screens.

Remember to never scale up the photo by using transformation tool or simply grabbing one of the end points of the image and scaling it up. If you want to ensure it prints at best quality always keep it at the original size, and check the width and height of it in inches.

Because these are two different ways of displaying color, designers has to be aware that what they see on the screen it may not match when printed in a publication. Always check with the printer in what color mode they want customers to submit their artwork.

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File Formats

PSD (Photoshop Document) is type of format used by Adobe Photoshop. The PSD format supports features such as layering. Anytime you work with a Photoshop® file containing multiple layers you should save your file as a .psd.

Converting a PSD to another raster format such as JPG or EPS will “flatten” the layers and reduce the file size at the same time.

EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) is used in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, for both raster and vector graphics. It is best used for images with clipping paths.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is used for compressing either full-color or gray-scale photographs but does not work well for lettering or line drawings. JPEG images can be saved for print or for the web.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a photograph file standard in the printing industry. TIFF can be saved as RGB, CMYK, LAB, Indexed Color, Grayscale and Bitmap mode. It can also include layers, alpha channels, paths, and transparency. It is a lossless file format which insures the taken image preserves all the detail that was taken.

GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) is limited to 256 colors. This makes the GIF format suitable for storing graphics with relatively few colors such as cartoons and diagrams. The GIF format supports animation and is still widely used on the web to provide simple image animation effects.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) file format is regarded as the successor to the GIF file format. The PNG file format supports 16 million colors whereas the GIF file format only allows 256 colors. PNG is better to use for images with large areas of uniform color. However, PNG does not support animation.

Things to Remember: - If you are sending a preliminary design to the client an image that is saved as a JPG saved in RGB mode is sufficient.

- If you are sending final design to a customer, it is important to ask where will they be using the desing. If they are using it for the web, an RGB mode GIF or PNG file is appropriate. If they will be sending it to a printer, give them your original PSD file or give them a high-resolution JPG or TIFF image saved in CMYK mode.

- Always check the dimensions of the design to make sure the size is not going to affect resolution. If the design is smaller than the final printed size the printer will stretch the image to make it fit. This may cause your image to appear blurred or pixelated. Always create your raster graphics the exact size that it will be printing.

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Saving Files

Saving for the Web To save an image that is going to be uploaded on the Web, open the image in Photoshop速.

Go File/Save image for Web & Devices.

Select each one of the options and check the file size.

PNG format will give you the most detail but the files can run quite large.

Some websites, and blog sites may have file maximum. The JPEG option gave the smallest size file for this perticular image so I chose it.

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Saving Files Saving for print ➊

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➌ 1. To save an image that is going to be printed at some point, go to File/Save As in Photoshop.® 2. Then from the "Format" drop down menu select: JPG. 3. A new window will pop up asking for the quality of the image. Make sure it says "maximum" so that you don't loose any quality.

When working with layered files, always save your file as Photoshop (.psd) first before saving it as JPG. This way you can always alter the file later if you choose, while a JPG will be a flat version of it that cannot be altered.

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Printing, Scanning and Sending Files

Printing Raster Graphics If you download an image from the web...

If you are using an image from the web make sure you don't scale it up when you place it in your document in Photoshop.速 Even if the image looks "fine" on the screen, if printed will show as slightly or a lot blurry. For professional, high quality designs, best practice is to purchase, take or find an image that is a higher resolution and larger size, which can be scaled down to fit your document.

of that extra detail that you don't need but you cannot recover information if the image was scanned at lower resolution. Other things to specify: color or black and white, image or text, and document size.

If you take your own digital photos...

Most digital cameras these days take very large images...we are talking poster size. But their resolution is also 72 ppi. That means you can use that image for designs that are going to get printed at a smaller size.

Even when working with high resolution (200ppi) images it is not recommended increasing the size more than 25% of the original size.

How to avoid pixelation?

Always check image size in Photoshop. If the size of the image is smaller than what you need for your document, and the image is 72ppi resolution, you should not scale up.

If printing artwork...

The document size you start with in Photoshop should always be same with the size of the document you are going to print at the right resolution (200 ppi if it's not specified). That way you avoid having images being enlarged and being printed pixelated by the print shop.

Always consult with the printer before sending files to print. They will give you specific directions of acceptable files and resolutions.

Same goes for ordering merchandise with your work printed on them; always check their file preparation page.

Scanning Graphics When scanning images always make sure you scan at a high resolution 200 or 300 ppi. Scanning at a higher resolution gives you the maximum amount of data captured from the scanned work. You can always reduce the resolution once you scan the image, and toss some 34

Sending Images For sending images through email, JPG is the best format. Most non-designers do not have Photoshop速 (clients fall into this group too) so they would not have a way of viewing .psd file. You will need to create an image saved as a JPG for the web, which should not be bigger than 1 megabite (MB). For example, photos taken with a digital camera can be as big as 15 megabytes. Although people have e-mail accounts with large mailboxes, there can still be a problem of slowing down their system when trying to open them. Also some mailboxes may not even send the file if the size is over 15MB. What if you need to send the high resolution file to a printer, client or the instructor for grading? You will need to zip, which is a way of compressing the file to a smaller size which can be emailed. The person on the other end will need to decompress it before viewing.

How to compress image files? Place all images for sending into a new folder on your computer desktop or somewhere else you can access it.

Right click on the folder and choose "Archive" or "Compress" images.

This will generate a new zipped folder which you can attach to you e-mail message.

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File Types

Vector Graphics As opposed to the raster image vector image formats can be displayed or printed smoothly at any desired size. They have a much smaller file size compared to raster images. Any alterations done to the graphic such as scaling, stretching, or skewing does not degrade the quality of it. Vector graphics are best used for line drawings, cartoons, diagrams and 3D graphics. Below is a description of the most common vector graphics formats.

Vector EPS files can be created in Illustrator速. A vector EPS can be reduced and enlarged to any size without any loss in quality.

AI (.ai) is the native Adobe Illustrator速 format for vector based graphics. This format is usually converted to EPS or PDF before placed into another layout application such as Photoshop速.

PDF (Portable Document Format) is a cross platform standard that handles documents that contain text, images, and vector graphics. A PDF document can also support links, forms or movies, but still keep the size to a minimum. PDF document is best suited for saving multi-page publications such as books and magazines that are being sent to print or displayed as digital issues on the Web.

An example of vector image being scaled up. There is no loss of quality. If you send vector graphic to the printer they can use it to print billboard-size image without affecting the quality.

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Copyright on the Web

What is Copyright?

Copyright is the U.S. law that protects the works of artists, authors, composers and others from being used without permission. Copyrightable works include the following categories: 1. literary works 2. musical works, including any accompanying words 3. dramatic works, including any accompanying music 4. pantomimes and choreographic works 5. pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works 6. motion pictures and other audiovisual works 7. sound recordings 8. architectural works 2

How do you know works are copyrighted?

You should always assume that works published on the Web are copyrighted unless noted otherwise. Look for the symbol © (the letter C in a circle), the word “Copyright," the year of publication of the work and the name of the owner of copyright in the work. 3 Example: © 2010 John Doe.

How long can works be copyrighted?

A work that was created on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death. 4

Public Domain

Any works that are not copyrighted are considered public domain and may be used without permission, but you should always give credit to the source or creator.

Fair Use

Fair use allows you to use a limited amount of information without permission from the author as long as there is no profit from reproducing the work. Fair use applies only to copyrighted works, describing conditions under which copyrighted material may be used without permission. If a work is not copyrighted, it is considered public-domain works and can be used for any purpose without violating copyright law.

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Where can you find free stock photos?

A simple search on the Internet will give you websites that offer free stock images. These images will have some restrictions such as when you can or cannot use a certain image. It's important to read the information before proceeding to use the image. Some images may be free for personal use but not for comercial use. Others may be free for personal and comercial use just not for selling or redistribution of the image. Here is a sample "terms of use" for a free stock image: You may use this Image: • In digital format on websites, multimedia presentations, broadcast film and video, cell phones.

• In printed promotional materials, magazines, newspapers, books, brochures, flyers, CD/DVD covers, etc.

• Along with your corporate identity on business cards, letterhead, etc.

• To decorate your home, your office or any public place.

You may not use the Image • For pornographic, unlawful or other immoral purposes, for spreading hate or discrimination, or to defame or victimise other people, sociteties, cultures.

• To endorse products and services if it depicts a person.

• In a way that can give a bad name to the business or the person(s) depicted on the Image.

• As part of a trademark, service mark or logo.

• Selling and redistribution of the image (individually or along with other images Always ask permission from the photographer if you want to use the Image: • In website templates that you intend to sell or distribute.

• For creating printed reproductions that you intend to sell.

• On "print on demand" items such as t-shirts, postcards, mouse pads, mugs (e.g. on sites like Cafepress), or on any similar mass produced item that would contain the Image in a dominant way.

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Setting up your workspace Since we are going to be immersed in Adobe Photoshop速 for the next few weeks, it's important that we organize our workspace in the program. Think of the workspace as your working desk...would you rather have it organized or messy? If your workspace is messy it will slow you down while you try to find a specific tool or a panel. If you leave many panels scattered around, it will reduce your working area as well. So, let's organize it!

Go to the top menu, select Window then choose to open the following panels one by one: history, color, swatches, character, paragraph, layers. Close any other ones that may be open at this time.

Organize them in the order as shown on the photo above.

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Setting up your workspace Collapsed panels Your panels may look slightly different depending which version of Photoshop you are using.

Once you have all necessary panels open, drag them to the right edge of the space (the dock).

You will notice they "disappear" into the edge of the window. This is called collapsing the panels into icons, which hides them until you need to use them.

Once the panels are collapsed, the workspace is ready to be saved. If you do not save it at this point, next time you open Photoshop the panels will be reset and you would have to reorganize it again. This can be a problem if the computer you are using is in a classroom where many people use the program and set their panels by their preferences. To make sure you have customized area every time you visit the same computer go to: Window/Workspace/New Workspace.

In this new panel, name your workspace. Next time you work in Photoshop, you can always bring back your saved workspace by going Window/ Workspace/My Workspace.

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Working with layers It is very important to learn how to use layers in Photoshop速 early on before we begin working on complex projects.

So what are layers? Think of layers as transparent sheets of paper. Each layer can hold different elements. When all sheets are placed on top of each other they a single complex image. The great thing is, we can always go to a specific page to alter it without affecting the rest of the sheets of paper.

What if all the elements were on one sheet?

It would be hard to alter one of them without affecting the rest. Even if do alter one, you would be working on your original image and that is sometimes not desirable.

Layer give you the flexibility to alter a single layer without affecting the rest. Also, if you are manipulating a photo, you can always make a copy of the original before you get into manipulating it so you can always keep one in case you want to go back to it.

The first screenshot on the left shows a file comprised of three layers. Layer 1 is the flower photo, layer 2 is the circle element, and layer three is the text (notice the icon for text layers is marked by a capital "T").

The second screenshot shows the type of flexibility layers have. You can always go back and alter the photo, or the circle or the text individually.

The third file shows the mistake many new Photoshop users make; placing all the elements on one layer. The circle and the image are one layer, so the original photo of the flowers is lost.

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Move Lasso Magic Wand

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Introduction to Adobe Photoshop速

Adobe Photoshop速 is maybe best known as the program for manipulating images. From experience I've learned that the best way to learn a program is to jump right in and experiment. I could give you an overview of all the tools listed in the Tools panel but you will forget them before I even finish going down the list. So we are going to learn a group of tools by doing each exercise and by the end of Week 5 you should have a basic knowledge of this program and it's tools.

Exercise 1 Goal: To learn how to manipulate an image and prepare it to be featured in a jewelry ad. Through this exercise you are going to learn how to work with layers and the following tools: lasso, magnifying glass, stamp tool, dodge, burn and sponge, brush and paint bucket. You are also going to dab into the image adjustments panel and layer properties panel.

Brush Stamp

Paint Bucket

Download the zipped package called exercise1.zip and open lady_in_pink.jpg in Photoshop. We are going to cut out the model from the white background, place the cutout into a new document and manipulate it further there.

We are going to do some photo touchups and last, add some jewelry.

AFTER BEFORE

Burn, click and hold to view: Sponge, and Dodge

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Introduction to Adobe Photoshop速

Cutting image from a solid background 1. Go to File, then Open to open the image lady_in_pink.jpg in Photoshop. Grab the magic wand tool and click on the white background. This will select the whole background since it is all one color.

3. With the image selected, go to File/New and create a new document to place the cutout model into. Use the settings given above. Make sure the Background content is transparent.

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2. From the top menu go to Select/Inverse.

This will select everything but the background.

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Introduction to Adobe Photoshop速 Creating new layers and filling them with color 4. Drag the selected model into this new document.

5. Drag the selected model.

Next, click the "create new layer" button in the layers panel.

6. Click, hold and drag this new layer 2 below layer 1.

7. Go to the paint bucket and select it. Make sure you have selected layer 2 in the layers panel, then click in the background to apply color. You can change the color by double clicking on the color picker.

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Introduction to Adobe Photoshop速

Changing the contrast of an image 8. Now that we got rid of the busy -looking transparent background, let's get back to tweaking the image of the model, in layer 1.

9. Go to Image/Adjustments/Levels. At the menu, move the black and white notches towards each other. This will adjust the dark and light values in the image, giving it more contrast.

Using the dodge tool to lighten up values

Photoshop速 has several different ways of adjusting the contrast in an image. The levels panel offers a good amount of control over the different values in an image. I recommend using this panel, instead of choosing to adjust values through the Brightness/Contrast panel or by using auto contrast - don't trust the software to make the best decision on this!

10. Next, let's make the eyes stand out a bit more. Let's add highlights by brightening up the eyeballs. Pick up the Dodge tool, make sure "highlights" is selected the range. Then adjust the exposure to 40%. Next change the size of the brush to 30px and run over the eyeball area. If it makes the area too white, adjust the exposure again.

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Introduction to Adobe Photoshop速 Using the burn tool to darken up values

11. Under the Dodge tool, there is another interesting tool, called the Burn tool. While the Dodge tool lightens up values, the Burn tool darkens values. Use it on the model's eyelids to add darker eyeshadow. Always check the size, range and exposure before starting. The size of the burn brush needs to be small enough to go over the eyelid and avoid the eyeball area. The range needs to be set on "midtones" or "shadows" since we need to make the dark values darker.

Using the sponge tool to saturate/dissaturate values

12. The last tool in the drop down menu is the Sponge tool. This one saturates or desaturates the values, that is, it increases or decreases the intensity of a color. Check the size, mode and flow to adjust it before starting. Apply it over the lips to intensify the lip color. Combine it with the burn tool to give it a darker lipstick color as shown on the left.

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Using the stamp tool to remove dark spots 13. To remove blemishes and dark spots from the skin, choose the stamp tool. You need to practice using this tool outside class because it is a very useful tool but takes time to get used to it.

14. First, go over an area near the spot you want to remove. Hold "option" key on the keyboard, and when the cursor changes to a small target, click next to the dark spot. This action will take a sample of the area, then hover with the cursor over the dark spot you want removed and click once. This will stamp the previously taken sample over the dark spot.

Using the brush tool to whiten teeth

15. When you start feeling brave,try fixing the dark circles under the eyes. Simply select an area under the circles while holding "option" key then brush over the circle. If the effect is too harsh and unnatural, decrease the opacity of the stamp in the top menu. Can you spot all the differences of the skin on these two images?

16. Next, let's make the teeth whiter. You could try using the dodge tool to make them lighter, but you will notice that the yellow tint becomes more prominent. In this case I would use the brush tool to lightly paint white over the teeth.

17. Select the brush tool, go to the color picker and pick white, or tinted white (as shown above) for more natural results.

Then, change the opacity of the brush to a low value such as 10% and add one stroke of paint over the teeth.

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Introduction to Adobe Photoshop速 Bringing other objects into the picture 18. Let's add some earrings next.

Open file earrings.jpg. Use the magic wand tool to select just the earrings out of the white background (same process as with the photo of the model).

Drag the selected earrings into the document with the model.

19. Use the lasso tool and select around one of the earrings. Go Edit/Cut, then Edit/Paste. This action will generate a new layer with the second earring pasted in it.

20. Next, rescale both earrings to match the size of the model. To rescale earring no.1, make sure you click on the layer that has the earring, then go to Edit/ Transform/Scale.

21. Position each earring over the ears to get a sense of how far to scale them down. Once you scale each hit enter on the keyboard to stop transforming it.

Repeat transformation with the other earring.

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Introduction to Adobe Photoshop速 22. Drag the layer containing the left earring under the layer with the model. This action will make the earring look as if it has been applied to the left ear.

23. To remove the hook on the right earring, select the lasso tool and cutout the top part of the hook.

This will give the effect of ear being pierced.

24. Voila!

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25. Before adding the turquoise necklace, let's take out the gold necklace. Use the clone stamp tool to stamp over the gold necklace using the instructions from step 13.

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Introduction to Adobe Photoshop速 Changing the color of the T-shirt

25. Go to the magic wand tool and click on the t-shirt. Since the t-shirt has different values of pink the magic wand is going to only select an area of one pink value at a time. To add all values to this selection hold shift on the keyboard and continue selecting until all pink values have been selected. For the same effect but quicker, choose the quick selection tool (same menu with magic wand tool.

26. Next, Go to Image/Adjustments and select Hue/Saturation. In this panel slide the arrow of the Hue, Saturation and Lightness to see the shirt change colors. I chose a light green to match the green earrings.

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Bringing other objects into the picture 27. Let's add the last object - the necklace.

Open the photo in Photoshop,速 then select and drag the necklace into the document you are working with.

28. Scale down the necklace (Edit/Transform/Scale). Scale it down then rotate it (Edit/Transform/Rotate) and position it over the neck and chest area. This will give you an idea how much to scale it down.

29. Then cut out the top part of the necklace that overlaps the face of the mode.

Use the lasso tool for this step.

Don't cut it same line with the neck, give it an extra space so that it looks as if it is wrapping around.

30. And you are done!

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