Design Skills (>´°д°`)> <(´°д°`<) Workbook
Art 211 Graphic Design Production 1| Emerson Knippel University of Wisconsin Stevens Point Professor Diana K B Hoover Fall 2016
Design Skills Workbook This Workbook was produced for ART 211 Graphic Design Production I, Taught by Professor Diana K B Hoover in the Department of Art & Design at UW-Stevens Point Designed by Emerson K. Fall 2016
Printed at the Office of Printing & Design University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
Table of Contents
6-7. - Design Process / Print Design, Paper, Printing 8-9. - InDesign: Introduction 10. - Typeface Categories, Type Basics 11-12. - About Color 13-15. - About Images // Photoshop: Intro 16. - Photoshop: Image Work 17. - Photoshop: Actions, Batch Processing, Sharpening and Optimizing
This page left intenially blank
Section 1: Design Process / Print Design, Paper, Printing Design Process When addressing a design problem, there are a variety of tools and techniques to help us find solutions. The most powerful tools we use are our brains. Only after a viable solution has been arrived at do we think of translating it on the computer. Some
designs are not even built on computers, like a hand-drawn calligraphy piece, though
would be documented—scanned or photographed—digitally. Computers and software programs are tools designers use, but they cannot think or solve design problems. The Design Process follows a reliable flow: research, brainstorm, sketch, sketch
more, select options, refine, evaluate, articulate, choose best concepts, refine, present, listen…and then, repeat.
More than any other step, research is key to creating successful design solutions.
Research includes interviewing the client, ascertaining their budget, timeline and what they know about their audience; understanding the market, trends and history, options for delivery; and knowing the resources available to you. Creatives are always learning. With each new client you will need to research their business—and study the related subjects.
When designing printed jobs, working closely with your printer will yield better
results. They know their business, the size and capabilities of their presses, the best
kind of papers to use for specific jobs, and they want your business, so it is in your best interest to consult your printer—especially before designing the project.
Writing about your research, the client’s needs, your goals, what you are trying to
achieve with your design will establish the basis for your preliminary client agreement, or design brief. This tool will keep all parties on the same page and help avoid ‘scope creep’.
Solving the design problem creatively requires experimentation. Getting outside
your normal mode of thinking fosters inventiveness. Sketching, doodling, mak-
ing, using our hands to translate ideas, helps our brains go there. Brainstorming or
mind-mapping lists of associations is like playing, which enables plasticity of thought — we can think different.
The sketching process begins with thumbnails, or thumbs, which are small, fast,
loose drawings—a process/tool to get many ideas down on paper quickly. They are
drawn with indications of only basic layout elements. Thumbs for any kinds of publication design should reflect the shape of the pages.
A handful of your best thumbnails ideas are selected and refined into rough sketch-
es, which are larger, darker and contain more detail. After some evaluation, the best
rough sketches are revised and refined further into comps or comprehensive renderings. Comps can be tightly drawn in marker or produced digitally.
Your comps will have all content represented in position and at scale. As a designer you will be often asked to create three or more directions for presen-
tation. These need to represent different ways to solve the problem, not just variations
of one design. At this presentation stage you may need to revise or refine the concepts.
The process can get stuck in a feedback loop so your client contract should have state a maximum number of revisions.
Once a design is agreed upon, the work goes to production. Often a dummy layout 6 Design Skills Workbook
is provided to the printer to show the intended page structure and folding being specified. Once on press, printers will provide either a digital or a physical poof to show exactly how the piece will look [and feel].
Print Design, Paper and Printing Processes Varieties of Print Design There are many kinds of Print Design. General categories include single page items like postcards, flyers or posters; multiple page pieces like
books, magazines and newsletters; and label and package design for products of all shapes, sizes and materials.
Package and Label Design The range of design options, materials and forms for package design is astonishing, even though the level of over-packaging is problematic.
Packaging adds a powerful layer of experience to the product display and brand involvement.
Materials used in package design are different weights, thicknesses and structures of paperboard or kinds of plastics. Labels often utilize special-
ty lightweight papers, other synthetic materials, or specific processes (flexography) to print on non-flat surfaces.
Folding Folds in printing range from a simple single fold to multiple complex folds. Each type of fold is identified by a specific name. Double sided,
single page pieces such as brochures are typically folded twice to produce three panels. The direction of each fold can be specified thus creating either a nested or z-fold brochure.
Folds need to be scored first in order to crease cleanly. Problems can occur when folds go across the grain of the paper causing unsightly crack-
ing of the paper stock.
Types of Binding Multiple page printed documents are bound using a number of different methods. Some more common commercial types of binding include: saddle stitched, perfect bound, spiral bound and comb bound. Binding styles can
make a statement. Spiral bound books imply utility because they can lay flat or be maneuvered to show only a single page, useful traits for workbooks or manuals.
Kinds of Commercial Paper Commercial paper is manufactured according to industry standards. There are a range of characteristics and specifications used to identify the
different types of paper. These are Grade, Finish, Weight, Color, and Grain Direction. The basic grades (or types) of commercial printing papers are: • Bond or writing — usually used for letterheads, business forms and copier uses • Book — the most commonly used coated and uncoated papers for printing • Text — high quality sheets in a variety of surfaces and colors
• Cover — used when greater bulk is required such as book covers, postcards or inserts • Tag / Bristol / Index — smooth surface papers, mostly uncoated, used for displays, file folders, tickets. Within each grade there are other distinctions, based on brightness, opacity, fiber content, and finish. For instance, there are matte, premium,
and gloss finishes to coated papers. Text papers are distinguished by finishes like smooth/vellum, felt/embossed, laid, and linen.
Papers come in a variety of Surface Types. Common Coated types are: Gloss, Dull, Matte, Silk and Embossed. Uncoated paper comes in a wide
variety of finishes including: Smooth, Linen, Vellum, and Felt. Each of these surfaces will provide different print quality and overall appearance. Each has its strengths and appropriateness for a particular job.
Most grades come in a variety of Weights for both Cover and Text. Get to know and learn to work with your printer to select the best papers
Design Skills Workbook 7
for your print design job.
Printing Processes used in the Design Industry Designers use different printing options depending on the intent and scope of the project. Simple documents, like our course syllabus, are
printed on laser, toner-based printers and duplicated on toner-based copy machines. Single, one-off, print jobs such as a laminated poster, would
be produced on a color inkjet printer. A short run of several hundred brochures for a local event would get run on a color laser printer. Commercial projects such as the internationally distributed Print magazine or the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books are produced in large print publishing houses using the offset printing process.
Offset Printing Commercially produced print work is most often created through a process called Offset printing. This process involves the digital image of the
design being separated into plates corresponding to each of the ink colors being used in the printing process.
This can be 1 or 2-colors of ink or, more often, the four process colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black â&#x20AC;&#x201D; also known as CMYK.
Digital Printing Presses Fairly recently commercial printers began offering high quality printing using all digital machines. These are ideal for shorter-run jobs and
highly customizable.
Post Press Processes Commercial printers can print additional colors and can perform a number of post press processes. Post press processes include die cutting,
embossing, spot varnish and foil stamping.
Copy Shops Copy centers have a range of digital printing capabilities including high quality Black & White and Full color laser printers and larger Color
inkjet banner printers in different sizes.
Section 2: InDesign: Introduction Adobe InDesign | Overview Workspace, Pages, Tools, Panels, Guides, Grids, Master Pages Adobe InDesign is the industry standard software for
page layout of print documents. With it you can control the number of pages, page size, grid structure, type
styles and image placement. This is an overview of the interface and the basics on how to use the program.
To begin, setup a New Document. Go to File > New
> Document--or use the key command, Command +
N--to open the New Document window. Here you can
set the Intent, number of Pages in your document, Page Size, Orientation, whether you want Facing Pages and many more options.
Columns and Margins You know that every printed multi-page document has
top, bottom, inside and outside margins and that they use a grid with columns to govern content placement. When you open a New Document you have the option of setting columns and page margins OR you can set them to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;0â&#x20AC;&#x2122; (zero) and use Margins and Guides to set these. 8 Design Skills Workbook
Rulers and Guides There are rulers running along the top and the left of your document window. The units of the ruler can be changed to read in points, picas, inches, centimeters, pixels, etc. Right click or Control click on the upper left corner where the rulers intersect to change the units of measurement. You can create a new guide by clicking and dragging on one of the rulers. Change the location by dragging it to new position.
Different Kinds of Grids The page layout of your document is controlled by a grid structure that you create. There is also a Document Grid, which is like grid paper. To turn on and off the visibility of the Document Grid,
go to the top menu and select View > Guides & Grids > Show/Hide Document Grid. Another kind of grid is a Baseline Grid, which is used for aligning text. We will discuss this a bit later.
Grids and guides can be adjusted to suit the document needs or your preference. Under InDesign choose >
Preferences > Grids (or Guides) to get to the Preferences window. There are a number of other preferences you can set here.
Tools In the toolbar there are basic kinds of tools to get to know. There are Selection Tools, Frame and Shape Tools,
Type Tools, Drawing, Cutting and Transforming Tools, and the Stoke and Fill ‘Coloring’ Tools.
Application Bar, Application Frame and Control Bar These are the two horizontal bars across the top of the workspace. The Application Bar can be used for setting
up the workspace. You can turn on the Application Frame, which creates a perimeter around your workspace. The Control Bar can be used for controlling the characteristics of different elements. It is contextual which means it changes depending on what you have selected.
Panels In addition to the Tools on the left side of the workspace, InDesign has a Panels area on the right side by default, that house a slew of different
options for controlling your document and content. Presets for groupings of Panels can be selected that are specific to different tasks. Individual Panels can be opened by going to the top menu bar under the ‘Window’ drop down menu. The Panels can be configured anyway you would like and the stack can be expanded, minimized, or pulled apart to suit your needs.
Pages and Master Pages The Pages panel allows you to see a thumbnail version of your document. From here you can navigate to specific pages or rearrange them. You
can add and delete pages, and choose how the thumbnails are displayed.
A Master Page is like a template that you can apply to multiple pages in your document. By default the A-Master is activated. You can make
adjustments to it and you can create new Master Pages for different kinds of page layout or sections of your document.
To make adjustments to the Master, double click on the name in the panel. It will highlight and the name by the thumbnail and the name will
appear at the bottom left side of your document frame.
Margins and Columns There are a number of ways to create a layout grid for your document. One of the most common methods is to select Layout from the top menu
> Margins and Columns and set your specifications.
Design Skills Workbook 9
Section 3: Typeface Categories, Type Basics Typefaces Categories There are many ways to categorize typefaces or fonts, but the two main ways we will learn about are general clas-
sifications and how they are used. General classification is historical; usage is about the names given to the roles type plays in different parts of the document.
General Classification: Serif vs. Sans Serif One of the most basic distinctions in type is Serif or Sans Serif. A serif
is that little foot or spur or appendage on the end of the stroke of a letter-
form. The word ‘sans’ means, ‘without’ so this category has no little spurs or appendages, the letterforms end bluntly.
Both of these categories have additional classifications. Kinds of Serifs
include Hairline, Bracketed, Slab, Wedge (and more) and Sans Serif include Geometric, Humanist, Transitional.
Text vs. Display Typefaces are designed for different purposes. The two major categories
are Display and Text typefaces. Text faces are used for body text meant for
extended reading and so their letterforms are clear, clean and simple. Display faces, on the other hand, can be more ornamental because they are used for use titles or headlines that only have a few words.
How Type is Used In any publication, whether for print or for screen, the text can be cat-
egorized by its use, such as: Headline, Subhead, Body Text, Pull Quote,
Captions, etc. These designations are important to know as part of design terminology and because they are used when naming the Styles in your digital document.
Type Basics: Typefaces have Families A single typeface is often designed with several variations such as Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic. Some typefaces have large families that in-
clude variants in character width including Compressed, Condensed, Wide, or Extended fonts, and character weights such as Thin, Book, Semi Bold, Extra Bold, etc.
10 Design Skills Workbook
How Type is Measured: Points, Picas, Leading and ‘the Measure’ The units of measure used for type include: the point and the pica. 12 points = 1 pica, 6 picas = 1 inch, so 72 points = 1 inch Type size is measured in points. This unit of measure has been around since the 1600’s and was standardized in the 1990’s for digital publishing.
Conventional point sizes are available in the drop down menus of most software programs. These sizes (6, 8, 10, 12, 14, etc.) correspond to the sizes that—once upon a time, and still today—hot type or metal type is produced.
Leading The space between lines of type is referred to as leading.
This term comes from the thin strips of metal used when
hot type is set by hand. Leading is also measured in points. The default amount of leading is two (2) points between each line of text.
The Measure Line length or the width of a line or column of text is measured in picas. The length of a line or a column or block of text is called its ‘measure.’
If a the measure is too long, the reader will tend to lose their place as they go from one line to the next. If it is too short, the ideas in the text be-
come chopped up rather than flowing. Because point size affects the number of words on a line, line length is also measured with character count. Optimum line lengths are around 45-65 characters including spaces.
Section 4: About Color Designers need to know a lot about color. From color theory, the psychology, cultural and mythic meanings of colors, to the technical aspects of how to handle color digitally, to knowing the systems of used in specifying color, the knowledge base you need to acquire is expansive.
This workbook covers a few fundamental aspects including: Color Systems, Color Spaces, Spot Color vs. Process Color, and Color Books.
Color Systems: Additive vs. Subtractive Humans see color because our eyes are equipped with specialized receptors called rods and cones that detect and translate different wavelengths
of light. We perceive color differently depending on whether we are seeing light directly versus seeing light reflected off of a surface. These two different systems are called Additive and Subtractive.
Additive Color System When we look at a screen on any device, we are looking at light illuminating the screen from behind. When we look at a film or slide show
being projected onto a screen we are also looking at light. The colors we see are a result of light wavelengths being added together to produce the whole spectrum of other colors. Thus this color system is referred to as Additive.
Subtractive Color System When we look at color that is painted on a canvas or dyed into a fabric or printed on paper we are seeing light bouncing off the surface. The
colors are a result of wavelengths for colors being subtracted from the spectrum and those colors/wavelengths enter into our eyes. That is why this color system of dyes, inks and pigments is referred to as Subtractive.
Color Spaces (or Modes): RGB vs. CMYK As a designer you need to be aware of and consciously match the color spaces with the medium you work in. Colors on screen look different
than those same colors printed on paper. So, when you are designing for the web or work that is mean to be projected, you should use one color space and when you are designing work meant to be printed, you need to use another.
All of the colors we see on a screen are made up of pixels with varying amounts of Red, Green, and Blue. Thus, the color space for screen work is
identified as RGB.
Design Skills Workbook 11
Most all of the colors we see on a full-color printed piece are made up of dots of color ink in varying density. These colors are Cyan, Magenta,
Yellow and black. Thus, the color space used for print work is CMYK.
Working with Color in Print Design: Process Colors There is more to know about color in print than just
CMYK vs. RGB. An important term to know is that cyan,
magenta, yellow and black are referred to as the Process Colors. This name references the printing process where full
color images are separated out into their component CMYK colors as dots. This is done in order to print the colors one on top of another and produce a visual recreation of all of the colors present in the image.
Spot Color A Spot color is printed as a solid color either instead of CMYK or in addition to CMYK (Process Colors). Why would you use a Spot Color?
Sometimes there is a specific color that needs to be consistently presented. An example of this would be the Target Red color.
This is a valuable part of Targetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brand. In order to maintain consistency the color is mixed up using a specified formula of percentages of CMYK
inks.
Specifying a Spot Color in InDesign You have to go through a set of steps to specify a Spot Color in InDesign. Note that the process varies a little in different software programs
such as Illustrator.
If you want to use a tint of a specific color you must
make it a Spot Color first.
When adding a new swatch make sure the color type selection box is set to Spot color.
12 Design Skills Workbook
Pantone Color The Pantone Matching System is the most used color matching system in the design industry. Pantone colors allow designers to spec colors for
their clients and ensures that printers will be able to reproduce the specified color. Pantone colors are available in swatch books that fan out for easy comparison and selection.
Because there are many different kinds of papers, coatings and kinds of options for printed design work, there are numerous Pantone swatch
books to represent the various kinds of printing and papers. The most basic distinction between these swatch books is Pantone Coated vs. Pantone Uncoated. These simulated what the color will look like on coated and uncoated paper stock. There are also swatch books that show how a specific color will look when it is â&#x20AC;&#x153;builtâ&#x20AC;? out of CMYK.
You can specify Pantone colors in InDesign as well as in other Adobe programs, Illustrator and Photoshop.
When creating a pantone color swatch, you must select one of the Pantone Color sets in the Color Mode selection menu. This is located just underneath the Color Type selection menu.
Design Skills Workbook 13
Section 5: About Images // Photoshop: Intro Image Categories Photographs, illustrations and collage are macro categories that images fit into. Each of these has numerous subdivisions that correspond to processes used, subject matter chosen and technique applied toward achieving an aesthetic. Images can be produced by simple elaborate means. The
subject matter can be understood as portraits, landscapes or abstraction. Visual stylistic choices can range over a spectrum of emotional responses.
Photographs Photographic work can be classified in many ways according to use and subject matter. You can find a fairly exhaustive list here: http://www.
mediacollege.com/photography/types/. Historically many different techniques have been employed. A good list with descriptions and examples is on the V&A website: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/photographic-p.
Illustration The term ‘Illustration’ encompasses a huge variation of styles and purposes. The major categories are: portraiture, cartoon, decorative graphic or
ornament, data visualization, architectural drawing, scientific illustration, technical drawing and illustration. Visual styles of drawing can vary from the representational, to the hyper realistic, to the quirky caricature or highly stylized cartoon.
Technical drawing can be further subdivided into disciplines including: scientific illustration
(Medical, Botanical, Zoological, etc.), prototype visualization (Product, Packaging, etc.), mathematical and engineering drawings, patent drawings or explanatory drawings (Exploded view, Multi-view projections, etc.).
Collage The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines collage as: 1. an artistic composition made of various materials (as paper, cloth, or wood) glued on a surface Also referred to as a hodge-podge, collages can be mixtures of materials, of styles or of kinds of
images. In this respect, a collage is sort of hybrid, often combining photographic and illustrative elements.
A digitally created collage created with Photoshop, created by adding different adjustments to squares created via grid lines.
The Impact of Image Resolution Resolution is a term that describes the amount of detail or visual information in an image. The term is used when referring to a digital image as
well as printed images. On-screen and printed images have greatly different requirements for resolution. Images meant for display on a screen can look decent with a much lower resolution than images created for print.
Most printed magazines a resolution of 300 ppi at the reproduction size for photographs. Vector images such as logos are saved for printing at a
much higher resolution— generally saved at 1200ppi.
Computer monitors have a resolution of 72 or 96 ppi. They can display images of this resolution and they look pretty good. High-resolution
monitors do require higher resolution images to look sharp and clear.
Vector vs. Raster Images Vector images have flat colors without gradients and are completely scalable. They are defined by a mathematical formula. This makes them an
ideal format for logos and symbols. Logos and other graphics are saved in this way.
Rasterized images have continuous tones or smoothly blended gradients. They are defined by a matrix of pixels where each pixel has its own
color or value. When saving raster images they are always saved at the resolution needed for the kind of display they will be seen on. If printing
the rule of thumb is to use 300ppi —at size— for photographs. If for online, then the images need to be optimized when saved for the screen resolution.
14 Design Skills Workbook
PPI, DPI, LPI PPI stands for Pixels Per Inch and refers to the number of pixels per
square inch. Whether working with images in a digital camera, scanner or in pixel-based software programs, PPI is used to define the amount of digital information that is present in the image.
DPI stands for Dots Per Inch and refers to the resolution of output
devices such as desktop printers. Laser printers use dots or toner and inkjet printers use dots CMYK ink.
LPI stands for Lines Per Inch and refers to the coarseness or fineness
of screen a commercial printer uses to print images.
Resolution & Kinds of Printing Different kinds of printing use different resolutions in their screens
to digitize images for printing plates. These screens are measured in lines per inch (LPI).
For example, newspapers are printed using fast web presses on coarse
paper that absorbs a lot of ink. In order to avoid the images getting all muddy from ink spreading—called dot gain, they use a lower LPI in
their printing screens. Low LPI means fewer lines per inch to define an image. So photos for newspapers are saved at a ppi lower than 300.
Alternately, some exclusive publications will use high-quality offset
or gravure printing processes and high quality coated and calen-
dared paper. These processes use screens with high LPI with this less absorbent paper so the dots of ink are small and sit on the surface of
and images are super crisp and clear. In order to take advantage of this, images must be saved at a higher ppi. High PPI means lots of pixels per inch to define details.
Photoshop | Overview The main uses for Adobe Photoshop include the manipulation and
adjustment of digital photographs, building composite or layered pho-
tographic imagery and creating digital collages. Thomas and John Knoll developed it in 1987 and then sold the distribution license to Adobe
Systems Incorporated in 1988. It has been available to the public since
1990. Along with some companion programs (Bridge, Lightroom) it is
the industry standard software program for working with digital photographs.
icon. Click and hold on an individual Tool to access and select the additional tools in the set.
Control Bar As in the other Adobe programs, the Control Bar appears at the top
of your workspace. The information displayed here is contextual—it
changes to match the particular Tool you are using or element you have selected. You can select and customize your Workspace by using the
drop down menu on the far right of the Control Bar. You can also find these choices for Workspace in the Windows menu.
Panels There are numerous Panels that allow control over various tasks.
These can be docked together or pulled apart in various configurations. You can set how many and which Panels are visible, open and docked on the right side of your Workspace. All Photoshop Panels can be found under ‘Window’ on the top drop down menu.
Documents Most often you will open photos directly in Photoshop and work on
them, although there will be times you need to create a new document. The process echoes other Adobe programs using the top menu File >
New Document, or simply, Command + N (Control + N on the PC). There are Presets to select or you can enter your own settings for the document. A crucial difference in Photoshop is that you can choose
your Background Contents for your document (White, Background Color or Transparent).
Preferences Like Illustrator and InDesign, Photoshop allows you to set Preferences for the software. Some of these are for interface and workspace display options, while some are for individual tools and/or panels.
One of the most important settings in Preferences is for the number
of History States. History allows you to undo multiple steps of your work on a single piece. You can find this setting under Performance
category. Many people recommend upping the number to 100 or 150.
Be aware that his will increase the amount of processing power needed to keep Photoshop open and functioning.
Workspace Options: Tool Bar / Tools Located by default on the left side of your workspace, the Tools can
be classified into several categories including: Selection Tools, Painting/ Manipulation Tools, Drawing/Type Tools, and Display Tools.
Many of the tools and processes have shortcut key commands. Make
your life better… learn to use both hands when working on the com-
puter to utilize key commands and boost your efficiency. You can study an exhaustive list of key commands for Photoshop here: https://www. nobledesktop.com/shortcuts/photoshopcs6/pc
A fair number of Photoshop Tools have tool sets embedded in
them—indicated by the tiny triangle on the lower right corner on their
Design Skills Workbook 15
Image File Formats It is important to remember as you work to save your files regularly. Get in the habit of saving your work in the native file format of the
program you are working in so you can open and rework as needed. You should also save your files uncompressed or not flattened when archiving the original.
Saving iteratively will ensure against loss of all work if your file gets
corrupted. (It does happen!) Use ‘Save As’ to completely to create a different version of the file.
In addition to native files, there are many different file formats to
choose from when saving your work. The formats you choose will
depend on the purpose and the medium the image is intended for. Generally images are either saved for Screen or for Print.
Every different file format is created using formulas and processes
that are optimized for a particular kinds of imagery. Of course, each
of these formats has numerous options for settings that you must set according to the image need. This is called Optimizing your images.
The most common file formats, their file extension acronyms, what
they stand for and their specific uses include:
Native Files (common design programs): .indd: (InDesign Document) — for multi-page documents for print
or screen
.psd: (PhotoShop Document) — for photographic, digital collage .ai: (Adobe Illuatrator) — for vector graphics, logos, illustration
File Formats for Print .tiff: (Tagged Image File Format) which are used for
high quality graphics.
File Formats for Screen .jpg / .jpeg ( Joint Photographic Expert Group)
which are a “lossy” format, meaning that they
.eps: (Encapsulated PostScript) which are used for
decrease in quality everytime they are loaded.
.pdf: (Portable Document Format) which are used for
ports lossless data and 2 levels, 8-bit and 24-bit.
the printing of high resolution images. the printing of both text ad graphics.
.png (Portable Network Graphic) which sup.gif (Graphic Interchange Format) which are
used for sharing images over the internet and supports transparency.
16 Design Skills Workbook
Section 6:Photoshop: Image Work Automatic Correction Options In Photoshop there are several options for color, tone and contrast corrections. They are not perfect for every job, though can help you detect if
there are some problems. These automatic features are located under the Image dropdown menu. Auto Color will adjust major color shifts, Auto Tone will â&#x20AC;&#x153;tone downâ&#x20AC;? unnatural looking saturation in photos and Auto Contrast will enhance the differentiation in low contrast situations.
The left-most image is the original, while the image underneath, is the same image with the Auto Color adjustment applied.
Blending Modes Photoshop allows for the combination of images in
multiple ways. You can Blend two photographs with
different effects and use transparency on the top layer to adjust the amount or strength of the stylization.
False Duotone A false duotone has the appearance of a two-color image. It is really a photograph
that has been de-saturated and placed on a color background. This is sometimes called a fake duotone. In order to achieve this effect, you need to use the Multiply Blending Mode on the two different layers.
Design Skills Workbook 17
Section 7: Photoshop: Actions, Batch Processing, Sharpening and Optimizing Actions In Photoshop, Actions are specific sets of sequential instructions for the manipu-
lation of photographs. Similar to Styles you create for text, once you make an Action, you can then apply it to other images. There are a number of default Actions that
come preset within the program, however you can also record your own custom set of commands.
Batch Processing Once you have set up an Action, you can apply it efficiently to process quantities of
photos or images. You can select a folder of images and direct Photoshop to apply a
specific Action to all of them. This works great for images you need to treat the same way, such as to resize images or make all screen shots Grayscale.
Optimizing your Images: File Formats & Resolution The first thing to think about is how your images are going to be used. Will they be used in a print document or will they
be used in a website? Maybe both. Each platform for delivery has its own requirements. These pertain to two major things: appropriate file format and image resolution.
For print, photographs need to be in .tif format and
require a pretty high resolution, commonly 300dpi, to look their best.
For screen, the same photograph would be saved in
.pdf format and needs to be optimized for screen with a lower resolution in order to perform best on screen. Photoshop will do this for us if we use Export As.
18 Design Skills Workbook
Illustrator: Tracing, Closed Shapes Gradients and Patterns
Tracing There are two main ways to trace in Illustrator, one uses the Pen Tool and Layers so you can draw on top of what you want to trace much like you would do using a light table, and the other uses the Image Trace process, which digitally changes a rasterized image into a vector image. Each of these methods is best suited for some images and both processes have pros
and cons. The Pen Tool is difficult to master, though it will allow for precise control.
Image Trace has many options, though it can generate a result that is less than ideal. The Image trace window has a number of preset Tracing options and many different ways to manipulate the resulting trace.
Closed Shapes, Gradients and Patterns Closed vs Shapes It is important that when you work in Illustrator you are closing your shapes. This is
required for the fills to work properly.
Eraser vs Scissors vs Knife Tools There are numerous ways to divide or subtract from shapes. The Eraser, Scissors and
Knife Tools all do this, but achieve different results. The Eraser takes away parts of the
shape wherever you use it, while both the Scissors and the Knife simply cut apart with no loss of shape area. For the Knife Tool, hold down the Option key to constrain the cuts to straight and use both Shift + Option for horizontal, 45 degrees or vertical constraint.
Design Skills Workbook 19
Gradients and Patterns In Illustrator there are numerous methods to fill shapes. Gradients allow blending colors or blend to transparency. Patterns allow you to fill a
shape or area with a repeating motif. Gradients and Patterns have presets and are both customizable. The Pattern Brush Tool makes it easy to create and adjust your own original Patterns.
20 Design Skills Workbook
Illustrator: Blends, Gradients, Clipping Mask, Strokes, Patterns & Brushes Creating Blends You can blend shapes together to get a morphed shape and color gradient. The three types of blends you can choose are: Smooth, Specific Steps and Specific Distance. Smooth gives you a seamless blending of colors, whereas the other two will give you chunky steps based on the perimeters you use. You can also use the blends icon in the Tool bar. To blend the two
objects using the tool, you will need to select an edge of the first object, and then select the edge of the next object, and Illustrator will blend
these two objects. When using the blend tool, please note, it will blend to the next point that you select. If you shift your selection point from
the original, it will warp/twist the blend. You can change a color in the
blend by selecting a specific object and then changing the color on than object and it will automatically re-blend it.
If you use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select a point on the
Blend you can stretch it out. By using your Anchor Point Tool in the Pen Tool set, you can introduce curvature.
Creating a Custom Gradient Open the Gradient panel: Window > Gradient. There are several default gradients that you can apply. If you start
with one of these, you can change the colors on the slider by dou-
ble-clicking on them or by dragging a new swatch color on top of it. You can add more colors to the gradient by clicking along the slider.
You can reposition the squares on the bottom and also the triangles on the top to the adjust the range of gradient and the transition areas.
Save your custom gradient by grabbing the sample square in the upper left corner and dragging it onto your Swatch panel.
Adding Visual Texture You can add textures to your illustration in several ways including
using Illustrator’s many painting and drawing tools to make inside the program, and capturing / creating your own texture.
Working with Clipping Masks Masking areas of image can be accomplished in a few different ways.
You can create a custom shape and use it to delineate an area of image
you want showing through the shape. Do this by placing the shape over the image and ‘clip’ the image into it with Object > Clipping Mask > Make.
Working with Strokes You can create a layered effect with varying weights of Strokes on
copies of the same object and then using the Align Panel to center them on top of one another.
When working with Strokes you must consciously select whether the
alignment of the stroke is center (default), inside or outside.
Creating Your Own Paintbrush Pattern You know you can create your own Fill Pattern. You can also create
your own Pattern Brush. To do this, draw a shape or a series of shapes that you would like to use like as a brush. With the Brushes Panel
open, drag the vector art into the row of choices. You will be prompted to select Scatter, Art or Pattern Brush. •
Scattered Brush should be selected if you want to follow a
drawn line or want to randomly place a single vector art with the click of the mouse. •
Art Brush should be selected if you want the vector art to
fill the whole line - no matter the length. It will stretch and distort to accommodate your stroke. •
Pattern Brush should be selected if you would like the
artwork to follow the drawn line. You are able to make adjustments for spacing, rotation and size.
Taking your own photo of a texture allows for more realism. Always
resize and transform your photographic images in Photoshop first
before placing them into a document in Illustrator or in InDesign.
Double clicking on the brush in the brushes panel will allow alter-
ations.
You can also shift select pieces and drag them into the Brushes Panel
to create a new brush.
Design Skills Workbook 21
Concepts: Design Principles in Page Layout Photography & White Balance Design Principles: Visual Hierarchy All layout design is concerned about the communication of ideas. As a designer you need to figure out what is most important and present that first in the visual hierarchy. We follow general rules for reading. In Western cultures we read from left to right and top to bottom. Thus attention usually goes to the upper left hand corner of a page. An effective poster design will have a focal point, something that
catches the eye first. There are plenty of methods to create this using scale, color, and/or contrast to draw the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention.
Alignment, Balance, Unity Elements on a page need to have some alignment to look purpose-
fully laid out and to unify the composition. This is a basic tenant of 2D Design. The layout also needs to achieve a visual balance either symmetrical or asymmetrical.
Unity in page layout is achieved through deliberate use of a few
well-chosen typefaces and a limited or purposeful color palette. Graphic elements or treatments such as gradients, specific textures or borders
can add a sense of completion to a layout. Choose these thoughtfully in order to add visual power to your conceptual communication.
Photography & White Balance
When taking photographs of an object or a product, you will want
to control your lighting. The White Balance is something you set in the camera so the color temperature of the lighting is recorded correctly.
Auto settings can often get good results, though you may want to use
a gray card or measure the light and set the WB in the camera at the time of the photo shoot.
Of course, it is possible to correct color casts in an existing photo
using Photoshop, however it is far preferable for you to use the proper white balance to begin with as every digital adjustment will result in a loss of digital information.
22 Design Skills Workbook
Project 1: Photogrid Project Process For the Photogrid project we had to use an image that we took and create a grid structure in photoshop. We then modified each individual square in the grid with a different adjustment, creating a digital collage.
For my image I used an older photo that I took in the past. I put adjustments in each layer so as to portray an ambience of solitude, as I am not
really a social person.
Design Skills Workbook 23
Project 3: 8 page-Brochure Project Process The 8-page brochure project we had to craete a small brochure that promoted an on campus club or group at UWSP. I selected the Linux User Group of UWSP as my organization to promote. Their main goal is to
24 Design Skills Workbook
Design Skills Workbook 25