Pixel and Vector Graphics information and links to YouTube provided by Mr Dickson STC
Photoshop Links ... click on the blue underlined links to visit the sites Palettes and Panels ... Click on Palettes/Panels under the "Interface" Heading. This will show you how arrange your Photoshop workspace Layers ... This shows you how work with layers in Photoshop. It is important you understand layers The Quick Select tool ... This is a quick and easy way to select areas of a picture in Photoshop Other Selection Tools ... This shows a range of useful ways to select areas in Photoshop The Extract Filter ... This is essential for cutting out areas like hair
Useful Keyboard Shortcuts in Photoshop Ctrl J ... This copies a selected area onto its own layer Ctrl T ... This lets you "Transform" a selected area or something on an unlocked layer. Hold down shift to preserve the proportions as you change size or the Ctrl key to let you drag the corners and distort the shape XARA Xtreme Links... click on the blue underlined links to see these YouTube video tutorials XARA basics 1 ... Drawing lines and shapes. Changing their size, rotating them, changing line thickness, moving things infront and behind each other XARA basics 2 ... Using the info bar to change sizes. Undo and redo operations. Colour ... line and fill colour XARA basics 3... Graduated colour fills, transparency. Text Useful Keyboard Shortcuts in XARA Ctrl K ... This "Clones" an object (makes a copy and pastes it exactly on top of itself) Ctrl ... Holding down the Ctrl key "Controls" the operation you are doing. Eg. When you are drawing a straight line it forces it to be horizontal or vertical. When you are drawing a rectangle or ellipse, it forces them to be squares or circles. When you drag an object it forces it to move in a straight line, vertically or horizontally. (this is useful when you have "Cloned" an object and want to move the copy but keep it in line with the original.) Shift ... Holding down the shift key allows you to select more than one object at a time and when you are resizing using the select tool, it enlarges/reduces the object around its centre, rather than the opposite corner
Useful Tutorials There are lots of Photoshop tutorial sites which you can find through using Google ... here are a few good ones Photoshop support ... Lots of tutorials ... lookout for the CS3 tips Photoshop Roadmap ... try the different catagories on the right **Video Tutorials** ... Lots of basic tutorials for lots of programs here XARA Tutorials
The best place is "The XARAxone" (pronounced ... zarazone". It's full of useful hints and tips with an impressive gallery. Here are some tutorials about the tools in XARA. **Line and closed shape drawing tools** The Rectangle tool The Bevel tool The Object Alignment Tool The Transparency tool
Book Cover and Posters by 8.4
Presentation graphics using Adobe Photoshop 7 and Xara to edit photos and add effects, generating book covers and posters using images and text, Advanced features such as placing images onto a 3D image of a book, using the scew tool to position it. Enjoy the show
Teachers in a Box by 8.32008
Presentation graphics using Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Xara to edit photos and add effects, generate packaging nets and add the graphics and text to the nets, then using the scew tool to position the finished graphics onto a 3D image of the box.
First Steps with Photoshop and Xara
Pixel and Vector Graphics information and links to YouTube provided by Mr Dickson STC
Photoshop Links ... click on the blue underlined links to visit the sites
Palettes and Panels ... Click on Palettes/Panels under the "Interface" Heading. This will show you how arrange your Photoshop workspace
Layers ... This shows you how work with layers in Photoshop. It is important you understand layers
The Quick Select tool ... This is a quick and easy way to select areas of a picture in Photoshop
Other Selection Tools ... This shows a range of useful ways to select areas in Photoshop
The Extract Filter ... This is essential for cutting out areas like hair
Useful Keyboard Shortcuts in Photoshop
Ctrl J ... This copies a selected area onto its own layer
Ctrl T ... This lets you "Transform" a selected area or something on an unlocked layer. Hold down shift to preserve the proportions as you change size or the Ctrl key to let you drag the corners and distort the shape
XARA Xtreme Links ... click on the blue underlined links to see these YouTube video tutorials
XARA basics 1 ... Drawing lines and shapes. Changing their size, rotating them, changing line thickness, moving things infront and behind each other
XARA basics 2 ... Using the info bar to change sizes. Undo and redo operations. Colour ... line and fill colour
XARA basics 3 ... Graduated colour fills, transparency. Text
Useful Keyboard Shortcuts in XARA
Ctrl K ... This "Clones" an object (makes a copy and pastes it exactly on top of itself)
Ctrl ... Holding down the Ctrl key "Controls" the operation you are doing. Eg. When you are drawing a straight line it forces it to be horizontal or vertical. When you are drawing a rectangle or ellipse, it forces them to be squares or circles. When you drag an object it forces it to move in a straight line, vertically or horizontally. (this is useful when you have "Cloned" an object and want to move the copy but keep it in line with the original.)
Shift ... Holding down the shift key allows you to select more than one object at a time and when you are resizing using the select tool, it enlarges/reduces the object around its centre, rather than the opposite corner
Useful Tutorials
There are lots of Photoshop tutorial sites which you can find through using Google ... here are a few good ones
Photoshop support ... Lots of tutorials ... lookout for the CS3 tips
Photoshop Roadmap ... try the different catagories on the right
**Video Tutorials** ... Lots of basic tutorials for lots of programs here
XARA Tutorials
The best place is "The XARAxone" (pronounced ... zarazone". It's full of useful hints and tips with an impressive gallery. Here are some tutorials about the tools in XARA.
**Line and closed shape drawing tools**
The Rectangle tool
The Bevel tool
The Object Alignment Tool
The Transparency tool
Book Cover and Posters by 8.4
Presentation graphics using Adobe Photoshop 7 and Xara to edit photos and add effects, generating book covers and posters using images and text, Advanced features such as placing images onto a 3D image of a book, using the scew tool to position it. Enjoy the show
Teachers in a Box by 8.3 2008
Presentation graphics using Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Xara to edit photos and add effects, generate packaging nets and add the graphics and text to the nets, then using the scew tool to position the finished graphics onto a 3D image of the box.