PhotoShop Nuggets

PhotoShop Nuggets

A miner discovering a gold nugget.

Many students ask very technical questions concerning PhotoShop. Here are some of the questions and answers that may be a help to you as you begin to tap into the power of this image editing program.

Q - What is the significance of the settings when working with the Magnetic Lasso tool ?

A - To control the way it works you can adjust the settings for width, edge contrast, frequency and pen pressure.

Width - defaults to 10 px, it dictates the area in which the tool looks for contrasting pixels as you drag the mouse. By decreasing the number you are limiting the range and have greater control and fewer leaps from the actual edge.

Edge Contrast - gives you control to refine your selection. A low % makes it easier to find adequate contrast and your selection will follow edges where there isn't a great deal of difference between px.

Frequency - controls the fastening points that are placed around the selection. The more fastening points the more control you have.

Pen Pressure - this will vary the pressure as you move around the selection if you have a pressure-sensitive stylus pen.

Q - What does additive and subtractive color mode mean? Why is it important to know?

A - The method of selecting colors depends upon how you are going to distribute your artwork whether print or electronic format. An additive color mode contains colors that are created by adding together different wavelengths of light. An example is how the colors display on a computer monitor. RGB (red, green, blue) is an additive color mode. A subtractive color mode contains colors that are created when the light strikes an object or image and certain wavelengths are subtracted (absorbed). CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) is a subtractive color mode best used for printing. If you are going to print your images you would select CMYK or grayscale. If you are going to use an electronic format then you would select RGB to be displayed on a computer monitor.