You can feather a selection by going to the Select Menu, and choosing Feather. You can also feather a selection by setting a Feather amount in the Options palette, which will feather a selection automatically as you draw it. Notice, however, that there is no command you can choose to unfeather a selection. This is why, when I save a selection into a channel, I generally save it in an unfeathered state. What can you do though, if you have feathered a selection, and then change your mind? Here is a technique you can use:
1) Create a feathered selection, save it, and view the alpha channel.
2) Choose Image>Adjust>Threshold
3) Notice that as you move the slider, that your selection will also grow
or shrink.
4) Use Transform Selection if necessary to resize the selection.
5) Use a very slight Gaussian Blur on the channel to soften the
edges a bit.
When you feather a selection, the selection outline is feathered on all sides.
This is a way of feathering a selection on only one side.
1) Fill a Layer or a Background with a color.
2) Create a new Channel
3) Create a rectangular selection in the channel
4) Fill the selection with a Gradient, using the gradient tool. Make
sure you are using your Default colors by pressing D on the keyboard, and make
sure the gradient type is Foreground to Background.
5) Load the Channel as a selection, and use Levels to see what it does.
Please complete this assignment on an image, and send the image to me as an email. The best way to save the image is by Saving As a Photoshop PDF. When you save as a PDF, you can maintain your layers. When you reopen the image in Photoshop, it will retain all the original layer information. Also, you can use JPEG compression, which will make your image even smaller than a PSD. Please make sure that you reduce the resolution to 72ppi. This will save you time when you upload the image. If you want to print it however, make sure that you have a 300ppi copy.
This assignment starts on Monday of Week 2, but is not due until the end of Week 3.
For this assignment, I want you to create a menu for a restaurant. It can be any type of restaurant that you want. I want to see some imagery, and of course you will need to use type.
If you want me to comment on your progress over the next week, you can send it to me via email. Please make sure that your images retain their layers. You can save them as either psd's or Photoshop PDF files. Both these formats will retain the layers. They should be 72 ppi images, so that they will upload and download quickly, but you may want to work at a higher resolution so that you can print your images. In order to retain the original resolution, but send me a lower resolution file, Duplicate your image first, and then reduce the resolution to 72ppi in the duplicate image. Send me the low resolution version.
You can use any kind of imagery you can find--either scanned images, or images you have drawn or found on the web. You can even try scanning real food! Just make sure, if you do that, that you are very careful not to scratch your scanner bed, and that you clean it well.
Below, you can see some examples of menus created by my students in previous classes. These may give you some ideas. You can tell that some of them had quite a sense of humor! I have made these images quite small so they should not take too long to download, but you may have some trouble reading them.
The main complaint I usually have is images where you cannot read the type easily, so make sure you use fonts that are easy to read, and do not conflict with the images.
You have been selected to create an image that will be put into a Time Capsule. This should be a composite image, created from either original artwork that you have drawn, or a number of imported or scanned images. You can use any images that you can get into your computer.
The final image should represent your view of our daily life as it is in 2003. Of course, we were all tremendously affected by the event of September 11th, but try too to see the lighter side. If you do not have a scanner, you can use low resolution images that you can download from the web. There are several Photo stock companies that will allow you to download low res images that can be used FPO (for placement only).
Make sure you use Type and Layer Styles as part of your composite. Also, pay attention to selection outlines, and make sure that your composites do not look “pasted together”, but rather are seamlessly integrated.
If you would prefer not to do the Time Capsule assignment, you can do this instead:
Using at least three different image sources, create a composite image that communicates a particular emotion.
1) Create, save, and load masks (selections) for different areas of the composite image.These masks can be related to areas of an image you want to modify somehow, or they can be selections that will help you to make Layer Masks for the images you have imported into the base image. By base image, I mean the image that you plan to use as a background for the composite.
2) Create rough selections by using any selection tool, and then fine tune them using QuickMask.
3) Use Layer Masks to mask out certain portions of layers.
4) Eliminate moiré patterns by using the Despeckle filter, or blurring, but without compromising the image. Moiré patterns may appear on scans made from previously printed material.
5) Have accurate edges, and logical depth of field.
Pay particular attention to the way your image pieces fit together. Remember that there is nothing worse than seeing a composited image that looks as though it has been pasted into another image. I will be looking at your masking techniques!
Use Week 4 to submit your final projects for my critiques. If you submit your project during this week, you can modify it according to my suggestions.
You will have the entire week to complete this assignment, and it will be due by the Monday after the class ends if you want me to critique your project.