This course provides a thorough overview for experienced users who wish to further their Photoshop skills. Photographers and designers will learn how to catalog their work as well as how to enhance their photographs. Because this class is aimed mainly at photographers and artists who work with photographs, we have included Lightroom and Camera RAW in the lessons.

This course is an ideal combination of instructor-led demonstration and hands-on practice. You will learn, step-by-step, the key techniques for working in Adobe Photoshop CS5. In addition to learning the key elements of the Photoshop interface, you will learn how to edit images with precise selection control, correct a wide range of lens-based errors, interactively transform images with the new Puppet Warp tool, and easily remove or replace image elements with the new Content-Aware Fill mode. You will cover new, powerful painting effects to artistically enhance images, and you will learn how to combine multiple exposures into a single image.

Certification:

This course prepares you to earn the Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) designation. Becoming an ACE means you have demonstrated a professional level of proficiency with one or more Adobe software products. To become an ACE, you must pass one or more product-specific proficiency exams and agree to the ACE terms and conditions.

What You'll Learn

• How digital images work
• Adobe Bridge
• Working with Camera RAW files
• Vector drawing techniques
• Advanced layering
• Working with adjustment layers
• Working with filters
• Photomerge
• Using layer comps
• Actions and scripts
• Touch-up tricks
• Brushes
• Producing and printing consistent color

Who Needs to Attend

• Those involved in any area of digital media, including desktop publishing, multimedia design, web design, digital video editing, and other disciplines for which Photoshop is the industry standard
• Photographers and artists who work with photographs

Prerequisites

• Adobe Photoshop CS5 Fundamentals: An Introduction to Photoshop

Follow-On Courses

• Adobe Photoshop CS5 Advanced: Web and Video
• Adobe Illustrator CS5 Fundamentals: An Introduction to Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign Fundamentals: An Introduction to InDesign
• Adobe Flash CS5 Fundamentals: An Introduction to Flash
• Introduction to Adobe After Effects

Course Outline

1. How Digital Images Work

• Image size and resolution
• DPI and PPI
• Additive and subtractive colors
• PSD, TIFF, and other formats (lossy vs. lossless)

2. Adobe Bridge

• Working with Adobe Bridge
• Workspace
• Viewing and managing files
• Running automated tasks
• Metadata and keywords
• Mini Bridge

3. Camera RAW

• Understanding Camera RAW
• Processing Camera RAW files
• Cropping, straightening, and white balancing
• Exposure and advanced color correction
• Open RAW as a Smart Object
• Synchronize adjustments
• Export as DNG
• Open in Photoshop

4. Vector Drawing Techniques

• Bitmap images and vector graphics
• Paths and the Pen tool
• Vector drawing
• The Pen tool
• Using paths with artwork
• Creating vector objects for the background
• Working with defined custom shapes
• Importing a Smart Object
• Alpha channels vs. paths
• Importing vector graphics and Illustrator files
• Vector masks and opacity masks
• Creating and saving a custom shape

5. Advanced Layering

• Getting started
• Clipping a layer to a shape
• Setting up a vanishing point grid
• Placing imported artwork
• Adding artwork in perspective
• Placing the side panel artwork using Vanishing Point
• Adding more artwork in perspective
• Adding an adjustment layer
• Working with layer comps
• Managing layers
• Flattening a layered image
• Merging layers and layer groups (Smart Object)
• Modes for groups
• Layer and Vector Masks for Groups

6. Adjustment Layers and Filters

• Working with adjustment layers
• Working with Filters
• The filter gallery
• Smart Objects (Photoshop, Illustrator, and RAW)
• Smart Filters

7. Photomerge

• Creating panoramas with Photomerge
• Stacking Images
• 16-bit and 32-bit color space
• Creating High Dynamic Range (HDR) files

8. Layer Comps

• Basics of layer comps
• Using layer comps
• Exporting layer comps

9. Actions and Scripts

• Basics of actions
• Using actions
• Creating actions
• Batch processing
• Using the Bridge to create web galleries and PDF presentations
• Using scripts
• Script Events Manager to use actions and scripts together
• Exporting layered files to desktop publishing applications

10. Touch-Up Tricks

• Using adjustment layers (with layer and vector masks)
• Group controls (opacity and modes)
• Painting with light
• Clone Source panel with the Clone Stamp tool
• Creating a pattern and saving a pattern
• Displacement maps
• About Adobe Exchange

11. Brushes

• Making a preset brush
• Changing the attributes of a brush
• Loading a brush
• Creating and saving a brush
• Painting with the Mixer Brush
• Selecting brush settings
• Mixing colors
• Mixing colors with a photograph

12. Producing and Printing Consistent Color

• About color management
• CMYK, RGB, and LAB
• Getting started
• Specifying color-management settings
• Proofing an image
• Identifying out-of-gamut colors
• Adjusting an image and printing a proof
• Saving an image as a CMYK EPS file
• Printing vs. exporting as PDF
• Printing