Creating a New Image

Select File ▶New from the menu bar. The New dialog box displays. Enter the following settings into the New dialog box:

• 
  
  Width: 150 pixels
• 
  
  Height: 50 pixels
  
• 
  
  Resolution: 72 pixels/inch
• 
  
  Color Mode: RGB Color 8 bit
• 
  
  Background Contents: White

Your screen should look like:

Once you’ve defined these settings, press OK. A white image window displays within Photoshop’s workspace.

Setting Preferences for Web Design

Before going any further, let’s make a couple of preference changes to Photoshop. Remember, Photoshop’s used by a multitude of users, including graphic designers, web designers, and photographers. Not everyone wants Photoshop to work the same way.

Photoshop’s Preferences dialog box allows you to tweak the program to fit your personal likes and dislikes. Let’s take a look at one preference especially useful to web designers: the unit of measure.

Changing the Unit of Measurement

Web designers work in pixels (rather than inches or picas or millimeters). By default, Photoshop sets its units of measurement to inches. Let’s change that. Perform the following steps:

1. Press Ctrl+K (or select Edit ▶Preferences ▶Units & Rulers from the menu bar). The Preferences dialog box displays. 
2. Change the Rulers and Type drop-down fields to pixels, as shown in figure below.

3. 
   
   Press OK.

Tip:

If you don’t see rulers along the top and side of the image window, select View ▶Rulers from the menu bar. Make sure you check the Rulers option.

Using Layers

Layers are a powerful feature in Photoshop. To understand how layers work, think of each layer as a piece of transparent paper. They’re like those old acetate slides teachers used to use with overhead projectors…before the days of Microsoft PowerPoint.

Each layer in a Photoshop image contains a part of the image. For example, one layer might contain the text of an image. Another layer might contain the background color. A third layer might contain the cool, 3D bevel style that makes the layer lift from the page. A fourth layer might contain a drop shadow of the entire image.

When all those layers are combined, you get a composite, or a master image, created from all these multiple layers.

The best way to understand layers is to see them in action. If the Layers palette is not already displayed, select Window ▶Layers. See the following sections to learn about layers.

Creating a New Layer

You should see a layer named Background listed within the Layers palette. To create a new layer, click the New Layer button found at the bottom of the Layers palette, as shown in figure below.

Selecting Layers

A highlighted layer points out the layer that’s currently active. You can only work on one layer at a time. To access a different layer, click on that layer. Move back and forth from the Background layer to your new layer (called Layer 1).

Caution

You’ll want to create a new layer for each part of your image. This allows you to go back and edit layers individually. Don’t make the common mistake of creating a masterpiece, only to find it’s all one layer (thus making it difficult to change single portions of your image).

Naming Layers

It’s a good idea to give layers a descriptive name. For example, you might call a layer that contains a picture of a computer “Computer.”

1. Double-click the Layer 1 text within the Layers palette. Notice how the text becomes editable.
2. Rename this layer Co. Name, as shown in figure below.

3. Click outside the Layers palette to close the editable text.

In this tutorial:

1. Getting Started with Photoshop
2. Style Requirement for Logos
3. Starting Photoshop
4. The Photoshop Work Area 
5. Creating a New Image  
6. Working with the Toolbox