Creating Simple Graphics:
Now that we have looked at the workspace we will begin to create simple graphics.
We will learn to use some of the more common tools and palettes to create some
simple banners, logos and buttons for use on both web sites and in presentations.
When it comes to these types of graphics it is quite often the best practice to keep
things as simple as possible, only using a few colours, and keeping designs basic.
Creating a Logo:
We will start by creating a simple logo. Let’s say the company Discover Ireland have
asked us to come up with a new corporate logo for them that will be used on their
website and in promotional literature. It must identify the company at a glance, giving
some impression as to what the company stands for. To that end, the simple
combination of the outline map of Ireland, the initials “D I” and a magnifying glass
should convey what it is we want.
To begin we must open a new image. From the File menu, go to New (ctrl+N). We
are then presented with the New Image dialog box (Fig. 2.1), which allows us to set
We will learn to use some of the more common tools and palettes to create some
simple banners, logos and buttons for use on both web sites and in presentations.
When it comes to these types of graphics it is quite often the best practice to keep
things as simple as possible, only using a few colours, and keeping designs basic.
Creating a Logo:
We will start by creating a simple logo. Let’s say the company Discover Ireland have
asked us to come up with a new corporate logo for them that will be used on their
website and in promotional literature. It must identify the company at a glance, giving
some impression as to what the company stands for. To that end, the simple
combination of the outline map of Ireland, the initials “D I” and a magnifying glass
should convey what it is we want.
To begin we must open a new image. From the File menu, go to New (ctrl+N). We
are then presented with the New Image dialog box (Fig. 2.1), which allows us to set
of the image
before we begin
editing. For this
image we are
going to go with a
custom size,
which will allow
us to set the width and height according to our own needs. In this case we will set
the dimensions to 300 pixels wide by 300 pixels high, which should give us plenty of room to design our logo. We can, of course crop the image at a later stage (or indeed increase the canvas size should the need arise). We leave the resolution at 72 pixels
per inch, as this is the default resolution for graphics to be used on the web. When
creating an image for print, it is recommended that the image be 300 pixels per inch.
Leave the mode set to RGB (stands for Red, Green, Blue) and the contents set to
transparent. You can always add a filled layer later for your background when you
know what it’s going to be.
Fig 2.2 shows your workspace after launching the new image. We start by renaming c
our initial layer to background. It is always a good idea to give the different layers
meaningful names so that you know what
elements of the image each layer contains. To
rename the layer, double-click the name of the
layer and change the name to background, as
seen in Fig 2.3. We will rename additional
layers as and when we add them.
Next we will create a new layer to contain our
map of Ireland. The new layer button is circled
in Fig. 2.3. Rename the layer Ireland. Next, we will select a colour for the line that we will paint. To do this we double click on the foreground colour to launch the colour picker dialog box (Fig 2.4).
The colour we want is some kind of green. A nice Irish green has a hexadecimal RGB
value of 339933*. Next we select the brush tool in order to begin our image and from
the brushes palette we select an appropriate brush size and shape. For our purposes,
the third brush down will be
sufficient, but be aware of the other
brushes available. Making sure that
the Ireland layer is selected, begin
your drawing.
*: Colour of course is something that is quite
subjective and up to you to decide whether or
not it suits your purposes. There is significant
talk of colour theory on the web and although it
is out of the scope of this course, it is highly
recommended that you familiarise yourself
with some of the concepts involved so that you
pick colours that complement each other in
order to create the most visually appealing
images. Some good sites include:
www.lynda.com, www.colormatters.com
You should end up with something similar to Fig 2.6. Next we will use the paint
bucket tool
to fill the outline with green. When you select the Paint bucket tool, make sure the tool options setting are as seen in Fig 2.7. This will give you a solid fill
Once you have filled the outline, it would be a good idea to save your image. For the
time being we will save it as a Photoshop Document (.psd file extension) but we may
save it later as a JPEG or a GIF, depending on our needs. To save the document, go to
File> Save and in the Save dialog box, change the filename from untitled to
DiscoverIreland_Logo and select the folder PSImages from the desktop in which to
save the file. Make sure the Layers option is checked in the Save Options section so
that you retain the layers and their associated information. When you are ready click
Save and the file will be saved to the folder you specified. It is important to save your
files regularly, especially when working with complicated image files, as you do not
want to lose any changes you may have made in a particular session
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