[Photoshop Tutorial I: Resizing & Canvas Work]
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This tutorial is for Photoshop 7 and CS users, since I only have a Windows OS, I can’t be sure if it is the same for a Mac or Linux.
In this tutorial, I will show you the how to resize images and use the canvas.
This tutorial is for beginners and intermediate users. Photoshop is a registered trademark of
Adobe Inc. You may link to this tutorial, but its intellectual copyright belongs only to me, Jonathan Wu.
All of the features mentioned in the program itself are copyrighted by Adobe.
Resizing Images:
One of the simplest things in imaging can sometimes be a real chanllenge. Luckily for us, Adobe Photoshop has some easy tools that let you resize an image, no matter how big or small.
Let’s try to resize this image with Photoshop. First, save this somewhere on your computer.
– Start Photoshop
– Open the file. Go to File – Open – Select the file you just saved on your computer
– Now to start resizing, select Image (top menu), go down the menu to find Image size... This is what you will see:
Let’s take a look at all these features:
– 1: Width and Height, these two are the main tools you will be using to resize the pic.
– 2: Document Size: Ignore this for now, we will discuss it later
– 3: Constrain Proportions: An important tool, we will discuss it below. Resample Image: Will be covered later on.
Pixel Dimensions – Width and Height
Our sample picture has a dimension of 201 pixels in Width, and 150 pixel in height. Pixels are the standard measuring tools we will use in tutorials, make sure that the indicators are both set to Pixels, you can click on the little menu to select it. Percentages can be used for other images, but let’s stick with pixels for now.
You will notice that when you type a different number in the Width or Height box, the other measure will automatically change as well. This is because the third option, Constrain Proportions is selected. This will keep the picture in proportion, so that it does not look streched either way. Try changing our picture to 100 width, you will see that it changes height to 76 pixels.
Try it, click on okay, the image will resize in your screen. Now let’s try changing it back to it’s original size. Click on Image Size again, and enter 201 for width, click okay, and the image will resize. But lo! The picture will look blurry and distorted. The end of the world? Nah, let’s take a look at a nifty panel on the right of your screen, called History Pallet.
The History Pallet:
One of the most important tools for any photoshop artist, the history pallet records all your activities. With Photoshop, you can go back in time! Let’s take a look at our pallet here.
There are three tabs: History, Actions and Tool Presets. Let’s stick to History for now. You will see three items: Open, Image Size, Image Size. As you might suspect, these are your last three actions, you opened the file, resized it, and resized it again.
How does this help us? Click on Open, you will see that the picture changes back to it’s original form from when you opened it! You will also see three little icons at the bottom of the pallet. We will only use the third one: the little trashcan icon. This icon will let you delete any of the things you did.
Select the last: Image Size state. Now click on the little trash can. It will ask you if you want to delete it or not. Click yes to delete, or No if you changed your mind. Now that they history is gone, the only way to reverse this step is to reverse the delete. How? Click on Edit (top menu) And click on: Undo Delete State. Clicking on this will make the deleted state reappear. In windows, you can also do this by pressing Ctrl + Z.
Delete both Image Size states to return the image to its original form.
Getting the right dimension:
Since a lot of people are using Photoshop to make avatars and banners for forums, this section will help you get underway. Let’s use our example picture to make an avatar.
First, we need to know the dimensions. Forums usually tell you how big or small your avatar is allowed to be, for now, we take SoSZ’s standard size. Which is 64 width, 80 height.
The example picture is too big for it, so we can do three things: Resize the entire image into a dimension close to the requirements, resize the picture into the exact dimension, or cut out an avatar with the correct dimension.
Go to Image (top menu), and select Image Size. If we enter 64 as pixel width, the height is changed automatically to 64 pixels. That is below the maximum size of the forum’s dimensions. So we try changing height to 80. But alas, this will make the width 106 pixels, that is way too big for the forum! So if you chose to resize this picture, you will have to settle for the 64 x 48 dimensions.
Now let’s try something else. We talked about the Constrain Proportions option before. Uncheck the option for now. Now you can go to Pixel Dimensions, and enter 64 width, and 80 height, press okay. The picture will be the exact size for the forum! However, the picture is compressed on both sides and does not look attractive, so we try something else.
Use the History Pallet to clear your last actions. Now we will introduce a new tool: the Rectangular Marquee Tool.
The Rectangular Marquee Tool
The tool in the top left of your tools menu alows you to select parts of your image. Click it. You will see the bar under the top menu changes. The following options become available: Feather, Style, Width, Height. You will notice the last two cannot be selected.
For this tutorial, we use a different Style. So open the Style drop down menu, and select: Fixed size. The Width and Height options will now be available. Enter the forum dimensions: 64 width, and 80 height. Nothing will happen...untill you click on your image! You will see that a selection will automatically appear in a field.
You can move the selection around by clicking inside it, and then dragging it around with the mouse. You can put it anywhere in the image you want, for now, let’s position it in the middle. You can still play with the image size untill you find the pic you want, but that is something you need to decide yourself. Now, how to finish this you ask? Simple.
Click Image (top menu) and select Crop. Everything outside the selection will be deleted, and your image is the exact size you just entered in the dimensions! Now, you can save your image in a file type you desire and save it to your hard drive and you can use it on the forum.
The Canvas:
The last part of this tutorial covers the canvas. As you will notice, your image does not have a border. You can fix that with a few simple clicks of a button. First of all, go to Image Size again. Make sure Constrain Proportions is unchecked. Now change the dimension of the image to 63 width, and 78 height, press Okay. The image will slightly change, but that is acceptable.
Now, in the Image menu, select Canvas size. This looks similar to the Image Size menu, but it is quite different. First of all, make sure the indicators say: Pixels. Make sure the Relative option is checked off (it is similar to Constrain Proportions). Now enter the original dimensions: 64 Width, 80 height. Press Okay. You will see that the image gets an empty border. Time to fill it up!
Those empty pixels can be filled in a lot of ways, either with the pencil tool or the paint bucket tool. I will discuss different ways in the next advanced avatar tutorial. Once you filled the empty pixels, your avatar is done!
The canvas tool thus changes the actual canvas, not the image itself, it’s important to remind yourself of this, because it will come in handy later on. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Still have questions? me for help or suggestions.
And to show off the cuteness of this picture, here is what your avatar might look like, if you followed the tutorial correctly:
Lessons:
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