This guide will help beginners effectively use Photoshop with a few tips from New Horizons Learning Solutions.

1. PHOTOSHOP
MUST-KNOWS FOR BEGINNERS
7

2. How To:
Use Layers
Straighten a Picture
Create an Adjustment Layer
Remove Spots and Blemishes
Remove Red-Eye Effect
Isolate an Object
Apply an Effect to an Object or Text
What We’ll
Cover
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3. Learning to use layers is a basic skill that you will use constantly as your Photoshop skills
improve. Here are the basics:
• Open the layers panel (Window, Layers).
• Create a new layer by clicking on the layer icon
at the bottom of the layers panel (it looks like a
square with a page turned up).
• Delete a layer by dragging it from the layers
panel to the trashcan icon.
• Create a layer group by clicking on the file folder
icon. Drag the layers you want to include into the
new group file.
• To merge layers, select two or more layers, right
click, and select “merge layers.”
Use
Layers
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4. Use the ruler tool to straighten a crooked image.
• Open the ruler tool (click and hold the
eyedropper tool, and select the ruler tool from
the menu that pops up).
• Find a line in your picture that is tipped (such as
an unlevel horizon line).
• Click on one end of your line, then drag to the
other end, click and release.
• In the options bar above your image, find the
“straighten” button and click.
Straighten
a Picture
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5. Make risk-free adjustments to your photo’s appearance by creating an adjustment layer
instead of editing the original layer directly.
• Click the adjustment layer icon at the bottom
of the layers panel (it looks like a circle that is
half black and half white).
• Choose the type of adjustment you want from
the menu (for example, brightness/contrast),
and adjust accordingly.
• Turn the adjustment layer on and off by clicking
the eye icon next to the adjustment layer in the
layers panel.
Create an
Adjustment
Layer
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6. Use the spot healing brush tool to magically erase unwanted specks and pimples.
• Select the spot healing brush in the tools menu (it looks like a bandage).
• In the options bar, set the brush diameter to slightly larger than the spot.
• Click the spot, and watch it disappear.
Remove
Spots and
Blemishes
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7. That spooky redeye look is a major spoiler in flash photos. Fortunately, Photoshop has
a solution!
• Click on the spot healing brush tool and hold. Select the red-eye tool from the menu that pops up.
• Adjust the pupil size and the amount of darkening needed in the options bar. The default setting (50
percent for each) works in most cases.
• Use the red-eye tool to drag a box around the pupil, and release. Bye-bye, red eyes!
Remove
Red From
Eyes
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8. It’s often useful to separate an object from its background. Here are two ways to do it (these
work best with high-contrast backgrounds):
• For simple objects, use the magic wand tool. Simply click on the object to select it. Copy and paste to
create a new layer containing a copy of the object, sans background.
• For more complex objects, use the magnetic lasso tool. (Find it under the lasso tool on the tool menu.)
Click anywhere on the object’s edge and drag/draw along the border to select. The selection line will
automatically snap to the edge. Copy and paste to create a new layer.
Isolate an
Object
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9. Want to apply a drop shadow, glow or other effect to an object in Photoshop? It’s easy!
Here’s how:
• In the layers panel, select the layer containing the text or object you want to work on.
• Click the effects icon (fx) in the bottom of the Layers panel.
• Select the effect(s) you want and adjust accordingly.
• Use discretion — it’s easy to go overboard with too many effects!
Apply an
Effect to
an Object
or Text
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10. About NH
Learning Solutions
These Photoshop tips were presented by NH Learning Solutions,
the largest group of New Horizons training centers in America.
We provide award-winning training solutions that change lives.
www.nhls.com