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PHOTOSHOPPING: "Photoshop" Is A Verb!

With Adobe Photoshop, artists can create new images in unique, exciting ways. Creating art this way has come to be known as "photoshopping." The same image can be altered in a multitude of ways for a series of "impressions" on a theme, and images can be created within the program, or photographs can be manipulated.

Try creating an image in Painter Classic, saving it as a Tiff, closing it, then opening in Photoshop. After opening, double-click on the Background layer to change it to Layer 0, then choose Layer-Duplicate Layer several times to create multiple layers. By applying a different Filter to each layer, each will become a unique artwork. Select Save As and give it a new name so you don't overwrite your original image. Or create a collage by opening several images, then copy-paste each one into the same file. Again, select Save As to give it new name. This way, each image will have it's own layer and you can move the layers around to compose a new image as a collage or composite. You can also erase portions of layers, or fill them with colors, etc.

Below are some examples by our students using Photoshop to create and edit their original artwork. Some are done with filters, some use layers to compose a new image.

Judy's Cat on The Wall Here's an animated gif file made using the layers in Photoshop. Wait for the motion to begin. Use your browser's Refresh button to run it again after it stops. Making an animation is a little tricky & takes some ability, so not for beginners, but the results are fun. Incidentally, you need the full version of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements 3 or higher, to create animations. The main trick is to get the layers in order of appearance, top to bottom, in the layers palette. This will involve some duplicating of layers and rotating. The animation command is in the Save for Web dialog window in Elements. It will be saved as a .gif. Animated gifs are Internet files. They are the moving graphics that you see in advertisements. Your own animated gifs can be emailed.