{"id":191,"date":"2016-09-06T18:52:33","date_gmt":"2016-09-06T18:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/?page_id=191"},"modified":"2025-09-04T12:16:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T12:16:02","slug":"editors","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/editors\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction to image editing"},"content":{"rendered":"

You will need to use some kind of image editor<\/strong> to process and optimize your images in the class.\u00a0 Until recently, Photoshop was the application of choice\u00a0 in most of the classrooms and open labs on campus. \u00a0However, after the pandemic, we have switched to free or low-cost editors that students can use from home.\u00a0 Here are a few:<\/p>\n

Pixlr<\/a>\u00a0 and Photopea<\/strong> are online photo editors that work in your browser. Both are free or at least free in their simple versions.<\/p>\n

Graphic Converter<\/a> and Gimp<\/a> are downloadable applications for your computer. For the sake of simplicity, we recommend GIMP.<\/p>\n

———–\u00a0 \u00a0G I M P ————<\/h3>\n

Gimp<\/a><\/strong> is a free download and it works as an application on your computer. It\u00a0 has most of the important features of Photoshop but none of the cost. The Gimp manual <\/a><\/strong>is clear and organized.<\/p>\n

Gimp’s original file format is .xcf, just as Photoshop is .psd.\u00a0 The original format lets you create layers and effects.\u00a0 To publish on the web or in print, you’ll\u00a0 export to .jpg, .png or (for print) .tiff, just as you would with Photoshop.<\/p>\n

GIMP Tool box\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Click through for detailed description of the toolbox.<\/p><\/div>\n

You can set up the GIMP tool box to be colorful and extensive, or you can minimize the color and stack similar tools.\u00a0 This is controlled in the “About Gimp” (top menu) Settings,\u00a0 Interface, Theme and Icon theme.\u00a0 Also under Settings,\u00a0 the tool pallet can be expanded or contracted with the “Use Tool Groups” checkbox\u00a0 in the toolbox controls.\u00a0 (In Windows the preferences box is under “Edit”)<\/p>\n

The Gimp tool box\u00a0 has most of Photoshop’s functions. The first row and left on the second row are types of selection tools. Also on the second row you have fuzzy select, select by color and the crop tool.<\/p>\n

Third row, transform, rotate, scale, shear, and flip.<\/p>\n

Fourth row: Perspective, 3D transform, handle transform, warp transform and cage transform.<\/p>\n

Fifth row, Bucket fill, gradient, paintbrush, pencil, airbrush;<\/p>\n

Sixth row Ink, mybrush tool, eraser, clone stamp, and perspective clone;<\/p>\n

Seventh row Healing tool, smudge, sharpen, dodge (lighten) and paths tool.<\/p>\n

Eighth row: Text tool, color picker (eyedropper), measure tool and zoom tool (magnifying glass).<\/p>\n

No need to memorize all this. Hover your mouse over the Gimp toolbar to find out more.<\/p>\n

Options bar\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>Below the toolbar is the options bar, which lets you modify the tools (make your paintbrush larger or smaller, etc.).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

——-\u00a0 \u00a0PHOTOSHOP ——-\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When you open Photoshop, you’ll see a set of toolbars and pallets that can be organized as workspaces in various ways. We’ll use the Photography workspace. To make sure you start there, use the top\u00a0pull-down menu and go to Window \/ Workspace \/ Photography.<\/p>\n

This top pull-down menu is the main operations menu for photoshop. Under File<\/span> you’ll see all the usual file operations (new, open, save, save as…) as well as things that we’ll get to later.\u00a0You’ll also see Edit<\/span> and Image<\/span> (which we will use right away) along with Layer, Type, Select, Filter, 3D, View, Window<\/span> and Help<\/span> (which we will use later).<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Photography Workspace<\/strong> looks something like this.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What you see here are the\u00a0major regions of Photoshop desktop:<\/p>\n

1 – Tool bar,<\/strong>\u00a0located on the left\u00a0(but moveable if you like),\u00a0\u00a0has the tools you need to begin to work with images.<\/p>\n

2 – Options bar<\/strong> — \u00a0Whenever you select a tool, the options bar gives you several ways to use the tool. \u00a0It\u00a0changes with every tool you select.<\/p>\n

3 – Histogram<\/strong> — This is a representation of the information in your photo and tells you how well that information is being displayed on the screen. We want the information to\u00a0be relatively well distributed across the dark -to- light continuum. If it isn’t we’ll need to Levelize<\/em> the photo. (Instructions below)<\/p>\n

4 – Pallets,<\/strong> usually on the right side of the image area. Most important is the\u00a0Layers pallet.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

PHOTOSHOP TOOLBAR \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>To learn the items on the toolbar, hover your cursor over each tool. A label will pop up. The tools you will use right away, and most often, are highlighted. The tool bar is usually arranged this way:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Move tool<\/li>\n
  2. Shape select tool<\/li>\n
  3. Lasso tool<\/li>\n
  4. Select by color (magic wand)<\/li>\n
  5. Crop<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Color select (eye dropper)<\/li>\n
  7. Healing tools (bandage)<\/li>\n
  8. Brush<\/li>\n
  9. Stamp (clone)<\/li>\n
  10. History brush tool<\/li>\n
  11. Eraser<\/li>\n
  12. Paint bucket and Gradient<\/li>\n
  13. Smudge, Sharpen and Blur areas of the photo<\/li>\n
  14. Dodge (make lighter) and Burn (make darker) and Sponge (remove color)<\/li>\n
  15. Pen (vector drawing)<\/li>\n
  16. Text tool<\/strong><\/span> (Note – creates its own layer)<\/li>\n
  17. Select path (to edit vector drawings)<\/li>\n
  18. Shape tool (create solid or transparent shapes)<\/li>\n
  19. Hand \u00a0(move image around)<\/li>\n
  20. Zoom<\/strong> tool<\/strong><\/span> (zoom view in and out)<\/li>\n
  21. Color selector – foreground and background<\/li>\n
  22. Layer mask mode (for detailed work on images)<\/li>\n
  23. Screen mode \u00a0(take up the whole screen or just part of it)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    THE\u00a0 LAYERS PALLET \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    This pallet comes up automatically in the Photoshop\u00a0 Photography Workspace but you can also open it using the top pull-down menu (Winow \/ Layers). \u00a0The layers stack from top to bottom, and when portions of a top layer are invisible (checkerboard pattern) then the layer underneath shows through.<\/p>\n

    The layers pallet in Gimp is pretty much the same.<\/p>\n

    Note\u00a0that the Layers Pallet has\u00a0little icons at the bottom, including (right to left) the trash can (to delete a layer) and the turning page (to add a layer); the folder (to group layers); and icons for adjustments, layer masks, and links (which we will get to later). \u00a0(Here’s a good layers tutorial<\/a>).<\/p>\n

    The layers pallet also has \u00a0icons on the side, such as the eyeball (which turns visibility on and off). You can lock or unlock layers to prevent overwriting them, and there is a menu that can be pulled down from the upper right hand corner to perform other useful actions.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>The layers pallet in Gimp<\/strong> is very similar.\u00a0 Here we have four layers, with the visibility for one turned off\u00a0 (just click on the eyeball icon).<\/p>\n

    At the top you have the opacity bar and locks for position and alpha channel<\/p>\n

    At the bottom are commands for adding a new layer and layer group, or deleting a layer. (You can roll over and hover your mouse to see what each button does).<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    You will need to use some kind of image editor to process and optimize your images in the class.\u00a0 Until recently, Photoshop was the application of choice\u00a0 in most of the classrooms and open labs on campus. \u00a0However, after the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-191","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4149,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/191\/revisions\/4149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}