Chris:  Anyway, we have Photoshop open, right.
Joy:  yes, I have Photoshop open
Chris:  I don't know how far you are with it already.
Joy:  I haven't done a thing with it
Chris:  Let's open a new canvas and look at the interface, then.
Joy says: I installed it
Carrie:  I have it open and ready
Joy:  k
Chris:  Maureen is always saying she wants to go through the tools in-depth.  Wish she were here.
Chris:  To open a new canvas, do the File-New thing.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  You can also do Ctrl-N, or Ctrl-double-click the background.
Chris:  My favorite is to Ctrl-double-click, because that doesn't work anyplace else
Joy:  ok let me try it
Joy:  lol
Joy:  cool
Chris:  Do you have the MSN chat stretched all the way down the side of the screen?
Joy:  no
Chris:  And the Photoshop in a window beside it?
Carrie:  I am going to get a cup of coffee.  I will catch up
Joy:  oh yes
Chris:  You need to do that so you can see both the chat and the PS screen at the same time.
Joy:  I have it in the upper left corner
Joy:  I have all of these little boxes do I need them open
Chris:  It stretches all the way down, and then you can look back at instructions without scrolling.
Joy:  they opened with the program
Chris:  In a minute I'll tell you how to manage them.
Joy:  k
Chris:  You want the chat so it doesn't cover up the toolbox, which I'm sure it is doing, but that's okay for now. We'll find it in a little while.
Chris:  The msn chat - if you do View, you can click Always on top.
Joy:  I just moved the toolbox over to the other side
Joy:  ok
Carrie:  back
Chris:  Anyway, you are still looking at the nice NEW dialog box, right?
Chris:  So we need to examine it.
Joy:  yes
Chris:  Beside name, it says Untitled. You can leave it like that or give it a name. The program doesn't care.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  Name it First Mess, if you want to.
Chris:  Below that it tells you Image Size.
Chris:  Ignore that, because it's going to change -- but what it means is the amount of room the current canvas would hold in RAM
Joy:  ok
Chris:  Beside Width, you can put in a number, but first change the units to Inches.
Chris:  Let's do 6 x 6 (if that's comfortable on your screen.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  How big is your monitor, and what's the resolution, do you know?
Joy:  I have a 17-inch monitor  hmm let me check the resolution
Joy:  is the resolution this 1024 by 768 pixels lol I'm not sure what it is
Chris:  Yes. That's fine. It means how much info your monitor can display.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  Resolution is a hard thing to totally grasp, and just when you think you did, it slips away again.
Joy:  I feel that way about most things on this computer
Chris:  But for creating graphics that display at the size you created them -- the number is always 72
Joy:  ok
Chris:  When you create your graphic at 72 pixels per inch, what you see on your screen is what gets displayed on other people's screens, too.
Chris:  So if you are creating something that is intended to be sent in email, or put on a web page, you want it always to be at 72 ppi.
Chris:  PPI is the term for monitor resolution.
Chris:  DPI is for printers.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  If we wanted it to print out at good quality, we would create it or scan at a higher resolution.
Chris:  So you want to set Resolution at 72
Chris:  for now
Joy:  ok
Chris:  And you always always want to work in RGB
Joy:  so do I set that in the program?
Chris:  Unless you have a really good reason to work in some other mode.
Chris:  Yep, you can make those settings.
Chris:  Carrie, is your coffee ready yet?
Chris:  You want your background to be white, for now, too.
Chris:  And then you click OK, and you get a canvas.
Joy:  ok
Carrie:  Oh yeah. I am sipping, reading and answering e-mail.
Chris:  Go ahead and open another canvas at 5x5, just for the practice. Do it with Ctrl-N this time.
Chris:  And do a third canvas at 7x7, and do it with Ctrl-double-click the background.
Joy:  done
Carrie:  me too
Chris:  I want to explain something right now that will probably mystify you later if I don't.
Chris:  When you open the New canvas dialog, you will sometimes see that it has changed settings all by itself.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  Sometimes you'll see that it has changed to something like 1/4 inch high by 12 inches long, and gone to B&W (black and white) settings.
Chris:  The reason it does this is, Photoshop looks at the clipboard when it opens a new canvas, and sets the dimensions and color mode to suit what is there.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  So if the last thing you copied to the clipboard was maybe some text from Word, that's what it opens to accommodate.
Joy:  yes, I understand
Chris:  It's really handy, because when we do a copy or cut from a canvas in the program, and open a new canvas, it's ready to take the paste.
Chris:  OK. We have three canvases open. You close them by clicking the x. -- close two of them.
Carrie:  done
Chris:  You should have your canvas open in a little window all its own, in the middle of your Photoshop screen.
Chris:  It's got a title bar and a frame.
Chris:  The title bar should say it's at 100%
Chris:  Does it?
Carrie:  yup
Chris:  Joy, is yours set there, too?
Joy:  yes
Chris:  If it's not, that's okay, it's just, I want to know what you are seeing.
Chris:  Press the tab key, and all the toolbars will disappear.
Joy:  wow
Chris:  It's good to get rid of them so we can look at them without getting confused.
Joy:  how do you get them back?
Joy:  yes
Chris:  To get them back you might press tab again. It's a toggle. Try it.
Chris:  It's only going to toggle the ones you originally had, in their same places.
Joy:  there they are
Joy:
Chris:  Just turns them off quickly so you can work without clutter, and back on so you can select or see what you need.
Joy:  that's great
Joy:  there are so many tool boxes here I wondered how to work around them all
Chris:  Let's just turn on the toolbox first.
Joy:  k
Chris:  You can click Window > Show tools.
Joy:  ok, mine says hide tools
Chris:  And there is always a shortcut key in Photoshop, for just about everything. I think you do shift-tabs until you get the toolbox without the other boxes. It's a little tricky.
Chris:  When your toolbox is showing, the window > says Hide Tools.
Joy:  k
Joy:  hmm shift tabs?
Joy:  that closed all the boxes except the toolbar
Chris:  Try tab to make it go, and shift tab -- it's a combo of some kind -- finally you get the one you want. Since it toggles, it's kind of tricky to get it the way you want.
Chris:  I just Tab to make them all go away.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  Then Window > Show tools
Chris:  Now, the first tool we usually want is the paintbrush.
Chris:  If you look at the toolbox, it's on the right, third down.
Chris:  But don't ever click it -- instead type a B
Joy:  yes, I see it
Joy:  a B?
Joy:  ok
Chris:  To use Photoshop, you really want to use the keys as much as you can.
Chris:  And the ones that are exactly the same in Painter, I really try to reinforce
Chris:  If you type B, the paintbrush icon button is pushed in.
Joy:  that's a good idea
Chris:  That means you have the brush selected.
Joy:  yes
Chris:  Now press the Enter key and the Options palette will appear.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  If it's not at the top right, put it there.
Joy:  it is
Chris:  The options palette changes to show the settings of your chosen tool
Chris:  So if you have the brush chosen, it shows options for the brush.
Chris:  Press D and you get Default Colors -- Black and White.
Chris:  Now you can draw a happy face on your canvas.
Chris:  It will be black.
Chris:  I don't know what size the lines will be.
Joy:  yes
Joy:  I can see where to adjust them
Chris:  gotta put the dog out -- draw something pretty
Joy:  k
Chris:  In Photoshop, ctrl-Z does the Undo, same as in every other Windows program.
Chris:  But you only get one.
Carrie:  I drew a bear smilie face
Joy:  yes I noticed
Chris:  Ctrl-Z will then toggle between undo and redo.
Chris:  But you have the history, which can go back a good long way. That's for later, though.
Joy:  k
Chris:  Now we'll look at the brush sizes.
Chris:  Window - show brushes.
Chris:  Or F5
Chris:  Those are the "footprints" for your brushes.
Chris:  Choose the smallest one.
Chris:  You just click on one to choose it.
Chris:  Your brush palette should be below the Options palette. You should be able to see both.
Joy:  yes I see them
Chris:  You can try the different sizes, but your canvas is probably getting pretty full
Chris:  For now, just close it without saving and open a new one.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  On the same palette with the brushes, you have Color. You also have Swatches, but we'll go for Color.
Chris:  Just click the tab, or press F6 and it will be at the front.
Chris:  So Tab gets rid of the palettes
Chris:  F5 shows the brush palette
Joy:  k
Chris:  F6 shows the colors.
Chris:  And if you press F5, F5, you will turn it on and turn it off. F6 - F6, does the same - on and off.
Chris:  they are toggles.
Joy:  yes
Chris:  On the Color palette, do you have RGB sliders? Marked with R, G and B?
Joy:  no
Chris:  They should display like that right now.
Chris:  What do you see?
Joy:  I see a box has three tabs color swatches styles on the color it has a slider for the gray scale I think
Joy:  and down at the bottom it has a color line
Chris:  OK. At the top of the palette there is a little triangle that points to the right.
Chris:  Click it, and from the list of color modes, choose RGB
Joy:  yes
Chris:  RGB sliders and RGB spectrum, both.
Joy:  hmm
Joy:  it wont let me select those
Joy:  just the gray scale
Chris:  OK, you aren't in rgb color mode. Go to Image on the menu bar
Joy:  ok
Chris:  Click Image > Mode > RGB
Joy:  ok there it is
Joy:  is
Chris:  When you opened the canvas, it must have been in Grayscale mode.
Joy:  yes
Joy:  its fixed now
Chris:  When you open a new canvas, just check the RGB, and you'll be in that mode.
Joy:  k
Chris:  You want to always work in RGB when you are in Photoshop, because that's what your printer will be expecting.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  If you ever find colors are coming out really strange, you are probably in CMYK. That happens a lot because people think the printer wants CMYK.
Chris:  Now you should have a color palette that has actual colors on it.
Joy:  yes I do
Chris:  You can click on the color you like, and that will become your chosen color.
Chris:  You'll see two squares on the color palette - and they were black and white.
Chris:  Press D again for Default colors
Chris:  They are Black and white
Joy:  yes
Chris:  Click on any color, and that color is chosen.
Chris:  It should be filling the front box.
Carrie:  Emmilie woke up. I'll be back!
Joy:  ok Carrie
Chris:  If you see the color anywhere in that palette -- either on the sliders or in the color stripe, you can click it and make it the selected color.
Chris:  That's your foreground color.
Chris:  the back box is the background color.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  We won't work with that one yet.
Chris:  Choose a nice lovely teal color.
Carrie:  I'm back, but she wants the computer
Chris:  Emmilie always wants the computer.
Chris:  So does Aidan.
Joy:  welcome back Carrie and Emmilie
Chris:  Choose Teal, Carrie.
Carrie:  Done
Carrie:  Foreground or back
Chris:  And Joy, I usually have people draw chickens, but you are an artist so you can draw anything you like.
Joy:  lol
Chris:  Foreground teal
Joy:  ok
Chris:  I'm drawing an elephant.
Joy:  hmmm
Chris:  Teal Elephant with the second brush.
Chris:  Remember where the brushes are?
Chris:  they are now behind the colors. You can go from one to the other.
Chris:  Mostly you will want the colors on top.
Joy:  yes I remember
Joy:  hmm my colors are in a little box that's separate.  Can I put them on top?
Chris:  The palettes each have a little tab
Chris:  You can pull the tabs off and put them together again.
Carrie:  I had to get rid of her. My lamma was looking more like a chicken
Chris:  I didn't want to do that yet, because it's kind of tricky
Joy:  k
Chris:  But if you can see them, that's okay.
Joy:  yes I can see them fine
Joy:  this is ok
Chris:  Or you can put the tabs back all on one palette.
Chris:  I'm drawing a baby elephant, teal, with the second brush.
Chris:  You don't actually have to click the brushes to choose them.
Joy:  you don't?
Chris:  With the brush palette visible, press your bracket keys -- [  or ]
Chris:  The [ shifts your choice to the left
Chris:  The ] shifts your choice to the right.
Joy:  cool
Chris:  To go to the first brush, shift [
Chris:  Last brush is shift ]
Chris:  First brush is tiny, so that's useful
Chris:  Last brush, I usually create and make something I use a lot, so I can get it fast.
Chris:  The reason you want to use the brackets instead of clicking on the palette is, when you are painting, you can change brush size without moving away from your canvas.
Chris:  That's why Photoshop people mostly use the keyboard.
Chris:  They don't want to move the brush away from the canvas.
Chris:  So put the color palette back in front (F6) and choose brushes by pressing brackets.
Chris:  Now, tell me whether your brush looks like a paintbrush or a circle.
Carrie:  five dots
Joy:  hmm circle
Joy:  with a plus sign in the middle
Chris:  Plus sign. I don't know that one.
Chris:  Five dots.
Chris:  Do you have the 1 pixel brush chosen?
Carrie:  I have a small brush selected
Joy:  I have a bigger one chosen
Chris:  Choose the third or fourth brush.
Joy:  fourth brush
Carrie:  Second one, okay
Chris:  I just want to be sure you are seeing the brush footprint, and not the paintbrush icon.
Chris:  Older versions of ps - seeing the paintbrush was the default. I think in new versions, seeing the footprint is the default.
Joy:  k
Joy:  what is the difference
Chris:  dog is ringing the doorbell -- right back
Joy:  lol
Joy:  ok
Carrie:  That dog is sooo smart. Amazing
Carrie:  I still need to get him a present
Chris:  Yeah, if I don't come fast enough, he rings it again and hollers "Chris!"
Joy:  he sounds  very smart
Chris:  Or was that Dieter?
Joy:  LOL
Chris:  No, it's both of them. They both do that.
Joy:  wow
Joy:  that's amazing
Chris:  We need to look at the Paintbrush Options Palette
Chris:  First thing -- it's set in Normal mode, I hope
Joy:  k
Chris:  The first little window on it, should say Normal.
Joy:  yes
Chris:  There's a little drop-down triangle beside that window. Click on it to see other modes.
Joy:  I see them
Chris:  Now, when you are trying to do something and it won't happen -- check the mode first!
Chris:  If you have it in some strange mode, you won't get what you were expecting.
Chris:  Change it to Screen and paint with the same color. You'll see what I mean.
Chris:  And what do you see?
Joy:  k
Joy:  hmm
Joy:  it won't do anything for me
Chris:  Right.
Joy:  I see 4 dots
Chris:  Try painting over the parts you previously painted.
Joy:  k
Chris:  Still in screen mode.
Chris:  Screen mode makes it lighter.
Carrie:  It changes the color
Carrie:  why
Chris:  So if you are painting with Screen mode on White -- you get nothing.
Chris:  If you paint it over the color, the math makes it interact -- chosen color and what was already there -- and makes the color lighter.
Joy:  ohh I see
Chris:  Try Multiply mode.
Joy:  ok
Carrie:  Darker
Chris:  Multiply is easier to understand. The values get multiplied. Keep going over the same place, and it gets darker and darker.
Joy:  yes
Chris:  This is the same as Build Up brush mode in Painter.
Carrie:  got it.
Chris:  Screen is harder to understand, but it's just the reverse of Multiply
Chris:  The other modes are less predictable.
Chris:  Be sure to put the brush back into Normal now.
Chris:  Oh shoot, this is my last truffle.
Chris:  Now look at the Opacity window.
Carrie:  Oh no!!!
Carrie:  Dad will get you more
Chris:  It should be set to 100%
Joy:  ok
Joy:  yes it is
Chris:  I took the last box and bit out of every one of them, so nobody else would get them. I came back 1 hour later and they were all gone. Nobody would ever admit taking them.
Chris:  When you paint with 100% normal, you are just putting on the paint, totally opaque.
Chris:  You can set the opacity to anything, by clicking it and moving the slider.
Chris:  But we never click it.
Chris:  Instead you type a number!
Chris:  If you type 5, you are at 50%
Joy:  ok
Carrie:  I know you do that.  I hate that.  But where chocolate is concerned, you could eat half and I wouldn't care
Chris:  Where Chocolate is concerned, there are no rules.
Chris:  Chocolate Rules.
Chris:  If you want 20% you type 2
Chris:  Switch to Yellow, type 2, larger brush than before, and brush over your lines.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  To go back to 100% you type 0 - that's zero
Chris:  This is the same in Painter.
Joy:  cool
Chris:  In Painter, you would type B for brush, 7 for 70% and be in business.
Chris:  Photoshop is still more powerful, though.
Chris:  If you type 77, really fast, you get 77% opacity
Joy:  k
Chris:  Type 23 and you get 23%
Chris:  and so on.
Chris:  In Painter, you can only type in tens.
Joy:  ok
Chris:  You would have to move the slider for the gradation
Chris:  Now we'll save the elephant.
Chris:  This part is trickier than you think.
Christine says:
Click File, and click Save A Copy
Chris:  This is how you save something as a JPG.
Joy:  k
Chris:  If you want to save as a JPG, and you can't find the JPG option, you aren't in Save A Copy.
Chris:  Or you might not be in RGB mode.
Joy:  I found it
Chris:  So the things to check, so far, when things aren't working:
Chris:  1. Are you in RGB
Chris:  2. Are you in Normal Mode
Chris:  3. Are you at 100% opacity
Christine says:
4. Are you using the right tool -- the Brush
Chris:  5. Do you have an adequately sized brush.
Chris:  Your homework:
Chris:  Create a canvas 5.5 x 5.5 inches, RGB, white background, 72 ppi.
Chris:  Paint a bouquet, using different sized brushes, different colors, and different opacities.
Joy:  k
Chris:  Save as a JPG, and email to me.
Joy:  ok
Carrie:  You should give Joy your homework from your web page. It covers all of these and is very good!
Chris:  And also practice the keys -
Joy:  yes
Chris:  Tab, D (default colors) F5, F6, B, Ctrl-N
Chris:  Did we use any others?
Joy:  b
Carrie:  [ and ]
Chris:  And I didn't tell you about the Eraser. E for Eraser.