6
INSTRUCTOR
NO
TES
Lesson 1:
Getting
to
Know
the
Work
Area
The first lesson presents an
introduction
to Adobe Photoshop software. Using
t
he
basic commands, tools, and panels, your students will learn general techniques
f
or
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CLASSROOM IN A BOOK (2022 RELEASE)
7
Goals
for this lesson
How much time you should schedule for this lesson depends on whether your
stu
–
dents already have some knowledge of Photoshop, and on their
computer
skills
i
n
general. The overall objective for Lesson 1 is to make them sufficiently familiar
w
it
h
the user interface that they can locate the controls they need to do the
pr
o
ce
du
r
es
in the rest of the lessons. Additionally, by learning how to help themselves, they
g
ai
n
confidence and
independence.
In general, they should be able to do the following:
Identify and name the key areas of the interface, including the Tools
p
ane
l,
Using
the
Home
screen
The Start and Recent Files workspaces were new to the 2017 release of
A
dob
e
Photoshop, and have been refined in the releases since then. The 2019
r
e
le
ase
renamed the Start workspace to the Home screen, and added a new Home icon
t
o
the top left corner of the Photoshop
wor
k
sp
ac
e.
In many applications, the New and Open commands are only on the File menu
w
it
h
keyboard shortcuts. The Photoshop Home screen provides Create New and
Open
but
t
ons
;
students may find these to be more immediate and visible ways to use
t
he
New and Open c
ommand
s
.
You may want to show students how to customize the Home screen. In some views
such as Home and Cloud Documents, there are two icons at the top right c
orner
t
ha
t
switch between icon view and list view. One advantage of the list view is that
it
8
INSTRUCTOR
NO
TES
Lightroom Photos refers to the Lightroom cloud photo storage used by
the Lightroom desktop, mobile, and web applications. It does not refer to a
Lightroom Classic catalog (more on this
b
elo
w).
Cloud Documents refers to the Photoshop cloud format (PSDC) which can
b
e
opened by Photoshop 2020 and later on Windows and macOS, and P
hot
o
s
hop
You might lead a class discussion that compares Cloud Documents to c
on
ven
tional
cloud storage services such as Dropbox and Creative Cloud Files. For one
t
hing
,
Cloud Documents make it possible for Adobe applications to upload and
do
w
nload
only the parts of a document that change, instead of the whole
do
c
umen
t
.
Students should
understand
that Lightroom Photos connects to Lightroom c
loud
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CLASSROOM IN A BOOK (2022 RELEASE)
9
Lightroom Classic stores photos locally. Lightroom Classic images appear
i
n
Lightroom Photos only when
t
he
y
r
e part of a Lightroom Classic collection
ena
ble
d
for syncing to Lightroom, and when syncing is enabled in Lightroom Classic.
F
inding
tools in the work area
You may want to introduce students to the Photoshop
environment
by providing a
general tour of the work area. This helps orient the students and provides a
r
e
v
ie
w
of
the names of the elements on the screen. For example, you can point out how
t
he
tab row at the top of the application frame indicates which document is c
u
rr
en
t
ly
active, and the text in each tab includes zoom, layer, and image mode
i
nf
or
mation.
Then point out the menu bar, the rulers, the page icons, the panels, and the
T
o
ols
panel. Each tool is described in the Tools Panel Overview a
ppend
i
x
.
Students may already be used to keyboard shortcuts as a simple alternative to
u
si
ng
the mouse. In Photoshop and other Adobe applications, students can also c
om
bi
ne
Encourage students to use menu commands at first, so that they
understand
wher
e
and how to find commands in the menus. As they become more comfort– able
w
it
h
the tools and concepts, introduce relevant keyboard shortcuts that help
t
hem
accomplish tasks more quickly. The Keyboard Shortcut appendix lists
t
he
10
INSTRUCTOR
NO
TES
Learning Photoshop faster
using
comprehensive
S
ear
ch
The Search feature
introduced
in the 2017 release of Photoshop continues to
b
e
improved. This is a valuable resource for students. To use it, choose Edit >
S
e
ar
c
h,
press Ctrl-F (Windows) or
Command-F
(Mac), or click the magnifying glass icon a
t
the right edge of the options bar. For students, the great benefit of the Search
f
ea
t
u
r
e
is that they can use it to find almost any command, tool, or feature in Photoshop, as
well as
t
ut
or
i
als
.
When
demonstrating
the Search feature to students, point out the different ca
t
e
g
o
–
ries provided in the Discover window that
op
ens
:
Type into the Find Help and Learn field at the top to find out about a
sp
ec
ific
topic. Point out that this is a great way to locate a command or tool, e
sp
ec
ially
when you c
an
t
remember where to find it in Photoshop. For example, if you
Browse provides direct links to
Hands-On
Tutorials, Quick Actions, and
Wha
t
s
New. The difference between
Hands-On
Tutorials and Quick Actions is
t
ha
t
S
a
ving
a Photoshop
documen
t
With the addition of support for Cloud Documents (which allow easy file e
x
c
hang
e
with Photoshop on iPad), Adobe added a Save to Cloud Documents button to
t
he
Save As dialog box, as well as a message that appears when choosing File > Save As
that advises users of the new Cloud Documents option. These will be discussed
i
n
Lesson 3 where students will actually save a cloud document, but because
L
ess
ons
1 and 2 involve saving documents, students will
encounter
the Cloud D
o
c
umen
t
s
options before reaching Lesson 3. You may want to quickly brief students a
b
out
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CLASSROOM IN A BOOK (2022 RELEASE)
S
a
ving
non-Photoshop file
f
ormats
After the 2021 release of Photoshop, Adobe fixed some bugs related to
op
era
ti
ng
system changes to the File > Save As dialog box. As a result, some file formats
t
ha
t
used to be in the Save As dialog box are now available only in the File > Save a Copy
dialog
bo
x
.
Students who may have used an older version of Photoshop may wonder why
t
he
2022 release no longer offers formats such as JPEG in the Save As dialog box. You
Using
the application frame
In macOS, the application frame is enabled by default. The application frame
mini
–
mizes distractions from other applications and items on the desktop and makes
it
easier to manage multiple document windows in Photoshop. I
t
s still possible to
u
se
12
INSTRUCTOR
NO
TES
Tips
for viewing images
You may want to
demonstrate
how to see a single image at two mag
ni
fic
a
tions
simultaneously. To do so, choose Window > Arrange > New Window, and
t
hen
select a 2 Up option from the Window > Arrange submenu. You can zoom into
one
view to make detailed changes while viewing the full image in another window
t
o
see the changes in c
on
t
e
x
t
.
I
t
s possible to scroll the document window using the keyboard. To scroll a
do
c
u
–
ment up and down, press the Page Up and Page Down keys, respectively. To sc
r
oll
Understanding how
UI
r
esolution
affects
image
mag
nifica
tion
Choosing View >
100%
(or double-clicking the Zoom tool) displays one image
pi
x
e
l
for each monitor pixel. But because displays can be set to different resolutions,
t
he
real size of an image viewed in
100%
view or in a web browser varies depending
on
the display in
u
s
e.
On
computers
using a Retina (Mac) or HiDPI (Windows) display,
100%
view
ma
y
appear smaller than expected. This is because the
high-resolution
display pixels
ar
e
much smaller than on conventional displays. If a student uses a display where 100%
magnification appears too small, they may want to use
200%
view instead
(
c
ho
o
se
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CLASSROOM IN A BOOK (2022 RELEASE)
For projects that are intended to be printed, have students try the new View >
Actual Size command. This displays a document so that one inch on the P
hot
o
s
hop
ruler (View > Rulers) on screen is about the same size as one inch in the real
wor
ld.
Some students may be unaware that they can change the user interface resolution
i
n
Windows settings or macOS System Preferences. You may want to
demonstrate
t
hi
s
.
Using
the options bar
Students should
understand
that the Photoshop options bar is not the same as
t
he
toolbar (or button bar) found in products such as Microsoft Office. In P
hot
o
s
hop,
the controls that appear on the options bar change depending on the se
le
c
t
e
d
Using
the
Properties
panel
In recent versions of Photoshop, Adobe has made the Properties panel
i
nc
r
ea
si
ng
ly
useful by adding more context-sensitive options to it. When students are looking
f
or
an option, encourage them to check the Properties panel before starting to
fig
u
r
e
out
which of the more specialized panels might contain the
option.
To summarize, suggest to students
t
ha
t
:
To find a tool, look in the Tools
p
ane
l.
14
INSTRUCTOR
NO
TES
Using panels
and panel menus
The Tab keyboard shortcut hides all panels instantly, so that you can quickly e
v
alu
–
ate images without distraction. When you
r
e working on a small screen,
it
s useful
t
o
Using a
context menu
Demonstrate
how context menus change depending on the content under
t
he
pointer. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) the following e
xam
ples
:
Different
l
ayers
A se
le
c
tion
Text with an insertion
p
oi
n
t
Items in any list
p
ane
l
If your students use graphics tablets, encourage them to program a secondary stylus
button or tablet shortcut key to display context
menu
s
.
Using
rich
tool tips
Some tool tips are enhanced. Instead of simply displaying the tool name and ke
y
–
board shortcut, the top-level tools in the Tools panel display rich tool tip c
on
t
ai
n-
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CLASSROOM IN A BOOK (2022 RELEASE)
Questions
The following questions are not in the
studen
t
s Classroom in a Book.
1 What do you do if you c
an
t
find a tool that you know exists?
2 How can you find the keyboard shortcut for a
t
o
ol?
3 How can you instantly hide or show all
p
ane
l
s?
4
Wha
t
s the quickest way to type in a specific zoom
per
c
en
t
ag
e?
5 What magnification is the best
representation
of an image s size on a web
p
ag
e?
6 How can you open a panel that
i
sn
t
visible?
7 What is the difference between a panel and a document
w
i
ndo
w?
Answers
1 To find a tool that
i
sn
t
currently in the Tools panel, look for a related tool with a
small black triangle. That triangle symbol indicates grouped, or hidden, tools. If