File → New

Select the size of the blank document that you want to create. Pay special attention to your


choice of resolution. If you’re creating an image for the web, 72 pixels per inch will suffice.

If you’re creating a detailed art project, you want at least 300 pixels per inch, but obviously

the more the bettter.

1.2

A Few Words About Color

Computers recognized many different color formats. Some common choices include:

RGB color — lists a value between 0 and 255 for each of the Red, Green, Blue components

of a color. (0, 0, 0), the absence of color, is completely black. (255, 255, 255), the

presence of all colors, is completely white. Most Photoshop artists work in RGB.

CMYK color —lists a percentage of each of the colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, blacK).

CMYK can best be thought of as the “color printer cartridge colors.” Some graphics

designers choose to convert their work (after it has been done in RGB) to CMYK so

that they have a better sense of how it’s going to look after it is printed.

Grayscale —this is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a color mode that operates entirely in

black and white. Usually in order to convert an image to grayscale, you will first need

to flatten it. (More about this later)

Bitmap —Only allows for black and white dots (pixels); I wouldn’t recommend using this

in most cases

Lab color — Represents color with 3 components: (Lightness, color value from red to

green, color value from blue to yellow). This is another non-standard color channel.

2

Saving Your File

2.1

File → Save As . . .

The default format for Photoshop files is aptly named “Photoshop Format.” Keeping your

document in Photoshop format is a good idea if you’re planning to go back and edit it later.

However, if you want to e-mail it or put it on a website, you will want to change the format

to something more universal.