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Advanced embedding details, examples, and help! Adobe Photoshop CC Classroom in a Book contains 14 lessons that cover the basics, providing countless tips and techniques to help you become more productive with the program. You can follow the book from start to finish or choose only those lessons that interest you. Purchasing this book gives you access to the downloadable lesson files you need to work through the projects in the book, and to electronic book updates covering new features that Adobe releases for Creative Cloud customers.

For access, goto www. The Classroom in a Book series is by far the best training material on the market. Everything you need to master the software is included: clear explanations of each lesson, step-by-step instructions, and the project files for the students.

Barbara Binder, Adobe Certified InstructorRocky Mountain Training Print version record Getting to know the work area — Basic photo corrections — Working with selections — Layer basics — Correcting and enhancing digital photographs — Mask and channels — Typographic design — Vector drawing techniques — Advanced compositing — Editing video — Painting with the mixer brush — Working with 3d images — Preparing files for the web — Producing and printing consistent color.

This book teaches you exactly when to use each program and how to pass images back and forth between them at the highest possible quality. You’ll learn how to import, organize, correct and add creative color effects in Lightroom using global and local editing tools, as well as how to merge multiple exposures and stitch panoramas. In Photoshop, you’ll learn practical techniques for combining photos, pro-level retouching, creating precise selections, masking, turning a photo into a painting and pencil sketch, and adding creative blur effects.

Back in Lightroom, you’ll learn how to show off your masterpieces by exporting them en masse, sharing via social media, creating fine art-style signed print layouts, slideshows, photo book, and web gallery projects. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we’ll send you a link to download the free Kindle App.

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Carefully drag around the tip of the mussel, holding down the mouse button. When you finish tracing the tip and reach the lower side of the mussel, first press Alt or Option again, and then release the mouse button. Click along the lower side of the mussel with the Polygonal Lasso tool as you did on the top. Continue to trace the mussel until you arrive back at the starting point of your selection near the left end of the image.

Click the starting point of the selection, and then release Alt or Option. The mussel is now entirely selected. Leave the mussel selected for the next exercise. Note To make sure that the selection is the shape you want when you use the Lasso tool, end the selection by dragging across the starting point of the selection.

If you start and stop the selection at different points, Photoshop draws a straight line between the start and end points of the selection. Before you begin, make sure that the mussel is still selected.

The mussel and selection marquee are enclosed in a bounding box. Move the pointer outside the bounding box so that it becomes a curved, double- headed arrow. Drag to rotate the mussel to a degree angle. You can verify the angle in the Rotate box in the options bar. Press Enter or Return to commit the transformation. If necessary, select the Move tool and drag to reposition the mussel, leaving a shadow to match the others.

Selecting with the Magnetic Lasso tool You can use the Magnetic Lasso tool to make freehand selections of areas with high- contrast edges. When you draw with the Magnetic Lasso tool, the selection border automatically snaps to the edge between areas of contrast. You can also control the selection path by occasionally clicking the mouse to place anchor points in the selection border.

Select the Magnetic Lasso tool , hidden under the Lasso tool. Click once along the left edge of the nautilus, and then move the Magnetic Lasso tool along the edge to trace its outline. Tip In low-contrast areas, you may want to click to place your own fastening points.

You can add as many as you need. To remove the most recent fastening point, press Delete, and then move the mouse back to the remaining fastening point and continue selecting. When you reach the left side of the nautilus again, double-click to return the Magnetic Lasso tool to the starting point, closing the selection.

Or you can move the Magnetic Lasso tool over the starting point and click once. Double-click the Hand tool to fit the image in the image window. Make sure that you can see the entire screw head in your image window.

Select the Elliptical Marquee tool in the Tools panel. Move the pointer to the approximate center of the screw. Click and begin dragging. Then, without releasing the mouse button, press Alt Windows or Option Mac OS as you continue dragging the selection to the outer edge of the screw. The selection is centered over its starting point. When you have the entire screw head selected, release the mouse button first, and then release Alt or Option and the Shift key if you used it.

Tip To select a perfect circle, press Shift as you drag. Hold down Shift while dragging the Rectangular Marquee tool to select a perfect square. If necessary, reposition the selection border using one of the methods you learned earlier.

Before you begin, make sure that the screw is still selected. Select the Move tool in the Tools panel. Position the pointer within the screw selection. The pointer becomes an arrow with a pair of scissors , indicating that dragging the selection will cut it from its current location and move it to the new location. Drag the screw onto the lower right corner of the shadowbox. A bounding box appears around the selection. Then press Enter or Return to commit the change and remove the transformation bounding box.

As you resize the object, the selection marquee resizes, too. Use the Move tool to reposition the screw after resizing it, so that it is centered in the corner of the shadowbox frame. Moving and duplicating a selection simultaneously You can move and duplicate a selection at the same time. If the screw is no longer selected, reselect it now, using the techniques you learned earlier. The pointer changes, displaying the usual black arrow and an additional white arrow, which indicates that a duplicate will be made when you move the selection.

Continue holding down the Alt or Option key as you drag a duplicate of the screw straight up to the top right corner of the frame. Pressing the Shift key as you move a selection constrains the movement horizontally or vertically in degree increments. Repeat step 3 to drag a fourth screw to the lower left corner of the frame. Copying selections You can use the Move tool to copy selections as you drag them within or between images, or you can copy and move selections using the Copy, Copy Merged, Paste, and Paste Into commands.

Dragging with the Move tool saves memory, because the clipboard is not used as it is with the commands. The source selection is pasted onto a new layer, and the destination selection border is converted into a layer mask. Keep in mind that when a selection is pasted between images with different resolutions, the pasted data retains its pixel dimensions. This can make the pasted portion appear out of proportion to the new image.

Use the Image Size command to make the source and destination images the same resolution before copying and pasting. Select the Crop tool , or press C to switch from the current tool to the Crop tool. Photoshop displays a crop boundary around the entire image.

In the options bar, make sure Ratio is selected in the Preset pop-up menu and that there are no ratio values specified. Then confirm that Delete Cropped Pixels is selected. When Ratio is selected but no ratio values are specified, you can crop the image with any proportions. Drag the crop handles so that the shadowbox is in the highlighted area, omitting the backgrounds from the original objects at the bottom of the image.

Tip To crop an image with its original proportions intact, choose Original Ratio from the Preset pop-up menu in the options bar. The shadowbox is complete! How do you add to and subtract from a selection? What does the Quick Selection tool do? How does the Magic Wand tool determine which areas of an image to select?

What is tolerance, and how does it affect a selection? Only the area within an active selection can be edited. To add to a selection, click the Add To Selection button in the options bar, and then click the area you want to add. To subtract from a selection, click the Subtract From Selection button in the options bar, and then click the area you want to subtract. You can also add to a selection by pressing Shift as you drag or click; to subtract, press Alt Windows or Option Mac OS as you drag or click.

The Quick Selection tool expands outward from where you click to automatically find and follow defined edges in the image. The Magic Wand tool selects adjacent pixels based on their similarity in color. The Tolerance value determines how many color tones the Magic Wand tool will select. The higher the tolerance setting, the more tones are selected. This lesson will take less than an hour to complete. Each layer can then be edited as discrete artwork, giving you tremendous flexibility as you compose and revise an image.

About layers Every Photoshop file contains one or more layers. New files are generally created with a background layer, which contains a color or an image that shows through the transparent areas of subsequent layers.

All new layers in an image are transparent until you add text or artwork pixel values. Working with layers is analogous to placing portions of a drawing on clear sheets of film, such as those viewed with an overhead projector: Individual sheets may be edited, repositioned, and deleted without affecting the other sheets. When the sheets are stacked, the entire composition is visible.

When prompted, click Yes to delete the Adobe Photoshop Settings file. Then double-click the Lesson04 folder in the Content panel to see its contents. Study the 04End. This layered composite represents a postcard. You will create it in this lesson as you learn how to create, edit, and manage layers. Double-click the 04Start. Saving another version of the start file frees you to make changes without worrying about overwriting the original.

Using the Layers panel The Layers panel lists all the layers in an image, displaying the layer names and thumbnails of the content on each layer. You can use the Layers panel to hide, view, reposition, delete, rename, and merge layers.

The layer thumbnails are automatically updated as you edit the layers. The Layers panel lists five layers for the 04Working. If you click the eye, the image window no longer displays that layer. The first task for this project is to add a photo of the beach to the postcard.

Tip Use the context menu to hide or resize the layer thumbnail. Right-click Windows or Control-click Mac OS a thumbnail in the Layers panel to open the context menu, and then choose a thumbnail size. The Layers panel changes to display the layer information for the active Beach. Notice that only one layer appears in the Beach. An image can have only one background layer. You cannot change the stacking order of a background layer, its blending mode, or its opacity. You can, however, convert a background layer to a regular layer.

To convert a background layer into a regular layer: 1. Click the lock icon next to the layer name. Rename the layer. To convert a regular layer into a background layer: 1. Select a layer in the Layers panel. Renaming and copying a layer To add content to an image and simultaneously create a new layer for it, drag an object or layer from one file into the image window of another file.

Whether you drag from the image window of the original file or from its Layers panel, only the active layer is reproduced in the destination file. Before you begin, make sure that both the 04Working. Keep the layer selected. Photoshop displays both of the open image files. Select the Beach. Select the Move tool , and use it to drag the Beach. Tip If you hold down Shift as you drag an image from one file into another, the dragged image automatically centers itself in the target image window.

The Beach layer now appears in the 04Working. Photoshop always adds new layers directly above the selected layer; you selected the Background layer earlier. Close the Beach. Tip Need images for a project like this one? If you purchase the images, Photoshop replaces the placeholders with high-resolution images. Viewing individual layers The 04Working. Some of the layers are visible and some are hidden. The eye icon next to a layer thumbnail in the Layers panel indicates that the layer is visible.

Click the eye icon next to the Pineapple layer to hide the image of the pineapple. Select the Beach layer. To select the layer, click the layer name in the Layers panel.

The layer is highlighted, indicating that it is active. Changes you make in the image window affect the active layer. To make the opaque areas on this layer more obvious, hide all layers except the Beach layer: Press Alt Windows or Option Mac OS as you click the eye icon next to the Beach layer.

The white background and other objects in the image disappear, leaving only the beach image against a checkerboard background. The checkerboard indicates transparent areas of the active layer. The Layer Style dialog box opens. Click OK. A white border appears around the beach photo. Rearranging layers The order in which the layers of an image are organized is called the stacking order. The stacking order determines how the image is viewed—you can change the order to make certain parts of the image appear in front of or behind other layers.

The beach image is almost entirely blocked by images on other layers. Changing the opacity of a layer You can reduce the opacity of any layer to reveal the layers below it. In this case, the postmark is too dark on the flower. Select the Postage layer, and then click the arrow next to the Opacity field to display the Opacity slider.

You can also type 25 in the Opacity box or scrub the Opacity label. Notice that the change in opacity affects only the image area of the Postage layer. Duplicating a layer and changing the blending mode You can apply different blending modes to a layer. Blending modes affect how the color pixels on one layer blend with pixels on the layers underneath. Currently, the blending mode for both layers is Normal. Right-click or Control-click the Pineapple layer, and choose Duplicate Layer from the context menu.

Click OK in the Duplicate Layer dialog box. Blending modes Blending modes affect how the color pixels on one layer blend with pixels on the layers beneath them. The default blending mode, Normal, hides pixels beneath the top layer unless the top layer is partially or completely transparent. Each of the other blending modes let you control the way the pixels in the layers interact with each other.

Often, the best way to see how a blending mode affects your image is simply to try it. You can easily experiment with different blending modes in the Layers panel, applying one after another to compare the effects.

As you begin experimenting, keep in mind how different groups of blending modes affect an image. Patterns or colors overlay the existing pixels while preserving the highlights and shadows of the underlying layers.

With the Pineapple copy layer selected, choose Overlay from the Blending Modes menu in the Layers panel. The Overlay blending mode blends the Pineapple copy layer with the Pineapple layer beneath it to create a vibrant, more colorful pineapple with deeper shadows and brighter highlights.

Select the Postage layer, and choose Multiply from the Blending Modes menu. The Multiply blending mode multiplies the colors in the underlying layers with the color in the top layer. In this case, the postmark becomes a little stronger. Resizing and rotating layers You can resize and transform layers. Click the Visibility column on the Beach layer to make the layer visible. A Transform bounding box appears around the beach image.

The bounding box has handles on each corner and each side. Watch the Width and Height percentages in the options bar. With the bounding box still active, position the pointer just outside one of the corner handles until it becomes a curved double arrow.

Drag clockwise to rotate the beach image approximately 15 degrees. You can also enter 15 in the Set Rotation box in the options bar. Click the Commit Transform button in the options bar. Make the Flower layer visible. Then, select the Move tool , and drag the beach photo so that its corner is tucked neatly beneath the flower, as in the illustration.

Adding empty layers to a file is comparable to adding blank sheets of film to a stack of images. In the Layers panel, select the Background layer to make it active, and then click the Create A New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers panel.

A new layer, named Layer 1, appears between the Background and Pineapple layers. The layer has no content, so it has no effect on the image.

Double-click the name Layer 1, type Clouds, and press Enter or Return to rename the layer. In the Tools panel, click the foreground color swatch, select a sky blue color from the Color Picker, and click OK. The Background Color remains white. Realistic-looking clouds appear behind the image.

Dragging to add a new layer You can add a layer to an image by dragging an image file from the desktop, Bridge, or Explorer Windows or the Finder Mac OS. In Photoshop, select the Pineapple copy layer in the Layers panel to make it the active layer. Then navigate to the Lesson04 folder. Select Flower2. The Flower2 layer appears in the Layers panel, directly above the Pineapple copy layer. Photoshop places the image as a Smart Object, which is a layer you can edit without making permanent changes.

Tip You can drag images from a Bridge window to Photoshop as easily as you can drag from the Windows or Mac desktop. Position the Flower2 layer in the lower left corner of the postcard, so that about half of the top flower is visible. Click the Commit Transform button in the options bar to accept the layer.

Then click the Commit Any Current Edits button in the options bar. This layer is at the top of the layer stack. Note If you make a mistake when you click to set the type, simply click away from the type and repeat step 4. In the Tools panel, select the Gradient tool. The text has been rasterized. The Background Color should still be white. In the options bar, make sure that Linear Gradient is selected. Tip To list the gradient options by name rather than by sample, click the menu button in the gradient picker, and choose either Small List or Large List.

Or, hover the pointer over a thumbnail until a tool tip appears, showing the gradient name. In the options bar, click the arrow next to the Gradient Editor box to open the Gradient Picker. Thank you. See all reviews. Top reviews from other countries. I’m currently going through this and have found it very useful in that it is structured learning and uses good downloadable lesson files. InDesign is a huge product and I feel I will be going back over these lessons frequently.

I’m using this in conjunction with the Adobe product information from their website as well as searches for specifics via the web. I have found that I have written in pencil many additional notes in the book. I’d like to see more contextual reference information included but I suspect this will make the book pretty big, though I feel it is necessary.

Examples are the mouse pointer types, the menu structure and variations to achieve the same result as a single reference, and so on.

Came fast, I wasn’t happy with this book, I though it would have more on hands how to do business cards, letter head, roll up banners, bill boards, Changing the texts and using the texts in different ways, and show you in more details, working with layers etc.

Instead you have to register your book bar code to a website belong to adobe and follow the project in the book, its looks quite advance you have to know a lot about InDesign already to use this book. Excellent book! Good, clear language and easy-to-understand illustrations. Logical step-by-step development of skills with InDesign and a well-organized division of the book into chapters with focus on particular aspects of the program. This makes it easy to jump from section to section in case you want to explore or read up on a particular subject.

Best style of book I have found to learn a program. Report abuse. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations. Back to top. Get to Know Us. Make Money with Us. You have already flagged this document. Thank you, for helping us keep this platform clean. The editors will have a look at it as soon as possible. Self publishing. Share Embed Flag.

All buyers of the book get full access to the Web Edition: a Web-based version of the complete ebook enhanced with video and interactive multiple-choice quizzes. As always with the Classroom in a Book, Instructor Notes are available for teachers to download. Doing research can make all the difference between a great design and a good design. Your image is ready to share or print! Extra credit Converting a color image to black and white You can get great results converting a color image to black and white with or without a tint in Photoshop.

Click Open. Adjust the color sliders to change the saturation of color channels. You can also experiment with options from the preset menu, such as Darker or Infrared. Or, select the tool in the upper left corner of the Adjustments panel, position it over an area you want to adjust, and drag horizontally to lighten or darken that color wherever it appears in the image.

We darkened the bike itself and made the background areas lighter. If you want to colorize the entire photo with a single hue, select Tint. What does resolution mean? What does the Crop tool do? How can you adjust the tone and color of an image in Photoshop?

What tools can you use to remove blemishes in an image? How can you remove digital artifacts such as colored pixels from an image? The term resolution refers to the number of pixels that describe an image and establish its detail.

Image resolution and monitor resolution are measured in pixels per inch ppi. Printer, or output, resolution is measured in ink dots per inch dpi. You can use the Crop tool to trim, scale, or straighten an image. To adjust the tone and color of an image in Photoshop, first use the White Point tool in a Curves adjustment layer.

Then refine the tone using a Levels adjustment layer. The Clone Stamp tool copies the source area exactly; the Healing Brush and Spot Healing Brush tools blend the area with the surrounding pixels. In Content-Aware mode, the Patch tool replaces a selection with content that matches the surrounding area. About selecting and selection tools Making changes to an area within an image in Photoshop is a two-step process.

You first use one of the selection tools to select the part of an image you want to change. Then you use another tool, filter, or other feature to make changes, such as moving the selected pixels to another location or applying a filter to the selected area. You can make selections based on size, shape, and color. When a selection is active, changes you make apply only to the selected area; other areas are unaffected.

There are four primary types of selections: Geometric selections The Rectangular Marquee tool selects a rectangular area in an image. The Elliptical Marquee tool , which is hidden behind the Rectangular Marquee tool, selects elliptical areas. The Single Row Marquee tool and Single Column Marquee tool select either a 1-pixel-high row or a 1-pixel-wide column, respectively. Freehand selections The Lasso tool traces a freehand selection around an area. The Polygonal Lasso tool sets anchor points in straight-line segments around an area.

The Magnetic Lasso tool works something like a combination of the other two lasso tools, and gives the best results when good contrast exists between the area you want to select and its surroundings. Color-based selections The Magic Wand tool selects parts of an image based on the similarity in pixel color. It is useful for selecting odd-shaped areas that share a specific range of colors.

In the Favorites panel, click the Lessons folder. Then double-click the Lesson03 folder in the Content panel to see its contents. Study the 03End. Move the thumbnail slider to the right if you want to see the image in more detail. The project is a shadowbox that includes a piece of coral, a sand dollar, a mussel, a nautilus, and a plate of small shells.

The challenge in this lesson is to arrange these elements, which were scanned together on the single page you see in the 03Start. Double-click the 03Start.

Using the Quick Selection tool The Quick Selection tool provides one of the easiest ways to make a selection. You simply paint an area of an image, and the tool automatically finds the edges. You can add or subtract areas of the selection until you have exactly the area you want. The image of the sand dollar in the 03Working.

Select the Zoom tool in the Tools panel, and then zoom in so that you can see the sand dollar well. Select the Quick Selection tool in the Tools panel. Select Auto-Enhance in the options bar. When Auto-Enhance is selected, the Quick Selection tool creates better quality selections, with edges that are truer to the object.

The selection process is a little slower than using the Quick Selection tool without Auto-Enhance, but the results are superior. Click on an off-white area near the outside edge of the sand dollar. The Quick Selection tool finds the full edge automatically, selecting the entire sand dollar. Leave the selection active so that you can use it in the next exercise.

The rest of the image is not affected by those changes. To move the selected area to another part of the composition, you use the Move tool. This image has only one layer, so the pixels you move will replace the pixels beneath them. If the sand dollar is not still selected, repeat the previous exercise to select it. Zoom out so you can see both the shadowbox and the sand dollar. Select the Move tool. Notice that the sand dollar remains selected. Unless a selection tool is active, clicking elsewhere in the image will not deselect the active area.

The layers that are under the pointer appear in the context menu. Manipulating selections You can move selections, reposition them as you create them, and even duplicate them. One of the most useful things you may find in this section is the introduction of keyboard shortcuts that can save you time and arm motions.

Repositioning a selection marquee while creating it Selecting ovals and circles can be tricky. As you perform this exercise, be very careful to follow the directions about keeping the mouse button or specific keys pressed. If you accidentally release the mouse button at the wrong time, simply start the exercise again from step 1. Select the Elliptical Marquee tool , hidden under the Rectangular Marquee tool.

Move the pointer over the plate of shells, and drag diagonally across the oval plate to create a selection, but do not release the mouse button. If you accidentally release the mouse button, draw the selection again.

In most cases— including this one—the new selection replaces the previous one. Still holding down the mouse button, press the spacebar, and continue to drag the selection. Position it so that it more closely aligns with the plate.

Carefully release the spacebar but not the mouse button and continue to drag, trying to make the size and shape of the selection match the oval plate of shells as closely as possible. If necessary, hold down the spacebar again and drag to move the selection marquee into position around the plate of shells. When the selection border is positioned appropriately, release the mouse button.

Leave the Elliptical Marquee tool and the selection active for the next exercise. If the plate of shells is not still selected, repeat the previous exercise to select it. The pointer icon now includes a pair of scissors to indicate that the selection will be cut from its current location. Note You can release the Ctrl or Command key after you start dragging, and the Move tool remains active.

Photoshop reverts to the previously selected tool when you deselect, whether you click outside the selection or use the Deselect command. Moving a selection with the arrow keys You can make minor adjustments to the position of selected pixels by using the arrow keys. You can nudge the selection in increments of either one pixel or ten pixels.

When a selection tool is active in the Tools panel, the arrow keys nudge the selection border, but not the contents. When the Move tool is active, the arrow keys move both the selection border and its contents. Before you begin, make sure that the plate of shells is still selected in the image window. Press the Up Arrow key on your keyboard a few times to move the oval upward. Notice that each time you press the arrow key, the plate of shells moves one pixel. Experiment by pressing the other arrow keys to see how they affect the selection.

Hold down the Shift key as you press an arrow key. When you hold down the Shift key, the selection moves ten pixels every time you press an arrow key. Sometimes the border around a selected area can distract you as you make adjustments. Either command hides the selection border around the plate of shells. Using the Magic Wand tool The Magic Wand tool selects all the pixels of a particular color or color range.

As with many of the selection tools, after you make the initial selection, you can add or subtract areas of the selection. The Tolerance option sets the sensitivity of the Magic Wand tool.

This value limits or extends the range of pixel similarity. The default tolerance value of 32 selects the color you click plus 32 lighter and 32 darker tones of that color. You may need to adjust the tolerance level up or down depending on the color ranges and variations in the image.

If a multicolored area that you want to select is set against a background of a different color, it can be much easier to select the background than the area itself.

Select the Rectangular Marquee tool , hidden behind the Elliptical Marquee tool. Drag a selection around the piece of coral.

Make sure that your selection is large enough so that a margin of white appears between the coral and the edges of the marquee. At this point, the coral and the white background area are selected. Select the Magic Wand tool , hidden under the Quick Selection tool. In the options bar, confirm that the Tolerance value is This value determines the range of colors the wand selects.

Click the Subtract From Selection button in the options bar. A minus sign appears next to the wand in the pointer icon. Anything you select now will be subtracted from the initial selection. Click in the white background area within the selection marquee.

The Magic Wand tool selects the entire background, subtracting it from the selection. Now all the white pixels are deselected, leaving the coral perfectly selected. Softening the edges of a selection To smooth the hard edges of a selection, you can apply anti-aliasing or feathering, or use the Refine Edge option. Anti-aliasing smooths the jagged edges of a selection by softening the color transition between edge pixels and background pixels.

Since only the edge pixels change, no detail is lost. Anti-aliasing is useful when cutting, copying, and pasting selections to create composite images. Select the tool to display its options in the options bar. To apply anti-aliasing, you must select the option before making the selection. Once a selection is made, you cannot add anti- aliasing to it. Feathering blurs edges by building a transition boundary between the selection and its surrounding pixels.

This blurring can cause some loss of detail at the edge of the selection. You can define feathering for the marquee and lasso tools as you use them, or you can add feathering to an existing selection. Feathering effects become apparent when you move, cut, or copy the selection.

You can use the Refine Edge option to smooth the outline, feather it, or contract or expand it. Enter a Feather value in the options bar. This value defines the width of the feathered edge and can range from 1 to pixels.

Enter a value for the Feather Radius, and click OK. Selecting with the lasso tools As we mentioned earlier, Photoshop includes three lasso tools: the Lasso tool, the Polygonal Lasso tool, and the Magnetic Lasso tool. You can use the Lasso tool to make selections that require both freehand and straight lines, using keyboard shortcuts to move back and forth between the Lasso tool and the Polygonal Lasso tool.

Make sure you can see the entire mussel in the window. Do not release the mouse button. Press the Alt Windows or Option Mac OS key, and then release the mouse button so that the lasso pointer changes to the polygonal lasso shape. Do not release the Alt or Option key. Begin clicking along the end of the mussel to place anchor points, following the contours of the mussel.

Be sure to hold down the Alt or Option key throughout this process. The selection border automatically stretches like a rubber band between anchor points. When you reach the tip of the mussel, hold down the mouse button as you release the Alt or Option key. The pointer again appears as the lasso icon.

Carefully drag around the tip of the mussel, holding down the mouse button. When you finish tracing the tip and reach the lower side of the mussel, first press Alt or Option again, and then release the mouse button.

Click along the lower side of the mussel with the Polygonal Lasso tool as you did on the top. Continue to trace the mussel until you arrive back at the starting point of your selection near the left end of the image. Click the starting point of the selection, and then release Alt or Option. The mussel is now entirely selected. Leave the mussel selected for the next exercise. Note To make sure that the selection is the shape you want when you use the Lasso tool, end the selection by dragging across the starting point of the selection.

If you start and stop the selection at different points, Photoshop draws a straight line between the start and end points of the selection. Before you begin, make sure that the mussel is still selected. The mussel and selection marquee are enclosed in a bounding box. Move the pointer outside the bounding box so that it becomes a curved, double- headed arrow.

Drag to rotate the mussel to a degree angle. You can verify the angle in the Rotate box in the options bar. Press Enter or Return to commit the transformation. If necessary, select the Move tool and drag to reposition the mussel, leaving a shadow to match the others.

Selecting with the Magnetic Lasso tool You can use the Magnetic Lasso tool to make freehand selections of areas with high- contrast edges. When you draw with the Magnetic Lasso tool, the selection border automatically snaps to the edge between areas of contrast.

You can also control the selection path by occasionally clicking the mouse to place anchor points in the selection border. Select the Magnetic Lasso tool , hidden under the Lasso tool. Click once along the left edge of the nautilus, and then move the Magnetic Lasso tool along the edge to trace its outline. Tip In low-contrast areas, you may want to click to place your own fastening points. You can add as many as you need. To remove the most recent fastening point, press Delete, and then move the mouse back to the remaining fastening point and continue selecting.

When you reach the left side of the nautilus again, double-click to return the Magnetic Lasso tool to the starting point, closing the selection. Or you can move the Magnetic Lasso tool over the starting point and click once. Double-click the Hand tool to fit the image in the image window. Make sure that you can see the entire screw head in your image window. Select the Elliptical Marquee tool in the Tools panel. Move the pointer to the approximate center of the screw.

Click and begin dragging. Then, without releasing the mouse button, press Alt Windows or Option Mac OS as you continue dragging the selection to the outer edge of the screw. The selection is centered over its starting point. When you have the entire screw head selected, release the mouse button first, and then release Alt or Option and the Shift key if you used it. Tip To select a perfect circle, press Shift as you drag. Hold down Shift while dragging the Rectangular Marquee tool to select a perfect square.

If necessary, reposition the selection border using one of the methods you learned earlier. Before you begin, make sure that the screw is still selected. Select the Move tool in the Tools panel. Position the pointer within the screw selection. The pointer becomes an arrow with a pair of scissors , indicating that dragging the selection will cut it from its current location and move it to the new location. Drag the screw onto the lower right corner of the shadowbox.

A bounding box appears around the selection. Then press Enter or Return to commit the change and remove the transformation bounding box. As you resize the object, the selection marquee resizes, too. Use the Move tool to reposition the screw after resizing it, so that it is centered in the corner of the shadowbox frame.

Moving and duplicating a selection simultaneously You can move and duplicate a selection at the same time. If the screw is no longer selected, reselect it now, using the techniques you learned earlier. The pointer changes, displaying the usual black arrow and an additional white arrow, which indicates that a duplicate will be made when you move the selection. Continue holding down the Alt or Option key as you drag a duplicate of the screw straight up to the top right corner of the frame.

Pressing the Shift key as you move a selection constrains the movement horizontally or vertically in degree increments. Repeat step 3 to drag a fourth screw to the lower left corner of the frame. Copying selections You can use the Move tool to copy selections as you drag them within or between images, or you can copy and move selections using the Copy, Copy Merged, Paste, and Paste Into commands. Dragging with the Move tool saves memory, because the clipboard is not used as it is with the commands.

The source selection is pasted onto a new layer, and the destination selection border is converted into a layer mask. Keep in mind that when a selection is pasted between images with different resolutions, the pasted data retains its pixel dimensions. This can make the pasted portion appear out of proportion to the new image. Use the Image Size command to make the source and destination images the same resolution before copying and pasting.

Select the Crop tool , or press C to switch from the current tool to the Crop tool. Photoshop displays a crop boundary around the entire image. In the options bar, make sure Ratio is selected in the Preset pop-up menu and that there are no ratio values specified.