Image+Editors

toc [|Photoshop] is a graphic editing program developed by Adobe systems. It can be used to alter, adjust, smooth, crop, combine, and retouch images or videos. The latest version, released in May 2012, is Photoshop CS6. You can download the latest version for a free 30 day trial.

=About= Photoshop was developed by Thomas and John Knoll in 1987. Thomas, a student at the University of Michigan, had been working on a program to display grayscale images on a colored computer monitor. His brother John then suggested that he transform the software into a complete photo editing program.They collaborated on the project to develop the original photoshop programming. It was purchased and licensed by Adobe in 1988. The original version, Photoshop 1.0, was released exclusively for Macintosh in 1990. The first commercial software, CS1, appeared on the market in October 2003. Since the original program was released, there have been multiple versions of the software with additional technologies. The current software is titled CS6 and focuses on enhanced photo editing performance through a redesigned interface and new design tools. =How to Use= Photoshop has a very wide range of features and can be used for many different purposes. It's main use is editing photos or images for print or the web. By altering color, resolution, pixel size, contrast, exposure, filters and much more, the user can create any final product they may need. The program must be purchased and can be downloaded onto most computers. Users can also utilize a 30-day free trial.


 * How to begin:**

To work with an image in photoshop you can copy a picture from a website or from a storage folder on your computer. You can start a new canvas in photoshop and paste the image to the canvas. If you have the image copied when you start a new project the canvas will automatically set the size to the size of your pictures. Images editing generally turns out better with high resolution image thus if you have an option, choose the higher resolution photo. If you would like to add or combine features from a different picture you can add a layer to you existing canvas. In corner you will see a list of layers that on canvas. You can rename the layers by right clicking over the name. The background layer has different characteristics from the other layers but can be converted into a normal layer.

The first icon in the lefthand toolbar in Photoshop is the move tool. This can be used to move an image around on your canvas. You simply click the move icon and click and drag the image you want to move.
 * Basic Tools:**

The second tool is the marquis tool used for selecting areas of an image.

The third icon is the lasso tool. If you right click or hold down the lasso tool button you can see there are three types of lasso tools. In general, the lasso tool is used to select areas of a photo. The first lasso icon of the three lassos is basically drawing free hand. If you want to create a selection free-hand you should use this tool. The second icon tool is the polygonal lasso. This one creates points where you click on the image and connects the points with straight lines. This tool can be used if you are selecting geometric shapes or areas with straight lines. The third lasso tool is the magnetic lasso which allows you to draw around the edge of an object in a picture. The tool detects colors and allows you to roughly draw the edge of an area.

The fourth icon in the tool bar is the quick selection and magic wand tool. These are also used to select areas in an image. You can tell an area is selected because it has what looks like marching ants around the edge. The quick selection tool allows you to click and drag over an area and the crosshairs detect the color and select the part of the image with the same color. The color in the crosshairs is the one being matched. You can change the size of the crosshairs in the top row of the screen or you can choose to deselect an area using the quick selection tool with the minus sign next to it, in the top row of the screen. The other icon is the magic wand tool. This allows you to click an area and it will highlight everything that matches that area. You can change the sensitivity to allow more differentiation between colors. With all the selection tools you can right click over the selection area and select inverse to select the opposite of what you currently have selected.

The fifth icon is a crop tool used to cut out part of the image.

You can also zoom in and out of the image using the magnifying glasses at the bottom of the left hand tool bar.

Once you get to know the basics, you can start exploring all the can be created using Photoshop. The possibilities are endless to how you can manipulate your pictures! Here are some quick tutorials on how to use the more advanced tools:
 * Advanced:**

Blending and Fading

Layer Masks

Under Key Concepts you will find several videos on different aspects:

Key Concepts

=Implementation Ideas=

English

 * Shakespearean style newspaper
 * Wanted poster for a villain in a novel
 * Scrapbook of a journey from a character's point of view
 * Group picture of characters from different books within a study unit that had common traits of would have been friends.

Mathematics

 * Create graphs or charts
 * Create and measure different sized images

Science
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 * Group picture of scientists or inventors in the same field
 * Picture showing the layers of the earth
 * Picture with different types of clouds and the normal height for each type

Social Studies

 * Family portrait of famous generals in WWII
 * Front page of a newspaper after a significant event
 * Create a logo for a specific historical figure, which could represent certain facts about the person.

=Opinions & Feedback=
 * General**
 * Photoshop is time consuming to teach but if you plan to use it frequently in the classroom it would be worth it.
 * I think it would take at least two hours of use for students to grasp the basic functions of photoshop.
 * Photoshop seems like a "use it or lose it" sort of skill. If you invest the time in teaching it, you need to use it frequently to ensure that students stay up on the skills
 * English**
 * Photoshop could be very useful for an end of the unit project to wrap-up a set of books. It could help students tie together common themes.
 * Great tool to create book reports, newspaper articles, and posters.


 * Mathematics**
 * Photoshop does not seem as easily transferred to a math classroom. It may not be worth teaching your student how to use for only a handful of project ideas.
 * Photoshop could be used to explain causal relationships or create explanation manual infographics for more complex tasks, such as derivation or integration


 * Science**
 * Photoshop allows you to blend several images together, which could be useful to show concepts in Science such as life cycles, parts of a cell, and stages of mitosis.
 * Useful to create poster boards for Science Fairs.


 * Social Studies**
 * I think Photoshop could be useful in make history come alive for students. It could help them make more meaningful connections to historical events.
 * With filters, students could make a document seem old for a history project.


 * Foreign Language**
 * Students could create travel brochures, newsletters, and other publications in the target language