3rd Digital Workshop – 1st December 09
We welcomed Mike Lawrence DPAGB, AFIAP, to this our third workshop of the session. This was a return visit, from the same time last year, with the objective of both refreshing and furthering his teachings on selections in Photoshop. He said that he had only scratched the surface previously and added that his way was not necessarily everyone’s but any other was less right than his! This we were soon to appreciate as his knowledge of Photoshop takes some beating. However, at half time Roger allowed Jon Allanson 15secs to comment and provide a paper on the topic!
Mike started by emphasising that to make selections, one had to learn to use the various tools with the Mouse or tablet whilst using the four fingers of the left hand on the keyboard. The understanding of this was paramount to being successful at making good selections. The main keys were Shift, Alt and Ctrl plus the Space Bar and he outlined the functionality of each, in respect of their relationship to the various selection tools.
Using an image of a Robbie Williams look-alike Mike demonstrated the use of the Lasso and Marquee tools and used the different types on this image and one of an aircraft. This he expanded into the use of the Magic Wand and changing of its tolerance. Throughout, he related to the various layers and masks and how Quick Mask and layer masks work. He covered the destructive eraser tool which, he didn’t like using. After his final selection of Robbie, he placed him in the Aircraft scene to demonstrate the objective of the process.
After the break, Mike selected an image of a girl singer and demonstrated at length the various ways to select her outline whilst maintaining the detail in her hair; this took us into paths and colour channels and if we tried and remembered a fraction of the processes, we would be pleased with the results.
Tony Redford proposed the Vote of Thanks. He first said Mike was an absolute master of selection and found it good that the chosen images were not easy ones, as he had demonstrated the degree of difficulty and perseverance required even by an expert. He was sure that if we could use just some of what we had learnt, our Photoshop skills would be enhanced.