Photoshop

During the past week and a half I have been working on multiple photoshop projects to expand what I know about Photoshop. Going in I knew very little but after I have finished them I can use Photoshop more fluently now. I have learned how to increase the canvas size, use the different tools, add and remove areas of pictures, and make collages of multiple pictures.

Finished Projects:

Project 1- Content Aware:

For the first group of projects that I did was using the content aware tool.  The content aware tool is very useful because if the photo has a unwanted area then the tool can be used o remove the unwanted area. Each photo had a blemish or an unwanted spot in it so I used the content aware tool to select and change the unwanted spot into something that was already in the picture. For example, the surfboard had a logo right in the center of it so with the content aware tool I was able to remove the logo and replace it with the background of the surfboard. For the man standing against the white wall picture I had to remove blemishes from the wall. The wall was covered in scratches and holes so I used the content aware tool and was able to clean the wall up and make it not look beat up. The content aware tool was very helpful when I needed to use some background to cover up a unwanted area. 

Project 2- Patch Tool:

The next project I did was editing out more unwanted areas using the patch tool. Just like the content aware the patch tool also removes any unwanted areas quickly and cleanly. For the picture I edited, it was a picture of a dad and his daughter and on his shirt was an unwanted logo so I used the patch tool to pull out the logo and replace it with the plain blue shirt. 

Project 3- Cloning and Healing:

For the third project I used another tool to get rid of areas that are not needed. I used the cloning stamp instead of he patch tool and content aware. Although an one of those tools can get rid of unwanted areas the clone tool can be used for small areas. The clone stamp is very helpful because you copy an area that you want to use and when you color over the unwanted area with a brush the area you copied goes over it. So for this project I had a picture of a girl wearing a coat but the problem is that there is a large white tag on the coat by the pocket. So I used a combination of the clone stamp and the healing brush to get rid of the tag and to go over the area and make it look real.  

Project 4- Clone Stamp and Patch Tool:
The next project I did was a combination of using the clone stamp and the patch tool. I had to start with the clone tool to take out the distractions in the picture which would have been poles and buildings behind the picture of a dad and his daughter. After I had gotten rid of the distractions the next step was to use the patch tool to make everything blend together and make sure it looks unedited. I had to blend the parts of the sky to make it completely even across the entire picture.

Project 5- Spot Healing Brush:

On of the last projects I did was learning how to gt rid of blemishes on a face. I used the spot healing brush to get rid of dirt on a black and white closeup of a little boy. I learned that the spot healing brush is for smaller blemishes that someone could tell that it was edited. So on the closeup I had to make small selections with the spot healing brush that would blur it and change it to what the other parts on the picture looked like. 

Project 6- Portrait Collage: 
 The hardest project that I did during the entire week was making a portrait collage. It not only was the hardest but it was also the most time consuming. I had to combine everything that I learned in previous projects and use it to finish this one and it took multiple days and lots of hard work. There were many steps to finish this including editing each picture individually, putting them all together, blending the background with the clone stamp, and then adding background to the ones that needed it. On top of all the editing I also had to make sure that it didn't look messy.  

Project 7- Products:

For project seven I learned how to put a graphic onto an image and how to advertise it. I had an image of a bottle and I had an image of the graphics that needed to be put onto the bottle so i learned how to insert them and make them transparent like thy would be on a bottle someone could find in a store. I also learned how to change backgrounds and add a shadow and a light effect behind the product. The other thing I learned in this project was how to insert an image onto a blank billboard. I ad to insert the image and then warp it to fit onto the corners of the billboard to give it a 3D look.

Project 7- Challenge:

Project seven was the last one and it was an optional challenge piece, I received a group of images and had to use what I had learned and create something. I used the clone stamp to get rid of rocks in the background and I also used the transform tool to flip the background to create an even backdrop. I also create many layers to create a double exposure effect on his suit coat and I used the spot healing brush to get rid of small things in the background. 

Reflections:
My favorite project was the challenge because I really enjoyed the freedom and being able to create anything with what I knew and there were endless possibilities. My favorite skill that I learned was learning how to use the spot healing tool and that is very important because I love photography and if I take any pictures and the subject in the photo has a small blemish or I don't like one area I can use that tool and correct it. Overall my strengths were being able to catch on fast and understand the use of the tools. While I do have strengths I also have weaknesses and my weakness was probably perfectionism, I am a perfectionist and I want something to meet my standards even if I haven't completely learned it so that was hard when I was trying new Photoshop techniques. If I could go back and change something in any of my projects I would probably go back and touch up on patch tool project. The shirt doesn't look as real as I would have liked and I would want to go back and fix up the edges. On the flip side if i could keep anything the same I would want to keep how I did the portrait the same. I feel like I did a good job on that one and I am happy with the way it turned out. Overall I really enjoyed the projects because I learned a lot about Photoshop that was really helpful. I only had a tough time with two of them and I feel like I did a good job on the projects overall.