Photoshop Phun

Hey, Ya'll,
Here's whatcha do to get the most out of next week's lab, which will be held in our usual building.
Save this:
http://www.Heebink.com/ILL193/Photoshop-Primer.wps
OR, if your computer doesn't have the Windows word processor or something more versatile, open this
http://www.Heebink.com/ILL193/Photoshop-Primer.txt
and copy it into the word program of your choice so the lines wrap. Read it, at least through Part 2, if you can possibly find the time.
Then download these two files
http://www.Heebink.com/ILL193/channels-CMYK.sit
http://www.Heebink.com/ILL193/layers-RGB.sit
OR, if you don't have the Stuffit expander, download the slightly larger unStuffed .psd's
http://www.Heebink.com/ILL193/channels-CMYK.psd
http://www.Heebink.com/ILL193/layers-RGB.psd

These files represent the two main ways you can set up a coloring file. Take a look and compare them. If you're scanning in your own art, you should follow the example of one or the other, based on what you decide after reading the Primer. You shouldn't change the mode (RGB, e.g.) or the size of a file after you've flatted it, so it pays to pick a plan and stick with it. The Layers method is easier, and slightly more intuitive. Makes a bigger file though, and can give you a shock when you--well, read the Primer. It defines flatting too, which is not to confused with the merging of all layers near the end of a job. That's called flattening.

Note that in the Channels file, you'll need to go to the Channels palette and click open the eyeball of the Alpha 1 channel, where the line art lives, in order to see it. Don't highlight that channel, you won't be able to work on the color. The CMYK channel must be hi-lit.

These are the files you'll be working on in the lab, unless you provide your own, and I will be grading you on what you produce, so that the whole day doesn't turn into a pointless jagfest. Trust me, it's happened.

I very strongly recommend you get your file flatted (with at least the randomly assigned colors--see Primer), so that what you do in lab will be productive and fun. We'll be critiquing but not grading the inking next week, so it'd be wise to trade away a chunk of inking time to get your coloring file squared away. (BTW, the files above are flatted already.)

We'll meet in our usual room. See you there.

JH