The Quick Start Guide to Photoshop
Photoshop is such an expansive and powerful program but all the power in the world means nothing if you don’t know how to use it. We created this 3 part Quick Start Guide to Photoshop to help you get to know the program before jumping in and making changes on your images. We cover the proper settings and preferences to get Photoshop working well – Part 1. We also show you the commonly used Tools and features to give you a head start in Photoshop. We have found that learning a few Tools will allow you to do 90% of your Photo Editing – Part 2. You will also learn how to properly save and export your images so they display perfectly on the Web and allow for easy changes later – Part 3.
Saving and Exporting
Have you ever finished a project in Photoshop and then wanted to make a change later only to realize the only saved copy of the image was a low resolution JPG? It happens to the best of us. This episode helps you create a good system for saving and exporting to make sure you always keep backup and layered files.
Saving your files correctly will help reduce headaches and make sure your images display correctly on every device (including Web).
They key to saving files in Photoshop is to make multiple copies. This may sound a bit redundant and a waste of space on your hard drive but it will mean less chance for error and more flexibility for editing.
We recommend saving your file two times. One as a .TIF and the other as an sRGB Jpeg.
- .TIF TIFs are perfect for saving layered files in Photoshop. You can save your images in 8bit or 16 bit, with layers, and TIFs are readable using programs other than Photoshop. TIFs are also the industry standard when it comes to layered files. You may also use .PSD files if you prefer, as long as you are saving a layered file. Saving your file in a format that supports layers will allow you to open it at a later date and make changes.
- srgb JPG Saving your image in sRGB will ensure that it displays correctly on devices and the internet. It is not a good idea to edit your image in sRGB Color space because it is a “limited Color space” and will not allow you access to the full range of Colors that a larger color space (like Adobe RGB(1998) or my preferred Prophoto RGB). After your edit is complete saving in sRGB is very simple, choose File -> Save for Web, and a dialog box will open up with the setting “Convert to srgb” will be checked by default.
