Adobe Photoshop is an image editing software that can also be used to create original artwork. It can get images into the program by scanning a photograph, a slide or by capturing a video image. This session begins with the discussion of the work area of Adobe Photoshop, which is an assortment of tools for producing sophisticated graphics for the web and for printing. This session also tries to explore the multiple ways to add and manipulate color in an image.

The work area of Adobe Photoshop consists of a menu bar at the top, a floating toolbox on the left, floating palettes on the right and bottom. In addition to the tools, the work area of Adobe Photoshop is also a place where one or more document windows can be opened manually.

Before creating sophisticated, eye-capturing images using Adobe Photoshop, we have to get acquainted with the various tools in the toolbox and how to use them. A tool is an instrument or a means or a device to work with. The typical Adobe Photoshop toolbox is shown on the screen. The toolbox is divided into 8 distinct groups of tools and controls. The first four groups are dedicated to individual image-editing tools. A small triangle to the right of a toolbar icon indicates a submenu like the Marquee Tool. The last three groups allow selection of foreground/background colors, editing modes, screen display options and the ability to jump to a default graphic editor application.

The image shown on the screen represents the tools belonging to group one. All these tools are image selection and modification tools.

The Marquee tool, belonging to group one has a small triangle to the right indicating a submenu. The items of the submenu are shown in the image. They are the Rectangular, Elliptical, Single Row, Single Column and the Crop formats. These tools can be used to select a particular area of an image. Crop is used to trim the image.

The image shown on the screen is known as the Move tool. It is used for moving the selected area of an image or the entire area if nothing is selected.

The Lasso tool shown on the screen consists of a submenu, each item of the submenu is used to select an area of an image by drawing an outline around it. The different types of this tool are: Lasso, Polygon Lasso and Magnetic Lasso.

The Magic Wand tool shown on the image is used for selecting a particular area of an image based on its color. By adjusting the tolerance range of the selection, we can control how large an area will be selected. When selecting a consistently colored object, we do not have to outline it with the Lasso tool.

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