I have already made a post discussing the practical uses of Photoshop, but that was a while ago. When I say practical uses, I mean ways in which Photoshop can be used in everyday life to solve problems. As of now, I have used it twice for such reasons and I found it was quite useful in both. (Sorry, I would like to include a picture, but, since these weren’t art pieces, I didn’t use royalty free images.)
About a month ago, my family was talking about getting a new kitchen floor or painting the one we already have. I was opposed to this idea, but agreed to held visualize it. I took a picture of the kitchen and it’s floor and opened it on Photoshop. I selected the floor and moved it to a new layer. I then hid it and put different materials we were considering adding in its place in the place where the floor was. After that, I used blend modes to change the colour of the floor. Photoshop really helped visualize what different floor choices would look like and how hey would compliment the kitchen. A few weeks ago, I was doodling in a notebook and began drawing guitar designs. I drew to outrageous ones (a bat-bass and an electric banjo) and one slightly less outrageous one. It featured an original body shape and a pickup configuration I can’t say I’ve ever seen before. The drawing looked good, but I wondered what it would look like if it was actually made. Naturally, I turned to Photoshop, and began dragging in pictures of guitars. First I took a hollow body semi-electric guitar with a similar body to the one I designed. I used various tools to cut it up and shape it into the body I had designed. I then took a neck I liked and replaced the original neck of the guitar. I then dragged in guitars with pickup sounds I liked and extracted them. I ended up with a single coil Telecaster pickup and the two pickup’s from George Harrison’s “Lucy” Les Paul. I have yet to finish this project, but I plan to make the guitar a little thinner and add tone controls. Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out exactly as I envisioned it, so I might redo it later on.
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So far, we have mainly worked with two programs, Photoshop and Illustrator. Both are used to manipulate 2-D graphics, and both are similar in some ways, but, at the same time, are very different in others.
One of the main differences between the two programs is the type of image they can be used to make. Photoshop is bitmap-based, making it resolution dependent. This means it works with images made up of pixels. Illustrator is a vector-based program, which means it works with images that are resolution independent. For this reason Illustrator is better for making images that might be enlarged, like logos. Since vector images are resolution independent, they can be enlarged without losing quality. As the name suggests, Photoshop is better suited to editing photos and making more realistic graphics. Beyond the types of images they are used to create, there are differences in the way these programs operate. Many of the tools are different, and some of the tools that seem the same operate in different ways. Still, the layout is somewhat similar. I remember finding that learning Illustrator wasn’t particularly hard after learning Photoshop, which was likely a result of, among other things, the similar layout. Now that I’m familiar with both, I have no trouble going back and forth between them. They involve similar skills, which I think was helpful when I was learning to use Illustrator. While I enjoy working with both programs, I have used Photoshop more outside of class. I prefer working with it because I can make more realistic graphics. If I want to draw something, I generally prefer to do so on paper than in Illustrator. Still, Illustrator is preferable for making professional looking illustrations, though so far I haven’t really had a need for any. In the end, Photoshop and Illustrator differ greatly. Still, they are similar enough that it isn’t hard to learn one if you are familiar with the other.
So far I have learned a good deal in Digital Design and Animation I. I have learned about things like the elements and principles of design and compositional techniques. I have also learned about and explored Adobe Photoshop. I hope to take what I have learned and use it frequently outside of school.
One of my main interests is film. I can use a lot of what I have learned when making personal films. Compositional techniques are vastly important, as they are used by any good filmmaker. Before starting DDA I, I already knew some of these techniques, but my knowledge on them has expanded now. I can now use these techniques when composing shots. A greater knowledge of both the elements and the principles of design will also help when designing shots and other things. Photoshop will come in handy in many ways involving film. I can use it to create stills. I can also use it to make promotional pictures and posters. I can also use Photoshop in ways that don’t relate to film. I can use it to edit photographs. Even though we have moved past using photoshop in class, I might use it recreationally. I will probably colorize images, because I enjoy it a lot. These might be old images of musicians and like people, or old family photos. I can also use photoshop to help design things like family Christmas Cards. If I make things of that sort, I can utilize compositional techniques to make them visually appealing. Evidentially, there are a lot of ways I can use what I have learned outside of class. All of the tools and techniques we have learned are very useful.
Photoshop has been around for over thirty years, and it has greatly impacted our society. Its impacts are both negative and positive.
One way photoshop has impacted society is its influence on the modeling industry. Photoshop has been used to alter models and give people an unrealistic idea of what they could, and even should, look like. A survey done on women in 2013 found that 15% of 18-24 year olds surveyed believed altered images of models were not photoshopped. This shows many take these images to be real and therefore achievable. The survey also found that many people felt uncomfortable with their body, which could be attributed to Photoshop. Photoshop has also contributed to misinformation. A well photoshopped image can not be distinguished from an unaltered one. Therefore, when it is seen by itself or accompanying an article it seems irrefutable. I myself have seen many photoshopped images made of celebrities tweeting ridiculous things. The same can be said of news articles. Though these are intended for comedic purposes, and aren’t to be believed, some think them real. I myself have sometimes been forced to fact check well photoshopped news articles and tweets to see if they were real. While many of its impacts on society can be described as detrimental, Photoshop has helped society in multiple ways. It has made photo manipulation available to the public. It is an extremely valuable tool to designers, photographers, and people of other professions. As I briefly mentioned earlier, Photoshop can be used to create comedic images. Photoshop can also be used as an art form. Artists can use it to make images that are more realistic than they might be if they painted them or drew them. In the end, whether for better or for worse, Photoshop has had a great impact on society. Few computer programs can pay claim to that.
Vagianos, Alanna. “Proof We Still Need To Talk About Photoshop.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 29 Nov. 2013, m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_4350263. I haven’t been using Photoshop for very long, and I only consider myself to be somewhat familiar with the program. I have enjoyed almost all things I have done in Photoshop, and have liked using many different tools and techniques. So far, my favorite technique that I have used is colourizing images through blend modes. I enjoyed adding an extra layer to old black and white photos. I enjoyed taking black and white images of musicians I liked and adding colour to them. I feel like it can add an extra sense of depth to them. In my opinion, colourization helps people relate to older photos. The colour makes them seem more similar to something from our time. I also like how I can decide what colour things might be. Colour is important to the mood an image gives. Thus, when I colourize an image, I can make the picture better reflect the mood I think the image should give off. The image above is one I colourized, and one can see how I used colours that may not have necessarily been extremely accurate to give the picture some character. I think the most important tool is any tool designed for selection. Without a way of selection, it would be impossible to do a great deal of things. There are a fair amount of tools made for selection. In the short time in which I have been using Photoshop, I have become rather partial to the Quick Select tool. Other selection tools include the magic wand, and the various types of lassos. While using Photoshop, I find the tools I typically use the most are selection tools. Selection tools allow you to manipulate certain areas of an image while keeping the others the same.
Photoshop can be seen everywhere in our modern world. It is generally looked on as a positive thing, for it can make images more interesting and appealing. It makes graphic design a great deal easier. For example, it you can edit photos in a non-destructive manner. If you do end up making a mistake, generally you can go back. It also allows people to create digital art. Though, as of writing this, I have yet to explore its artistic capabilities, I think Photoshop can be a great medium for self expression.
Despite its many positive uses, I think advertising has exploited Photoshop in a way that impacts society negatively. Advertising constantly uses digitally altered images. From the perspective of the unknowledgeable consumer, an unaltered image can never compete with an altered one. Therefore, I think a company who decides to use unaltered images for the sake of honesty is left at a severe disadvantage. In addition, a consumer might not know an image is Photoshopped. This is where the altering of images begins to become a problem. The use of Photoshop in advertising has left a great many people longing to look like the perfect people they see in advertisements. The ideal body has shifted from unrealistic to impossible. Some may go to great lengths to achieve what cannot be achieved. Photoshoped pictures can make people feel like they aren't good enough. It can make it harder for a person to accept who they are and how they look. A person holding a negative image of themselves, especially one revolving around their body, can lead to all sorts of problems. In my opinion, this is the greatest defect of Photoshop and image altering.
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AuthorI'm interested in film and animation. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools.
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