Tutorial: Working With Images
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This image is 200x150 pixels.
The original scanned version was much larger - 2048x1536 pixels.
Using Photoshop, the image was resized to approx 10% of the
original. |
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For Resizing & Cropping- re-open the original file " Activity 4 Picture " and save it as a .JPG each time... Once after you resize and label it and 2nd after you crop and label it....
Example:
1901Maguire Activity 4 Picture Crop
1901Maguire Activity 4 Picture Resized
Label each with the text tool!!!
What is Resizing an Image
First of all, let's clarify what we mean by image size. Digital images are
made up of a huge number of individual dots called pixels (the word pixel is
short for "picture element"). Every digital image is a rectangle* which
can be measured in terms of pixel width and height. Digital cameras are often
referred to in terms of their "megapixel" capability - this means how many
million pixels are in a photo.
The situation is quite similar to the dots which make up a newspaper photo.
This leads us to a common source of confusion: number of pixels versus DPI (dots per inch). Technically they measure the same thing. We won't go
into the details here - it's enough to know that DPI tends to refer to printed
images, whereas pixel numbers are more relevant to images displayed on a screen.
For this tutorial we will work with pixel numbers.
There is one more thing to note: An image with a set number of pixels can
still appear to be a different size on different computer monitors. This is
because monitors themselves have their own resolution. Again, we won't go into
the details but it's worth being aware of.
What is Zoom
Before you do anything you must understand how your viewing zoom level works.
A common mistake is to view an image and think the size is fine, when in fact
the image is much larger than it appears.
This can happen when your viewing
program automatically resizes the image to fit the available screen space. Look
for a zoom option and make sure it is set to "100%" or "actual size".
Only then
will you see the image as it really is. This does not change the actual picture it only makes it bigger or smaller to work with it.
The Same Image at 12.5% and 100%
Zoom.

Above: At 12.5% zoom the entire picture fits in the viewing window. At
100% zoom (actual size), only a small part of the picture is visible at a time -
you would need to use the scrollbars to see other parts of the picture.
What size does it need to be?
Exactly how big you want the image to be will depend on it's intended use.
For a web page, the image obviously needs to fit the space available.
For
stand-alone use (such as an email attachment you wish to share with friends) the
image can be any size which comfortably fits the viewing screen. If you're not
sure about the size, the following width guidelines may help:
- Web page photos are usually anywhere between 100px (large thumbnail size)
and 800px (the full width of many monitors). An average photo might be 300px.
- Email attachments for casual viewing should normally be between 200px and
600px.
- Images which are intended for print should be as large as possible within
any applicable file size constraints (e.g. the space available on your disk).
Changing the Image Size
The two most common ways to change an image's size are Crop and Resize. You may use either or both methods depending on the situation. If
you use both methods on the same image, crop the image first and then resize
it.
Before going any further it would be a good idea to locate these controls in
your graphics program menu. In the Photoshop 7 menu (pictured), the controls can
be found by selecting "Image>Image Size" and "Image>Crop". Other programs
may have equivalent options called "Image Attributes", "Resize", etc.
Note: Some programs also have additional resizing options such as
"Trim". These are more advanced options and you don't need to know about them at
this stage
Crop the Image -
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Open the "Activity 4 Picture" in PhotoShop Elements from the ( All Module Folders / Digital Scrapbooking Folder / Tutorial & Activity Files Folder)
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Crop the picture
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Click on the text tool and label it with your # Name and cropped
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Save it as ... your # & name Activity 4 Picture Crop (ex. 1901Maguire Activity 4 Picture CROP
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Save it In Select the module desktop shortcuts and then select the # digital scrapbooking Folder
Using your rectangular marquee tool, select the area of the image you wish
to keep. Then select the crop option - simple as that! All parts of the image
outside your selected area vanish and the image size shrinks accordingly.
Remember to keep an eye on your zoom and adjust it to fit your needs. In the
example above the left image is at 12.5% zoom, the right image is 50%.
For web pages in particular you should be ruthless - lose any part of the
image which isn't absolutely necessary. We can't afford to lose too much of our
photo without cutting subjects out, but we can still make a modest file size
reduction by cropping it like this:
Resize the Image Open the Original [ Activity 4 Picture ] again & Save it as ... your # & name Activity 4 Resize (ex. 1901Maguire Activity 4 Resize)
In your program menu, select the option to resize - a window should appear
which allows you to enter width and height values for the image.
Adjust these
values and click "OK". You will probably need to make several attempts before
getting the size exactly right (simply undo the resize and try again).

Notes:
- The image width and height can be different units such as inches,
centimeters, pixels or percent. You can choose which unit to use - if the
option is not shown in the same window, look in the program's Preferences
menu.
- Most programs have an option to "constrain aspect ratio" (it may be called
something else). This means that if you change the width or height, the other
parameter will automatically adjust to keep the same relative width and
height. This prevents the image from becoming distorted and you should
normally have this option selected.


Footnote:
* All digital images are rectangles. When you see
an image which appears to be an odd shape, the image file is still a rectangle -
it's just that part of the image is either transparent or the same color as the
background. |