Tools of the Trade Class

1. Download the two original files: laptop.psd and lilypads.psd
2. Open them in Photoshop
3. We will begin by working on laptop.psd
4. First, let’s create a copy of our “background” layer. To do this, in the “layers” palette, click and grab the “background” layer, dragging it over the “Create a new layer” icon. If you are successful, you will have a new layer called “Background Layer Copy”

Photoshop Tip: If you can’t find or see your “layers” palette, you can find it under the “windows” menu. You might have to turn it on a couple times in case it is hidden underneath an already existing palette.

5. Now lets rename out new layer. Double click directly onto the words “Background Copy” and a highlighted text box should appear allowing you to change the layer name. Change the name to “Laptop”.
6. Then, turn off the layer visibility of your original “Background” layer by clicking on the “eyeball” icon next to the “Background” layer. Your layer palette should look like this (minus the red boxes of course):

7. How this illusion works is we actually place the lilly pads picture behind the computer, so we need to get rid of some of our laptop image so the lily pads can show through. It’s a lot like cutting a mat so the picture can show through. You can use any of the Photoshop selection tools to do this, but I have found that the Polygonal Lasso Tool seems to work best. It is underneath the regular “lasso tool” in the tool palette.

8. There are a couple tips to keep in mind when using this tool. First: the tool’s “sweet” spot is at the base of the lasso. Second: don’t click and drag, instead, click and let go where you want a point and then more your cursor to the next spot where you want a point, click and let go, etc. Thirdly, when you are done creating your square selection and you’re back to your original point, watch for a circle to appear in your cursor icon, than click. The circle is Photoshop’s way   of saying that you have selected your original point. If you don’t wait for the circle, Photoshop will think you are still creating your selection and you’ll start having lines everywhere.

Remember: Photoshop will never do anything you didn’t tell it to do, but it might do something you didn’t expect it to do.

9. For this exercise, we should click a point in the upper left, bottom left, bottom right and upper right corner of the computer screen. Look for that circle when you get back to your original point. You might also want to zoom in on your image to see a little better.

Photoshop Tip: You can quickly zoom in and out of your image using the keyboard shortcut “command+plus sign” and zoom out –“command+minus sign”. When you are zoomed into your image you can use hold down the spacebar to move around your image. Remember that this won’t work if you are in your type tool.

10.  Now, you should have “marching ants” indicating your selection.
11.  Make sure your “background” layer is hidden, and make sure your “laptop” layer is selected. Your selected layer will be in blue, and its name will be in bold.

12.  Now press delete and then “command+d” to release your selection, your screen should look like this:

13.  Now we are ready to bring in the lily pads image.
14.  The easiest way to bring the lily pads image onto the laptop image is to drag it. So stack your laptop and lily pads image like this on your screen if you can:

15.  Using the “black arrow” tool, click onto the lily pads image and drag it onto the laptop image. The trick to getting this to work is to make sure you drag the lily pads image all the way onto the laptop image. If you don’t Photoshop will yell at you saying “Could not complete your request because the layer is locked.” If you are successful, your lily pads will be on top of your laptop. You can use the black arrow tool to move and center the lily pads on the laptop image. Now you should have something like this. Notice there is a new layer in your “layers” palette.

16.  Let’s rename that layer “lily pads”. Remember, to do that you double click directly on the words “Layer 1”
17.  Now we are going to move our lily pads behind our laptop. To do that, we are going to use our “layers” palette. Select our “lily pads” layer and drag it underneath the “laptop” layer. Now it should look something like this:

18.  Now lets’ resize our lily pads image so it fits a little better in our computer screen. With the “lily pads” layer selected, go “command+t”. That’s free transform so now we can hold “shift and resize our lily pad image. You might need to make your image window bigger so you can see grey around your image to see the free transform toggle bars.
19. When you have your lily pad image the size you want, press “return” or “enter.”

    And there you have it, now your ready for that job making flyers for
Best Buy and Target!!