Computer Beginner Guide

If you want to insure the most flexibility in your images, make sure to save your images in the Photoshop Document (PSD) format. The PSD format is the only format that supports all of the features found in Photoshop itself. You can specify the default format in which to save files in the File Handling preferences dialog box. 1. If you are a Macintosh user, go to the Photoshop menu and select Preferences -> File Handling. If you are working in Windows, choose Edit -> Preferences and select File Handling. 2. To insure greater backwards compatibility for your files with older versions of Photoshop, check Always Maximize Compatibility for Photoshop (PSD) Files. 3. If you work on or save an image using an earlier version of Photoshop, unsupported features are discarded. 4. If you familiarize yourself with the new features in this version of Photoshop, you can gauge to what extent your PSD file is backward compatible with earlier versions of the software. New features u

After you have your image set, you need to make sure you can use it again at some point in the future. You can use the Save commands in Photoshop to leave the file in its current format, or save it in a different file format. And with Save for Web, you can optimize your images for electronic media. 1. To save changes to a file you are currently working on, select File -> Save. 2. To save a file under a different name or location or both, choose File -> Save As. This opens the Save As dialog box. Afterwards type a file name, choose a location for the file, and then hit Save. To save a file in a different file format, select Choose File -> Save As. Then you need to choose a format from the format pop-up menu. Specify a file name and location, choose your saving options, and then click Save. 3. To save an image in a format that’s suitable for delivery on the Web, choose File -> Save for Web to open the Save for Web dialog box. 4. While in the Save for Web dialog

When text and an image won’t do, you can add the sound of your voice with Audio Annotations. Working in the same manner as text-based Notes, Audio Annotations allow you to tack on a brief audio message to help aid in image development. 1. Make sure you have a working microphone hooked up to your computer and that it accepts audio input from your preferred recording device. 2. Select the Audio Annotation Tool from the bottom left of the Tools palette. If you see only the Notes Tool, press down on the Notes Tool until you see a submenu that includes the Notes Tool and the Audio Annotation Tool. 3. Set options as needed in the context menu: author’s name, which appears in the title bar of the notes window; and the color for the note icon and title bar of the note windows. 4. Select where you want to place the note in the file and click where you want to place the annotation icon. 5. Click Start and then speak into the microphone. 6. When you’re finished, click Stop. A speak

While pictures may speak a thousand words, you might find yourself wanting to make sure a couple of your own words are added for good measure. In Photoshop, you can add text notes around an image to let other workers know details about that image. 1. Select the Notes Tool from the bottom left of the Tools palette. 2. Set the options as needed in the context menu: author’s name, which appears in the title bar of the notes window; the font and size of the text; and the color for the note icon and title bar of the note windows. 3. Select where you want to place the note and click to begin typing. Or you can click and drag to create a custom-sized window. 4. Click inside the note window and type the text. If you want to type more than there appears to be room for, don’t worry. A scroll bar will appear, allowing you to scroll up and down the note text. 5. When editing the text, you can use the standard keyboard shortcuts available on your operating system for Undo, Cut, Copy,

Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF) is a great way to exchange documents with people in the office or across the world. It is the primary format used by Adobe’s Illustrator and Acrobat programs. PDF files display fonts, page layouts, and graphics — including vector and bitmap — and can also contain electronic document navigation features such as hyperlinks. If you want to work with images inside a particular PDF file, without opening the entire PDF in Photoshop, you can! While Photoshop will allow you open whole PDF pages and bring them into the work area, you can also pick just an image out of the PDF. 1. To import an image in a PDF, first select File -> Import -> PDF Image. 2. In the Select PDF for Image Import dialog box choose the PDF file from which you want to import images, and then click Open. 3. If you want to open only a specific image from the PDF file, select it and click OK. 4. To select more than one image, press and hold the Shift key while clicki

Most digital cameras save a digital snapshot in the JPEG format. Saved settings like smoothing, sharpening, or white balance are controlled by the camera and then are fixed when it is saved to the JPEG file format. However, more and more of today’s digital cameras can encode image files into a file format that’s known as RAW. This file format records everything that the digital camera can throw at it and doesn’t lock the settings making the image editable in Photoshop’s Camera Raw dialog box. The Camera Raw dialog box is akin to the darkroom, where photographers can manipulate the printing of the film. Before the image window is opened in Photoshop, the Camera Raw dialog box opens up allowing you to make modifications to the image. When you are finished, Photoshop inputs your corrections and opens the image to prepare it for digital editing. 1. To bring up the Camera Raw dialog box, first save the RAW digital files onto your hard drive. These files have the .crw file exte

In addition to looking for images, you can also organize your images in the File Browser itself. This method makes it easier to organize files because you can sort the images based on their thumbnails. 1. In order to create a new folder, either select File -> New Folder, right-click in the Folders palette (Windows OS), or Ctrl-click and select New Folder (Mac OS). 2. In the File Browser window, click the untitled folder name and wait for the text editing options to show. Then edit the folder’s name. When you’re done entering the folder name, click anywhere in the File Browser window to exit the editing mode. 3. To move a file from one location to a new folder, simply select the image thumbnail and drag it to a different folder. 4. To copy a file to a new location, press Alt (Windows OS) or Option (Mac OS) and drag the file to a different folder. 5. To delete a file, click the file you want to delete. Then do one of the following: Click the Trash button at the top of t

In addition to browsing images based on thumbnails, you can also sort the images based on a number of criteria. You can even rank the image based on a letter scale of A through E. This sorting method takes browsing images to a whole new level. 1. In order to change the display of files, click View on the File Browser’s menu bar. 2. To sort files, click Sort on the File Browser’s menu bar. (adjacent to the View button), and choose a sorting option. You can select from a wide range of sorting methods: Filename, Flag, Rank, Width, Height, File Size, Resolution, File Type, Color Profile, Date Created, Date Modified, and Copyright Notice. 3. Below the options for sorting methods, the order for the images can be displayed in ascending order by checking Ascending Order. This option displays files ordered from smaller to greater values of the sorting method you picked. If you selected the Filename sorting method, numbers at the start of a file name are shown first, followed by le

Keeping track of all the images on your hard drive can be a daunting task. Even if you take care to label each file name and tuck each file away into its proper folder as best you can, chances are you will still wind up with a lot of images that need to be sorted. And what if you are great at organization, but don’t know which image is best for a particular project? Finding the image you want to work with on your hard drive can be a daunting task as well. Photoshop 7 introduced the File Browser feature, and Photoshop CS supports more features. With great ease you can scan the thumbnails of your images on your hard drive until you’ve found just the image you are looking for. 1. To open the File Browser, select File -> Browse or Window -> File Browser. 2. By default, the File Browser is displayed in the palette well. To display the File Browser in a separate window, choose Show in Separate Window from the palette menu. 3. In the Folders tab, you can navigate the hard

The File -> New command is where you set up your digital canvas. How you set your preferences determines not only the basic size of the image, but also in which medium your image can be displayed. While you can always open a new file and change the settings, make sure to set them properly for the intended use of your image. 1. To create a new file, choose File -> New. This command brings up the New image dialog box where you can specify the desired settings. By default, the settings are based on the image dimensions and resolution contained in the Clipboard. If the Clipboard does not contain image data, the image dimensions and resolution are based on the last image that was created. 2. The first choice offered is an input field where you can enter a name for the image. If you choose not to name your image, Photoshop will still create the new image and use the default title in its place instead. 3. You can enter a custom size using the Width and Height input fields,

Sometimes we all need a little help to get us through the lonely, confusing times. And with so many options in Photoshop, we can get lonely and confused more often than we would like. Photoshop comes with an extensive Help System written in HTML, the markup language commonly used to create Web pages. So, when in doubt, launch your browser and surf the Help pages until you find your answer. 1. To access the HTML-based Help System select Help -> Photoshop Help. You will notice the Help System, is divided into two areas. In the left frame is the main navigation area and on the right is the content area. There are five text links at the top of the navigation area: Using Help, Contents, Index, Site Map and Search. 2. If you need help in navigating the content of the Help System, click Using Help to show a series of links in the content area that you can click for more information on using the various Help System features. 3. Select Contents for a series of links that enable

To help Photoshop perform better, it’s always good to give it some finetuning from time to time. The image cache allows Photoshop to increase rendering times of frequently seen areas of an image. In the Memory & Image Cache preferences dialog box, you can set the right balance between speed and performance. 1. If you are a Macintosh user, go to the Photoshop menu and select Preferences -> Memory & Image Cache. As a Windows user, choose Edit -> Preferences and select Memory & Image Cache. If you are in the dialog box from the previous task, you may select Memory & Image Cache from the drop-down menu at the top of the dialog box. 2. The image cache enables Photoshop to increase screen redraw speeds during the editing process by caching, or storing in memory, previews of an image at various zoom levels. As you zoom in or out on the image during editing, it can then pull up the new redraw from the cache rather than reading it from your hard drive. To change the cach

You might think that, out of the box and properly installed, Photoshop is ready to go. If you have extra plug-ins or extra hard disk space, it’s not. While Photoshop is great at handling memory to furnish your digital imaging requests, it doesn’t know the location of third-party plug-ins and where to find that extra hard disk space. Before opening up that next image, specify both of those items in the Plug-ins & Scratch Disk preferences dialog box. 1. As a Macintosh user, you can open the Plug-ins & Scratch Disk preferences dialog box, by going to the Photoshop menu and selecting Preferences -> Plug-Ins & Scratch Disks. As a Windows user, choose Edit -> Preferences and select Plug-Ins & Scratch Disks. If you are in the dialog box from the previous task, select Plug-Ins & Scratch Disks from the drop-down menu at the top of the dialog box. 2. To set an Additional Plug-Ins folder, first select the option next to the Additional Plug-Ins Folder headin

The default color for guides and slices in Photoshop is light blue. When you are working on an image that contains the color blue or if you just don’t like the default color, you can change the color of these helpful guides, grids, and slices to a more suitable color using the Guides, Grid & Slices preferences dialog box. 1. If you are a Macintosh user, go to the Photoshop menu and select Preferences -> Guides, Grid & Slices to bring up this dialog box. As a Windows user, select Edit -> Preferences and select Guides, Grid & Slices. If you are in the dialog box from the previous task, select Guides, Grid & Slices from the dropdown menu at the top of the dialog box. 2. To change the color of the guides, select from a predetermined list of colors in the drop-down menu or select Custom to pick your own color. If you select Custom, Photoshop’s color picker pops up. Select the color you want and then press OK. The default guide color is light blue. 3. You

The old builder’s adage “measure twice; cut once” holds just as true in digital imaging as it does in woodworking. If you don’t measure your images carefully in the correct units, you might end up with an image that is too small or too large for your purposes. In the Units & Rulers preferences you can choose your units for rulers, column sizes, resolutions, as well as the point or pica sizes. 1. If you are a Macintosh user, go to the Photoshop menu and select Preferences -> Units & Rulers to open the Units & Rulers Preferences dialog box. If you are working on the Windows platform, choose Edit -> Preferences and select Units & Rulers. If you are in the dialog box from the previous task, select Units & Rulers from the drop-down menu at the top of the dialog box. 2. In the Units & Rulers preferences dialog box, under Units, you can select several units for Rulers: pixels, inches, cm (centimeters), mm (millimeters), points, picas, or percent. 3.

The grid has become somewhat of a culture icon to many Photoshop users. It’s been a part of Photoshop for a long, long time to help users determine the level of transparency in their images. But now you get the chance to modify the appearance of this checkerboard-like grid to your own individual tastes. In the Transparency & Gamut preferences dialog box, you not only get to define the color for the out-of-gamut warning, but also customize the size of the classic Photoshop grid. 1. To bring up the Transparency and Gamut preferences dialog box on the Macintosh platform, go to the Photoshop menu and select Preferences -> Transparency & Gamut. On the Windows platform, select Edit -> Preferences and select Transparency & Gamut. If you are in the dialog box from the previous task, select Transparency & Gamut from the dropdown menu at the top of the dialog box. 2. To adjust the size of the checkerboard pattern, select Small, Medium, or Large from the Grid S

Icons are all over Photoshop. They enable you to quickly pick and choose from a wide array of editing options. In the Display & Cursor preferences dialog box you can choose whether to show channels in color, double the pixels of your images, or use dithering. You can also specify what icons you would like to see while editing an image. 1. For Macintosh users, go to the Photoshop menu and select Preferences -> Display & Cursors. For Windows users, select Edit -> Preferences and select Display & Cursors. If you are in the dialog box from the previous task, you may select Display & Cursors from the drop-down menu at the top of the dialog box. 2. In the Display and Cursor preferences dialog box, under Display, you can colorize each channel component. To have a channel reflect the color it represents, select Color Channels in Color, instead of the default grayscale representation in the color channels. 3. If you want to dither colors that your video card c

There are so many options in Photoshop, you might get carried away and forget what you did when you try to recreate an effect. Or you might need to make notes of how to recreate a certain effect in Photoshop for your coworkers so they can do it on their own (and stop pestering you for once). Photoshop CS enables you to keep a log of all your digital imaging movements. You can manage your history log options in the General preferences dialog box. 1. If you are a Macintosh user, select Photoshop -> Preferences -> General. If you are a Windows user, select Edit -> Preferences -> General. 2. To keep track of the steps you take in Photoshop CS, select the History Log checkbox. 3. Click the Metadata option if you want to save the history log information with the file you are working on. 4. If you want to save the information to a separate text file, select the Text File option. 5. To determine the location of the history log text file, click the Choose button to br

How you handle your images after importing them into Photoshop is almost as important as creating the images themselves. In this set of preferences, you can specify how you want Photoshop to manage image previews, file extensions, and workgroup functionality. You can also set file compatibility and the number of files that should be displayed in the list of recent files on the File menu. 1. If you are a Macintosh user, go to the Photoshop menu and select Preferences -> File Handling. If you are a Windows user, choose Edit -> Preferences and select File Handling. 2. In the File Preferences dialog box, the first set of preferences under File Saving Options concerns image previews. Image previews are small snapshots of the overall image. These images are referred to as thumbnails and allow for easier management of your files. You can set the image preview preference to Always Save, Never Save, and Ask When Saving. 3. The Macintosh version of Photoshop CS also ena

Today almost all communication takes place over Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) version 4, in which each computer has a 32-bit address that is commonly viewed as four numbers separated by decimals. For example, 10.10.10.5 is an IP address for a machine. Although it is possible to manually configure each machine with an IP address (known as static IP configuration because it doesn’t change), doing so is cumbersome in large environments and is hard to track if machines are reinstalled or replaced. The Windows Server platform provides the DHCP service, which allows clients, at startup, to send a request over the network for an IP address (a DHCP lease request). A DHCP server that has a database of IP addresses that can be given out, and leases that can be offered, services the request. The duration of this IP address lease is configurable, but is 8 days by default. At the midpoint of the lease duration, the client attempts to contact the DHCP server a

At the end of 2007, Microsoft released Windows Server 2008. Some of the major new features include but are not limited to the following: Network Access Protection (NAP). This feature is also part of Windows Vista and available as an update for Windows XP SP2. It requests a statement of health (SoH) from each connecting machine, and checks the SoH against health policies for the network. If the connecting machine does not meet the network health level, Windows Server quarantines it and, optionally, sends updates to bring it up to required health levels. Internet Information Services (IIS) 7. IIS fully integrates with Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows SharePoint Services, and Web Services. IIS is highly componentized, allowing the installation of specific modules, and is managed via an IIS Manager interface. Initial Configuration Tasks (ICT). ICT shortens the time between installation and enterprise use by giving administrators a more intuitive

R2D2 At the end of 2005, Microsoft started a new tradition, releasing Windows 2003 R2 (short for Release 2). There are two important factors for this R2 release: Windows 2003 R2 is Windows 2003 with Service Pack 1 built in. It has no new kernel changes or modifications to the core OS. The R2 relates to a second supplied CD that contains new features originally slated for and built in to the Windows Server 2008 OS. R2 releases will be seen in other products in the Microsoft line. Windows 2003 R2 comprises two CDs: the first CD contains Windows 2003 with SP1, and the second contains the new content. After installation of the first disc, the installer prompts the user to insert the second CD. If a server is already running Windows 2003 SP1, only the second CD has to be inserted. The only actual change made to the core OS is that a new version of the MMC (3.0) is installed before the second CD is executed and new features are added. The new version of the MMC allows fo

In 2003, Microsoft released Windows 2003 (WNT 5.2). This was the first server-only release, and there was no Windows 2003 Professional. Microsoft made up for that with a new server version, releasing four Windows Server 2003 products. The new Web edition was a much-scaled-back version of the Windows Server product and aimed at combating the trend of using free Linuxbased services for hosting web sites. You might run Windows 2000 servers today, so the following list covers the new features of Windows 2003. These features carried into Windows Server 2008, so they are still reasons to migrate to the latest server OS. The Microsoft .NET Framework became a core part of the OS. New Active Directory features provided prune and graft functionality, allowing you to move and rename domains within an Active Directory forest. Domain controllers were added via a system state backup of another domain controller, instead of copying all domain information over the network. Inte

Windows 2000 was a long time in the making. Windows 2000 Professional (instead of Workstation) replaced all previous versions of Windows in a business environment, desktop or laptop. Windows 2000 Professional had plug-and-play support, an improved network for both wired and wireless networks, and full USB and infrared support, which was important for laptop users. Windows 2000 also included Internet Explorer 5.01. The server versions introduced Active Directory, which was Microsoft’s first true directory service offering. Until Windows 2000, centralized accounts and management were based around the domain concept, using the Security Accounts Manager (SAM), which was a flat structure consisting of users, computers, and groups, with relationships to other domains via manually maintained, nontransitive trusts. Active Directory was a true directory service that enabled Microsoft-centric networks to offer far more sophisticated solutions with a more granular management structu