[edit] 4 Step Process for Basic Document Manipulation

Photoshop is a very robust program and the CaseLearns series of Digital Images workshops offers comprehensive training. [1]What follows are a few basic steps that one might take for post production.

1. Rotate
Note: More precise rotation is possible but is beyond the scope of this tutorial.

If the image needs to be rotated select Image > Rotate Canvas > > 90 CW, 90 CCW, 180

2.Crop
Cropping helps to create a new composition and eliminates the non-photographic area, which is essential before the next steps.
Note: Cropping to a precise /custom aspect ratio is beyond the scope of this tutorial.

a. Select the Crop Tool on the Toolbar

b. Click and drag a rectangle on the image


c. Fine tune cropping area by dragging side and corner boxes


d. Double click inside the image to commit Crop


e. Here is a view of the cropped image

3. Value Correct
Value Correct helps to distribute your light & dark values. It is more precise than the brightness/contrast tool.

a. Image Adjustments > Levels


b. Adjust the White and Black Arrows


c. Adjust the Grey Arrow


d. Click OK to commit Levels

4. Color Correct
There are many ways of color correcting but Color Balance is the most straight forward tool to demonstrate for this tutorial. A working knowledge of color theory is helpful and can be obtained via the CaseLearns[2] series of Digital Images workshops.

a. Image > Adjustments > Color Balance


b. Adjust the Cyan – Red Balance
c. Adjust the Magenta – Green Balance
d. Adjust the Yellow – Blue Balance


e. Click OK to commit Color Balance



Saving your image as a JPEG quality 12 is virtually uncompressed. For the web, you might consider reducing resolution and increasing compression.