What is a Digital Image Overview

What is a digital image?
A digital image is called a bitmap, which is a two dimensional mapping of pixels that are themselves made of bits. This is like a large mosaic of tile pieces. The tile pieces are the pixels and the more tiles you have the more resolution you have.

What is image resolution and megapixels?
Image resolution refers to how many dots-per-inch or dpi an image has. We can also describe this analogously as ppi or pixels per square inch. If you have a higher image resolution you will be able to print in a bigger size or format. Generally, a better quality digital camera, will be capable of delivering a higher image resolution. You will see this capability promoted as a camera’s megapixels.
A megapixel refers to a million pixels. If your camera is capable of taking a photograph 1200 pixels wide and 850 pixels tall, then 1200 x 850 = 1,000,000 pixels (approximately) or 1 megapixel.

How many megapixels do I need my camera to have?
It depends on how big you want to print your images. Technically, you can print your image as big as you want, however it will only have photographic quality and detail if their are 360 dots per inch worth of resolution. Some schools of thought think you can go down to 300 dpi or even 220 dpi and maintain photographic printed quality. My experience tells me 360 dpi is photo quality. So if that is the case how many megapixels would you need to produce a fantastic 8″ x 10″ print? An 8″ x 10″ photograph needs 8″ x 360 = 2880 pixels tall and 10″ x 360 = 3600 pixels wide. 2880 x 3600 = 10,368,000 pixels which mean you would need a 10.4 megapixel camera to produce a fantastic 8″ x 10″ image. My camera is 12.3 megapixels which means I can take 8″ x 12″ at 360 dpi or a 9.5″ x 14″ at 300 dpi.

What is a pixel?
Pixel stands for picture element and it is one tiny square, a combination of color and light, on your screen. It is analogous to one color dot… except that it is a square. The color of a pixel is determined by how many bits of memory have been allotted to it. That is called the ‘bit depth’.

For additional information about pixels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megapixel#Megapixel

What is bit depth (color depth)?
How many bits of memory are being used to color the pixels of an image are its bit depth. You have probably heard that computers are just made up of ones and zeros and that is true. A bit or binary digit has only two values one and zero. So if your image’s bit depth is a 1 bit your picture can only be two colors black and white. For instance zeros would be used represent the black pixels and ones for the white. The point is that each pixel can only have two values 1 or 0, black or white. The binary number system functions just like the decimal except that instead of counting with 10 digits (0 through 9) binary is just 1 and 0. So for instance a grayscale image can have a bit depth of 8 bits meaning each pixel has 256 diferent combinations of 0 and 1, or 2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 = 256 values of gray. A color image can have a bit depth of 24 bits. 8 bits for red, 8 bits for green, and 8 bits for blue (RGB) that means each pixel is made up of a possible 256 values for each channel of red, green, and blue. Total combinations of 1s and 0s is 2 to the 24th power or 16,777,216 different colors. The higher the bit depth the larger the file size and the more colors that are possible. It is important to know that there are different types of image files and each format may have a different bit depth and therefore a different file size.

For additional information about bit depth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_depth

What are the image file formats (saving images)?

You can save your images in different image formats which will result in different file sizes, bit depths, and other capabilities like transparency and saving layered information. Photoshop’s native file format is a .psd file which supports layer information. When saving photographs for posting to the web JPG and PNG are the most popular formats. PNG images can support transparent backgrounds whereas JPGs cannot, but if you do not need transparency JPG images are smaller files and quicker downloads. When saving an image as a JPG you can specify the amount of compression and therefore the quality of the output image. When saving an image as a PNG file you can specify whether to include transparency or not. Here is a table outlining some of the common file formats and their features:

Learning At Lynda.com – What Videos to Watch

These are the videos I recommend watching this week at Lynda.com. Choose the Lynda title to watch based on your version of Photoshop or maybe check out both!:

• Photoshop CS6 for Photographers – with Chris Orwig
  

  Introduction – Watch all of the videos.
  1. Strategies for Success – Watch all of the videos.
  3. Color Settings and Preferences – (Optional) If you are interested in configuring your photoshop color settings then check out these videos out.
  4. The Foundations of Color Management – (Optional) If you are interested in configuring your monitor settings then check some of these videos out.
  5. Getting Started with Photoshop – Great videos for learning the Photoshop interface. Watch as many as you want.
  6. Understanding Digital Images – Watch all of these videos!

• Photoshop CC for Photographers: Foundations – with Chris Orwig
  

  Introduction – Watch all of the videos.
  1. Strategies for Learning Photoshop – Watch all of the videos.
  3. Settings Up Photoshop – Color and interface configuration settings.
  4. Getting Started with Camera Raw – (Optional) If you have a nice digital SLR camera that can shoot Raw photo format you may want to check out these videos.
  6. Getting Started with Photoshop – Videos for learning the Photoshop interface. Watch as many as you want.
  6. Understanding Digital Images and Resizing – Watch all of these videos!

Week 2 Assignment 1 – How to Save a Photograph in Different Sizes and File Formats Using Photoshop
Week 2 Assignment 2 – How to Crop and Straighten an Image

Introduction

Hello my name is Dan Alberghetti and I love Photoshop! I have been using Photoshop since 1988. Ouch! That is a long time; still I learn new things all the time in Photoshop. My original pursuit was fine arts, but on a friend’s suggestion I started using computers and Photoshop. Years later, it is easy to see how I fell in love with computers because of Photoshop. Whether graphics or web design, hardware or software, programming or networking, it all started because of Photoshop. So beware, Photoshop might turn you into a computer nerd too.

As an artist and web designer I hope that Photography and not just Photoshop grabs a hold of you as a lifelong pursuit. We will be learning how to use Photoshop in this class. When it comes to digital imaging and manipulation there are other programs out there, but none that are quite as good as Photoshop. In this class, I will utilize video tutorials from Lynda.com, as well as my own video tutorials that are hosted at YouTube.com. I will also provide written instructions for my assignments. Every week there will be an assignment or creative project.

Class Materials

The content of this class is designed to help you learn Photoshop image manipulation from a novice to intermediate level. In order to provide a wide range of learning material we will utilize video tutorials from Lynda.com. Lynda.com is the leader in providing online, accessible learning and training materials created by professionals in the field. Each of the Photoshop titles at Lynda.com offers a different perspective on Photoshop and digital photography.

In additional to the Lynda.com titles, I write my own assignments and lessons and use my own video tutorials which are hosted online at http://youtube.com/danscourses

For this class, you should have access to a digital camera. It would be great if everyone had a nice entry level, digital SLR like a Canon EOS Rebel or a Nikon. If you have one great! If not, that is okay too as long as you have some sort of point and click digital camera. This class focuses on teaching you digital image manipulation using Photoshop, not Digital Photography in general or how to use your digital camera. For many years, I taught darkroom film photography, yes I said “film,” so you may end up learning things that will help you to take better photographs and make better images!

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I use Photoshop at the college?
  Even if this is an online class there is no reason why you cannot drop into the Library or any college lab and use Photoshop.
• I am an online student, and I can’t get to college?
  If you cannot use Photoshop at the college you should consider purchasing it. As a college student you qualify for student pricing on Adobe products like Photoshop.
• Should I purchase Photoshop?
  Adobe is moving all of their software products to a subscription model, the Adobe Creative Cloud. I recommend purchasing Photoshop CS6 if you can find it.
• Should I subscribe to Photoshop through the Adobe Creative Cloud?
  As a student, you qualify for a discount monthly subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud. You can subscribe to the entire Adobe Suite of software products or just a single program like Photoshop. Either way, you should try the free 30 day trial of Adobe Creative Cloud and PhotoshopCC.
• How can I assure that I will be successful?
  The students that attend class regularly, by logging in online weekly, even daily, will be successful. For my online classes, I recommend that students sit down and create a weekly schedule of times that they will work on class assignments.
• How will I turn in assignments?
  Assignments will be turned in online through the college Blackboard system.
• How will I be graded?
  I grade on a point system. Every week you will have the opportunity to earn points by doing projects. This class involves project based learning. Each week you will be asked to take photographs, import them into your computer, and edit and manipulate them with Photoshop, it’s that simple! The projects and  assignments are mostly created form my own experiences. To earn full points on a project or assignment, you will need to follow the instructions and accomplish the tasks presented to you. Beyond taking images and using Photoshop, assignment tasks may require research, creative thinking, or posting a comment or an image online. If you follow the instructions and apply yourself in a thoughtful manner I am sure you will receive full points! Ultimately your final grade is based on scale of total points earned versus total points possible.

Week 1 Overview

As soon as possible you will need to purchase your Lynda.com learning materials. To do this, you will need the course invitation code which I will email to you. the cost is going to be under $30 and will give you access to 5 amazing titles for the length of the class. By default, I will send your Lynda.com course invitations to your college email accounts. Please look out for an email from Lynda.

Online students will need access to Adobe Photoshop to do the class assignments. Note: Adobe Elements is not Adobe Photoshop. All of the assignments can easily be done with Adobe Photoshop CS5, CS5.5, CS6, CC. Most of the assignments can be done with an earlier version of Photoshop like CS2 and CS3.

Course Requirements

1. Acquire access to Adobe Photoshop – using either a free 30 day of Adobe Creative Cloud, a computer at the college lab or library, purchasing directly from Adobe.com or creationengine.com, or purchasing a subscription to the Creative Cloud.
2. Purchase the Lynda.com course materials – using the hyperlink invitation code sent to you by college email, you will need to purchase access to the course materials through Lynda.com directly.

Week 1 Assignment – 6 Word Memoir

1. Create an online photo sharing account – to share your projects and images with the rest of the class. There are many popular free photo/image sharing websites like Instagram, Flickr, Photobucket, Imgur, DeviantArt, and Shutterfly. Picasa has been enveloped by Google+ web albums. If your personal photo sharing account supports it, try creating a web album or special folder for your class projects.
2. 6 Word Memoir – I want you to introduce yourself to the class with a single Photograph and 6 word title. The photograph has to have a creative, maybe even esoteric 6 word title. First, listen to this short audio piece on NPR about 6 word memoirs . The photograph and the six word title should function together in an interesting and poetic way. In other words, the title shouldn’t just be “Me and Joe at the Beach,” but something that is maybe incongruous to the picture or opens up some other meaning that can’t be seen in the image. The assigment is complete when you have submitted a hyperlink to your Photograph with 6 Word title in Blackboard. Remember that this assignment, image and image title will be shared with the whole class.
   Technical Note: You need to make sure that the link to your online photograph works. Many times in the past a student will send me a link to a photograph that is locked or only viewable to the owner of the online account.