Photoshop Final Exam Study Guide

Covers Adobe Photoshop Classroom in a Book (2020 release), Lessons 2–5: Lesson 2 – Basic Photo Corrections Lesson 3 – Working with Selections Lesson 4 – Layer Basics Lesson 5 – Quick Fixes

Resolution:

measured in pixels per inch (PPI)

Higher PP

sharper prints.

Pixel dimensions

the width and height of the image in pixels.

• Image Size

changes pixels

Canvas Size

changes the workspace area.

Use Image>

Image Size to change pixel dimensions and resolution

Crop tool

crop, straighten horizons, and improve compositio

Straighten option

drag along a crooked horizon to level the image.

Spot Healing Brush

click once to remove dust, blemishes, or small distractions

Patch tool (Content-Aware):

select and drag to a clean area to repair larger problems

Clone Stamp

copies pixels exactly from a sampled area to a target area

Basic tonal fixes

Auto Tone, Auto Contrast, Auto Color, and Levels/Curves

Sharpening

usually done near the end of your workflow to make details crisper.

Selections act like temporary masks

only selected pixels are affected by edits.

Selections

You can move, copy, or transform only what is selected.

Quick Selection tool

click and drag; Photoshop expands the selection and finds edges

Magic Wand tool

selects pixels of similar color with one click (Tolerance controls how similar).

Lasso tools

freehand, polygonal, or magnetic for custom shapes

Add/Subtract from selection

hold Shift to add, Alt/Option to subtract.

Select > Deselect

removes the active selection outline.

Select > Inverse

selects everything except the current selection.

Layers are like stacked sheets

top layers can cover layers below

The Background layer

is usually locked by default.

You can reorder layers

by dragging them up or down in the Layers panel.

Hiding a layer

click the eye icon next to the layer.

Opacity

lowers transparency so layers below show through

New Layer icon

creates a new blank layer above the selected layer.

Move tool

moves the selected layer or selected pixels

Duplicate a layer

Layer > Duplicate Layer for a safe copy before editing

Adjustment layers

apply color and tonal changes non-destructively

You can turn adjustment layers

on or off, or change them anytime.

Quick fixes aim

to make a photo look good fast using a few targeted changes

Quick Corrections are

Combine cropping, straightening, basic tonal adjustments, and simple retouching.

Spot Healing Brush & Healing tools

remove blemishes, dust, and small distractions

Patch tool (Content-Aware):

fix larger areas seamlessly

Content-Aware Move

move or extend objects and let Photoshop fill in the background.

Red Eye tool

removes red-eye caused by flash photography

Sharpen filters

used at the end to bring out detail (don’t overdo it).

Resolution**

pixels per inch (PPI); affects print quality

Pixel dimensions**

total width and height in pixels

Selection

specific area of the image surrounded by 'marching ants'.

Layer

separate level in the image that can hold pixels, text, or adjustments.

Background layer

the bottom, locked layer in many documents.

Opacity

how transparent a layer is (100% = solid, 0% = invisible).

Adjustment layer

non-destructive tonal or color change layer

Content-Aware

Photoshop uses surrounding pixels to fill or repair areas.

PSD

Photoshop's native file format that preserves layers and editability.