Adobe Photoshop Lecture Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering key Adobe Photoshop terminology, tool definitions, shortcuts, color modes, and file formats from lecture notes.

Pixel

The smallest building block of a digital image (Picture Element). For example, a screen width of $800$ pixels and height of $600$ pixels yields a total of $800 \times 600 = 480,000$ pixels.

Adobe Photoshop

A graphic design application used for professional image editing, photo retouching, creating digital artwork, designing social media posts, banners, UI mockups, posters, and more.

PPI (Pixels Per Inch)

The unit used to measure image resolution for digital screens, with $72\text{ PPI}$ as the default standard.

DPI (Dots Per Inch)

The unit used to measure resolution for high-quality printing, with $300\text{ DPI}$ recommended for print output.

Raster Graphics

Images made of pixels that lose quality and become pixelated when enlarged (e.g., JPEG, PNG, TIFF). Adobe Photoshop mainly works with raster graphics.

Vector Graphics

Graphics made of mathematical paths that can scale without any loss of quality (e.g., AI, SVG, EPS). Adobe Illustrator mainly works with vector graphics.

PSD File Format

The default editable native file format for Adobe Photoshop documents.

JPEG File Format

A standard compressed raster image file format commonly used for photos.

PNG File Format

A raster image format that supports transparent backgrounds.

TIFF File Format

A high-quality raster image file format standard for high-end printing.

GIF File Format

An image file format commonly used for simple animations.

RGB Color Mode

A color mode consisting of Red, Green, and Blue, designed specifically for digital screens.

CMYK Color Mode

A color mode consisting of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, designed for physical printing.

Grayscale Color Mode

A color mode used exclusively for black-and-white images.

Lasso Tool (L)

A freehand or random selection tool that requires manual cursor movement to outline a custom area.

Polygonal Lasso Tool (L)

A selection tool that creates straight-edged selections by connecting point-to-point clicks, ideal for angular shapes like buildings and boxes.

Magnetic Lasso Tool (L)

A selection tool that automatically snaps to the edges of an object based on color and contrast boundaries as you trace around it.

Object Selection Tool

A tool powered by Adobe Sensei AI that automatically detects and selects a specific object when a rough rectangle or lasso is drawn around it.

Quick Selection Tool (W)

A brush-based tool that automatically finds and expands to edges based on color and texture similarity as you paint over an area.

Magic Wand Tool (W)

A selection tool that selects pixels of similar color or tone with a single click, controlled by the Tolerance setting.

Selection Brush Tool

A mask-based brush tool that allows manual painting of a selection for detailed or irregular shapes where automated tools fail.

Tolerance Setting

A parameter for the Magic Wand Tool that controls color sensitivity; low tolerance selects narrow color ranges while high tolerance selects a wider color range.

Spot Healing Brush Tool (J)

A retouching tool that removes small blemishes, spots, and imperfections with a single click by automatically sampling surrounding pixels.

Healing Brush Tool (J)

A retouching tool that requires manually sampling a source point (Alt + Click) before painting to blend texture, lighting, and shading into a target area.

Patch Tool (J)

A retouching tool used to select an unwanted area and drag it over a clean source area to replace it while automatically blending texture and lighting.

Remove Tool (J)

A retouching tool used to delete selected objects or unwanted areas from an image.

Red Eye Tool (J)

A tool used to remove the red reflection caused by flash photography by clicking directly on the red portion of the eye.

Layer Mask

A non-destructive feature allowing parts of a layer to be hidden or revealed at any time; white foreground color reveals image content, while black background color hides it.

Feather

A setting applied to selection edges to soften them so that cut or copied images blend smoothly into new backgrounds.

Free Transform Shortcut

Ctrl + T; used to scale, rotate, or modify the dimensions of an image or layer.

Duplicate Layer Shortcut

Ctrl + J; creates a copy of the currently selected layer or selection.

Fill Foreground Color Shortcut

Alt + Backspace; fills the active layer or selection with the current foreground color.

Fill Background Color Shortcut

Ctrl + Backspace; fills the active layer or selection with the current background color.

Inverse Selection Shortcut

Shift + Ctrl + I; inverts the active selection area.

Deselect Shortcut

Ctrl + D; removes the active selection from the document.