Photoshop Certification Study Guide

Adjustment layer

A special kind of layer used for modifying color and contrast

Adobe Bridge

A digital asset system that allows the sharing of images across multiple Adobe programs

Aspect ratio

The proportion relationship between an image's width and height

Baseline

Used to shift selected characters up or down relative to surrounding text to create exponents or footnotes

Background layer

The back-most image in the layers panel

Character tracking

Changes the spacing between all characters in a block of text

CMYK

A subtractive color model (color space) used in printing that uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black for color channels

Color Gamut

The range of colors that can be displayed by any given device

Contrast

Creating difference between elements on a page. This can be achieved with color or by varying size, fonts, and font styles.

Copyright

The exclusive right to copy, distribute, and profit from a work

Framing

Placing the subject of an image into focus or changing contrast, brightness and cropping an image to highlight the subject

GIF file

A bitmap image format that supports animation

H.264 file

A video coding format that is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of HD video content like Blu Ray dics

Harmony

Pulling the composition of an image together by using repetition or rhythm

Hierarchy

Contains elements that lead the reader through each element in order of significance

Improving readability

Create contrast with font styles and use space and proximity

Indexed color

Images that use a color palette with a default maximum value of 256 colors

JPEG

A commonly used format with lossy compression for digital photography

Kerning

Changes the spacing between two letters of text

MPEG

A standard for lossy compression of video and audio

Non-lossy (full quality) file formats

BMP, RAW and PNG

Non-destructive editing

Changing images without altering the original pixels (adjustment layers)

Pixels

Individual dots that make up an image

PNG

A raster graphics file formats that supports lossless data compression

Raster (or bitmap) image

Represented by pixels in a grid layout and cannot be re-sized without loss of quality

Rasterizing

Converting a vector image into pixels so more special effects/filters can be applied

RAW file

Contains unprocessed, uncompressed grayscale picture data from a digital camera's image sensor, along with information about how the image was captured (metadata)

Readability

Level of ease the reader can understand information in the design which can be improved using spacing and proximity or creating contrast with font styles

Repitition

Creating visual consistency by repeating an element such as colors, styles, or shapes

Resolution

Measurement of an image's size by the number of dots that make up the image

RGB

Color mode best for digital documents (not printed) that allows access top the most features in Photoshop including 3D using Red, Green, and Blue color channels

Rule of Thirds

9 Equal sections divided by equally space horizontal and equally spaced vertical lines used to create a visually appealing image or design

Scale

Using the relative size of elements against each other to attract attention to a focal point

Sans serif font features

Simple modern looking fonts (no decorative lines), better in digital documents due to readability at small sizes

Serif font features

Traditional textbook-style fonts which which better in printed work, has small decorative lines or embelishments

Shape layer

A layer that holds shapes that are created

Smart objects

Contain image data from raster or vector images and allow for nondestructive transforms

SVG file

A vector format that produces high-quality, interactive web graphics

TIFF file

A tag-based file format for storing and interchanging raster images

Tracking

Changes the spacing between all characters in a block of text

Tool bar

Contains all the tools used when working with images including selection tools, etc.

Type layer

A layer that holds type that is created

Vector images

Created with mathematical calculations, can be re-sized without loss of quality

Vector mask

A resolution independent path that clips out the contents of the layer