Digital Photography and Imaging - Week 3: Digital Collage (Pen Tool Exercise)

Week 3 (07.10.2024)

Samantha Kristalyn / 0373905 

Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Digital Photography and Imaging - Project 1B: Digital Collage  

---

JUMPLINKS

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

---

LECTURES

Introduction to Photoshop (2) 

On our third lecture, Mr. Fauzi explained further about the tools on Adobe Photoshop and how they are utilized in creating designs. He introduced us to various of tools with different practicalities such as the Lasso tool and the Pen tool. Mr. Fauzi also taught us about layering and the importance of doing so on Photoshop every time we create a design. 

Lasso Tool

The Lasso tool is similar to a pencil, and it allows us to draw and pinpoint specific areas of a document easily. When we click on the Lasso tool from the toolbar, we will be given three options to choose from: 

1. Lasso → The Lasso tool in Photoshop allows people to make freehand selections by clicking and dragging around the area they want to select. It's ideal for irregular shapes but requires a steady hand for precision.  

2. Polygonal Lasso →  This tool creates straight-edged selections by clicking at points to form a shape, making it useful for selecting objects with defined edges.

3. Magnetic Lasso →  This tool automatically snaps to the edges of an object as you drag, using contrast differences, making it perfect for selecting objects with high-contrast edges.

Fig 1.1, The Lasso tool, (14/10/24)

Pen Tool

The Pen tool is used to create a path from scratch, the lesser the points we make, the smoother the path will be. Adding points and dragging them will determine how the paths will look.

Fig. 1.2, The Pen tool, (14/10/24)

The Pen tool can be used to create various paths and shapes, such as these five:

Fig. 1.3, Variations of the Pen tool, (14/10/24)

The difference between the Lasso tool and the Pen tool

Lasso: allows people to draw any type of shape manually. 

Pen: used to create precise shapes based on the vector paths.

Layering

Layering itself defines the act of stacking different images and elements on top of each other.

Layering is important to do every time we create a piece so that we can edit and use each layer separately without affecting one another. When combined, the layers will create one final image.       

---

INSTRUCTIONS

---

TUTORIAL

Paths, masking, and layering

1. Paths

Paths are vector-based lines or shapes created with the Pen tool. They can either be straight lines or curves. Paths are primarily used for precise selections, outlines, or to create shapes. They are scalable without losing quality.

Example of use: Tracing an object to cut it out or create custom shapes.

 

2. Masking

Masking allows to hide or reveal parts of a layer without permanently deleting anything.

Types of masking:

- Layer Mask → controls transparency in specific areas of a layer using black (hide), white (reveal), and gray (partial transparency).

- Clipping Mask → restricts the visibility of a layer to the shape of transparency of the layer beneath it. 

Masking is generally used for non-destructive editing, allowing flexibility to refine or reverse changes.

3. Layering

Layers stack elements (images, text, shapes, etc.) in Photoshop. Each layer works independently but interacts with others. Layering organizes and manages project elements. 

---

PRACTICAL

Week 3 : PROJECT 1B - Digital Collage

After we got our access to Adobe, we were assigned to create three compositions out of the images that Mr. Fauzi provided us. It was quite challenging for me because of the limited materials. Out of all the components, I ended up creating these three compositions using Photoshop:

Composition #1

Fig. 4.1, Composition #1, (14/10/24)

Composition #2

Fig. 4.2, Composition #2, (14/10/24)

Composition #3

Fig. 4.3, Composition #3, (14/10/24)

After Mr. Fauzi checked on all of the compositions that I've made, he said that he liked the third one best so for the next task, I will be using the third composition.  

---

FEEDBACK

General Feedback

Mr. Fauzi opened each one of our documents to review the three compositions that we have made on Photoshop for our digital collage. He chose one composition out of the three for us to continue completing for the next project where we will do layer adjustments and play around with the filters.    

Specific Feedback

Mr. Fauzi said that the first two compositions are alright, but the best one is the third one.  

---

REFLECTIONS

Experience

Observation

Findings