Adobe 9A0-044 Short Notes: Exam passing tips

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Adobe 9A0-044 Short Notes: Exam passing tips

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Working with the Photoshop UI

• Photoshop enables a user to save the positions of all the open palettes as a workspace.


• Photoshop allows a user to save the current set of keyboard shortcuts as a workspace.


• To load a preserved workspace, choose Window > Workspace, and select the workspace from the submenu.


• Bridge is a modified version of File Browser. It is a stand-alone application. Bridge has its own workspace, menus, and tools like any other application.


• The As Details view option (View > As Details) of the Bridge displays a list of thumbnails along with information about each file in the main viewing area of the Bridge workspace.


• The As Filmstrip view option (View > As Filmstrip) of the Bridge displays thumbnails of files in a scrolling list along with a big preview of the file selected in the list in the main viewing area of the Bridge workspace.


• The Thumbnails view (View > Thumbnails) in Adobe Bridge enables a user to view a list of thumbnails along with the name and the last modification date of each file.


• The Versions and Alternates view (View > Versions and Alternates) in Adobe Bridge enables a user to keep track of the versions of files.


• The Slide Show view (View > Slide Show) in Adobe Bridge enables a user to view a group of images one by one at full screen.


• The Preset Manager (Edit > Preset Manager) manages libraries of styles, swatches, brushes, patterns, contours, custom shapes, preset tools, and gradients.


• The Summarize button in the Keyboard Shortcuts and Menus dialog box is used to export the displayed set of shortcuts to an html document.

Painting and retouching

• The Magic Eraser tool is used to eliminate all similar pixels in an image to transparency with a single click.


• The History Brush tool restores a previous state of an image by using a specified history state or snapshot as a source data.


• The Brush tool is used to apply the foreground color to an image within the area defined by dragging the tool on the image.


• The Patch tool is used to repair a selected area of an image with pixels from another area of the image or a pattern.


• The Destination option is selected in the Patch tool Options bar when a user wants to drag the selection border of the sampled pixels to the source pixels so that the newly selected pixels are patched with the sampled pixels.


• The Dodge tool is used to lighten areas of an image and bring out the highlights.


• The Clone Stamp tool takes a sample of an image and clones it to a part of the same image or to another image.


• The Pattern Stamp tool enables a user to paint an image with a pattern.


• The Aligned option in the Pattern Stamp tool Options bar ensures that the sampled pixels are applied on an image in continuation, without losing the current sampling point, even though the mouse button is released many times.


• The Options bar for the Pattern Stamp tool contains the Pattern drop-down menu that displays various preset patterns.


• The Healing Brush tool is used to repair imperfections of an image by painting with pixels sampled from the same image or pattern.


• The Spot Healing Brush tool enables user to repair imperfections of an image.


• The Color Replacement tool is used to replace specific colors in an image with the foreground color.


• The Background Swatch sampling option in the Options bar of the Color Replacement tool allows to use the background color as a sample color and replace it with the foreground color while dragging the Color Replacement tool on the image without affecting other colors.


• An Airbrush produces soft edged strokes.


• An adjustment layer enables a user to apply color and tonal adjustments of an image without permanently affecting the pixel values.
  
• The Input Levels fields of the Levels dialog box enable a user to adjust the contrast of an image.


• The Output Levels fields of the Levels dialog box enable a user to restrict the range of brightness levels in an image.


• The Curves command (Image > Adjustments > Curves) enables a user to adjust the color and tonality of an image.


• The Input and Output fields of the Curves dialog box enable a user to enter values to adjust the luminosity level of an image.


• Curves in the Curves dialog box enables a user to adjust up to 14 different points throughout a tonal range of an image.


• The Dissolve mode randomly displays the pixels on the active layer and on the layer beneath it.


• The Clear mode makes every affected pixel transparent according to its original opacity.


• The Behind mode allows a user to add a color only to transparent pixels of a layer.


• The Darken mode compares the individual color components of the base color and the blend color, and chooses whichever is darker (Lower value of each component of RGB or higher percent of each value of GMYK) as the result color.


• The Multiply mode multiplies the base color by the blend color. The result color is always darker than the original blend color.


• In the Pin Light mode, when the blend color is lighter than 50% gray, only the pixels of the base color, which are darker than the blend color, are replaced, and the pixels lighter than the blend color remain unchanged.


• The Edit > Define Pattern command enables a user to create new patterns for use with different tools and commands.


• The Angle Gradient button in the Gradient tool Options bar creates shade around the starting point in a counterclockwise sweep.


• The Gradient Editor dialog box contains settings to control the opacity of the color at different locations on the gradient.


• The Exposure Adjustment dialog box has eyedroppers for white, black, and gray point setting. These eyedroppers adjust the luminance values of an image.


• The Exposure slider of the Exposure Adjustment dialog box enables a user to increase or decrease brightness throughout an image.


• The Offset slider of Exposure dialog box is used to darken the shadow and midtone areas without overly affecting the highlights.


• The Brush Tip Shape option of the Brushes palette allows a user to customize the tip shape of a brush.

Creating and using layers

• The Background layer is a layer that is automatically created when a user creates a new image.


• The Layer > New > Layer Via Copy command converts a selection into a new layer.


• The Layer > Arrange > Send to Back command will move the layer down to make it the last layer of the group.


• A layer comp is a snapshot of the state of the Layers palette.


• The Layer Comps palette enables a user to create, manage, and view several versions of a layout in a single Photoshop document.


• Clipping masks enables a user to clip a layer by the content of the layer beneath it.


• An adjustment layer affects all the layers below it.


• Layer masks are grayscale images. They define various levels of transparency. If a user paint the mask in gray, the layer will appear semi-transparent.


• Holding down the Ctrl key (Windows) or the Command key (Mac OS) and clicking on the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers palette will select the visible portion of the layer.


• The Gradient Overlay layer style (Layer > Layer Style > Gradient Overlay) applies a gradient only to a layer's content.


• The Layer > The Layer > Flatten Image command is used to collapse all the layers into a single image. This reduces the size of the file.


• The Layer > New > Background command converts a selected layer into the background layer.


• A layer group acts as a single layer.


• Linked layers act as one unit, but unlike merging, they can be separated at any time.


• A user can select more than one layer to work on them at a time.


• The Lock Transparency button in the Layers palette is used to restrict editing on the transparent portions of a layer.


• The Fill setting affects only the contents of a layer. It does not apply to any masks or layer styles that are applied to the layer.


• A Smart Object is just like a container in which a user can embed raster or vector image data. The embedded image data retains all the original characteristics of the image.


• To edit the source contents of a Smart Object, Select the Smart Object from the Layers palette and double-click the Smart Object thumbnail.
  
• The Export Contents command exports the contents of a Smart Object and save it to any drive.


• The Place command (File > Place) is used to place an artwork into a new layer in an image as a Smart Object.

Working with selections

• The Magnetic Lasso tool is used to select an object with complex edges against a high-contrast background.


• The Elliptical Marquee tool is used to make selections in an oval and circular shape.


• The Feather command (Select > Feather) softens or blurs the edges of an image by fading them to transparency.


• The feathering effects appear when a user moves, cuts, copies, or fills a feathered selection in an image.


• An alpha channel is a special type of channel that stores selections as grayscale images.


• Holding down the Ctrl Shift (Windows) or the Command Shift (Mac OS) keys and clicking the alpha channel adds a saved selection to the existing selection.


• In order to load the saved selection into the image, hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or the Command (Mac OS) key and click the alpha channel.


• Quick Mask mode enables a user to edit any selection by using a mask. It enables the user to use most of the painting tools and filters to modify the mask.


• To edit a selection, select the channel in the Channels palette in which the selection is saved and use a painting or editing tool.

Supporting video

• The Video Preview plug-in enables a user to preview a Photoshop document on a display device through FireWire.


• The Letterbox placement option in the Video Preview dialog box scales a 16:9 image so that it can fit on a 4:3 display.


• The Crop To 14:9/Letterbox option in the Video Preview dialog box crops a widescreen image to a 14:9 aspect ratio.


• The D1/DV PAL Windscreen (1.42) video supports non-square pixels in the ratio of 1.42:1, i.e., the height of a pixel is 1.42 times its width.


• The Pixel Aspect Ratio Correction (View > Pixel Aspect Ratio Correction) option is used to turn the scaling correction off or on.


• Create a new document. In the New dialog box, choose the appropriate pixel aspect ratio from the Pixel Aspect Ratio drop-down menu to create an image for use in a video product.

Understanding file properties

• The image to be printed using a desktop inkjet printer is required to be in RGB mode.
  
• The RGB color mode is based on light. This color mode comprises light of three colors: red, green, and blue. The combination of these three colors in different proportions results in the visible spectrum.


• The Picture Package option of the Tools > Photoshop submenu enables a user to organize multiple copies of a selected image on a single page. These copies can be of different sizes.


• In Adobe Bridge, the Metadata palette displays information about an image currently selected in the Preview pane.


• High Dynamic Range (HDR) images are 32-bits-per-channel images that represent the entire dynamic range of the visible world.


• The Equalize Histogram tonal mapping method in the HDR Conversion dialog box compresses the dynamic range of the HDR image into the contrast range of a normal 16 or 8-bit image.


• The Exposure and Gamma tonal mapping method in the HDR Conversion dialog box enables a user to manually adjust the brightness and contrast of the HDR image.
• The process of color adjustment causes loss in data. When a user apply the adjustment for the first time, it may be possible that the loss in data is not noticeable in the image.
• An image in 16-bit mode gives 2¹⁶ = 65536 colors per channel.


• The benefits of using 8-bit images over 16-bit images are that Photoshop offers more tools to adjust and manipulate 8-bit images than it does with 16-bit images. Also, 8-bit files are smaller and take less disk space than 16-bit images.

Working with vector tools

• The Custom Shape tool is used to draw any of the vast collection of custom shapes.


• A path can be created by using the pen tools or shape tools.


• A path can be converted to a selection.


• The Path Selection tool is used to select and move paths.


• The Direct Selection tool is used to select individual anchor points or segments and manipulate them.


• The shape layer is added automatically to the Layers palette when a user uses a shape tool or a pen tool with the Shape Layer option that is active in the Options bar.


• A work path is a temporary path. It appears in the Paths palette when a user selects the Paths button from the Options bar and draws a path in an image.


• When a path is created, a temporary path named work path appears in the Paths palette. To save the path permanently, double-click on the work path and enter a name in the Save Path dialog box.


• Vector graphics are made up using geometrical formulas to define lines and shapes.


• Raster graphics are resolution-dependent, so they lose details, when scaled.


• The Character palette provides various options for text formatting. It enables a user to set font family, font size, font style, vertical scale, horizontal scale, tracking, language, kerning, leading, and baseline shift.


• The Indent First Line option of the Paragraph palette enables a user to indent the first line of the text in a paragraph.


• Leading is the amount of space between lines of text.


• Baseline shift controls the distance of text from its baseline.

Working with automation

• To resize the image to its original size during action playback, select the Insert Menu Item command from the Actions palette menu and then choosing View > Actual Pixels.


• The View > Zoom In command can be inserted into an action by using the Insert Menu Item command from the Actions palette menu.


• Selecting the Step by Step option of the Playback Options dialog box will complete each command and refresh the image before it goes on to the next command in the action.


• The Save and Close option of the Destination drop-down menu in the Batch dialog box is selected to save files in their current location after applying a specific action on them.


• The Folder option of the Destination drop-down menu in the Batch dialog box enables a user to save files to another location after applying a specific action on them.


• The Crop and Straighten Photos command (File > Automate > Crop and Straighten Photos) automatically straightens and separates each image as an individual file from multiple images scanned together.


• The Contact Sheet II command (File > Automate > Contact Sheet II) enables a user to automatically create and place a series of thumbnails of the images that a user have specified on a single page.


• The File > Automate > Picture Package command is used to organize multiple copies of a source image on a single page.


• The Local Adaptation tonal mapping method adjusts the tonality in the HDR image by calculating the amount of correction necessary.


• A user can set scripts to run automatically on an event, such as opening, saving, or exporting a document in Photoshop.


• When a user saves script files in the Photoshop CS2/Presets/Scripts folder with a .js or .jsx extension, the scripts are listed in the Scripts submenu. To run a script, a user have to choose File > Scripts and then select the script from the list.

Working with filters

• Filters can not be applied on an image with Bitmap or Indexed Color mode.


• The Reduce Noise filter reduces the granular appearance of images.


• The Strength setting of the Reduce Noise filter reduces noise by smoothing out the random variations in brightness levels.


• The Remove JPEG Artifact check box in the Reduce Noise dialog box enables a user to remove problems with low quality JPEG image.


• Gaussian blur occurs when an image is out of focus.


• The Smart Sharpen filter enables a user to sharpen some parts of an image more than others.


• The Amount setting of the Smart Sharpen filter determines the amount of contrast to be added to the pixels.

Managing assets with Bridge

• The File Navigator (Window > Workspace > File Navigator) is one of the four preset workspaces in the Bridge that displays the content area of Bridge in Thumbnails view along with the Favorites panel and the Folder panel.


• The Picture Package option of the Tools > Photoshop submenu in Bridge organizes multiple copies of a selected image on a single page.


• The Keywords panel in Adobe Bridge is used to create and apply keywords to the images.

Using Camera RAW

• White Balance is the name of a system of color correction that describes the lighting conditions in a photograph.


• The sRGB IEC61966-1 color space has a smaller range of colors. It is very suitable for Web graphics.


• The Open button in the Camera Raw dialog box opens copies of the raw image files in Photoshop with the Camera Raw settings applied on it, and leaves the original image untouched.


• The Done button in the Camera Raw dialog box closes the dialog box and saves the Camera Raw settings applied to the camera raw image either in the Camera Raw database or in an individual XML file.


• The Save button in the Camera Raw dialog box enables a user to create multiple versions of an image with different settings applied on them.

Outputting to print

• The Print command (File > Print) is used to print an image. It enables users to print multiple copies of the image.


• The Print with Preview command (File > Print with Preview) enables users to set the position of an image on a page and preview the image to see how it will look when printed.


• The Print with Preview command allows a user to scale the printed image without affecting the actual document size of the image file.


• The Document option in the Print with Preview dialog box uses the actual color profile assigned to the image file to print the image.


• Rendering intents are the methods that are used to convert one color space to another. They determine how the color management system handles out of gamut colors.


• Relative Colorimetric is a rendering intent that preserves original colors in an image rather than perceptual.


• The resolution of the image is inversely proportional to the size of the image.


• The resolution for scan can be estimated by using the ratio of original and final image dimensions, and the resolution of output device.


• The pixel dimension of an image determines the amount of detail in the image.

Managing color

• Characterizing is a term used to describe how a particular device currently reproduces color.


• Each pixel in an image contains a set of color numbers. The color numbers describe the location of pixels in a particular color mode. The appearance of the pixel varies according to different devices, because each device has a particular way of translating the color numbers into visual colors.


• The color management engine is software that works as a translator of the color profile of a device to the color space of another device. It maps color from one device profile to another.


• A color management policy is a procedure to handle color data, which does not match the current color working space while opening and saving a document.


• The Assign Profile (Edit > Assign Profile) command is used to remove color profiles from, reassign color profiles to, or change color profiles in an image. When a profile is assigned to an image, the interpretation of the pixel values, rather than the values themselves, changes.


• Assigning a custom scanner profile to the corresponding scanned image improves color matching with the original image a user scanned.


• In the Working Spaces section of the Color Settings dialog box, a user can specify the default profile that a user want to use for each color model: RGB, CMYK, Grayscale, and Spot.


• Soft proof capabilities of Photoshop allow a user to preview how the image will look in the color space of any output device.

Preparing and outputting images for the Web

• The PNG-24 format supports hard-edged as well as variable transparency. It is suitable for displaying continuous-tone images on the Web, but it produces larger files as compared to the JPEG format.


• The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) format is suitable for displaying indexed-color graphics and images on the Web. It supports transparency.


• The combination of Transparency and Matte options specifies how transparent pixels in an image are optimized.


• Selecting Other from the Matte menu invokes the Color Picker dialog box enables a user to select a matte color.


• When defining variables in a template, The Fit method for Pixel Replacement scales the replacement image without changing its proportion to fit within the bounding box.


• Slices divide page layouts into areas and allows a user to specify independent compression settings to each area.


• In ImageReady, select the Unify Layer Style button of the layers palette to apply the changes made to a layer style to all frames in the animation.


• In ImageReady, Selecting the Paste Over Selection option of the Paste Frames dialog box replaces the configuration of selected frame with the copied frames and adds new layers to the image that contains the contents of the pasted frames.


• For creating some special types of animation, such as changing the color of an object or completely changing the content, a user needs to add layers that have new contents in the Layers palette.

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