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Photoshop
C.B. Cook
Hello, friends! I’m C.B. Cook, author of Twinepathy and Paralyzed Dreams. I’m a teenager/college student and a
self-published author. I’m really happy to be here with you guys! I’m going to
be discussing Photoshop with you today, as we talk about publishing.
Almost everyone has a cover creation software that
they absolutely love, if they make their own covers. Mine is Photoshop. Now, I
know Photoshop isn’t for everyone and it has its flaws, so I’d like to go over
some pros and cons of Photoshop and some of my favorite aspects of the program.
Pro: Photoshop
has a looooot of tools. As in, so many that I have absolutely no idea what half
of them do.
Con:
It’s true… Photoshop can definitely be confusing. With so many tools, it’s easy
to get lost in the layout trying to find out how to just change your font size!
Pro:
Since Photoshop is a program you install on your computer, you can get extra
fonts, stamps, effects, and more online (some free!) to use in the program,
unlike some online programs.
Con:
Depending on what version of Photoshop you get, tutorials might be off for you,
or they might use tools that don’t exist in your version.
Pro:
Since Photoshop is a program you install on your computer, you can get extra
fonts, stamps, effects, and more online (some free!) to use in the program,
unlike some online programs.
Con:
Installing new fonts and other extras may be hard to figure out, since they
usually have to be in a specific folder.
And finally, the complaint many people have…
Con: Photoshop is really expensive. The fancy extended version is $999. Which is a
lot. The cheapest, which is Photoshop Elements (the one I have), is $79, which
is still pretty expensive.
Pro: If
you’re in school, whether you’re in high school, college, or even homeschooled
(Yay homeschooling!), you can get student discounts. It’s still pricey, but if
you’re wanting to do professional design work, it might be worth it.
A few of my
favorite aspects of Photoshop
I’ve spent quite a bit of time exploring Photoshop
and everything it offers, so I’ve found several things that I really like about
it.
Gradients
Gradients are something I really enjoy using. They
help make thinks stand out more without drawing too much attention to
themselves. If you have white text you want to put on a gray background, you
can put a black gradient behind the text to provide more contrast. True, you
could do the same with a black rectangle, but that draws more attention to that
one spot. On the cover of Paralyzed
Dreams, you can see that I used a gradient behind the title to help the
white text stand out more.
I also like using the gradient tool on text, as
you might have seen on the cover of Twinepathy.
The gradient tool can do normal gradients like the one above, but it can also
do different shapes like diamonds and circles.
The
Eyedropper Tool
This is a tool that’s pretty simple, but it has
saved me multiple times. All this
tool does is pick up a color from a picture in Photoshop so you can use it for
font colors, your paint bucket, and other things. You can only have one
foreground and one background color at a time, so it’s really easy to lose a
color that you might need again.
Quick
Selection Tool
I am terrible at changing out backgrounds. Because
of that, I try to avoid it as much as possible. But when I have to change a
background and can’t avoid it, the quick selection tool helps me a lot.
Basically, this tool will help you outline your central object (a person, a
building, anything) so that you can delete the background or copy the object. I
don’t know if many other programs have this, but it’s a really handy tool.
Those are a
few of the things I really like about Photoshop. Do you use Photoshop? If so,
what are a few of the things you like about it? Comment below with your thoughts!
I fail at using anything like Photoshop lol. I have Gimp which I use to put my covers together, but I still usually do artwork and then patch it all together. Your covers are both awesome, I especially loved the one for Twinepathy. Using programs like Photoshop is definitely an art itself :)
ReplyDeleteHehe, I'm the opposite. I fail at anything using artwork, so I have to find pictures and stuff and do everything in Photoshop. XD Thank you so much! Twinepathy is probably my favorite cover that I've ever done. :) Thanks for the comment!
DeleteInteresting! I'm aware of many different tools in Photoshop and Gimp, but it's fascinating to see examples of how those tools can be used to add awesome elements to covers.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad! At first, I had no idea how to use anything, so it was mostly trial and error. I'm glad I was able to pass on more of that information. Hope it helps you! :)
DeletePhotoshop. :D It's basically one of my favorite programs ever. (Last summer I got to play around with it almost every day and get paid for it and it was so awesome.) But you're right; it is super expensive. :P
ReplyDeleteOooh, that's sounds like fun! I wish I could do that. :D I wish it was cheaper, but the student discount does help. Thanks for the comment!
DeleteI haven't used Photoshop, but with how much people talk about it, it must be pretty great :D. Maybe I'll look into it more, thank you for this post!
ReplyDelete~ Savannah
scattered-scribblings.blogspot.com
You're welcome! Photoshop is one of the standard tools used by people who are serious about graphic design, which is why it's so expensive. If you're planning on doing a lot of graphic design, it might be worth the investment. :)
Delete