Introduction to Photoshop - Setting up a new document

Setting Up a New Document

 

When first opening Photoshop, this is the screen I was met with. All the main tools are listed  down the left hand side, with the layers menu and colour editing tool on the right. The first thing I did after this was go into file at the top of the menu, and select "new" in order to create a new document.

When creating a new document, one of the most important things to do is make sure that the document type is set to International Paper. Not only does it make sure your document is A4, it puts all the right pre-sets in place so that the only thing you may have to modify is the resolution. The resolution should always be set to 300, as it gives the best quality image later on. The resolution means how many pixels there are in one square inch of the document; meaning the more pixels, the higher quality it will look. The minimum resolution setting would be 150, but 300 is always best. It is important to make sure all the document settings are correct before you start creating posters or art on your document, as it will affect the way your work looks and the size it will be when it is printed. If any of these are wrong, the work may be too big or too small, and low quality. Keeping all this in mind, I made sure that my document was set to International Paper and resolution at 300.

Also, it is important to know that everything you add to a document is on a separate layer. This means individual shapes, pictures, brushes and textboxes. To make sure I am not doing everything on my background layer or all on one layer, I have added several of them to the document to work on. This will prevent it from being difficult to adjust and delete objects if I need to move or get rid of anything I add.