Image Creation And Editing

• You can edit existing graphics files in Photoshop, including photographs and drawings. Photographs can be merely cleaned up, or you can do special effects on them that include converting color images to monochrome or adding color to black-and-white images. Photoshop also allows you to create images directly. You can draw using just a mouse, but most computer artists prefer to use a graphics tablet and stylus, which works just like a brush. You can draw realistic images in Photoshop or use it to create cartoon images.
  
  

3D Artwork

• Photoshop has been able to edit three-dimensional images since version CS3. The latest version of Photoshop, CS5 Extended, gives you a complete set of tools for working in 3D. You can extrude 2D artwork into 3D, and add shading and texturing to simulate different materials. You can add shadows to your artwork and even change the depth of field to bring different parts of your artwork into focus. Photoshop has a variety of rendering presets and allows you to make cross sections.
  
  

Texture Effects

• You can create many texture effects in Photoshop, from graduated color backgrounds to chrome, rusted metal, paper, glass, wood, plastic, concrete, fabric, and many other textures. You can apply textures to the entire image or just select a portion of the artwork and apply the texture only to that selection. Experiment on your own or try one of the many tutorials on the web.
  
  

Typography

• Photoshop has a type tool that allows you to add words to your images. Photoshop will use the fonts that you have loaded on your computer and will allow you to add captions or other text in either a horizontal or vertical orientation. You can change the colors of the type, add texture and lighting effects, and even extrude the type so it's three-dimensional.
  
  

Lighting And Special Effects

• The lighting and special effects filters that come with Photoshop give you a lot of tools to work with. You can simulate floodlights or spotlights, add lens flare and change the apparent ambient lighting in an image. Other filters let you simulate watercolor paintings, posterize an image, break up your image into mosaics or add motion blur. And third-party software vendors offer plug-ins that you can add to Photoshop for even more options.
  
  

Layer Effects

• Think of several sheets of paper or acetate stacked on top of one another, each with a different image or part of the same image. Photoshop's layers give you the flexibility to work with portions of your artwork without altering the entire image. Layer tools include blending modes and layer styles that can be applied to the individual layers, or else you can group layers and apply effects to the group. Layer effects change the way the layers interact with each other and can radically change your artwork. Opacity, for example, allows you to create ghost-like images, and dissolve will give you a grainy appearance.