The Warp feature is an image transformation option that was first introduced in CS2. Using this feature it is possible to distort an image layer in ways similar to how the Warp Text option manipulates text layers.

Select the layer to warp and then choose the Warp type from the preset entries in the drop-down menu in the tool’s options bar (1). Alternatively you can select the Custom option and then interactively push and pull the warp grid (2) to manipulate the picture yourself.

One of the special features of the Photoshop type system is the ‘Warping’ option.

This tool forces text to distort to one of a range of shapes. An individual word, or even whole sentences, can be made to curve, bulge or even simulate the effect of a fish-eye lens.

The button (1) for the option is found on the options bar of the Type tool. The feature’s dialog contains a drop-down menu list of styles (2) and a choice between vertical and horizontal warping (3). The strength and style of the effect can be controlled by manipulating the bend, horizontal and vertical distortion sliders (4).

This feature is particularly useful when creating graphic headings for posters or web pages.

The Warp tool is one of the specialized tools in the Liquify filter. The Warp tool is used to push pixels as you move the cursor.

After selecting the tool from the top left of the dialog carefully drag the cursor over the canvas surface. Use the Reconstruct tool to repair areas where the warping effect is too great.

The example shows how easily an existing photo can be drastically changed by warping specific picture parts.

The area that is pushed is determined by the brush size on the right of the dialog. To make gradual rather than abrupt changes use a lower brush pressure. To warp along a straight edge click to start the line and then Shift-click to mark the end.

The Water Paper filter, as one of the group of Sketch filters, simulates the look of the photo being painted on a very wet textured watercolor paper. The edges of the picture are very soft and with some details lost altogether. The colors and shapes blend into each other and, in contrast to these parts, occasionally the sharp texture of the paper shows through.

The dialog contains three controls that adjust the tone and texture effects. The top slider, Fiber Length (1), alters the sharpness and clarity of the painted image. Low values create a sharper picture with more of the original details preserved. The Brightness slider (2) works like a standard brightness control. High values produce a brighter picture, low values a darker one. The final setting, the Contrast slider (3), determines the overall contrast of the final result.

The Watercolor filter, as one of the group of Artistic filters, adds both texture and brush stroke effects to the photo.

The dialog contains three controls that adjust the painting and texture effects. The top slider, Brush Detail (1), alters the look of the painted areas. The Shadow Intensity slider (2) controls how much of the picture is converted to darker tones. High values mean more of the picture is shadowed. The final setting, the Texture slider (3), determines how detailed the painted areas of the picture will be.

Digital watermarks are slight, almost imperceptible, changes that are made to pictures to store copyright and author’s details within the image.

Photoshop has the ability to embed (very basic versions), detect and read the digimarc.com style of watermarks. These are created and added to images either by the stand-alone software provided by the company or via fi lter plug-ins in programs like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

To check to see if a picture you are editing is watermarked, select Filter > Digimarc > Read Watermark (1). Marked pictures will then display a pop-up dialog with author’s details and a linked website where further details of use can be obtained (2).

To embed a simple watermark select Filter > Digimarc > Embed Watermark and then select the options to include (3).

Note: The example pop-up dialog shown here is in Demo mode. Registered users of the Digimarc system can mark their pictures with more extensive information including name, address, e-mail and URL personal details.

The Wave filter, as one of the group of Distort filters, breaks up the picture by pushing and pulling the pixels in the form of a series of vertical and horizontal waves. The end results can be subtle or extreme depending on the settings used.

The dialog contains several controls that are used to adjust the wave-like pattern created on the picture surface. These include wavelength, amplitude, scale and number of wave generators (1). The effects of different settings for these controls can be previewed in the accompanying thumbnail (2).

The Web Photo Gallery Wizard is an automated feature that takes a group of pictures that have been multi-selected in Bridge and transforms them into a fully functioning website in a matter of a few minutes.

Folders of pictures or images currently open in the Photoshop workspace are used as the source photos when the feature is selected from within Photoshop.

Photoshop ships with a variety of gallery templates which can be selected and previewed from inside the dialog.

The text included in the gallery, along with picture size and quality, and site colors and security options are set via the controls included in the tabbed section of the dialog.

Most templates produce a gallery site that includes thumbnail and feature-sized photos. Many contain a main or index page, a series of thumbnails (1) and a page for each image containing a larger gallery or feature picture (2).

The Web Safe set of colors is a group of216 colors that can be accurately displayed by both Macintosh and Windows systems.

Constructing your image of, or converting existing hues to, these colors will guarantee that they display predictably as part of a website on any computer system.

The Swatches palette (1) will display all the Web Safe Colors when the option is selected from the pop-up menu that is displayed when the side-arrow button (2) is pressed.

When choosing colors with the Color Picker a Small Cube icon indicates the selected hue is not a web safe color. Click the cube to get Photoshop to find a web safe color that is nearest your choice (3).

When converting photos to the GIF format using the Save for Web & Devices feature you can elect to use the Web Safe palette (Restrictive option) for the conversion(4).

When Photoshop is first opened, the user is presented with a Welcome Screen containing several options.

The selections are broken into two different sections - one detailing what is new in this version of the program and the second listing available tutorials.

To stop the screen displaying each time the program is opened deselect the Show this dialog at startup setting in the bottom left of the screen. The feature can be displayed at any time by selecting Help > Welcome Screen.

Below is a list of the Welcome Screen options for version CS2 of the program:

• • New features at a glance
• • New feature highlights
• • See it in action (video clips)
• • Learn the basics
• • Advanced techniques
• • Working with what’s new.

Wet Edges is one of the brush characteristics that can be customized in Photoshop. The effect simulates the look of accumulated paint (and therefore density of color and tone) that builds up at the edges of a wet pool of water color paint (4).

The dominance of the effect is determined by the hardness setting of the current brush tip. Low hardness settings such as 30% (1) produce a more pronounced result than those brush tips that are 100% hard (2).

The effect is activated by selecting the Wet Edges option in the Brushes palette (3).

One of the real advantages of recording your photos in the Raw format is the ability to edit the white balance settings used for the pictures later on at the desktop. Though the setting used to capture the image is recorded as part of the EXIF data you can elect to fine-tune this setting or even disregard it altogether selecting a different setting to associate with the picture.

The White Balance option in the Camera Raw dialog (1) provides a series of preset options designed to match specific light sources. As well as these set options the Temperature and Tint sliders allow users to customize their white balance settings for a given image.

Controlling the white balance setting is one way to remove color casts in your photographs. Alternatively, intentionally choosing the wrong setting can be used to create dramatically different versions of your pictures as well.

The process of downloading pictures from your digital camera to the computer requires the installation of camera drivers before the transfer can begin.

Installing the software that came bundled with your camera usually also takes care of installing the drivers. Many cameras use a WIA or Windows Image Acquisition driver to connect to software that resides on the computer.

Both Photoshop and Windows XP make use of WIA drivers to communicate with a range of installed devices.

This feature has largely replaced the older TWAIN import option found in earlier versions of Photoshop.

The Wind filter, as one of the group of Stylize filters, simulates the look of wind blasting across the canvas surface by adding trailing lines from the edge details.

The dialog contains two controls, Method of type of wind (1) and Direction (2). A preview window is also supplied to help you judge the correct combination of settings for your photo.

Photoshop CS3 includes a new Options entry in the Window menu.

Selecting or deselecting this option will either display or hide the options bar which sites just below the menu bar at the top of the Photoshop workspace.

The Tools entry in the Window menu is new for Photoshop CS3.

Selecting this option will display the toolbox (this is default setting of the entry). Unchecking the Tools entry will hide the toolbox.

Many imaging workers steer away from creating paths because they feel that the tools needed to create and edit them (Pen and Direct Selection tools) are difficult and confusing to use. These same workers on the other hand often have no problem with using the various selection tools to create very sophisticated selections.

If you fall into this category and need to create a path quickly and easily then the best approach is to start by making a selection (1). Next, display the Paths palette and then click on the Make Work Path from Selection button (3) at the bottom of the palette.

This automatically converts the selection to a path and places a thumbnail version of the path in the palette (2).

As part of the process of creating a new project in Version Cue you have the option of allowing the project, and its associated media assets, to be shared with others in your network (1). Typically the group of users who collaboratively work on a common project is called a Workgroup.

Determining who has access and at what level this access is granted is managed via the Version Cue administration utility. Here the administrator of the project can add new users and alter their access settings (2).

Version Cue is only available to Creative Suite users.

Unlike print, monitor, camera or scanner profiles, a working profile or space is not linked to specific input or output characteristics. Instead a working space acts as an intermediate profile that provides a base for editing and enhancing picture colors and tones and also establishes a known reference point for these tones and colors when converting to other output specific spaces.

The ICC profile that you choose to use as your working space should reflect the requirements of the area that you work in the most. For instance, many photographers whose work is destined for the printed page choose to use the AdobeRGB profile as their working space feeling that this space best suits their work environment. In contrast web designers often prefer to use sRGB as their working space as it reflects the characteristics of screen-based display more easily than other choices.

The options in the Edit > Color Settings dialog allows you to set the working spaces that will be used in Photoshop for RGB, CMYK, Gray and Spot (color) pictures. Also in this dialog are controls (Color Management Policies) that govern how Photoshop handles opening pictures that are not tagged or tagged with a profile that is different to the one nominated for the working space.

The way that your photos are displayed in Bridge can be altered via the options listed under the Window > Workspace menu (1). Here you can choose from five set workspace settings plus a reset setting or choose to save the current workspace as a custom setting.

Both Photoshop and Bridge contain options to customize and save specific workspace setups. When a workspace is saved the custom setting is added to the list of available workspaces that is displayed in the Window> Workspace menu (1).

To create your own custom space in Photoshop or Bridge start by adjusting the size and position of interface components such as palettes and panels. Next, select the Save Workspace option from the Window > Workspace menu and then enter the name and select the options to save in the Save Workspace dialog (2).

Photoshop CS2 and CS3 have the additional benefit of being able to customize the keyboard shortcuts associated with the space and the appearance and contents of menus as well. This is achieved via the Keyboard Shortcuts & Menus dialog.

Photoshop ships with a range ofpreinstalled workspaces (1) which can be located listed under the Window > Workspace menu. Each of these settings controls the appearance and position of palettes, the allocation of keyboard shortcuts as well as the appearance of menu items.

Also listed in this menu are entries for resetting the workspace and saving customized workspace settings that suit your individual way of working.

Customized spaces are created by adjusting the settings in the Keyboard Shortcuts & Menus dialog (2) and arranging palettes before saving the setup via the Window > Workspace > Save Workspace option.

The newly created workspace then becomes a separated entry at the bottom of the Workspace menu.