PS CS: Starting with a Blank Canvas

Photoshop 7&8:Starting with a Blank Canvas

Week 4 Creating Art with Text

	Photoshop 7 & 8: Starting with a Blank Canvas
		Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6

I have begun a course at LVS on Line with Janee Aronoff of myjanee.com.

June7, 2004, Week4 Completed

This was again fun and I learned all the things below...from editing text to filling it to carving it in stone...and more.

Please click on the thumbnails to view a larger image.

Typesetting

I liked being able to manipulate the placement and color and spacing of the text by using leading (rhymes with heading), kerning, baseline placement, horizontal and vertical sizing...even color. I had some small knowledge of the buttons/sliders in the Characters Palette, but now feel adequately prepared to get arrangements and spacings that can accent anything might be trying to say with type.

Text and Paths

Although I didn't have to, I tried everything here and was most happy with being able to fill a shape with text.

The first example was quite simple, make a path then use the Type Tool to put the text on a path...easy with Photoshop CS.
This second image was optional, but I wanted to try it and learned about using the angle part of the transformation rotation. It was difficult and probably does not look as perfectly spaced ...probably because I didn't do the second transformation (reread and saw when already I had tried the process twice)which I then could have used on all the rest of the letters. I still feel the process was worthwhile and taught a whole lot about using the Transform Tool.. I retried the transformations and found tht I had missed a very important step...after making the guidelines, finding center, I didn't use them. I did not understand the idea (more likely skipped a sentence or two as I read the directions). In the retry I fixed that problem. But, still the m, the last letter, seemed to come out tilted!
I drew the apple shape and then filled with text. This possibility was a whole new realization for me.
This process, filling text with text, gave me much trouble! I was able to do the J, but when I tried to do my first initial, R, the center path of the R disappeared when I tried to place text inside it and the text would run right over the center space which should have remained empty. I tried it in Illustrator and much the same thing happened. So, it works for some letters but not for such as R, D or B, etc.

Warped Text

I really enjoyed this one! Even if I had to name it by calling myself warped! It was a great way to try the possibilities in using the Text Warping tool in Photoshop.

Special Effects Text

A. Post Card Text

This is made with a collection of photos I have taken over the past year or two of some of the wonderful things in the state of Rhode Island, US. We are on the Atlantic Coast and have some beautiful beaches with an abundance of fresh seafood always available. The beach is at Galilee and close by is Point Judith and then down the road north of there, Wickford, where you can visit wonderful shops and see colonial homes. I have some photos of some colonial Wickford doorways dating back to the 1700's.

On my larger postcard, I will say the stuff in the letters was a lot more visible. This post card making was a lot of fun!

The second post card is an atempt at making the letters and their contents clearer and more discernable. This time I used my photo of the Point Judith Lighthouse.

B. Carving Effects

Using the stone from the last lesson, we carved some text (and I tried some shapes, too) into it. I tired out a humming bird font that I have and used one of the Custom Shapes which seemed to work just fine!

I have enjoyed the work and the learning again. I find also that what I am learning about Type, Shapes and Pen Tools translates quite readily into Illustrator.