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Today is Saturday, November 21, 2009
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Table of Contents
- Find Images
- Getting Started in Photoshop
- Select and Copy Your Image
- Paste Your Image into Background Image
- Saving the Image
- Insert Image in Word Document
Find Images
Here are some useful resources to find a photo to use as the background:
- New York Public Library Digital Gallery: great archive of historical images. Be sure to check out the history and geography section.
- The Library of Congress American Memory Collection: another great resource. Be sure to check out the Immigration and American Expansion section.
- New York Public Library Picture Collection: many categories to choose from.
- Google Search Engine: Seattle Schools blocks using Google Images. You can achieve a similar (but safe) result by adding the word "image" to your search term, as in "Alamo image."
When you find a picture you like, right click on the image and save it to your home folder.
Getting Started in Photoshop
- Open Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 by clicking on the desktop icon or finding it in the programs menu.
- Open the photo you found on the web by clicking on "File" » "Open..." » navigate to your home folder and select the photo » click "Open." This will be the background of your collage.
- Open a photo of yourself. Follow the steps above but navigate to the Group Folder. Find eck_132» your period folder » Westward Expansion » find your photo, which is named after your first name » click "Open."
- Practice moving back and forth between these two images within the Photoshop window.
If the group folder doesn't work, use these links:
Select and Copy Your Image
- Use the crop tool
to eliminate the edges of the photo beyond the blue backdrop. You need to have a solid blue background for this to work easily. - Select the magic wand tool
and click on the blue background. You should see all or part of the background become surrounded by a wavy dashed line. - If you did not get the entire background, hold shift and continue clicking until you have selected the entire background.
- Click on "Select" » "Inverse." The wavy dashed line should now appear to wrap around just your body. This means you have selected only your image in the photo.
- Click on "Edit" » "Copy."
Paste Your Image into Background Image
- Navigate to your other photo (the image you will use for the background).
- Click on "Edit" » "Paste." You will now see your image on top of the background.
- Use the move tool
to resize and reposition your image on top of the background. - To avoid distorting the proportions of your image, hold down the "Shift" key as you resize it. After resizing an object, you need to press "Enter" to finalize the change.
Saving the Image
- Click on "File" » "Save As..." navigate to your home folder.
- Give file a new name.
- Select "JPEG" as your file format. Make sure your filename now ends in ".jpg"
- Click "Save."
- If prompted to set image options, use the default image quality.
Insert Image in Word Document
- Open up a new Word document using the "Start Menu& or a desktop icon.
- Type a title and your name (do not use rainbow Word Art), leaving spacing in between for your image.
- Click on "Insert" » "Picture" » "From File..." » then navigate to your home folder.
- Find your new photo collage and click "Insert."
- You may need to make the photo smaller using Word's photo tools.