I have to take an Adobe Photoshop skills test in the near future. 
Although it is not crucial that I pass this test, it would be to my
benefit to get a few questions right.  I have no information about
this test other than that it will test for basic Photoshop skills. I
have only used the application once or twice before.

Please provide a short list of Photoshop functions, features or tools
that someone with "basic" skills should be familiar with.  Please
provide the correct name for these functions so that I can easily find
them in the help menu.  Optional: please give an example of how
someone might use this feature to edit a picture.

Thanks

Greetings, Stan!

There are numerous free Photoshop tutorial sources available on the
Internet, and some of them are **far** better and more extensive than
that which a Researcher could prepare for you themselves for a $5.00
fee.

I have compiled for you a list of the resources that I feel do the
best job of explaining Photoshop features in simple, easily
understandable terms for someone who has never used the program
before. The first 3 should provide you everything that you need to
pass your test.

Introduction to Photoshop, from the University of Arizona Library, Tucson, AZ:
http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/library/teams/ust/software/photoshop/ps-intro.pdf
(You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view .pdf files; if you don't
already have it, you can download it here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html )

The highly-esteemed WebMonkey site has a Photoshop Crash Course by Jim Frew:
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/design/graphics/tutorials/tutorial1.html?tw=eg20010108
And there is a Photoshop 7 update to that course by Evany Thomas here:
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/02/16/index1a.html

About.com has a detailed tutorial, Adobe Photoshop Basics
http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/course/bllps5out.htm?once=true&


This site has a long list of tutorials for individual Photoshop
features -- including sample files you can download to get "hands-on"
training (scroll down to see the list of clickable links to
tutorials).
http://www.digital-creativity.org.uk

304 Photoshop Tips, by Trevor Morris
http://user.fundy.net/morris/downloads/304Photoshop6Tips.pdf
(This file is password-protected, so you may Print it, but not Save it)
For the Photoshop user who's stumped on how to accomplish a certain
task, there is a great series of Photoshop Tips at Pete's
PhotoshopPlanet:
http://www.planetphotoshop.com/tutorials.html

An archived version of ZDnet's Photoshop Quick Start Guide page
includes links to several tutorials:
http://web.archive.org/web/20000510142913/http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/quickstart/guides/0,10606,6001483,00.html

For someone who's decided to learn Photoshop exhaustively, there are
numerous other Photoshop links on IntelInfo's Free Adobe Photoshop
Training & Tutorials page:
http://www.intelinfo.com/newly_researched_free_training/Free_Photoshop_Training_and_Tutorials.html


Search Strategy
"Adobe Photoshop" "quick start"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Adobe+Photoshop%22+%22quick+start%22


Before Rating my Answer, if you have any Questions or problems with
the information provided above, please post a Request for
Clarification, and I will do my best to assist you.

Regards,

aceresearcher

---

Clarification of Answer by aceresearcher-ga on 17 May 2004 10:08 PDT

The ZDnet page did not get hyperlinked because it contains commas. Try
this link instead:

http://web.archive.org/web/20000510142913/http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/quickstart/guides/0%2C10606%2C6001483%2C00.html

---

Clarification of Answer by aceresearcher-ga on 17 May 2004 10:10 PDT

Hmmm. It looks as though you will need to Copy the ZDnet link and
Paste it into the Address bar of your Browser.

Best wishes,

ace

very thorough answer; more information than I asked for, perhaps a bit
too much. After going through the links, I found that the webmonkey
tutorial was very close to what I had in mind.  Thanks, Google Answers

I'm delighted that you are pleased with my Answer -- good luck on your test!

ace

Photoshop study aids:

The best book I have found to study for a Photoshop test is the Adobe
Classroom in a Book. There is an edition for Photoshop.

There are two software programs that I have found helpful for learning
about Photoshop and studying for tests. The first is Boson's Photoshop
practice test. It tests you and give you deep explanatory answers as
well as points you to a resource for more info. http://www.boson.com/

The second is ElementK, a tutorial system that you can subscribe to
through Element or through Adobe. http://adobe.elementk.com/

Adobe has a training area on their site, Adobe Studio, that is free
but you have to create a login. You will find tutorials here for all
of their programs. http://www.adobe.com/products/tips/photoshop.html

OK, Now here is my idea of Photoshop in a nutshell. If it is too
basic, let me know.

1. Photoshop is primarily a raster graphic program.

a. It defines images by pixels as opposed to vector programs that
define images mathematically.
b. Photoshop images lose quality when enlarged, so work in the size
you want your final output, or plan to reduce it for distribution.
[See About Bitmap Images in Photoshop Help.]

2. Photoshop started by using all of the metaphors (and subsequent
functions) of old-fashioned darkroom photography. Then they added some
new stuff.

a. To see an overview of each tool and what it does, launch the
program, go to Help in the menu at the top of the page and select
Photoshop Help. The Help guides will launch in a web browser. Select
Contents>Looking at the Work Area>Using the Toolbox>Toolbox overview.
There are three pages of overview illustrations.

3. The tools are in the Tool Bar and the options for modifying each
tool are in the Option Bar that appears at the top of your workspace.

a. The tool options change as you click on each tool.
b. The function of each tool and option can be discovered by holding
your mouse over each icon as a Tool Tip will appear.
c. If you want to access the tool with a key command, it shows as a
letter at the end of the tool tip.

4. All of your palettes to select tools, colors and functions are
under Window in the menu at the top of the page.

a. You can open or close the palettes and configure your workspace to
suit you needs
b. When you configure your workspace the way you like, save it by
going to Window>Workspace>Save Workspace
c. Palettes can be combined by dragging the tabs over other palette
tabs. They can also be split by dragging the tab away from the
palettes.

5. Photoshop offers multiple colors spaces to work within. The one you
choose will depend on your output device. Many problems with working
on files can be solved by checking and changing the color space. Not
all tools work in all color spaces. You will find the color space
selection under Image>Mode

a. Generally RGB is the colorspace to choose for work that will be
shown electronically
b. CMYK is the colorspace to choose for work being output to paper

6. You can save your artwork out of Photoshop in many different
formats. The native file format is Photoshop Document (PSD) and it
cannot be viewed by most other programs. To distribute Photoshop art
so that anyone can view it, save it out as a universal format such as
JPEG or PDF.