Photoshop Document Structure

Let's now take a closer look at the structure of a Photoshop document. 0:00 The general structure of a Photoshop document consists of the artboard, or 0:03 the area in which your content displays, and 0:06 layers of content stacked one on top of another. 0:09 Let's have a closer look at artboards. 0:12 The artboard is an area in which all of our content will display in our 0:15 final graphic. 0:17 Think of the artboard as a frame for our content. 0:18 We can have the content outside of our artboard, but 0:21 it won't show in the final product. 0:23 We're also able to adjust our artboard size in a few ways. 0:25 One way is to view the Properties panel and 0:29 input the exact number in which we want to have the artboard displayed. 0:31 Another is to use the Crop tool and use the click and drag handles to adjust 0:38 the size While not as precise, 0:43 we can always make adjustments in the Properties panel if need be. 0:50 Using the Crop tool on an artboard will not modify the content of the artboard, 0:54 and we can essentially use the same handles to expand the artboard again. 0:58 Similarly, the Artboard tool can be used to click and drag, or 1:03 select a pre-set from the top tool bar. 1:07 Next, let's have a look at layers. 1:16 Layers represent different pieces of content within the document stacked 1:19 one on top of the other. 1:22 Within the Layers panel, we can add new layers. 1:24 We can change the order. 1:31 And we can also change the visibility. 1:34 The order of layers can be important on how the final graphic appears, so 1:38 if you happen to have a photo filter on top of another photo filter, 1:42 it will likely have a different effect if you change them. 1:46 Generally, any time you add new content to a Photoshop document, 1:49 it will likely create a new layer. 1:52 So, for example, the Type tool. 1:54 If we happen to type in some new content here, 1:56 it adds it to its own layer within the Layers panel. 2:01 However, things like painting with the Brush or 2:06 Gradient tool will only affect a currently selected layer that already exists. 2:09 That's looking pretty horrendous, so I'm gonna go ahead and 2:20 click on the History tool and go back a few steps. 2:23 Keeping the Photoshop document organized will come in very handy 2:27 as you add content and layers. 2:30 We can group layers within folders and create additional artboards. 2:32 Within the Layers panel, clicking on a folder icon will create a new folder, 2:37 and we can drag whatever content we'd like within that folder. 2:42 As your document grows in layers and possibly artboards, 2:50 it's a good practice to name them. 2:53 One way we can rename a layer is within the Layers panel itself. 2:55 Just double-click on a layer name and give it a title. 2:59 This will help you keep track of what's going on in each layer. 3:05 Now, things are a bit different if we've opened a photo that 3:09 isn't a native Photoshop document or a PSD file. 3:11 Let's open this original JPG file from my camera. 3:15 If we take a look at our Layers panel, 3:21 we don't see that this image lands in an artboard, and is simply a layer. 3:23 Using the Properties panel to adjust the size, or 3:27 using the Crop tool will indeed cut off our content. 3:30 And I'm not able to uncrop this as we did before. 3:38 Again, I'm going to head back to the History panel and undo that change. 3:42 If we would like to create an artboard, we can use the Artboard tool to draw one. 3:46 If we take a look at our Layers panel, we can see that we have indeed created our 3:55 own artboard, and our photo has remained in it's own layer. 4:00 That's the general structure of a Photoshop file. 4:05 Layers are the building blocks of any Photoshop document, 4:08 and artboards are the frames that hold those creations. 4:10 Folders can be used to help group your layers and stay organized. 4:14 In this stage, we've introduced the mighty graphics tool, Photoshop. 4:19 We went through a brief history of the application and 4:23 learned a bit about how it evolved. 4:25 From two brothers simply wanting to display an image on a screen to a world 4:28 recognized app that's used in many stages of a standard creative process today. 4:32 We took a brief look at the user interface of Photoshop and shared a few tips for 4:38 rearranging your panels, and where to look for adjustments for an active tool. 4:43 We then deconstructed a Photoshop document learning about layers, 4:48 artboards, and how they work together. 4:52 In the next stage, we'll dive in head first and 4:56 start creating our ads for client's photo studio 4:59