6 replies to this topic

[The Simpleton]

For some weird reason, I've stayed away from learning to use programs like Photoshop, GIMP, etc. even though I had a few chances in the past. Now since I have time to kill, I want to start learning some of the basics, and although I have GIMP, I'm going to use photoshop for a while, because I only have a demo of PS and GIMP stays on forever

As soon as I jumped into the PS world all sorts of terms came jumping at me. Although they're perfectly meaningful English words, I'm confused at their meaning in PS So could someone please explain these concepts to me? Much appreciated.

• What are the "renders" that people keep sharing and why are they so large in size?
• Why do we need external brushes, and once again, why are they so large in size?
• While creating signatures, are the main pictures used from an external source or are they designed in PS as well?
• This is a slightly detailed question - how does one enlarge an image without losing its quality?

These are the doubts that sprang to my mind immediately when I started using PS. I've asked the last question because I have a few old photos taken from my phone and I want to enlarge them without losing their original quality.

Looking forward to some good advice from our graphic experts

[web_designer]

i will try to explain a little in here:

- a render is when you have an image and you take the foreground out of the its background. and latter add effects , lighting or colors to it.  i don't know what do you mean about why they are so large in size, because it depends on the render size i guess.

- about brushes, you always need an external brushes. because the brushes that are built in with photoshop are so limited. so you always need to find new brushes and add them to your collection of brushes to get a new designs every time. and you can edit them from the brush options and change their size.

- of course you could use images from outside photoshop, like personal photo, nature photo, anime images, logo or anything you want. just drag that image and drop it in the workplace, or from file> open. 

- you can enlarge any image or photo in photoshop without loosing its quality. i don't know which version of phtoshop you use, but i use photoshop cs3, and you can enlarge images from image> image size and set the desired size for your photo.

hope i could help, and good luck.

[truefusion]

''Render'' is actually inappropriate for what it is applied to. In signatures, wallpapers, and similar designs, ''renders'' would be the characters or objects that the signature is using as the basis for its design. The reason why i find the term ''render'' to be inappropriate is because these images were generally not rendered, so to speak. Something rendered in, for exmample, Blender, or Maya, or Cinema 4D, or 3DSM, et cetera, that is a more appropriate reference for the term. ''Stock image'' i would say is more appropriate for what is often labeled a ''render.''

The brushes are generally large because it is better to shrink a big image than to enlarge a small image when quality is a priority. It is better to lose information than to try and fill in information in this case.

The ''renders'' are mostly from external sources, yes. However, some people do use tablets and draw their own characters and backgrounds.

Photoshop has the ability to import vector-based images (e.g. from Illustrator) (i think they are called ''smart objects;'' you'll have to look that up to verify it). As you should know, vector images do not lose quality when resized. However, as far as i know, with raster images there is no way to enlarge an image without losing quality. If the image is not too complex, you may be able to convert it to a vector image; simply telling Photoshop to treat it like as if it were a vector image does not help all that much.

[rob86]

I saw an advertisement for some new software/technology that can enlarge images with no (or minimal) quality lose. I think it had something to do with fractals? I don't know. If you really need to resize an image you could look into it. It wasn't a part of Photoshop, it was software dedicated to enlarging images as far as I know.

[The Simpleton]

Quote

- a render is when you have an image and you take the foreground out of the its background. and latter add effects , lighting or colors to it. i don't know what do you mean about why they are so large in size, because it depends on the render size i guess.

- about brushes, you always need an external brushes. because the brushes that are built in with photoshop are so limited. so you always need to find new brushes and add them to your collection of brushes to get a new designs every time. and you can edit them from the brush options and change their size.

- of course you could use images from outside photoshop, like personal photo, nature photo, anime images, logo or anything you want. just drag that image and drop it in the workplace, or from file> open.

- you can enlarge any image or photo in photoshop without loosing its quality. i don't know which version of phtoshop you use, but i use photoshop cs3, and you can enlarge images from image> image size and set the desired size for your photo.

hope i could help, and good luck.

That was a nice and quick explanation. Thanks I've been watching more and more videos about Photoshop and am beginning to understand a few concepts in detail now.

Quote

''Render'' is actually inappropriate for what it is applied to. In signatures, wallpapers, and similar designs, ''renders'' would be the characters or objects that the signature is using as the basis for its design. The reason why i find the term ''render'' to be inappropriate is because these images were generally not rendered, so to speak. Something rendered in, for exmample, Blender, or Maya, or Cinema 4D, or 3DSM, et cetera, that is a more appropriate reference for the term. ''Stock image'' i would say is more appropriate for what is often labeled a ''render.''

I found the use of the word render a little strange too. And I'm sure I've heard of "stock image" earlier as well. Aren't there entire sites dedicated to it?

Quote

I saw an advertisement for some new software/technology that can enlarge images with no (or minimal) quality lose. I think it had something to do with fractals? I don't know. If you really need to resize an image you could look into it. It wasn't a part of Photoshop, it was software dedicated to enlarging images as far as I know.

Well there are lots of site claiming to resize images without quality loss too, but when I tried them they never worked well. Maybe for very small images there is no proper way to do it on a computer?

[anwiii]

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Well there are lots of site claiming to resize images without quality loss too, but when I tried them they never worked well. Maybe for very small images there is no proper way to do it on a computer?

don't even waste your time trying. you will always suffer quality loss when you enlarge a photo. even if there is new technology saying different, i would highly suspect otherwise. also, anyone claiming in this thread that the technology is out there, please send me a link as i would be interested in testing it.

i have never seen an enlarged photo that doesn't turn "grainy"

[web_designer]

Quote

That was a nice and quick explanation. Thanks I've been watching more and more videos about Photoshop and am beginning to understand a few concepts in detail now.

any time  . i suggest you to make some samples. this way you will learn faster and not forgot what you did. for example start making a signature for you, search for good tutorials, follow them, and put your touch on them at the end. also posting the result in here will motivate you  , good luck.