PHOTOSHOP BASICS

WHEN TO USE PHOTOSHOP? After taking the slices of images, and stacked it in Zerene Stacker and have a compiled image.

WHY USE PHOTOSHOP? Crop image to get rid of extra space and reduce filesize. Add scale bar, analyze specimen Clean up any minor imperfections (debris, shadows, etc)

OPEN THE IMAGE Open Photoshop File -> Open; browse for your image OR drag and drop your image file from Explorer to Photoshop’s menubar.

OPEN THE IMAGE Under “Look In:” select filepath for image you want open. Select ##-comp image and open Don’t forget, you can simply drag and drop instead.

EDITING THE IMAGE Now the unedited image is open.

CROP IMAGE Select “Rectangular Marquee” tool Click and drag rectangle around image To deselect rectangle, click outside of rectangle OR press Ctrl-D.

CROP IMAGE Click Image > Crop

SET MEASUREMENT SCALE Select “Analysis”> “Set Measurement Scale” Select Camera, lens and magnification settings used to take the image Should be in filename IE: 5D_100mm_1:1

PLACE SCALE MARKER Analysis > Place Scale Marker

PLACE SCALE MARKER Enter desired length Increase font size (usually best between 30 and 48 pt) Select desired scale marker color Click “Ok”

PLACE SCALE MARKER Select Move tool (top tool on side toolbar) Click and drag scale bar to desired place in image Typically, keep scale bar between 1/3 rd and half of specimen length

PLACE SCALE MARKER Keep in mind that the scale bar is its own layer, as pointed out here, so if you wish to continue altering the image you will have to select the “Background” layer (green arrow).

SAVE IMAGE File -> “Save as…” Keep original comp image as backup Filename: get rid of camera/lens info and replace with type of image (ie; Lateral, Dorsal, Ventral, Face) ex: GEWA12345_Dorsal.tif