What is Graphics Design?

Graphic design, also known as communication

design, is the art and practice of planning and
projecting ideas and experiences with visual and
textual content. The form it takes can be physical or
virtual and can include images, words, or graphics. It
can be for any purpose, whether commercial,
educational, cultural, or political.

Design Elements

Graphic design is the process and art of combining text and graphics to communicate an
effective message in the design of websites, logos, graphics, brochures, newsletters, posters,
signs and any other type of visual communication. Designers achieve their goals by combining
the elements and principles of graphic design.

Basic Elements of Graphic Design

In addition to the obvious elements—images and type—graphic design elements include lines,
shapes, texture, value, size, and color.

Graphic designers for print and web pages use some or all of these elements to generate
effective designs. The goal is usually to attract the viewers’ attention, sometimes to motivate
them to take a specific action.

 Lines - Lines are the most basic of the design elements. Lines can be straight, curved,
thick, thin, solid and not- solid. They are used to connect two points, separate sections
of a design or focus the user's eye on an element. A jagged line conveys emotion, a line
that ends in arrow forces the viewer's eye to look in a specific direction. A line that
meanders among several elements guides the viewer from one element to the next and
on to the next.
 Shapes - The basic geometric shapes are squares, circles, and triangles. They are used as
boxes or borders on a design or as solid shapes for decorative purposes. Shapes are also
icons, symbols, and dingbats. Shapes add interest to a design.

 Texture - Visual texture is created with certain graphics techniques to draw attention to
an element on a page or to serve as a background on a web design. Texture increases
the overall visual appearance and draws attention. Texture can be added to a type,
images, and other elements.
  Color - Color is an obvious element that is used to attract attention and to represent
emotion and mood. Red presents strength, anger or passion, for example, while blue
invokes peace and security.
 Value - Value refers to how dark or light an area of the design looks. Value creates
contrast and emphasis.
 Size - The size of an element in a graphic design is an indication of its importance. A
large size indicates the most important information and draws the viewer's attention.

Design Principles
Design principles are sets of generally applicable laws, guidelines, human biases, and design
considerations, all of which reflect the accumulated knowledge and experience of practitioners and
researchers. They serve as a starting point for the creation of new designs to solve problems. Design
principles usually combine developments across all design-related disciplines, including behavioral
science, sociology, physics, and ergonomics. The elements and principles of design are the building
blocks. The elements of design are the things that make up a design.

1. Proximity—Grouping by similarity in spatial location; nearness

2. Contrast
3. Repetition
4. Alignment

Proximity
• Items relating to each other should be grouped close together.
• When several items are in close proximity to each other, they
become one visual unit rather than several separate units.
• This helps organize information and reduces clutter.
• Items that are not related to each other should not be in close
proximity.
• The closeness or lack of closeness indicates the relationship.
• Elements that are intellectually connected should be visually
connected.

Alignment
• Nothing should be placed on the page arbitrarily.
• Every element should have some visual connection with another
element on the page.
• This creates a clean, sophisticated look.

Contrast
• Avoid elements on the page that are merely similar.
 • If the elements (type, color, size, line thickness, shape, space, etc.) are not the same, then make
them very different.

REPETITION – Repetition strengthens a design by tying together individual elements. It helps to

create association and consistency. Repetition can create rhythm (a feeling of organized movement).

• Repeat visual elements of the design throughout the piece. You can repeat color, shape,
texture, spatial relationships, line thicknesses, sizes, etc.
• This helps develop the organization and strengthens the unity.
SPACE – Space in art refers to the distance or area between, around, above, below, or within
elements. Both positive and negative space are important factors to be considered in every design.
BALANCE – Balance in design is similar to balance in physics. A large shape close to the center can
be balanced by a small shape close to the edge. Balance provides stability and structure to a design. It’s
the weight distributed in the design by the placement of your elements.

The Design Process

The design process is a six-step procedure for good practice in implementing your project. The following
are steps in the design process:
  Research—Determining the parameters
 Thumbnails—Idea sketches
 Roughs—Two or three of the best thumbnails for art director or client review
 Comprehensives—The piece you present to the client for final approval
 Presentation—Presenting your piece
 Ready for press—Job is ready for production

All About Colors

Color plays a vital role in design and everyday life. It can draw your eye to an image.
Sometimes it can trigger an emotional response. It can even communicate
something important without using words at all.

True color supports 24-bit for three RGB colors. ... Usually, true color is defined to
mean 256 shades of red, green, and blue, for a total of 224, or alternately 2563, or
16,777,216 color variations. The human eye can discriminate up to ten million
colors.

Primary colors :
Primary colors include red, blue and yellow. Primary colors cannot be mixed from other colors. They are
the source of all other colors. These are pure hues.

 Red, Yellow and Blue.

Secondary Colors:
By mixing the primary colors the secondary colors are obtained.

 Orange, Purple and Green

 Yellow + Red = ORANGE
 Red + Blue = PURPLE
 Blue + Yellow = GREEN

Tertiary Colors:
When a secondary color is mixed with its primary color, result is called Tertiary Color. There are 6
Tertiary Colors namely:

 Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange ,
 Yellow-Green, Blue-Green ,
 Blue-Violet, Red-Violet

Hue
Hue is the easiest one; it's basically just another word for color.
Saturation
Saturation refers to intensity—in other words, whether the color appears more subtle or
more vibrant. Highly saturated colors are brighter or richer. Desaturated colors have less
pigment and therefore less oomph.

Tints, Shades, and Tones

These terms are often used incorrectly, although they describe fairly simple color concepts. If a color is
made lighter by adding white, the result is called a tint. If black is added, the darker version is called a
shade. And if gray is added, the result is a different tone.
Tints - adding white to a pure hue:

Shades - adding black to a pure hue:

Tones - adding gray to a pure hue:

Color Theory
Warm Colors
Warm colors include red, orange, and yellow,
and variations of those three colors. These
are the colors of fire, of fall leaves, and of
sunsets and sunrises, and are generally
energizing, passionate, and positive.
Red and yellow are both primary colors, with
orange falling in the middle (making it a
secondary color), which means warm colors are all truly warm and aren’t created by combining a
warm color with a cool color. Use warm colors in your designs to reflect passion, happiness,
enthusiasm, and energy.
Cool Colors
Cool colors include green, blue, and purple, are
often more subdued than warm colors. They are the colors of night, of water, of nature, and are
usually calming, relaxing, and somewhat
reserved.
Blue is the only primary color within the cool
spectrum, which means the other colors are
created by combining blue with a warm color
(yellow for green and red for purple).
Because of this, green takes on some of the attributes of yellow, and purple takes on some of
the attributes of red. Use cool colors in your designs to give a sense of calm or professionalism.

Neutrals
Neutral colors often serve as the backdrop in
design. They’re commonly combined with
brighter accent colors. But they can also be
used on their own in designs, and can create
very sophisticated layouts. The meanings and
impressions of neutral colors are much more
affected by the colors that surround them than are warm and cool colors.

RGB AND CMYK

What’s RGB?

RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue and is an additive color

model. What this means is that this color model is based on
adding and mixing light – when you add Red, Green, and Blue
light together, you create a pure white.

You can see how adding pigments in RGB color modes affects
the ultimate color result. As Red, Green, and Blue all come to
white – it is understood that white is truly the combination of
all colors and black is the absence of color.

RGB is primarily used for designing elements that will be

displayed on a television set, a computer monitor, a mobile
phone, or any other kind of light source. Obviously, it is a
device dependent color mode.
And CMYK is?

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (Black)

and is a subtractive color model. A subtractive color
model works exactly opposite from an additive color
model (RGB,) it works by partially or entirely masking
certain colors from white.

So instead of adding light to achieve a color, CMYK is

using ink to subtract brightness from white. Therefore,
Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow combined is black – the
absence of brightness.

Where does the Key (Black) come in? In traditional

printing, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow inks were layered
to create images. Eventually, Key (Black) began being
used to additionally subtract brightness in printing (producing deeper darker tones) and heavily reduced
ink usage of the other tones.

CMYK is also a device dependent color mode, but it is most frequently used to this day as the main color
mode used in printing, whether it’s posters, brochures, business cards, books, or magazines.
Raster Graphics
In computer graphics, a raster graphics or bitmap image is a dot matrix data
structure, representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of
color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium. Raster images
are stored in image files with varying formats.

Or
Raster graphics are digital images created or captured (for example, by
scanning a photo). A raster file is usually larger than a vector graphics image
file and is usually difficult to modify without loss of information.
Examples of raster image file types are: BMP, TIFF, GIF, and JPEG files.

Vector Graphics
Vector graphics consist of shapes(including lines, polygon, circles or curves) called
objects. It is possible to edit each object separately, for example, change the shape, colour, size and
position. Large vector graphics doesn't need a lot of computer memory. Therefore the file size of a
vector graphic is often very small.
Vector graphics are scalable - ie when you resize them, they do not lose quality. Use
the red slider to zoom into the vector graphic below. Common vector file formats are
.svg, .cgm, .odg, .eps, and .xml.

Few Terminologies
Pixels: The pixel (a word invented from "picture element") is the basic unit of programmable color on a
computer display or in a computer image.

Resolution: Number of pixels (individual points of color) contained on a display monitor, expressed in
terms of the number of pixels on the horizontal axis and the number on the vertical axis. More pixels,
higher resolution.

PPI: This is the number of pixels per inch in your image. This will affect the print size of your photo and
will affect the quality of the output.

DPI: Dots per Inch, only refers to the printer. Every pixel output is made up of different coloured inks
(usually 4-6 colours, although many printers use more now). Because of the small number of colours,
the printer needs to be able to mix these inks to make up all the colours of the image. So each pixel of
the image is created by a series of tiny dots (you could think of them as sub-pixels). Generally, the higher
the DPI, the better the tonality of the image.

RGB Colors: Red, green and blue

RGB is the color scheme that is most often associated with electronic displays, such as CRT, LCD
monitors, digital cameras and scanners. RGB is an additive type of color mode that add/combines the
primary colors, red, green and blue, in varying levels, to create a variety of different colors. When all
three colors are combined and displayed to their full extent, the result is a pure white. When all three
colors are combined to the lowest degree, or value, the result is black. Software such as photo editing
programs (PhotoShop, Paint etc) use the RGB color mode because it offers the widest range of colors.

CMYK Colors: Cyan, magenta, yellow and black -- Printed media like flyer, image etc
CMYK is a four-color mode that utilizes the colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black in various amounts
to create all of the necessary colors when printing images. It is a subtractive process, meaning each
additional unique color requires more light is removed or absorbed, to create colors. When the first
three colors are added together, the result is not pure black, but rather a very dark brown. The K color,
or black, is used to completely remove light from the printed picture, which is why the eye perceives the
color as black.
Photoshop is….
Adobe Photoshop is an extremely powerful application that's used by many professional photographers
and designers. Photoshop is used for almost any kind of image editing, such as touching up photos,
creating high-quality graphics, and much, much more. PS is a Raster Based Software.

8bit/16bit/32bit in image
quality is the size of the space
allocated to each channel for
describing colors. The color
depth of the images.

Photoshop Tools with Shortcut keys

Move tool(V): The move tool allows you to move a selection or entire layer by dragging it
with your mouse or using your keyboard arrows keys.

a. Use to move object/picture on canvas or selection on layer

b. use to transform object and layer
c. use to align layers and object
d. Rotate and transform object
e. use to select layer and group
 Foreground Color (Alt + Delete)
De-select the selection (Ctrl + D) Rectangular Marquee Tool
Create New Layer (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + N) Elliptical Marquee Tool
Single Row Marquee Tool
Single Column Marquee Tool
Paint Bucket (G)
Lasso Tool
The Paint Bucket Tool fills the continuously colored area with the Polygonal Lasso tool
foreground color or pattern. Magnetic Lasso Tool

To fill with foreground color:

 In the Toolbox, select the Paint Bucket Tool.

 Click on your image to fill the area. Hold CTRL and Click on Layer
 Use Tolerance field to adjust the tool's sensitivity. Thumbnail, it will make
 "Contiguous" option limits the tool's range to adjacent areas. selection of object placed on
 in the Options bar you can also choose the blending mode and layer
opacity.
SHIFT+ALT --- Resize equally
To fill with pattern:
CTRL+T ---- Transform
 in the Options bar, choose Fill mode "Pattern".
 In the Pattern picker, choose a pattern sample.
 Click on your image to fill the area.

Gradient Fill (G)

The Gradient tool creates a gradual blend between multiple colors. You can choose from preset
gradient fills or create your own.

1. To fill part of the image, select the desired area. Otherwise, the gradient fill is applied to the
entire active layer.
2. Select the Gradient tool . (If the tool isn’t visible, hold down the Paint Bucket tool.)
3. In the options bar, choose a fill from the wide gradient sample:
a. Click the triangle next to the sample to pick a preset gradient fill.
b. Click inside the sample to view the Gradient Editor. Select a preset gradient fill, or
create a new gradient fill.

Selection Tools
Marquee Tool (M): The most basic of selection tools and is used
to draw selections based on geometric shapes. Specifically, the
marquee tool allows you to draw rectangular and elliptical
selections.
Marquee tool with Shift key – adding to selection
Marquee tool with Alt key – Subtraction to selection
Marquee tool with Alt +Shift key – Intersect selection

Magic Wand Tool (W)

The magic wand tool used to select pixels on the basis of their
luminosity values within the individual color channels that
make up the composite image.

Tolerance Setting
It is range of colors and tone that Photoshop selects and its
range from 0 to 255.
 Setting the Tolerance to 0 selects one color only.
 Setting the Tolerance to 255 selects all colors — the
entire image.
Anti-Alias smooth the edges
Contiguous (nearby, close, neighboring) selects adjoining pixels in the image.

Tip... To switch around the tools press Shift + Tool's shortcut key, for example Shift+L.

Quick Selection Tool (W)

Under Magic Wand Tool.
Inserting Image into a Selection
The selection expands outward and automatically finds and
follows defined edges in the image. Select the Quick Method 1
Selection tool. (If the tool isn't visible, hold down the Magic To insert image in circle or in any type of
Wand tool) In the options bar, click one of the selection shape, follow following steps:-
 Draw circle
options: New, Add To, or Subtract From.
 Copy your desire image then goto
Edit--> and Pate into option

Crop tool (C) Method 2

Resize the canvas or image using crop tool.  Draw circle or any shape you like
 Copy your desire image and paste it
in same document
Eye Dropper Tool (I)  Select that image layer and press Alt
To pick a color. key, (arrow shape will change into
other shape) then click it. This will
Tip:- put image inside shape
To Switch around the tools, press Shift and tool's shortcut key e.g
Shift + W, Shift + M etc..
Spot Healing Brush Tool ( J )
The spot healing brush is the default healing tool in Photoshop used
to clone areas from an image and blend the pixels from the sampled
area seamlessly (without a glitch) with the target area.

Options:-
Proximity Match : The Proximity Match mode uses pixels
directly around the area to use as a replacement.

Create texture: The Create texture mode works in a

slightly different fashion. The spot healing tool will read in the data surrounding the area you
are attempting to repair. As you do this it will generate a texture pattern from the sampled
data. So the main difference between this and the Proximity Match mode is that Proximity
Match repairs and blends using actual pixels, while Create Texture repairs and blends using a
texture pattern.

Content-aware fill analyzes nearby image content and tries to replace the area being
retouched as seamlessly as possible, maintaining key details like highlights, shadows and object
edges.

Healing Brush Tool ( J )

The Healing Brush tool allows you to fix image imperfections such as scratches, blemishes, unwanted
dust spots etc. By sampling the surrounding area or using a predefined pattern you can blend the
imperfections into the rest of the image. The healing brush tool has a source point to heal the image.

Patch Tool( J )
The Patch Tool is primarily used to repair larger areas of an image, or get rid of any distractions or
blemishes.

Custom Shape Tool (U) : Predefined shapes of Photoshop, including Rectangle Shape tool,
Rounded Corners shape tool, Ellipse Shape tool, Line and custom Shape tool. Like Marquee Tool, you can
add to shape, subtract from shape, Intersect from shape and Exclude from overlapping.

Direct Section Tool (A): to directly select custom shape tool

Transform Tool:
o draw object, press CTRL+T
o then after appearing bounding box, press and Hold CTRL Key and manipulate one
bounding box of object to get your desire shape/object
o Press ALT and make a copy of object
 o Again press CTRL+T and rotate to set its angle e.g 15 degree or 25 degree
o Then press CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+T (apply last transform again and again)

Direct Path Selection tool (A): to edit or select paths/ points of the shape. After editing a
shape, Right Click on it and select Define Custom Shape, this
will add your newly define in shapes panel.

Layer Adjustments
The Adjustment Layers in Photoshop are a group of a super
useful, non-destructive image editing tools that add color
and tonal adjustments to your image without permanently
changing its pixels. With the adjustment layers, you can edit
and discard your adjustments or restore your original image
at any time.

Layer Mask in Photoshop

There are two primary types of masks: clipping masks and
layer masks. These two tools are closely related in concept,
but very different in application. Let’s start by discussing
layers masks, which are generally what people are referring
to when you hear them discuss Photoshop masking.

Layer Mask
When you add a layer mask, you can hide or show all of the layer, or base the mask on a selection or
transparency. Later, you’ll paint on the mask to precisely hide portions of the layer, revealing the layers
beneath.

Add a mask that shows or hides the entire layer

 Make sure that no part of your image is selected. Choose Select > Deselect.
 In the Layers panel, select the layer or group.
 Do one of the following:
o To create a mask that reveals the entire layer, click the Add Layer Mask button in the
Layers panel, or choose Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All.
o To create a mask that hides the entire layer, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS)
the Add Layer Mask button, or choose Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All.

Add a layer mask that hides part of a layer

 In the Layers panel, select the layer or group.
 Select the area in the image, and do one of the following:
o Click the New Layer Mask button in the Layers panel to create a mask that reveals the
selection.
 o Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the Add Layer Mask button in the Layers panel
to create a mask that hides the selection.
o Choose Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection or Hide Selection.

Clipping Masks
Clipping masks are very similar to layer masks only they use one layer to determine the transparency of
another. In this scenario, you stack two layers on top of each other with the bottom being the
determining factor of the transparency of the top.

Pictures in a certain fashion or arrangement is

called Collage (Collection).

Image Swapping
 Make selection and place on that image which needs to change
 Then resize it
 Press CTRL and click face layer to select it
 Now goto Layer -> Adjustments and match color
 Now Lock transparent pixels and apply Gaussian Blur and then soft the edges
 Now CRTL + J to duplicate background layer
 Then contract face layer and delete from jus copied layer
 And increase the face Layer opacity to 100%
 Select both layers and goto EDIT and Auto blend layers