Digital Bricolage in Photoshop II
Scenographic Map
Premise and Objectives
This module is the second one {L05.2} in the two-part series covering the essential tools for creating a digital bricolage in Adobe Photoshop. After completing the exercises for {L05.2}, you will have:
- Become familiar with the Transform Tool
- Become familiar with Adjustment Layers
- Explored interoperability between Photoshop and Illustrator
If you aren’t already familiar with layers and layer masks, complete the {L05.01} first.
Set-Up
Launch Photoshop and choose New File. Set the file width to 4200 and height to 1080 Pixels (or any size that you consider suitable for your composition). Click Create.
Alternatively, you can continue working on your bricolage file from last week (make sure you Save As… first). To change the size of your canvas, click through Image > Canvas Size… and set the new width and height (note that you can choose the direction of your canvas extension by “anchoring” the current image content):
For this sample collage we are using some of the same material from the previous week (images sourced from the scholarly articles by Brian Holmes and John Dean Davis), and A cotton plantation on the Mississippi lithograph by Currier & Ives:
You can download all source materials here.
Transform Tool
The transform tool enables you to scale, rotate, skew, stretch, or warp an image. You can apply transformations to a selection, an entire layer, a layer mask, or a group of selected layers.
The Free Transform command lets you use any of the above transformations (rotate, scale, skew, distort, perspective, warp, and flip) in one continuous operation. To activate the Free Transform tool, select what you want to transform and click through Edit > Free Transform or click Cmd/Ctrl + T. A transformation (or bounding) box will appear around the area you want to transform. Start dragging the corner handles to scale the area proportionally. To toggle non-proportional scaling, press and hold the Shift key while transforming:
Use right-click to switch from Free Transform to any particular transformation tool (such as Skew or Perspective). To cancel transformation(s), press the Esc key. To confirm transformation, click the Return/Enter key:
Note: Transforming layers in Photoshop ultimately results in some loss of image quality. To avoid this, convert the layer into a Smart Object before transforming. This tool is accessed through the “more” menu located in the upper-right corner of the Layers Panel, or by clicking through Layer > Smart Objects > Convert to Smart Object on the main menu bar.
On your own: Complete your bricolage composition with the remaining source images using Layer Masks and Transform tools.
Adjustment Layers
Image Adjustments (Image > Adjustments > …) are a broad set of useful image editing tools that add color and tonal adjustments to your image by permanently changing its pixels:
Adjustment Layer is a special kind of layer that allows you to make non-destructive adjustments to the colors and tones in your image (without permanently changing its pixels). It also allows you to tweak and refine the adjustment settings throughout an edit continuously (much like the layer masks allow you to control the visibility).
The easiest way to add an adjustment layer to your composition is from the Layers panel. Click on the Create new fill or adjustment layer button at the bottom of the Layers panel, choose one of the adjustments from the list, and a new adjustment layer will appear on top of the selected layer.
Note: Adjustment layers come with their own layer masks, which you can use to limit the areas of the image affected by the adjustment:
Important: By default, an adjustment layer affects all layers beneath it in the Layers panel. To make the adjustment layer affect only the layer directly below, hold down the Option/Alt key and click between the adjustment layer and the layer you need to be adjusted:
Illustrator Interoperability
One of the great things about the Adobe Creative Suite is the integration of its apps. Graphic assets created in Photoshop can be integrated into an Illustrator file and vice-versa: Illustrator files can be imported into Photoshop and either be rasterized or keep their vector functionality for further editing.
For example, you may wish to convert your scenographic map into a timeline by adding a (vector-based) horizontal time axis on top of the drawing or add textual labels/captions in Illustrator to provide background information about the imagery.
To do that, launch Illustrator and create a new document (preferably with the same or similar width/height as the .psd file you just completed). Click through File > Place… and navigate to your collage drawing.
Note: by default, placed .psd files are linked, not embedded, allowing further editing in Photoshop. However, if you move (or delete) your Photoshop file, the link will be broken, and you will have to re-link the file.
On your own: place your scenographic map into Illustrator and add vector elements to the drawing.
{L05.2}
ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW
For {L05.2}, you’ll expand on your collage work for {L05.1} representing a key “hidden abode” (Fraser, 2014) for your chosen ‘cene. This second phase engages with a “hidden axis” of time that may be represented through any number of conventions: time as a single or complex set of lines, a tree, a circle, a spiral, a landscape…
Here we ask you to use this last convention, landscape, as a way of representing a temporal axis for geography. This will become the basis of a multi-part scenographic map (in the style of the “Detonator” landscapes from Tsing et al’s Feral Atlas) for your final project. The map will be initially composed in discrete sections based on your group size (i.e., if you’re a group of 3, it will be a triptych), starting with this assignment. For this week, begin to compose your section of the scenographic map that includes a “hidden axis” of time that historically organizes and spatially structures the drawing. Your composition should use the archival media selected for this week, and should make sure to represent at least three kinds of elements: the body, the landscape, and the map (or another conventional modes of geographic representation).
As you begin to compose your scenographic map, keep the following guidelines for the final project in mind: scenographic map for your atlas should be composed to present a complex, multi-scalar geography of landscapes or other sites important to your ‘cene and organized to show a temporal dimension, i.e., as a scenographic “visual timeline.” Though the final map should be presented as a single, synthetic drawing, each individual will be responsible for one part of the map. How you divide up the map — e.g., historically, geographically, thematically, or otherwise — is your choice. However, to accommodate graduating students who need to submit their final work a week early, we strongly encourage you to choose a method for dividing up the map that will facilitate stitching together the final product easily.
DELIVERABLES
For {L05.2}, post your work in progress by Thursday, 5/19 to the {L} Lab WIP channel on Are.na.
In your write-up, explain your “hidden axis” of time and how it organizes the drawing. Make sure to cite sources as needed; if you’ve cited them for your {L05.1} posts already, you can simply link back to those posts.
