Table Of ContentQuick Photoshop for Research
A Guide to Digital Imaging for Photoshop 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x
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Quick Photoshop for Research
A Guide to Digital Imaging for Photoshop 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x
Jerry Sedgewick
Department of Neuroscience
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK,BOSTON, DORDRECHT, LONDON, MOSCOW
eBookISBN: 0-306-47938-9
Print ISBN: 0-306-47375-5
©2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Print ©2002 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
New York
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Created in the United States of America
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Preface
Quick Photoshop for Research: A Guide to Digital Imaging contains essential information for the use of
Photoshop specific to researchers. This step-by-step guide is the only book published for users whose needs are
not for the purpose of graphic or web design: instead, this book only addresses the tools and functions necessary
for the ethical enhancement of scientific images, and subsequent layout of these images into figures or plates.
The aim is to provideinformation about digital imaging in an easy-to-follow guide from the beginning of the
imaging process to its end. Additional information about scanning and acquiring images via a digital camera or
laser/PMT system is also covered, as well as information about printers and PowerPoint.
This book is intended for occasional users, as well as beginning and intermediate users primarily in the life
sciences, though it can be applied to forensics, astronomy and engineering. It can also be distributed from core
imaging facilities from within universities and corporations for those who use microscopes, scanners, confocal
systems, and other imaging devices. Actions can be downloaded from quickphotoshop.com to automate
functions covered in this book.
Part 1 of the book covers what users should know about imaging, ethics, computer requirements, differences
between vector and imagingprograms, setting up preferences in Photoshop, and calibrating computer screens
before using Photoshop. Part 2 explains Photoshop functions for imaging: open,duplicate, rotate, flip, undo,
history, zoom, crop, mode; along with corrections for dust and scratches, color and contrast, and for adding
color. Part 3 addresses what functions are used when working with several images to make a plate. You'll learn
about layering, cropping several images to the same dimensions, combining images, adding white space for
lettering, using the text tool, and changing the orientation of text. Part 4 covers the lay-out of multi-image figures
or plates; the addition of symbols such as boxes, arrows, and circles; how to fill with patterns; the construction of
scale bars; what file formats need to be saved; how to set resolution for output; the steps for converting RGB
files to CMYK maintaining color saturation and contrast; ways to solve hue shifts in grayscale photographs;
methods for organizing and archiving files; and specific ways to integrate Photoshop with PowerPoint.
This book finally addresses what every researcher needs to know about when working with images with the most
popular and widely-used imaging program. It speaks to what researchers know intrinsically in a world that has
become far more visual: images often convey more than words; and, like it or not, images leave an impression in
recipients' minds, often making the difference between a grant that receives more points ratherthan less, or
between a paper that is accepted in a prestigious journal versus one that is less desirous. Like it or not, images
can make or break careers.
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to the following individuals
Layout and design: Jerry Sedgewick, Laurel Connett, and Linda Peterson
Cover design: Nam Pham
Editing: Laurel Connett, Reena Maheshwari, Aria Williams, and Jenny White
Templates: Jill Plumb-Smith
Cover photos: Paul Letourneau, Ph.D. (fluorescent growth cone), Stan Erlandsen, Ph.D. (EM of mosquito)
Inside photo credits: Martin Wessendorf,Ph.D. (fluorescent neurites); Stan Erlandsen, Ph.D. (EM photos)
Special thanks to my wife, Jan Shafer, and to my colleagues, John Oja and Jim McCabe, without whom this book would never have been completed.
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Contents
Part 1 Before Getting Started In Photoshop
Flatbed Scanners 2 Making Non-pixelated, High Resolution Images from
Typical Choices When Scanning
Graphing, Drawing & Word Processing Programs 15
Image Type
Differences Between a Drawing Program (Vector
Resolution/Output Size (or Scaling)
Graphics) and a Paint Program (Image Files) 17
Resolution: Setting by File Size
Ethics and Photoshop 19
Filter Options
Computer Requirements for Running Photoshop 21
Contrast, Gamma, Brightness
Computer Screens (Monitors) 22
Film Scanners 6
Calibrating Your Monitor
Scanning Tips 7
Setting Memory for Photoshop on a Macintosh 25
Digital Camera Systems 9
Visual Definitions 26
5 Steps to Follow When Acquiring Digital Images
Overview of Toolbar 27
White Balancing (Color Images Only: Brightfield)
Setting up The Photoshop Workspace 28
Correct for Uneven Illumination
Avoid Over-Saturation Troubleshooting 29
Image or Frame Average: Darkfield (Fluorescence) Load Actions in Photoshop 30
Complementary Filtering (primarily for grayscale cameras)
Other Useful Solutions When Acquiring Images
Part 2 Quick Photoshop: Steps for Single Images
Marquee Tool and Guidelines 32 Mode 39
Open Image/Duplicate 33 Changing Mode To RGB (color)
Open Image File -- Standard Image Files Changing Mode to Grayscale (or 16-bit to 8-bit)
When File Does Not Appear Dust and Scratches 40
Once your File is Open
Sharpening 41
Duplicate
Contrast & Color: A Primer 42
Rotate/Flip 35 Contrast/Color Auto Actions 43
For Small Degrees of Rotation Correcting Color and Contrast for Typical Images (generally
For Interactive and High Degree of Rotation (useful for from scanned negatives, slides, or digital cameras)
rotatingparts of an image) If Auto-Balance Doesn't Auto-determine Hues Correctly and
Undo & History 36 White Areas Exist in Image File
Zooming In & Out 37 Contrast/Color Manual Adjustments 44
Keyboard Commands For Zoom (Preferred) Manual Adjustment of Contrast
Moving Image While Zoomed In (Navigating) Manual Adjustment ofColor
Correcting Color Shift in Whites & Selected Areas
Crop 38
