Rick

WOW I check out this thread a little late, but let me add my hearty WELCOME to all of the new members.

As Gaussian said in the opening post we want everyone to join in and take part in the fun and games and most of all the challenges.

Don't ever be shy to post and ask questions, that is what we are all here for [righton] [righton] [righton]

wbiss

Welcome joanykins[/B]! You've joined a great bunch of artists (lots aspiring) & kooks here.

Is it London, ON or London, UK that you hail from?

joanykins

Thanks everyone for giving me a warm welcome. I am looking forward to joining in this forum. I know I will be looking for plenty of advice (I will need it) but forgive me if I seem a bit 'nutty' which I have a tendency to do.
By the way, when opening up a photo in PS, apart from the toolbox, is there a way that I can make the picture bigger. What I mean is not just by zooming in on part of a photo, but the whole photo itself?

ladyfinger007

Welcome, joanykins! Don't worry, even if it is PS Guru in there, we are all ignorants in a lot of fields, we learn everyday, even from questions!

wbiss

I'm lousy at technical explanations, but I'll do my best.

Joanykins, to answer your question... go to IMAGE/IMAGE SIZE where a dialogue box (per sample below) will open which will allow you to resize.

The top portion "pixel dimensions" refers to screen size. If you click on the little "arrow" button on the drop-down menu, you will see that you can resize by either a size of your choosing or by a specified percentage. Photoshop will take the existing pixels in your image and "stretch them" to a new size. Naturally, you're visually going to see a loss of quality and it will be dependent on how much you "blow up" your image. (example, look what happens to the printing on a balloon when you blow it up).

The bottom portion of this dialogue box (document size) refers exactly to that and differs from the above. Resizing here is generally done for print purposes whereby resolution is affected. I've done my best in the example below to show you how this works.

Like I said, I'm lousy at technical explanations, so go ahead and test this dialogue box out. You'll quickly discover how to use it!

joanykins

Thank you vbiss. Is think you done well for a very clear explanation. However, what I actually want is to make the photo larger for me to work on rather than print out. My eyes aint that good you know! Any suggestions?

wbiss

Something got lost in the translation, 'cause I certainly misunderstood you. The "zoom tool" IS a part of the toolbox (the little magnifying glass) and IS the tool to use.

If you're looking for a 'shortcut', hold down the CTRL key and press the "+" to zoom in incremently and, vice versa, the CTRL key and "-" to zoom out. You will have to use the "navigator pallette" if your image overflows on your screen.

joanykins

hA HA HA. This is really tickling me. I mentioned once before that I can be a bit "nutty". Am I right in thinking that the zoom tool will only enlarge part of the image. I actually want to enlarge the whole image. Wot do you think?

wbiss

Ha! Ha! Ha! [bustagut] You nutty Brits! [bustagut]

Now you're just pulling my gullible leg! [bustagut] But, in an effort to be equally humorous, the ZOOM TOOL enlarges (for viewing purposes) the whole image on your screen. Those bits which flow over your screen area are accessed via the NAVIGATION PALLETTE.

[bustagut]

joanykins

Aahh. I see wot you mean. BUT. And I mean a big BUT. Is there away that I can see the whole lot without using the navigation pallette. As you may realise by now, I have a LOT to learn!