Photoshop Basics for Textile Design Short Course

This introductory level short course is run over 2 days and introduces the use of Photoshop as a design tool for digital textile printing. An understanding of Photoshop functions and working with layers will be gained from this course.

Course presenter: Damen Joe.

Damen is a graduate from AUT University, having studied for his Master’s Degree in Visual Art and Design. With a strong interest in working between both digital and handmade imagery, upon graduation he went on to teach at AUT and Unitec as a lecturer in both computer aided design and printmaking. Damen's interests continue to span a wide variety of media: from preserving centuries old manuscripts and books; undertaking commissions as a freelance designer; to creating and exhibiting full digital artworks.

Course content -

The course covers essential Photoshop skills including functions, layers, patterns and textures. It provides an overview of digital textile printing technology with a demonstration of digital inkjet textile printing and the pros and cons of digital textile printing will be explained. The course will also include examples of design approaches and provide guidelines for digitising original artwork and skills for editing and combining images, adjusting colour and appearance, and introduces the methods of creating repeating patterns. Participants will apply the skills they have learned to create their own original designs, which will be digitally printed onto fabric at the Textile and Design Lab on the second day of the course.

Learning outcomes-

- Gain an understanding of the essential Photoshop functions for design.
- Be introduced to digital textile printing technology, processes and workflow.
- Use Photoshop software tools to create and develop original designs.
- Be introduced to design approaches including large format images and repeating patterns.
- Gain an understanding of file formatting.

Course schedule -

The course will be run over 2 consecutive days from 9.00 am – 4.30 pm.

Participant requirements:
Competent computer skills are the only prerequisite for this course. No prior knowledge of Photoshop is necessary. Following the course, it is recommended that participants have some access to Photoshop in order to gain the full benefit from this course.

What to bring -

Materials are provided but please bring refreshments with you for morning and afternoon breaks and lunch. There are several cafes in the locality that cater for all dietary requirements.

Please bring along at least 4 jpg files sourced from your own digital photographs, scans or from the Internet. These images may contain other unimportant background imagery but please ensure there is a foreground subject, it is in focus, and is able to be clearly defined from the colours of the surrounding objects. If photographs are from a digital camera, ensure they have been taken on a high quality setting. If images are from the Internet, use a search engine to find "Large" images. Please also bring along a USB storage device to save your work files.