1.

The first step is to start Photoshop CS by clicking the PhotoShop CS Icon on the desk top.

You can also start Photoshop by choosing Start->Programs->Adobe Photoshop CS from the Windows start menu.

2.

Choose File->New from the menu bar to display the new dialog.

Select Default Photoshop Size from the Preset drop list and click OK. This will create a blank canvas on your Photoshop screen.

3.

The next step is to click the gradient tool in the Photoshop toolbox.

After you select the gradient tool, click on the gradient picker drop list (second over from the left) in the options bar and select the Violet green and orange gradient colour pattern.

4.

Now that you have selected the gradient tool, and the gradient style, select the radial gradient button from the options bar by clicking it.

Next, place your mouse pointer in the center of the white canvas, hold down your left mouse button, and draw a line down to the bottom edge of the canvas. When you release the mouse button, a colourful radial gradient should appear on your canvas.

5.

Next, click the black foreground colour square in the toolbox to display the colour picker dialog box.

Click on the blue area in the vertical colour bar running up and down near the center of the dialog box. The large square on the left of the dialog box should now contain shades of blue. Click in the upper right corner of the large square to choose a bright blue colour.

Click the OK button to set this as your foreground colour.

6.

Next, click the paint brush tool in the toolbox. Select Airbrush Soft Round from the Tool Preset Picker at the far left of the options bar.

7.

After you select the airbrush, use it to paint some strokes or designs on your canvas.

Because your foreground is now blue, your brush strokes will be blue as well. The thickness of your strokes will depend on the brush width in pixels.

8.

Expose the brush preset list by clicking the down pointing arrow next to the brush width figure in the options bar (the brush width is represented on the options bar by a black spot, with a number beneath). From the brush preset list, select the item with a pixel width of 19.

9.

Now paint some more brushstrokes on your canvas. Can you see a difference between the strokes?

10.

To save the image you created, Choose File->Save As from the menu bar. Name the file Practice5, select the JPEG format for the file, and click the Save button.

When the JPEG dialog box appears click OK to save the file as a JPEG image with the default Photoshop settings.