Photoshop 1 Online Section 4323
Spring 2013 Syllabus
Description of the course
Welcome to CS 70.11A Adobe Photoshop 1! This course covers the introductory features of Photoshop CS6, the premier software for creating and manipulating bitmapped graphics. Topics include the toolbox, basic layer techniques, Bridge, selecting, painting, image sources and copyright issues, resolution, printing, strokes & fills, color and tonal correction, image repair, some filters, some automation, and more. This course and CS 70.11B Photoshop 2 explore all the topics needed to pass the Adobe Certified Associate in Adobe Photoshop exam. Photoshop is essentially the same program whether running under Windows or Mac OS.
If you are a new student at SRJC, I recommend that you visit the SRJC Orientation page. Here is the official SRJC course outline for CS 70.11A.
Be aware of some important SRJC deadlines relevant to this section. These deadlines include the last day to: opt for Pass/No Pass, withdraw from the course, get a refund, and not receive a "W" or grade for the course. View these dates by visiting our CATE section page and then clicking on Deadlines.
Student learning outcomes
- Demonstrate competency in identifying Photoshop interface elements.
- Construct simple documents utilizing selections, layers and blending modes.
- Differentiate between simple graphic file formats and choose the appropriate usage for each.
Online learning
If this is your first online class at SRJC, please click on the following links to prepare yourself to take an online course:
Much of our communication will be through email. It is important that you develop the habit of checking your email frequently in order to be current with the class. Online classes require more regular attention from students than in-person classes.
Class schedule
Each week of the course will run on a Tuesday to Monday schedule with a homework assignment due by the end of each Monday.
Each Sunday or Monday I will send the class an email outlining the next week's activities. I will send a second email later in the week with comments about the graded homework. Other class emails will be sent as needed.
A typical week's activities
Our Schedule page is the key page from which to access the course materials and understand what needs to be done each week. I suggest bookmarking this page. I recommend the following sequence for each week:
- Complete the reading assignments specified on the Schedule page. For example, for class 1, read Getting Started, Overview and Tutorial Guidelines and Tutorial 1 from the textbook, and Lesson 1. You will likely need to read them more than once. When reading a textbook Tutorial (chapter) for the first time, I recommend that you just skim through the Guided Exercises. When working on the homework assignment, you will be asked to go back and complete each step in most of the Guided Exercises.
- Watch the Practical Photoshop video. Each week's Lesson will also include some optional online videos related to that week's topic. These optional videos do not contain any additional information that is required for the course. However, many students will find them beneficial for reinforcing what they've read in the textbook.
- Complete the homework assignment. As part of the assignment, read all of the forum posts since your last visit to the forum and participate as described in the assignment.
- Use the inbox for the homework to upload your work so that I can grade it. Make sure everything has been completed by the Monday homework deadline.
- Use the Review Questions to test yourself on how well you understand and remember the material for this week. They are also useful for exam preparation.
Joining the class
Once you have registered for this class, check in through SRJC's CATE (Center for Advanced Technology in Education) system, available beginning January 11. Visit our CATE section page, scroll down to the Class Check-In section, and follow the instructions. You will need your username and password to access the course materials, take exams, upload homework to an inbox, or check your grades. If you should forget your CATE username or password, go to Student Reminder. Check in only once.
Students who do not check in by the end of the second day of classes may be dropped from the class.
After your check-in is accepted, return to our CATE section page and click on COURSE MATERIALS. Then visit the Schedule page to access a weekly schedule of topics covered, reading assignments and homework assignments. Let me know if you have any questions.
Contact information
Instructor: Bruce Purcell
Office hours: M 3:00-5:00pm or by appointment. My office is in room 2938, which is located on the third floor of Maggini Hall.
I also have an online office hour M 8:15-9:15pm. The best way to contact me during this time is using Skype. It allows multiple participants to communicate over the Internet using voice and/or text. It allows me to do a live demonstration in Photoshop to answer to your questions. During this hour, you can also call my office phone or email me, but priority will be given to those who are connected with Skype. Instructions for using this program are included in Homework 1.
Office phone number: 527-4216. Unanswered and busy calls are forwarded to the campus voice mail system so that you can leave me a message. Since I will only check my voice mail on Mondays, email is a much better way to contact me.
Email address: bpurcell@santarosa.edu I will respond within 24 hours unless I am out of town. It is important that you include your section number in the subject line of the email.
Computer Studies Department website: www.santarosa.edu/cs
Computer Studies Department phone: 527-4778
Texts and supplies
Required textbook
Practical Photoshop CS6, Level 1 by Heiman, Laird, Haverinen & Green. 2013. The 2012 book is similar, but has no index and contains several errors.
We were unable to find a textbook that adequately covered all of the course topics, so several of the Photoshop instructors wrote our textbook specifically for this course. The book will be available for purchase online as a printable PDF file for $15, but as of 1/5/13 was not yet available. Visit Practical Photoshop website and under the Practical Photoshop CS6, Level 1 heading, click on the Downloads & Purchase link. Read the information and then click on the Purchase and download the course textbook link. You need a credit card or PayPal account. The image files for completing the exercises in each chapter are also downloadable.The Practical Photoshop CS5, Level 1 book cannot be used for this class.
The Practical Photoshop web page also has a link for a free download of what you need to complete the first two weeks of the course.
You need Adobe Reader (version 7 or higher) to open the PDF files used in this course. If you don't already have this program, download it for free: Adobe Reader.
Recommended Text
Photoshop CS6: The Missing Manual by Lesa Snider. 2012. O'Reilly Media/Pogue Press. Print ISBN: 978-1-4493-1615-0 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4493-1614-3
This book is a good reference, but no reading will be assigned from it for this class. It has one website for description and ordering and another one for its downloadable images.
Hardware / Software
The course materials, homework, and exams use Adobe Photoshop CS6 / Photoshop Extended CS6, released May 2012. Photoshop Extended CS6 contains some additional features such as 3D image manipulation and enhanced video editing that we are not covering in this course. Every Creative Suite 6 package includes Photoshop Extended CS6 except for Design Standard which includes Photoshop CS6. Bridge is always included with Photoshop.
If you have CS5, you can do almost all of the homework, but there are a few required features that will not be available, such as the Content-Aware Move tool and Contact Sheet II. You may use our computer labs at either the Petaluma or Santa Rosa campuses or choose to take a deduction on the homework. Other features have changed considerably, such as the Crop tool, Adjustment panel, Liquify filter, and the user interface. For these features, you will need to adapt the homework instructions. You can use the extensive help file that is available through Photoshop to look up how they work in CS5. I do not recommend that you try to use a version earlier than CS5.
You may purchase software at academic prices from the SRJC bookstore on either the Santa Rosa or Petaluma campus. Click on SRJC bookstore software for further details or to purchase the software online. For Adobe’s comparison of the CS6 products, visit CS6 packages. For example, you may purchase CS6 Design Standard, which includes Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Acrobat for Windows or Macintosh at a relatively excellent price $199. They also have CS6 Design and Web Premium for $349. It contains the above, but with Photoshop Extended and Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks. Photoshop Extended CS6 alone is $169. The software may get backordered. College Buys is another source for lower-cost, academic versions of Adobe software. Adobe academic software is the same as the commercial version except that it is not licensed to be used for commercial purposes.
To get started, you may also choose to download a free 30 day trial version of Photoshop Extended CS6 from the Adobe website.
Alternately, you can subscribe to the Adobe Creative Cloud. Students can use all of the Adobe CS6 software for $30/month. Anyone can use a single application for $20/month. For more information, visit Adobe Creative Cloud.
Check the hardware and software requirements before buying software. Photoshop does not run well or at all on older computers.
In order to view the movies that are part of the course, you will need a Quicktime Player. For Mac users, it is part of the Mac OS. For Windows users who don't already have it, you will need to get a free download: Quicktime Player for Windows.
I will send the class an email at least twice a week using the email address that you provided when you registered at SRJC. The sender is identified as GU.Weblink@santarosa.edu. Please check your email at least three times weekly and update any change to your email address using the SRJC Student Portal.
Grading
15 Homework assignments.. 320 points (11 to 38 points each)
3 Exams ............................ 120 points (40 points each)
Final exam .......................... 60 points
MTM evaluation ....................10 points
Total ................................. 510 points
Your course grade will be calculated by dividing the total points earned by the total points possible. Your course grade will be assigned according to the following percentages:
90-100% .... A
80-89.9% ... B
70-79.9% ... C
60-69.9% ... D
0-59.9% ..... F
Exams
The dates and chapters covered by the exams are listed in the Schedule (see link above). All four exams will be taken online and are open book and untimed. The Photoshop program may be referenced, but you may not get help from another person. The questions will be based on the textbook, lessons, review questions, the Practical Photoshop videos, and homework assignments. Exams will consist of multiple-choice and true/false questions.
The exam questions are randomly drawn from a testbank. Once you open a exam, you must take it. I will know if you open the exam more than once and will assess a 10% penalty for each extra time the exam is opened. If you feel that you have a good reason for having to open the exam more than once, email me your explanation and I may waive the penalty. After completing the exam, you will be able to review all of the questions, your answers, and the correct answers for any questions that you missed.
Unless you make prior arrangements with me, each exam must be taken within the week specified in our schedule. On the first three exams, if you miss the deadline, you will have another week in which to take the exam with a 25% (five question) penalty. If you miss this second opportunity, the exam will be recorded as a zero. Since I process and submit the course grades right after the final exam, it cannot be taken late. Technical problems with taking an exam do not constitute a valid excuse for missing the exam deadline. I strongly recommend that you do not wait until the last few hours to take an exam.
Homework assignments
Our fifteen homework assignments are listed in the Schedule (see link above). Most students will need to spend a total of 3 to 6 hours per week to complete each homework assignment (not including other reading and studying time). As you work on the step-by-step exercises, make sure you understand why each tool or command is used.
Each homework is due by 11:59pm on a Monday. If you notice that you made a mistake on a file already submitted, you may resubmit the file using a similar, but different name. I will only grade the last file submitted. Unless you get my approval for extraordinary circumstances, a late assignment will be docked 20% for the first week; after one week late, it is docked 40%; after two weeks, it is docked 60%. If you submit any part of an assignment after the due date, the penalty is based upon the value of the entire assignment. Assignments will not be accepted more than three weeks late or after the final exam. You must email me if you submit late homework so that I know to grade it. Technical problems with submitting homework do not constitute a valid excuse.
A link to a CATE inbox will be provided for each assignment on the Schedule page. Submit images with the specified pixel dimensions and under the specified file size, usually 150 or 200KB. This way the image will have enough detail that I can evaluate them properly and yet not take up too much room on the CATE server.
Participation in the discussion forum is an important part of an online class since we do not meet face-to-face. You are part of a learning community even though you can't physically see your fellow students. Postings to the forum will be a part of every homework assignment. Since it is important that we discuss the topics of the current homework at the same time, postings will only receive credit if they are made during the week specified. Please proofread your comments carefully for grammar and spelling.
An online course has the benefit of giving you a lot of flexibility as to when and where you spend time on the class. However, since there is no structured class time, it is easy to fall behind unless you are disciplined in budgeting your time. Please don't fall into that trap. Try to complete each homework assignment early so that if you run into any problems you will still have time to get help.
I encourage you to try to resolve problems with your assignments on your own since you will learn more and become more self-reliant. I recommend this problem-solving strategy:
- Use your textbook, lessons, review questions, my emails, the videos, Photoshop Help, and experimentation.
- If you get stuck, post a message on the class Forum (see link above).
- Contact me. Email works well for online students and simple questions. Remember to put your section number in the subject line. For more complex situations, I recommend using my office hours (see above) especially the online office hour on Mondays from 8:15-9:15pm.
Miscellaneous
Student conduct
Students who register in SRJC classes are required to abide by the SRJC Student Conduct Standards. Violation of the Standards is basis for referral to the Vice President of Student Services or dismissal from class or from the College.
Students are expected to know and abide by the SRJC policy of academic integrity. Collaborating on or copying of exams or homework in whole or in part will be considered an act of academic dishonesty and result in a grade of 0 for that exam or assignment. I encourage students to share information and ideas, but not their work.
Accommodations for students with disabilities
If you need disability-related accommodations for this class, please contact Disability Resources Department (DRD) at the Santa Rosa campus (527-4278) or the Petaluma Campus (778-2491). For more information visit the DRD webpage.
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