July 25, 2012 | Quebec

Colour Correction, Manipulation, Masks, and Composite Images Help Transform and Prepare Images for Different Graphic Design Projects

A photograph or digital image is not necessarily ready to be used as-is in a graphic design project. It may need colour correction, retouching, combining multiple images, or preparation for the medium in which it will be used.

This is where photo retouching and image editing come into play. These techniques allow graphic designers to work with an image's visual content and adapt it to the needs of a project, whether for print, the Web, or another medium.

In CDI College's Graphic Design – NTA.1U program, two 60-hour courses are dedicated to image editing. Students progress from fundamental editing and retouching techniques to more advanced methods involving masks, layers, filters, textures, and composite images.

What Is Image Editing?

Image editing encompasses different techniques used to modify, correct, or prepare a digital image.

The first course covers scanning and image-capture technologies, editing, graphic creation, colour adjustment, and photo retouching and repair.

These techniques can be used to work on both the visual characteristics of an image and its individual elements.

What Can Be Changed When Retouching a Photo?

Photo retouching can be used to make a variety of corrections to an image. In the program, students explore colour adjustments, photo retouching and repair, and various image manipulation techniques.

The advanced course goes further with hue and saturation adjustments, filters, distortion correction, and various effects.

These skills demonstrate that retouching involves much more than applying an effect: different techniques can be used depending on the desired result.

What Are Masks and Layers Used For?

As a composition becomes more complex, it may be necessary to work on different parts of an image separately.

The Advanced Image Editing course covers masks and extractions, filters and layers, along with the use of shapes, styles, textures, and colour attributes.

These tools make it possible to build and modify a composition by adjusting different elements within an image.

👉 Learn more: Behind Every Visual: How Graphic Designers Think

What Is a Composite Image?

A composite image brings different visual elements together within a single composition. It can combine multiple images or elements, assembling and editing them to create a new visual.

Composite images are covered in both image editing courses in the program. The advanced course explores their creation in greater depth using masks, layers, textures, and various manipulation techniques.

Creating a composite image, therefore, involves both technical proficiency with the tools and the designer's visual choices.

Why Prepare an Image for a Specific Medium?

An image intended for print and one intended for the Web do not necessarily have the same technical requirements.

The Image Editing course specifically covers image types for different media, including print and the Web, as well as how to prepare images for print.

This is an important consideration in graphic design because projects can be created for a variety of media.

👉 Learn more: From Idea to Visual: How a Graphic Design Project Comes to Life

Image Editing and Photography: What's the Difference?

Photography involves areas such as capturing images, framing, lighting, and exposure. Image editing comes into play when a digital image needs to be edited, corrected, manipulated, or incorporated into a composition.

The Graphic Design – NTA.1U program offers separate courses for these two areas. Digital photography and image editing are, therefore, distinct skills that can complement each other within a graphic design project.

A Skill Used Across Many Graphic Design Projects

Image editing can be used in many types of projects covered during the training, including publications, advertising designs, Web projects, and materials intended for print.

Throughout the program, students progress from the fundamentals of editing and retouching to more advanced manipulation and composition techniques. This progression provides a better understanding of how to prepare and transform an image based on the needs of a graphic design project.

FAQ

1. What is the difference between photo retouching and image editing?
Photo retouching focuses on modifications to a photograph, while image editing, more broadly, encompasses the editing, correction, manipulation, composition, and preparation of digital images.

2. What image editing techniques are covered in the program?
The program covers colour adjustment, photo retouching and repair, masks, layers, filters, textures, extractions, and composite images.

3. Do students learn how to prepare images for print and the Web?
Yes. The curriculum covers image types for different media and the preparation of images for print. It also includes learning related to publishing and the Web.

Explore Further

👉 Graphic Design: Understanding the Field and Career Opportunities

👉 Graphic Communications: A Field That Is Everywhere Around Us

👉 Graphic Design at the Heart of Business Communications

👉 Learn More About CDI College's Graphic Design – NTA.1U Program