Project 8– Emily Keene

1. Discuss your experience using rulers and guides. I've used rulers and guides for almost every Photoshop composite image I've ever made... I can't actually imagine trying to perfect a layout without them :)

2. Since (most) filter effects are so innately dramatic, my "favorite combination" varies by necessity every time I use one, depending on my intended result for the specific image. I'll use a filter only if it seems like the most efficient/practical way to achieve the change I want, since I typically try to avoid adjustments that I can't go back and tweak later. As a general rule, if a filter doesn't work/improve the image in the way I'd hoped, I just hit "undo" and pretend it never happened... I guess the only times I ever resign myself to a less-than-ideal effect are while I'm working on homework assignments that require a filter on a certain layer, so I sorta just have to pick one and say "oh well" ;)

3. I'm still a little fuzzy about the total benefits of using Smart Objects, but this assignment pointed out a big one that I hadn't been aware of previously: like I said in answer #2, the reason I rarely use Filters is because once you hit "okay" it's done, and you can't adjust the change unless you undo the action and start over... Editable stacks of "Smart Filters" are a seriously cool feature that I will definitely use more often in the future!!

4. I challenged myself while creating my final composite basically just by being super obsessive in getting it to look EXACTLY the way I intended... This one took me forever, haha. I also challenged myself by taking pains to make sure I was achieving all of my results through methods I've learned in this class, rather than the slower/less effective ways I have always used before out of ignorance (and eventually out of habit). If I had to pick one favorite feature (aside from selection tools, obviously) that I now (thanks to this course!) depend on every time, I'd have to go with the layer blending modes– "overlay" in particular. There's just no better way of achieving that surreal, dreamlike superimposed look that looks "natural" but still *pops* at the same time.

5. Fave keyboard shortcuts: zoom in/out, deselect/reselect/select inverse, default colors/switch foreground & background, clear, and the arrow keys for "nudge". Probably more too, but that's all I can think of without actually working on something now that they've become almost second nature :)

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