How Graphic Design Worked Before There Was Photoshop
Photoshop, the program: Now a day’s image manipulation has been a common work both for personal and commercial purpose. By having a snap, people now actually start their photography. Editing those snapped photographs comes next to it. It is so prominent that there is hardly any images that are used without having the touch of manipulation. In doing this, the best used software is Adobe Photoshop. Though there are several other programs that may be of great use, Photoshop has been the key tool for the image manipulators. Is has been so famous that the phrase for image editing is now replaced with the verb “Photoshop”.
Beginning of Photoshop: Photoshop program was first developed by two American brothers in 1987. Later they sold the distribution license to Adobe Systems in 1988. The brothers probably did not have the idea of what they had done. But eventually, Photoshop brought the revolution. It changed the entire setting of the image manipulation sector and gave birth to an industry. But think about the time when Photoshop was not available. Wasn’t there the necessity of image editing that time? The answer is doubtlessly “yes”. But how was it done then?
Photoshopping before Photoshop: Obviously image editing was also done before the Photoshop software was developed. In the same way how we do it now, the images for magazines and printing press were manipulated and special effect and designs were put in those. But the system to do this work was not easy at all. The process was so complicated that often it took days to manipulate a specific photo. Manual labor and physical skill was the basic things in this connection. Here the designers played an important role. Their imagination and creativity actually created the plan. Afterwards, the plan was executed through some other creative people like the photographers and typographers. They made the images and the writing fonts according to the necessity prescribed by the designer. Usually the images used to be black and white. On the other hand, the fonts were several so that the designers could change it whenever needed. With all the hard work it was the designer who combined and accumulated all those and made a work of art. To add some color in the black and white photo the designers often used colored papers. Moreover, they took the help of additional colors and then actually painted for the conversion. Actually, the skills of the person work as a vital factor here. At the same time it needs high manual labor.
Some Tools That The Manipulators Use Before Photoshop
1. Technical Pen: To draw lines with precise length, architects take the help of “Rapidograph” which is known as technical pen in other name. This was used highly in drawing the outline for the images before. At the same time.
2. T-Square and Triangle: Earlier the designers used t-square and triangle to measure and set the image in certain places. The exact distance to create nice illusion needs perfect measurements and that was done by means of t-square and triangle.
3. Rubber Cement: It was an important tool that can be as helpful as a clip to hang something. Before Photoshop was available, making design accumulating several parts of same or different image was done through it.
4. Typography: If the designers wanted to input any writing or content, he had to take the assistance of typographers. So, Word art contributed to the job of different people.
5. French Rules: In lieu of the Bezier tools, useful in Photoshop, the designers of the early time used French rules to make curves in the image.
One last and most important thing is that if once the design got ruined or it spilled out, all the labor failed. One mistake could ruin all. So huge care and intensive concentration was essential for the image editing before Photoshop.