Workflows in Making Infographics

1. Setting the Size of Your Image.

• Set the measurement type to inches

• Indicate the width and height of your desired size for your infographic

• Set the resolution to 72ppi

• Choose RGB color mode

2. Setting Rulers

• Rulers are a great way to organize and properly space and arrange the elements of your
document

• Make your rulers visible by going to View  Rulers, or simply hit Ctrl+R

• Just double click the ruler and drag to the areas you desire to place it

• You can set your rulers to define the center lines of the document by going to View  New
Guide  Horizontal/Vertical  Position

• Hit Ctrl+H to hide your rulers

3. Layers

• Arrange your layers carefully and label them for easy identification and movements

• Control its opacity whenever needs arise

• Add layers by hitting Ctrl+Shift+N

• Hide layers by clicking the eye icon

• Delete layers by selecting the layer and then hit Delete

• Merge layer by hitting Ctrl+E

• Duplicate layers by hitting Ctrl+J

4. Importing Images to Your Workspace

• 2 ways of importing:

• Import directly inside the document

• Drag the image to the workspace

• Import as a separate document

• Drag the image to the empty areas along the Options Tool or the areas that
display the names of the document

• Go to File  Open  Select your images or simply hit Ctrl+O

5. Making Use of the Rectangle Tool

• You can use the vector shapes created by the Rectangle Tool (R) as separators of your contents
in your infographics or containers of elements.

• Modify the specifics of your shapes (colors, sizes, strokes), using the Properties Panel

• You cannot easily edit the shapes because they are vectors. You need to rasterize them first to
be editable.

• To rasterize, Right Click the layer  Rasterize Layer

6. The Type Tool

• Be familiar with the Character Panel

 • To show this panel, go to Window  Character

• In this panel, you can edit the appearance of your text as well as your paragraphs

• Fonts

• Character spacing

• Line spacing

• Colors

• Other character modifications

• Paragraphs (alignments)

7. Layer Styles

• You can make use of the effects for your layers

• Double-click a layer, then click the style that you want

8. Other Tips and Tricks

• Ctrl+T for easy manipulation of your layers

• If you wish to cut a certain shape, or cut a certain area from an image, rasterize it first (if
needed), then select the area. You can cut the area by right clicking the mouse and choosing
either

• Layer via Copy

• Adds a new layer that contains the selection; the original image is unharmed

• Layer via Cut

• Cuts the area from the source and adds a new layer for this; the original image is
altered

NOTE: ONLY SELECTION TOOLS CAN DO THIS!

• A variation of the above tip is when you use the Pen tool to select an area. In this case, after the
path is converted to a selection, click the Marquee Tool then do the above tip

• Multiple Undos by hitting Ctrl+Alt+Z keys

• Redo can be done by Ctrl+Z

• You can use selection tools to erase elements of layers