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Photoshop Tips and Tricks for Beginners
These Photoshop beginner tips and shortcuts address some of the most common things you'll do in Photoshop, and learning them will save you lots of time down the road.
Create Project-Specific Custom Workspaces
Photoshop lets you create custom workspaces that display just the palettes you need for a specific project. For instance, if you're planning on working with text, you'll want to have the Paragraph and the Character palette open. But later you might be editing some Photos and want to close your text palettes to make room for photo editing palettes like color swatches and brushes. With custom workspaces you can switch quickly.
Once you've arranged the palettes just the way you want them, choose Window> Workspace> Save Workspace. Name your workspace and then click Save. Here's another tip - plan ahead so your custom workspace names make sense. This will be another time-saver later on when you need to locate one from the Workspace submenu.
Display The Same Image In Two Windows
When doing detail work on an image you may need to zoom in to take a closer look at the pixels. But to make sure that any changes you're making in this magnified state will look realistic at a normal view you'll have to zoom out for a quick look. Here's a great tip - instead of zooming in and out you can have the same image open in two windows at the same time.
With an open image selected choose Window> Arrange> New Window (the original file name will be listed). The same image will now appear in a new second window.
Keep one window set at 100% to see your effects, and work in the second window - either zoomed in or zoomed out. Sweet.
Instant Grabber Hand
Ever been frustrated by having to switch tools to move your image around the canvas? Here's the solution — Press the Spacebar to temporarily activate the Hand Tool. Click to move an image freely inside a canvas area that is smaller than the image. Release the Spacebar and the hand tool will revert back to the current tool you have selected.
Getting Rid Of The Marching Ants
Selecting an object will activate a line of dashes that blink to show you the selection's edge (marching ants), but they can be a visual nuisance at times. To quickly hide the selection marquee, Press Command+H (PC: Control+H). To view them again just repeat the shortcut.
Quick Revert - The Undo Command
To undo your last image modification Press Control+Z (MAC: Command+Z), and repeat the shortcut to undo the undo. Toggling back and forth like this is a good technique to review the before and after effects of a one-step change to an image, like dodge or burn.
For situations where you need to perform a multiple undo, go Edit> Step Backward or use Control-Alt-Z (MAC: Command-Option-Z. To go the other way (multiple redo) go Edit> Step Forward or use Control-Shift-Z (MAC: Command-Shift-Z). The number of steps available is the same as the number of History States, which can be changed in General Preferences.
Control Your Color Squares
Press D to reset your color squares to their default of black as the foreground color and white as the background color.
Press X to switch your foreground color and your background color.
To change the color of one of the color squares Click on a Color Square. This brings up the color picker, where you can select a new color.
Selecting Colors From An Image Quickly
Press I to activate the Eyedropper Tool and then click on any color in your image to turn that color into the foreground color. Press the ALT Key and click on any color in your image to turn that color into the background color.
Change Brush Tip Sizes Quickly
With a brush selected, simply Press the Right Bracket Key "]" to increase the size of your brush tip, or Press the Left Bracket Key "[" to decrease the size of your brush tip.
The Move Tool & The Arrow Keys
Get in the habit of calling up the Move Tool with the keyboard shortcut, which is the letter V. Also, once the Move Tool is active you can use your Keyboard Arrow Keys to nudge a layer or selection in 1 pixel increments. To speed things up, Press Shift along with an arrow key to nudge in 10 pixel increments.
Hide Your Palettes
Press Tab once to hide all your palettes. Press Tab again to bring them back. Press Shift+Tab to hide all your palettes except the toolbar.
Zooming In & Zooming Out
To zoom in Press Command and the plus sign "+" (PC: Control and the plus sign). To zoom out Press Command and the minus sign "-" (PC: Control and the minus sign).
Navigating In Magnified Images
If you've zoomed in on a large image and have lost your bearings you can jump quickly to specific views using these shortcuts:
Press the Home Key to set the view to the top left hand corner of your image.
Press the End Key to set the view to the bottom right hand corner of your image.
Press the Page Down Key to move the view one full screen down.
Press Command+Page Down (PC: Control+Page Down) to move the view one full screen to the right.
Press Command+Page Up (PC: Control+Page Up) to move the view one full screen to the left.
Selecting Just The Pixels On A Layer
An easy way to select an object that is on a transparent layer is to Press the Command Key (PC: Control key) and click on the layer with the object in the Layers Palette. This makes sure that only the opaque pixels (the pixels that are visible) will be selected with the marching ants, instead of the entire layer.
Tile Images For Better Visibility
When you open many files at once Photoshop has them cascade, and the overlapping files can make it difficult to select individual ones. To get around this choose Window> Arrange> Tile and all of your open files will rearrange themselves to be visible all at once. When you're ready to close them all don't spend time closing them individually, instead use the Close All shortcut Command+Alt+W (PC: Control+Option+W).
Getting Rid Of The Welcome Screen - And Bringing It Back
When first launching Photoshop CS you'll see a Welcome Screen that has links to some Tutorials, some Tips and Tricks, and a set of Color Management Help Files. After a while you might want to get rid of this screen. There's a check box at the bottom you can select to hide the screen at startup.
If you change your mind later and decide you'd like to investigate the tutorials and other goodies, you can temporarily bring the screen back by going under the Help menu and choosing Welcome Screen.
Cycle Through All Of Your Open Documents
Sometimes you'll want to find one of your open documents that is hidden, but navigating using the Window menu won't help because you can't recall the name of the file. Instead press Control-Tab repeatedly (MAC and PC) to cycle through all of your open documents.
Photoshop CS4 & Photoshop CS4 Extended - Best Deals From Adobe
Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended feature a newly refined, tab-based interface in a single, integrated window, with self-adjusting panels arranged in docked groups. Automatically keeping tools well organized and away from your work area means you get greater efficiency, less clutter, and better results, faster than before.
Delivering all the features of Adobe Photoshop CS4 software, including the new Adjustments and Masks panels, Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended also provides breakthrough 3D editing and compositing power to paint directly on 3D models, create 3D animations, convert 2D images to 3D objects, and more; richer motion graphics editing; and more powerful and flexible image analysis and tracking. Learn more on our Photoshop CS4 Tutorials Page. To download the free trial, see details on our Photoshop CS4 Free Trial Download Page.
Find upgrade options and package deals at the Adobe USA Store. Teachers and students get special pricing at the Adobe Education Store. You can also buy in your country currency and language at the following Adobe International Stores:
Adobe United Kingdom | Adobe Germany | Adobe France | Adobe Eastern Europe
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Working With Layers In Photoshop CS2
Learn how to work with layers in Photoshop CS2, including how to select content on a layer, how to select multiple layers, and how to create Layer Groups.
Working With Type In Photoshop CS2
Learn how to change the size of font previews, work with the bounding box, and use smart guides to align type layers in Photoshop CS2.
Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts
Learn how to edit and create sets of keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop CS and CS2. Also includes links to free keyboard shortcuts PDFs.
Working With Photoshop Scripts
This tutorial shows you how to install and work with Photoshop Scripts, and includes links to free Photoshop Scripts that you can download.
The Photoshop Blog offers the latest Photoshop and Digital Photography news and software updates, tips and tutorials, and random thoughts from graphic artist, digital photographer and Photoshop expert Jennifer Apple.
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SiteGrinder Photoshop Plugin - Create Websites Instantly
There often seems to be a strict division of labor within the world of web design and development. Creative professionals tend to stick to the Photoshop domain, while those well-versed in scripting are left to the task of implementing their work. Indeed, the two realms are quite different from each other, to which any of us even vaguely familiar with either can easily attest.
Essentially, Photoshop is a no-holds-barred design studio, offering the artist a seemingly endless array of creative options. On the other hand, HTML, CSS, Java and the like follow strict rules of engagement, requiring the developer to take any number of esoteric concerns into consideration in order to ensure that designs are properly displayed on the web.
Turn Photoshop Into A Complete Web Design Tool
SiteGrinder seeks to bridge this gap between design and development. Basically, this program turns Photoshop into an easy-to-use and fully functional web design tool. With SiteGrinder, designers will now have the freedom to totally let their creativity loose and then, without skipping a beat, transfer their designs to the web. Bringing esthetic concerns together with more practical considerations, this program is an amazingly powerful tool that would make a fantastic addition to any web designer's bag of tricks.
Generate Your Web Pages Directly From Photoshop
By generating web pages directly from Photoshop, you'll be able to spend much more time on the creative end of the spectrum, since you'll know right off the bat how well particular designs will translate to the web. No more going back to the Photoshop drawing board after getting a phone call from your development team, telling you that what you had envisioned doesn't have a chance of being displayed on the web. You can immediately visually and interactively test your designs, which permits you to then make changes to either esthetics or functions while it's still relatively early on in the design process.
Pricing and Availability
Mac OS X and Windows versions of the SiteGrinder unlockable demo are available now via download. SiteGrinder can be ordered from Media Lab's online store.
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Learn Adobe Photoshop with 21 hours of interactive Adobe Photoshop tutorials. This is training for real-world situations and includes additional tips and techniques used by the pros.
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