Photoshop Tips #1


----------------------------------------------

TipWorld - http://www.tipworld.com
The Internet's #1 Source for Computer Tips, News, and Gossip

Proudly presents:
Photoshop

----------------------------------------------


*1. RESETTING THE DUOTONE DIALOG BOX

Using the Duotone dialog box, you can create monotones, 
duotones, tritones, and quadtones. Monotones are grayscale 
images printed with a one-color ink (not black). Duotones, 
tritones, and quadtones are grayscale images overprinted with 
two, three, and four inks, respectively.

In Photoshop 5.5, you should be aware that Adobe has slightly 
altered the intricacies of the Duotone dialog box. First, when 
you open the Duotone dialog box, it will always show you the 
last settings that were used for Duotones. To reset the dialog 
box to a monotone with a single black ink, press Alt in Windows 
or Option on the Macintosh and click the Reset button. Caution: 
If you use this shortcut after you have begun to modify the 
settings in the Duotone dialog box, it will instead reset to 
the duotone settings that appeared when you opened the Duotone 
dialog box.


*2. EXPANDING UNDO

Some would say Adobe has gone palette-happy in the last few 
years. Literally every menu option and command can now be 
accessed through one of the many Photoshop palettes. There are 
even palette commands not available through the main menus. 
Through all of this, a vital palette feature has been 
missing--the ability to undo a text change in a palette 
text field.  

Photoshop 5.5 addresses this missing option. Now you can choose 
Edit, Undo (or press Ctrl-Z in Windows or Command-Z on the 
Macintosh) to remove the last palette change.


*3. CREATING SELECTIONS AND MASKS

As you probably know, almost every Photoshop task relies on the 
ability to create exact selections or masks. Although Photoshop 
provides many tools and features to help us accomplish this, 
human perception sometimes gets in the way. Often a Photoshop 
user will attempt to create a selection or mask shape based on 
what their perception tells them the shape should be, which is 
not necessarily what the image actually reflects.  

To bypass this perception pitfall, zoom in on the edge of the 
target object so closely that you actually see the separate 
pixels of the image. This will force you to see the real edge 
of the object and not base your selection on your perception of 
the object.


*4. SMOOTHING THE EDGES OF A SELECTION

In a previous tip, we described a technique for smoothing the 
edges of a jagged selection. As you may recall, you switch to 
Quick Mask mode, apply the Gaussian Blur filter to slightly 
blur the edges of the mask, and use levels to tighten the mask 
edge. You then switch back to Normal mode.  

Subscriber Ron Hart wrote to us wondering why we chose this 
method instead of simply using the Selection Smooth function. 
Ron, you're correct that choosing Selection, Modify, Smooth 
would be a quicker way of smoothing a jagged selection. 
However, the Smooth function doesn't give us the control or 
visual feedback we want while we attempt to smooth out the 
jaggies of our selection. The Levels dialog box lets us 
immediately see the effects of the levels adjustments as we 
make them.


*5. CHECKING YOUR WEB OUTPUT

Before finalizing your Web site, it's good practice to check 
your Web graphics on a variety of browsers. The newest version 
of Photoshop gives you the opportunity to preview a Web graphic 
through the Web browsers installed on your computer. 

To do so, choose File, Save For Web. In the resulting dialog 
box, first set the file format, size, colors, and other 
specification for your image. Then, choose a Web browser to 
preview the image from the list box in the lower-right corner 
of the dialog box. We suggest previewing the image in both 
Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.


*6. KEEP A LIGHT TOUCH

When you come across an area in an image that you must add to, 
delete from, or clean up, instead of just dropping a load of 
color or pattern over the area, try setting your chosen tool to 
a low opacity and use several passes to build the change. In 
almost every case, setting your chosen tool to a low opacity 
and altering the area in several passes will produce a superior 
and more realistic result. 

To set a Photoshop tool to a low opacity, double-click the tool 
to display the Tool Options palette. Then, choose a listed 
opacity from the Opacity list box or enter a value of your own. 
We suggest starting with a tool's opacity set to 10 percent.


*7. THE MEASUREMENT TOOL

You may recall a recent tip that explained how to set the Line 
tool to act as a measurement tool. We advised setting the line 
width to 0 and displaying the Info palette. Then, to measure an 
object, you click and drag from one side of the object to the 
other side. The size of the object appears in the Info palette.  

In Photoshop 5.5, you no longer have to substitute the Line 
tool for a measuring device; Adobe has added a Measurement 
tool. You use the Measurement tool to measure objects in your 
image just as we advised you to use the Line tool. Select the 
Measurement tool, click on an edge of an object, and drag to 
the other side. Photoshop displays the distance in the 
Info palette.


*8. THE MEASUREMENT TOOL

In our previous tip, we explained how to use the new Photoshop 
5.5 Measurement tool. In addition to measuring objects in your 
image, you can use it to determine angles. Determining exact 
angles is useful in many ways.  

For example, suppose you scan an image, but once you view it in 
Photoshop, you notice that it's crooked. To straighten the 
image, select the Measurement tool and display the Info 
palette. Then, locate a line or an edge positioned 
horizontally. Click and drag the Measurement tool along the 
line or edge. Photoshop will display the angle in the 
Info palette.  

To straighten the image, choose Image, Rotate Canvas, 
Arbitrary. Photoshop takes the angle value in the Info palette 
and places it in the Rotate text field of the resulting dialog 
box. To straighten the image, choose the appropriate rotation 
direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) and click OK.


*9. SLOW STARTUP

When you launch Photoshop, it must scan and load all the fonts 
that are available for the Type tools. Consequently, a large 
number of installed fonts on your computer can dramatically 
increase the time it takes Photoshop to start up. If you find 
your Photoshop application takes too long to launch, remove any 
unnecessary fonts from your system.  

To remove fonts in Windows, choose Start, Settings, Control 
Panel. Then double-click Fonts. Next, select the fonts you want 
to remove and drag them to a new folder or press Delete. To 
remove fonts on the Macintosh, open the System Folder and then 
open Fonts. Select the fonts you want to remove and drag them 
into a new folder.


*10. WORKING WITH THE ADOBE SUITE

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe PageMaker, and Adobe Illustrator are 
great applications in their own right, but use them 
cooperatively and you'll open up an entire world of efficiency. 
For example, did you know you can drag and drop objects among 
all three applications?  

For example, you can create an illustration in Adobe 
Illustrator, then select the drawing and drop it into an Adobe 
Photoshop image window. After modifying the illustration in 
Photoshop, you can select the image and drag it into an open 
PageMaker document.
