Photoshop Tips #4


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Photoshop

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*1. QUICKLY CYCLE THROUGH THE AVAILABLE TOOLS--PART 1 OF 2

Photoshop has so many tools that the folks at Adobe had to 
stack similar tools into the toolbox. For example, the 
Rectangle, Oval, and Single-Row, Single-Column selection tools 
and the Crop tool occupy the same spot in the toolbox.  

To choose a tool from a tool stack, click the tool position and 
hold down the mouse button. After a moment, a sub-toolbar will 
appear listing the available tools for that spot. However, this 
method takes an eternity when you are under a deadline to get a 
job out by the end of business today. A quicker way to choose 
the tool you want (besides memorizing the keyboard shortcut for 
each Photoshop tool) is to cycle through the available tools. 
Once the tool you want comes to the top, stop cycling. To do 
so, press Alt in Windows or Option on the Mac and click a tool. 
The next available tool becomes the active tool. Click again to 
see the next tool, and so on.


*2. QUICKLY CYCLE THROUGH THE AVAILABLE TOOLS--PART 2 OF 2

In our previous tip, we described how you can press the Alt key 
in Windows or the Option key on a Mac and click a tool to a 
tool stack on the toolbox. For example, the Type tool, the Type 
Mask tool, the Vertical Type tool, and the Vertical Type Mask 
tool occupy the same tool position in a tool stack on the 
Photoshop toolbox. To cycle through the various Type tools, you 
press Alt or Option and click the active Type tool to select 
the next Type tool in the stack. Click again for the next Type 
tool, as so on. 

However, if you're more of a shortcut key Photoshop user, you 
can achieve the same result by pressing Shift and the tool 
shortcut key. For instance, to duplicate the results of the 
previous example with the Type tools, press Shift and T to 
switch the active Type tool to the next Type tool in the tool 
stack. Press Shift and T again to choose the next Type tool, 
and so on.


*3. SAVING AN RGB IMAGE AS A GIF

To save an image as a GIF in previous versions of Photoshop, 
you had to use the Export GIF89 filter or perform the laborious 
mode conversion from RGB to Indexed Color before saving the 
file. In Photoshop 5.5, you can simply use File, Save A Copy to 
save RGB images directly in GIF format.  

Once you choose the GIF file format in the Save A Copy dialog 
box and click Save, Photoshop displays the Indexed Color dialog 
box. Here you can choose your desired indexed-color conversion 
settings to save the file as the image in the GIF file format.


*4. ZEROING IN WITH THE CROSSHAIRS

Have you ever swung your cursor across the screen only to 
discover that the brush tool you thought you had is now a thin 
crosshair? Curses! You must have inadvertently pressed the Caps 
Lock key instead of the Tab key. When you punch the Caps Lock 
key again, the crosshair cursor returns to the familiar 
brush shape. 

As useless as the crosshair cursor may seem to most people, it 
can make a big difference when you clone an image with the 
Rubber Stamp tool. In many cases the Rubber Stamp tool obscures 
the area you're working in or the image area you want to 
target. However, with a quick press of the Caps Lock key, the 
Rubber Stamp tool changes to the crosshair cursor. Now you 
should have no problem with applying detailed changes with the 
Rubber Stamp tool. Once you've finished with the tool, simply 
press the Caps Lock key again to return the cursor to the 
active tool cursor.


*5. PHOTOSHOP KEYBOARD SHORTCUT CHEAT SHEET

Do you have difficulty remembering all of the Photoshop 
shortcut keys? If so, you can download a free Photoshop 
shortcut cheat sheet to help you keep track of the multitude of 
quick keys. In addition to the shortcuts, the cheat sheet lists 
Photoshop tips and techniques. To download the Photoshop 
shortcut cheat sheet, visit 

http://www.asap.net/cheat.html


*6. SELECTIVELY BLURRING AND SHARPENING AN IMAGE

In most cases, images can use a discretionary blurring or 
sharpening. However, the effects of the Blur and Sharpen tools 
are so subtle that they are difficult to use. In this tip, 
we'll describe a quick way of selectively blurring and 
sharpening an image without resorting to the Blur or 
Sharpen tool. 

To begin, create two duplicate layers of your image. Select the 
first duplicate layer and choose Filter, Blur, Blur. Then, 
select the second duplicate layer and choose Filter, Sharpen, 
Sharpen. Now, double-click the Eraser tool to select it and 
open the Tool Options palette. Set the Tool Options to Airbrush 
and 50% Opacity. Then, begin to erase areas of the sharpened 
image layer and the blurred image layer. In addition to erasing 
areas that do not require blurring or sharpening, you may also 
want to adjust the opacity of the sharpened layer and the 
blurred layer to further control the effect the layers have on 
the original image. Once you're satisfied with the image, 
choose Layer, Flatten Image.


*7. PHOTOSHOP HELP

Many beginning (and even advanced) Photoshop users often forget 
that one of the best Photoshop resources is right at their 
fingertips--the Photoshop Online Help system. If you have ever 
caught yourself wondering "What is this tool?" or "How does 
this feature work?" simply press F1 for Photoshop Help.

Photoshop Help allows you to look through a table of contents, 
browse an index of topics, or search for a particular word or 
phrase. Furthermore, Photoshop Help has diagrams and 
illustrations of all the tools, palettes, and filters.


*8. ELIMINATE IMAGE ICONS

Graphic file size is always important, but it is critical in 
Web design. Every extra byte in the file size of an image can 
lengthen a Web page's download time. Therefore, you want to set 
Photoshop to save as small of an image as possible.

One feature many Photoshop users forget to turn off is Image 
Preview. For those unfamiliar with Image Preview, it creates a 
low-resolution thumbnail of the saved image. That thumbnail is 
displayed in the Open dialog box when the file is selected. The 
thumbnail also consumes from 1K to 2K. To ensure your files are 
as small in file size as possible, turn off the Image 
Preview option.

To do so, choose File, Preferences, Saving Files. Then, in the 
resulting dialog box, select Never Save from the Image 
Preview menu.


*9. ALWAYS WORK ON A COPY

A general rule most experienced Photoshop users have learned is 
to never work on an original image file. Always, always, always 
work on a copy.

Truly, there is nothing more frustrating than modifying an 
image only to realize you've taken the wrong path and have 
already saved the changes to the original file. Although the 
latest versions of Photoshop do have the Undo command and the 
History palette to help you roll back mistakes, don't use these 
features as a crutch. It's simply too easy to prevent 
unforeseen problems through good work habits.


*10. ERASING THE BACKGROUND

Photoshop 5.5 has some an awesome new tool, the Background 
Eraser tool, which allows you to erase pixels on the background 
of an image. By controlling the sampling and tolerance of the 
Eraser tool, you can erase a background simply by dragging the 
Eraser over an image.

For example, to delete the green background of an image 
showcasing a product box, first double-click the Background 
Eraser tool to select the tool and open the Tool Options 
palette. Then, set the Tool Options to Discontiguous (to erase 
the sampled color wherever it occurs in the layer), enter

30

in the Tolerance text field (a low value only erases areas very 
similar to the sampled color--a high value erases a broader 
range of colors), and choose Once from the Sampling list box.

Next, select the layer from the Layers palette. Then, click in 
the background of the layer and move the tool around the 
layer's background. As you'll see, Photoshop samples the 
background color you initially clicked on and is now erasing 
only that color from the image--leaving the foreground object 
on a transparent layer.
