Photoshop Tips #15


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Photoshop

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*1. PHOTOSHOP STALLS--PART 1 OF 2

Some Photoshop users hold their breath every time a launching 
Photoshop begins to initialize the Type Engine. These Photoshop users 
have learned Photoshop is most vulnerable to crashes while it searches 
and loads the fonts installed in the system. The sad truth is that 
fonts are very susceptible to corruption and that Photoshop is very 
sensitive to corrupted fonts. Subsequently, if a font is corrupted and 
Photoshop attempts to load it, Photoshop will most likely crash. If 
your Photoshop application is experiencing startup crashes, the best 
solution is to remove any fonts you installed since you last opened 
Photoshop. Then load each one back into the system, testing Photoshop 
as you go.


*2. PHOTOSHOP STALLS--PART 2 OF 2

In our previous tip, we explained how sensitive Photoshop is to 
crashing if even one of your installed fonts is corrupted. We further 
explained that you should remove any fonts you installed since you 
last opened Photoshop, then load each one back into the system, 
testing Photoshop as you go.

As an alternative to this rather lengthy solution, you can also delete 
your adobefnt.lst file from the Program Files/common files\adobe\fonts 
folder in Windows or from the System, ApplicationSupport, Adobe, Fonts 
folder on the Macintosh. Deleting this file forces Photoshop to 
rewrite its font list and possibly correct the problem.


*3. RETOUCHING WITH CONFIDENCE

When you begin to retouch an image, don't be wary about making 
changes. Photoshop 5.5 has a History palette that records every step 
you take and allows you to revert to any of those steps with the click 
of a mouse. For example, to return your image to the state it was in 
right after you opened and resized your image, first choose Windows, 
Show History. Then scroll to the top of the list of actions in the 
History list and select the History item right after Image Size. 
Photoshop reverses any image modification back to that point.


*4. ALTERING THE COLOR OF THE CENTER VIEW BACKGROUND

As you may know, Photoshop offers three modes for displaying your 
image document--Standard Screen Mode, Full Screen Mode With Menubar, 
and Full Screen Mode. However, you may not be aware that you can 
change the color of the background displayed in Full Screen Mode.

To do so, click the center icon at the bottom of the toolbar to switch 
Photoshop's display to Full Screen Mode. Then select a foreground 
color from the Swatches palette. Next, choose the Paint Bucket tool 
and press Shift, then click the Paint Bucket tool in the Full Screen 
Mode background. Photoshop fills the background with the foreground 
color you've chosen.


*5. ARROWS AND SELECTIONS

In a previous tip, we explained that you could use the arrow keys to 
adjust the position of a selected object. This tip seems to have 
caused some confusion, so let us clarify. You can use the arrow keys 
to move a selected object only if you've already moved the selected 
object or if the active tool is the Move tool. Remember, if you try to 
use the arrow keys to move a selected object that has not yet been 
moved, you will adjust the selection border, not the selected part of 
the image.


*6. THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE RIGHT JOB

Photoshop is a perfect tool for creating or modifying static images 
for print or the Web. However, if you must create interactive, fluid, 
and animated presentations, there's a new tool available that's keenly 
integrated with Photoshop's superb image-editing features.

Adobe LiveMotion enables you to create interactive user interface 
elements using animation, high-quality sound, and complex vector 
graphics. You can then export your creation in any number of standard 
formats, such as GIF, JPEG, PNG, or SWF (Macromedia Flash.) What's 
more, Adobe LiveMotion uses the common Adobe user interface you know 
so well from Photoshop. And, like most Adobe products, LiveMotion can 
work seamlessly with Photoshop. You can import into LiveMotion, launch 
original Photoshop images from LiveMotion, and even apply Photoshop 
filters while in LiveMotion.


*7. CREATING A TRIANGLE--PART 1 OF 2

As we often mention, there are at least ten different ways to 
accomplish everything in Photoshop. Today, we're going to describe one 
method you can use to quickly create a triangle.

To begin, launch Photoshop and open a new document. Then choose the 
Rectangle Marquee tool from the Toolbox. Next, click and drag your 
mouse to create a rectangle selection. (Remember that you can press 
and hold Shift to force the selection into a perfect square.)

Now, choose Edit, Fill to open the Fill dialog box. Choose the Black 
option and click OK to fill the selection with the color black. At 
this point, you have a solid black rectangle. Now transform the 
rectangle into a triangle. To do so, choose Edit, Transform, 
Perspective. Notice the eight points Photoshop places around the 
selection. Click the top-right corner point and drag it to the 
top-center point. As you can see, Photoshop brings the top-left and 
right corners of the rectangle together to form a triangle. Finally, 
press Enter to apply the transformation.


*8. CREATING A TRIANGLE--PART 2 OF 2

In our previous tip, we described how to create a triangle in 
Photoshop. As you may recall, the tip directed you to use the 
Rectangle Marquee tool to create a rectangle selection, fill it with 
black, and use the Perspective Transform function to reshape the 
rectangle into a triangle. Today, we'll discuss another way to create 
a triangle in Photoshop.

To begin, launch Photoshop and open a new document. Then double-click 
the Line tool in the Toolbox. As you can see, double-clicking the Line 
tool accomplishes two things: It makes the Line tool the active tool, 
and it activates the Line Tool Options palette.

Now, select the Start Arrowhead check box and click the Shape button. 
The Width and Length attributes in the Shape dialog box determine the 
proportions of your triangle. To create an equilateral triangle, enter

100

in the Width and Length text fields; enter

0

in the Concavity text field; and click OK.

Now, enter the width value in the Line Width text field in the Line 
Options palette. The width value determines the size of the triangle. 
Finally, click and drag the Line tool on your image document. Drag the 
Line tool until the triangle is almost fully formed. At this point, 
you can move the cursor to rotate the triangle to whatever degree you 
like.


*9. CREATING A TRIANGLE--PART 1 OF 2

As we often mention, there are at least ten different ways to 
accomplish everything in Photoshop. Today, we're going to describe one 
method you can use to quickly create a triangle.

To begin, launch Photoshop and open a new document. Then choose the 
Rectangle Marquee tool from the Toolbox. Next, click and drag your 
mouse to create a rectangle selection. (Remember that you can press 
and hold Shift to force the selection into a perfect square.)

Now, choose Edit, Fill to open the Fill dialog box. Choose the Black 
option and click OK to fill the selection with the color black. At 
this point, you have a solid black rectangle. Now transform the 
rectangle into a triangle. To do so, choose Edit, Transform, 
Perspective. Notice the eight points Photoshop places around the 
selection. Click the top-right corner point and drag it to the 
top-center point. As you can see, Photoshop brings the top-left and 
right corners of the rectangle together to form a triangle. Finally, 
press Enter to apply the transformation.


*10. AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTING AN IMAGE'S CONTRAST

Each new version of Photoshop makes its previously complicated tasks a 
bit easier. Case in point: Photoshop 5.5 has an Auto Contrast command 
to automatically adjust the highlights and shadows in an image.

First, the Auto Contrast command maps the lightest and darkest pixels 
in the image to 99.5 percent white and 99.5 percent black. (That .5 
percent prevents the image tonal quality from becoming too extreme.) 
Once Photoshop remaps the lightest and darkest pixels in the image, 
other image highlights seem lighter and other image shadows seem 
darker. To apply the Auto Contrast to an image, choose Image, Adjust, 
Auto Contrast.
