Photoshop Tips #20


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*1. DEALING WITH DITHER

Dithering uses various amounts of noise to try to produce colors and 
gradients not in an image's color range. In most cases, you want to 
avoid dithering. However, some Web images demand a certain amount of 
dithering to produce satisfactory results.

When you decide to use dithering in a Web image, it's best to save the 
image as a JPG instead of a GIF. JPG compression is better suited to 
dithered images and will produce a smaller file size.


*2. TRANSFORM A COPY OF A SELECTION

If you're familiar with Adobe Photoshop's Free Transform tool, you 
know how much it simplifies normally complex scaling, skewing, and 
rotating. To use the Free Transform tool, you select an area of an 
image and choose Edit, Free Transform. Or you can press Ctrl-T in 
Windows or Command-T on the Macintosh.

In addition to transforming a selection in an image, you can create a 
copy of the selection and transform the duplicate selection. To do so, 
press Alt in Windows or Option on the Macintosh as you choose Edit, 
Free Transform. Or press Alt-Ctrl-T in Windows or Option-Command-T on 
the Macintosh.


*3. USE LAYER EFFECTS FOR QUICK FX

Photoshop layer effects allow you to apply emboss, shadow, inset, 
outset, inner glows, and outer glows to any layer in your image 
document. The best part is all layer effects are temporary until you 
flatten your image file. Therefore, you can experiment to your heart's 
delight without permanently affecting your image.

To apply a layer effect, choose Window, Show Layers to display the 
Layers palette. Then select a layer from the Layers palette. Next, 
choose Layer, Effects and select an effect from the list. In the 
resulting dialog box, set the attributes for the selected effect. 
Click OK to close the dialog box and to apply the effect to the layer.


*4. LAYERING LAYER EFFECTS

In our previous tip, we discussed layer effects and how you can 
quickly and easily apply and remove effects in your image. However, 
you don't have to limit yourself to just one layer effect per layer. 
You can apply more than one effect to a single layer to build your own 
layer effect.

To do so, select Layers, Effects and choose an effect. In the 
resulting dialog box, set the attributes of the effect you chose and 
then select another effect from the list box. As you'll see, there are 
an infinite number of combinations for you to experiment with to 
create your own layer effects.


*5. QUICKLY REMOVING LAYER EFFECTS

We've been discussing layer effects and how easy they are to apply. 
Removing layer effects isn't as easy--on the surface. Normally, to 
remove a layer effect, you'd select the layer, then choose Layer, 
Effects with the effect highlighted. In the resulting dialog box, 
you'd deselect the Apply check box.

Fortunately, there's an easier way. To remove layer effects from a 
layer, first select the layer. Then press Alt in Windows or Option on 
the Macintosh and double-click the Layer Effects icon located on the 
right side of the selected layer. Photoshop will remove all effects 
applied to the selected layer.


*6. LOCKING COLORS

Some of us simply don't trust Photoshop or ImageReady to keep the 
correct colors as we save or downsample an image for the Web. To 
prevent Photoshop or ImageReady from downsampling a color out of your 
image, you can choose to lock certain colors in the Color palette. 
Once a color is locked, Photoshop or ImageReady will include it in the 
Web-ready version of your image.

To lock a color in ImageReady, first choose Window, Show Color Table. 
Then select the color you want to lock and click the Lock icon at the 
bottom of the palette. To lock a color in Photoshop, choose File, Save 
For Web. In the resulting dialog box, select a color from the color 
table and click the Lock icon. Both Photoshop and ImageReady place a 
white square in the lower-right corner of the color swatch to denote a 
locked color.


*7. UNLOCKING COLORS

In our previous tip, we discussed locking colors in the Color palette 
to prevent Photoshop or ImageReady from accidentally dropping the 
color as you downsample or save the image for the Web. If you recall, 
to lock a color you select a color in the color table and click the 
Lock icon.

Unlocking a color is very similar. In ImageReady, choose Window, Color 
Table to activate the Color Table palette. In Photoshop, choose File, 
Save For Web to open the Save For Web dialog box and the Web color 
table. Then select a locked color and click the Lock icon.


*8. UNLOCKING ALL COLORS IN THE COLOR TABLE

Locking or unlocking colors in the color table gives you more control 
over which colors Photoshop and ImageReady decide to keep as you 
downsample or save your image for the Web. In the past few tips, we've 
shown you how to select a color and lock or unlock that color.

Today, we'll demonstrate how to unlock all the locked colors in a 
color table at one time. To do so, choose Window, Show Color Table in 
ImageReady or File, Save For Web in Photoshop. Then open the Color 
Table menu and choose Unlock All Colors.


*9. KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR PHOTOSHOP SCRATCH DISK

If you're using Photoshop on a machine with a small or almost full 
hard drive, performance can decrease dramatically as Photoshop gobbles 
up more and more of the scratch disk. Here's a tip that will let you 
keep an eye on how much scratch disk Photoshop is using and how much 
is left.

In the bottom-left corner of the Photoshop window, there's a menu. 
Click the menu and choose Scratch Sizes. To the left of the menu, 
Photoshop will display the scratch disk amount currently in use and 
the total scratch disk amount available.


*10. TOO MANY VERSIONS

If you're like most designers, working up a new idea creates an 
unmanageable number of layers in a Photoshop document. As you know, 
the more layers in a Photoshop document, the more resources Photoshop 
demands and the slower your machine goes.

Therefore, to combat layer glut, be judicious in your creation of new 
layers. If a layer you plan to create takes your design in a totally 
new direction, save the Photoshop image and create a copy of the image 
document. Then close the original and modify the image document 
copy--taking care to delete layers you don't need. Once you've 
exhausted the new design direction, save the image and return to your 
original. By walking the line between new layers or new images, you 
can keep layers to a reasonable amount and prevent Photoshop from 
slowing down.
