Articles by Web Editor | Page 7

Honey, I Need Some Space: Visually Adjust Kerning

You can visually control the spacing between your type (which is much better than numerically trying to figure it out) by using the same keyboard shortcuts for adjusting type that Adobe Illustrator uses. Here’s how: To set the tracking tighter (tightening the space between each letter or word in a group), highlight the type with the Type tool (T), then press Option-Left Arrow (PC: Alt-Left Arrow) to tighten. Press Option-Right Arrow (PC: Alt-Right Arrow) to add more space between a selected group of letters or words. To adjust the space between two individual letters (called kerning), click your cursor between the two letters and use the same keyboard shortcuts mentioned above.

May 2nd, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Rasterize Times 2, 4, 6…

If you have multiple Type layers and you want to convert them all to image layers, there’s a way to do it without individually rasterizing each. Simply go under the Layer menu, under Rasterize, and choose All Layers. This will rasterize all the Type layers at once.

May 1st, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Editing Text Without Highlighting It

Here’s a cool little tip for changing your font size without having the Type tool active. Just click on your Type layer (in the Layers palette), then go under the Window menu and choose Character. When the Character palette appears, you can make changes to your type size, color, font, tracking, etc. It freaks you out, doesn’t it?

April 30th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Move Your Type, Without Switching Tools

Here’s a tip that can save you a lot of tool switching when formatting your type. Once you create your type with the Type tool (T), and while your cursor is still blinking somewhere in the text, if you need to move the type, you don’t have to switch to the Move tool—just move your Type cursor away from your type (either above, below, or an inch or so to the right or left), and your cursor will temporarily change to the Move tool. You can now simply click-and-drag your type. If you want to edit your type some more, just move your cursor back to the type and click where you need to make edits.

April 29th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Seeing Your Type Change Color

In Photoshop, you can change the color of your type without even selecting it first. “Why is that important?” you may ask. If you highlight your type to change its color using the Foreground color swatch in the Toolbox, the highlighting hides the color of your type so you can’t see any of your color changes while you’re in the Color Picker. So instead, after you commit your type by pressing the Enter key, click on the Color swatch in the Options Bar (without highlighting your type first) when you have the Type tool (T) active. As you change colors in the resulting Color Picker, you’ll see your type update on the fly.

April 28th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Double Your Pleasure

We’ve already talked about rasterizing text, but once you’ve rasterized your Type layer into a regular image layer, your type is no longer editable (meaning you can’t go back and change typefaces, type in a different word, adjust leading or kerning, etc.). Here’s a quick way around that limitation. Before rasterizing (rendering) your type, duplicate the Type layer by dragging it to the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. Then, hide the original Type layer from view (by clicking on the Eye icon next to the original Type layer) and rasterize the duplicate Type layer (see previous tip). That way, if you ever need to go back and change the word (or font, leading, etc.), you have the original editable Type layer still available. Just simply make it visible by clicking in the empty box where the Eye icon used to be.

April 25th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Make Your Text Jump Into Action

Earlier, I gave you the quick tip for rasterizing your type by Control-clicking (PC: Right-clicking) on your Type layer in the Layers palette, then choosing Rasterize Type from the contextual menu that appears. Believe it or not, there’s an even faster way, if you don’t mind spending a minute or two up front setting it up, by creating an action that rasterizes the type for you with just one key. Here’s how: Use the Type tool (T) to create a Type layer, then make the Actions palette visible (from the Window menu). Choose New Action from the Actions palette’s flyout menu. Name your new action “Rasterize Type Layers,” assign it an action set from the Set pop-up menu, then from the Function Key pop-up menu, assign an F-key to this action. Click the Record button, then go under the Layer menu, under Rasterize, and choose Type. Now go back to the Actions palette and click on the Stop icon at the bottom of the palette (it’s the first icon from the left). That’s it—your action is written. Test it by creating a Type layer, then pressing the F-key you assigned to your action. It should instantly rasterize (you’ll know if it worked, because the “T” icon on the Type layer will no longer be visible).

April 24th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Fonts, Fonts, And More Fonts

Here’s a tip to quickly change typefaces and see the change while you make it. First, highlight the type you want to change, and then press Command-H (PC: Control-H) to hide the highlighting (the type is still highlighted; the highlight is just hidden from view). Then, up in the Options Bar, click once in the Font field, then use the Up/Down Arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll through your installed typefaces. Man, do I love this one.

April 23rd, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Picture This: Putting A Photo Inside Type

First, set your Foreground color to black by pressing D. Press T to choose the Type tool and create your text (you don’t have to rasterize the type). Then, open the image you want to appear inside your type and use the Move tool (V) to drag-and-drop it into your type document (it should appear on the layer above your Type layer. If it doesn’t, just go to the Layers palette and move it on top of your Type layer). To put your image inside the type, press Command-Option-G (PC: Control-Alt-G) to create a clipping mask and whammo—your image is masked into your type. You can reposition the image by using the Move tool. And since you didn’t rasterize your Type layer, your text remains totally editable—just click on the Type layer and start editing. You can add layer styles to your Type layer to further enhance the effect. If you’re not crazy about the image you picked, click on the image layer and press the keyboard shortcut again to release the mask. Now remove the image.

April 22nd, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Text-Path-Making Maniac

If you want to convert your Type layer into paths (as if you meticulously drew the type with the Pen tool—your clients won’t have to know), simply go under the Layer menu, under Type, and choose Create Work Path.

April 21st, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Made To Fit

To create a text box for your type to fit within, press T to select the Type tool, then click-and-drag out the area you want for your text box. Your type will now fit within that box. When you’re finished entering your text, just press Enter to get out of the text bounding box.

April 18th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Rendering Text In Just One Click

If you need to convert your Type layer into an image layer, you can save some time by simply Control-clicking (PC: Right-clicking) directly on the Type layer name that appears in the Layers palette. A contextual menu will appear where you can choose Rasterize Type to instantly render your type.

April 17th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Highlighting Your Text Super Fast!

When you want to automatically highlight the type in a Type layer and switch to the Type tool at the same time to make some copy changes, just double-click directly on the “T” thumbnail on the Type layer you want to edit in the Layers palette, and blam! You’re ready to go.

April 16th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

One-Click Access To The Copyright Symbol, And More

Looking for some special type characters, like ©, ™, or ®? If you’re not fussy about these characters actually being a font, you can find them in the default set of Custom Shapes. Just get the Custom Shape tool (press Shift-U until you have it), click on the Shape thumbnail in the Options Bar, which opens the Custom Shape Picker, and you’ll find all three special characters there, in the default set of shapes.

April 15th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Secret Opacity See-Through-Part-Of-A-Layer Tip

This is a pretty wild tip—how to make just one part of a layer have a lower opacity. We know it sounds impossible, but this is totally cool. Start by making a selection on any area of the layer that you want to become transparent, while the rest of the layer remains at 100%. Then go under the Edit menu and choose Fill. Continue Reading »

April 14th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

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Photoshop Tutorials

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Roundtrip Logo From Illustrator to Photoshop
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Imageready’s Supercharged Eyedropper

In previous versions of Photoshop, you could only use the Eyedropper tool to sample a color from other open images in Photoshop, but for some reason, ImageReady had a supercharged Eyedropper. If you clicked the mouse button within your image and held it down, you could leave your image window and sample colors from, well… just about anything—including your computer desktop or any other open application. Freaky! Fortunately, Adobe finally added this same power to Photoshop’s Eyedropper tool.