Tip of the Day | Page 16

Get Rid Of That Shapelayer Outline

If you’ve worked with a shape layer, you’ve probably noticed the appearance of a thin outline around the shape. The outline you see around a shape layer really doesn’t mean anything. It won’t print or show up on a saved Web image; however, it does look flat-out distracting when you’re trying to work with your images. Just click the mask next to the shape layer it’s on, and that outline will disappear. Click on it again if you ever want to turn it back on.

August 20th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Cycling Through Layerblend Modes – Part 2

If you’ve tried the previous tip but have a tool selected that also has blend modes associated with it (like any of the Brush tools), then you’ll find that the keyboard shortcut cycles through the blend modes for the brush in the Options Bar and not the layer. The workaround is this: First select a tool that doesn’t have blend modes (like the Move tool or one of the selection tools), and then use the shortcut from above and it’ll work just fine.

August 19th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Cycling Through Layerblend Modes – Part 1

Sometimes it’s useful to quickly cycle through your blend modes to see which one works best. Manually clicking on each one just isn’t quick, so try this: Click on the Blend Mode list in the top left of the Layers panel to select a blend mode. Then press Shift – + to cycle down the list and Shift – - to go back up.

August 18th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (2)

The Font-Resizing Shortcut

Want to make your font size larger or smaller without going to the Size setting in the Options Bar? This one is really easy. Double-click the Type layer thumbnail to select your type. Then press Command-Shift-> (PC: Ctrl-Shift->) to make your font larger or Press Command-Shift-< (PC: Ctrl-Shift-<) to make it smaller. Bonus tip: Add the Option (PC: Alt) key to the mix and the size will change in increments of 10.

August 17th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Unlink That Mask for Flexibility

If you want to move a layer around your image, but leave the layer mask exactly where it is, you need to unlink the two. Click the little chain link icon between the layer thumbnail and the layer mask to unlink them. Then you can move the layer around wherever you want to. Click between the layer thumbnail and layer mask again to re-link the two.

August 14th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Turn Off or Disable a Layer Mask

You can Shift-click on the Layer Mask thumbnail in the layers panel to turn off or disable the mask. You’ll see a red X appear over the mask icon in the Layers panel. The mask is actually still there but it’s disabled. Shift-click on it again to enable it.

August 13th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (2)

Convert a Background Layer to a Regular Layer

Double-click on the name “Background” in the Layers panel, and then click OK, or press Return (PC: Enter) in the New Layer dialog to accept the new name. Or, even better, you can hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key, double-click on the Background layer’s name in the Layers panel and that bypasses the New Layer dialog.

August 12th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (8)

Blend Mode Keyboard Shortcuts

I never used to use keyboard shortcuts for blend modes. Then about a year or so ago, I realized that the keyboard shortcuts for blend modes are actually very easy. It always involves the Option-Shift ( PC: Alt-Shift ) keys and then one letter that’s usually the first letter of the blend mode. For example, Option-Shift-M ( PC: Alt-Shift-M ) is Multiply. The letter O is Overlay. The letter S gets you Screen and so on. It doesn’t work for all of them ( F is actually Soft Light ) but it’s pretty darn close and since I’ve started using them I work a lot faster.

August 11th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (3)

Deleting a Layer

Instead of dragging a layer to the Trash icon to delete it, you can quickly delete a layer by pressing the Delete ( PC: Backspace ) key in Photoshop CS4. In CS3, using that key will only work if you have the Move tool (V) selected first, so you could quickly press V and then the Delete ( PC: Backspace ) key. Hey, it’s still faster then dragging.

August 10th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Create a New Layer Without a Dialog

Pressing Command-Shift-N ( PC: Ctrl-Shift-N ) creates a new layer but it brings up the New Layer dialog so you can name it. Personally, I find it kind of annoying and it’s not a lot faster for me than just clicking the new layer icon. However, if you throw the Option ( PC: Alt ) key into the mix, Command-Shift Option-N ( PC: Ctrl-Shift-Option-N ), then it’ll bypass the new layer dialog and just create a new blank layer in the Layers panel.

August 7th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

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Photoshop Tutorials

3D Light Beams
This effect was discovered by a 'happy accident' and uses the 3D features inside of Photoshop CS4 Extended.
More Texture Effects
Further experiments into what you can do with texture images in Photoshop.
Reverse Restoration
Corey shows you how to make a new photo look damaged by blending in some unusual textures.
Rain Drops
In this tutorial, Corey not only creates the raindrops, but also the splashes that are formed with the raindrops hit the hands.

Light From 3D Shapes

Corey shares another way to get a cool 3D light beam effect.
Olympic Graphics, Part 2

Corey finishes up the Olympic-inspired design that he began last week in Part 1.
Olympic Graphics, Part 1

The Olympic-inspired tutorial will be coming in two parts. Stop by next week for the conclusion to this video.
Masking with Channels

This week’s tutorial deals with creating masks for complicated images by using channels.

Premium Video Tutorials From NAPP

Photo Retouch
Scott Kelby shows you how to take an overexposed photo into a great photo using Photoshop. Want Great Photoshop & Photography Skills?

Extended Definition Processing
Scott Kelby shares a technique he's been working on, which gives your final image an HDR look using just one photo.
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Smart Object Masking Trick
Dave Cross shares a trick he discovered that will help you remove white from around your subject when using smart objects.
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Light Painting
Dave Cross takes a popular trend - light painting - and shows you how you can paint text recreating this cool trend.
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Open in Camera Raw from Bridge

You can open RAW images in Camera Raw right from Bridge in Photoshop CS3. This frees up Photoshop to continue working on your files while they’re being processed in Camera Raw. Just select one or more images in Bridge, Control-click (PC: Right-click) on them, and choose Open in Camera Raw. This will open the image(s) in Bridge’s Camera Raw rather than Photoshop. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Command-R (PC: Ctrl-R).