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Toggle Through The Blend Modes
When I’m struggling to get just the right effect by changing the layer blend modes, it’s great to be able to rotate through each mode without having to go back to the layer blend mode pop-down menu every time. To do this, simply switch to the Move tool (V), then press Shift–+ (Plus Sign). Every time you press it, it goes to the next blend mode.
Lock All Those Layers In Just One Click
You can lock all of your linked layers at once by choosing Select Linked Layers from the Layers palette’s flyout menu, then choosing Lock Layers from the same menu. They’ll kick and scratch for a while, but they’ll eventually calm right down.
Avoiding The Layer Menu
Once you’ve applied a layer style to a layer, if you need to access some related commands that are in the Layer menu, you don’t need to go up to the menu bar and go digging through the submenus. Instead, Control-click (PC: Right-click) on the little “ƒ” icon that appears to the right of your layer’s name in the Layers palette. A contextual menu will appear with most of the Layer Style menu commands right at your fingertips—without the searching and digging through menus.
Missing Your Background Layer? Here’s The Fix
If you’re opening new documents and they don’t have a Background layer, there’s a reason (of course there’s a reason, everything has a reason; we just happen to know what it is). The reason is that you’ve selected the Transparent option in the New document dialog. That seems like a reasonable thing to do; everybody wants transparency, right? However, what it tells Photoshop is “Don’t worry about creating a Background layer.” To get Background layers again, the next time you’re in the New dialog, under Background Contents, make sure you choose White, and from then on, you’ll have Background layers in your documents.
Opening Layered Files Without All The Layers
If you have a large multilayered file, you know it can take a while to open, and that’s fine—it’s part of working with large files. But sometimes you’re not going to actually work on the file, and you just want to open it, take a quick look at it, and then close it (maybe you just want to see if it’s the version of the file you’re looking for). So why waste time opening a huge multilayered file if you just want to take a quick look? Well, you don’t have to—just go under the File menu, choose Open, and navigate to the layered file, but before you click the Open button, hold Option-Shift (PC: Alt-Shift). By holding those two keys down before you choose Open, it opens a flattened version of your layered file. Pretty darn slick.
Opening Layered Files Without All The Layers
If you have a large multilayered file, you know it can take a while to open, and that’s fine—it’s part of working with large files. But sometimes you’re not going to actually work on the file, and you just want to open it, take a quick look at it, and then close it (maybe you just want to see if it’s the version of the file you’re looking for). So why waste time opening a huge multilayered file if you just want to take a quick look? Well, you don’t have to—just go under the File menu, choose Open, and navigate to the layered file, but before you click the Open button, hold Option-Shift (PC: Alt-Shift). By holding those two keys down before you choose Open, it opens a flattened version of your layered file. Pretty darn slick.
Turning Your Layers Into Separate Documents
If you have a multilayered document and want to turn each layer into its own separate document, just go under the File menu, under Scripts, and choose Export Layers To Files.
Jump To Any Layer Just By Clicking In Your Image
You can jump to any layer in your document without going to the Layers palette. Press V to switch to the Move tool. Now, press-and-hold the Command key (PC: Control key), and click on an object in your image that you want, and you’ll instantly jump to that object’s layer.
Almost A Built-In Flattening Shortcut
I say “almost” because it works “almost” all the time. If you have a multilayered file and want to quickly flatten it, you can usually press Shift-Command-E (PC: Shift-Control-E). The only time it doesn’t work is when you have a hidden layer, because what you’re pressing is the new keyboard shortcut for Merge Visible. If all your layers are visible, it flattens them, but if even one layer is hidden, it won’t merge all the layers, only the visible ones. So you can use this “almost” all of the time.
Layer Group Super-Speed Tip
Want a quicker way to create a Layer Group? Command-click (PC: Control-click) on all the layers you want to include in this new Group. Then press-and-hold the Shift key and click on the Create a New Group icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. This will create a brand new Group consisting of all of your linked layers.
Want To “Drag Select” Layers? You Need To Turn This On
Although CS2 lets you “drag select” layers (and by that I mean you can drag out a selection around objects on layers in your document, and any layers your selection touches will become active in the Layers palette as if you linked them together), you have to know where to turn this feature on. First, press V to get the Move tool, then in the Options Bar turn on the checkbox for Auto Select Layer. Now, click-and-drag within your image and any layer that falls within your selection becomes active. Now you can move them as one unit.
Inverting A Mask As You Move It
This isn’t a hard tip, but it’s the kind of thing that only advanced users would want to do. It’s the hidden shortcut for inverting a layer mask as you duplicate it (see what I mean)? Well, anyway, here’s the tip: First hold the Shift key, then click-and-drag the layer mask thumbnail to the layer you want it to appear on. If you want to invert and duplicate the mask (rather than move it), hold the Option key (PC: Alt key) as well—so the shortcut is Option-Shift (PC: Alt-Shift) to duplicate and invert.
Moving And Copying Layer Masks
If you wanted to move a layer mask from one layer to another, you used to have to jump through a few hoops, but in CS2 it’s much easier. Just click directly on the layer mask’s thumbnail and drag it to the layer where you want it. If you want a duplicate of a layer mask (rather than just moving it from one layer to another), press-and-hold the Option key (PC: Alt key) before you drag.
Don’t Want A Gap Between Items? Snap To ‘Em
This one is a lot handier than it sounds. If you’ve ever tried to line up a row of objects, the last thing you want is a little gap between some of them (I just ran across this problem when I was trying to line up a row of television monitors for a video wall I was creating). Well, you don’t have to have that gap anymore, because in CS2 you can actually have the layer you’re moving snap right to the layer you’re trying to align it to. Just go under the View menu, under Snap To, and choose Layers.
Visual Cues For A Layers Edge
Want to see where the edges of your current layer appear (especially handy if you’re working with layers with soft edges)? Just go under the View menu, under Show, and choose Layer Edges. Now a thin blue border will appear around the edges of the currently selected layer to give you a visual cue of your layer’s boundaries.
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Photoshop Tutorials
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Wild West Grunge
Corey shows you how to recreate this rugged, weathered look using a couple of filters, blending modes, and layer masks.
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Wall of Text
Use a clipping group to place an image inside of a background of text, with another layer of text placed in front to create depth.
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Natural Brushes
In this tutorial Corey shows you how to take an existing image and turn it into it’s own custom brush.
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Custom Coins
In this tutorial Corey creates a realistic-looking coin effect using the channels palette and the lighting effects filter.
Text Shape Layers
Converting text into shapes allows you to distort the text as you like while retaining straight, clean edges.
Borders Under a Minute
Create really cool borders in under a minute to use on virtually any one of your photos or even video for that matter.- Custom Coins
In this tutorial Corey creates a realistic-looking coin effect using the channels palette and the lighting effects filter. - Natural Brushes
In this tutorial Corey shows you how to take an existing image and turn it into it's own custom brush.
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Creative Contrast in Photoshop CS3
In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at some interesting techniques for improving contrast using the Shadow/Highlight command, empty adjustment layers, blend modes, and the Blend If sliders in the Layer Style dialog. -
Enhanced Workflow in Lightroom 1.1
In this article, we'll focus on techniques that will strengthen your workflow skills and simultaneously reveal some of the new features in Lightroom 1.1. -
Handlin’ Photoshop and Illustrator Content in Flash
we’ll take a look at how things work across Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash-specifically, some features and techniques for getting rasterized Photoshop content and vector Illustrator content into your Flash movies. -
Understanding Channels in Photoshop CS3
Photographer Chris Alvanas wants to go over Channels, because understanding what they are and what they do is key to understanding what their potential is.
Removing Those Typographically Incorrect Spaces
If you’re trying to set type that looks typographically correct in Photoshop, there’s an old habit you’ll have to break, and that’s the curse of putting two spaces at the end of every sentence. This is a holdover from people who at one time used traditional typewriters, where adding two spaces was necessary, but in typesetting that’s a huge no-no. About 70% of the text I copy-and-paste from text files that people give me has two spaces, but I use this Photoshop tip to fix the problem in just seconds. First, go under the Edit menu and choose Find and Replace Text. In the Find field, press the Spacebar twice (entering two spaces), then in Change To, press the Spacebar just once. Click Change All, and every time Photoshop finds two spaces at the end of a sentence, it will replace it with just one, making you typographically correct.
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Photoshop CS3 for Photographers Tour May. 19 - Nashville, TN
Photoshop CS3 for Photographers Tour May. 22 - San Francisco, CA
Photoshop CS3 for Photographers Tour May. 28 - New York, NY
Maximum Photoshop Tour May. 30
