Tip of the Day | Page 47

Swapping Crop Fields

Adobe snuck a little button into the Options Bar that’s hardly noticeable. It works with tools such as the Crop tool (C), and it’s a big time saver. For example, for the Crop tool it swaps the measurements in the Width and Height fields, so if you have the Crop tool set to crop to exactly a 5×7", if you click this button, it will now crop to 7×5". See? I told you it was handy.

November 26th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

The Undocumented Airbrush Toggle Trick

This cool, undocumented shortcut comes from our good friend, Web wizard, and all-powerful overlord of every Photoshop keyboard shortcut known to man, Michael Ninness (author of the book Photoshop 7 Power Shortcuts, from New Riders, ISBN 0735713316). Here’s the tip: As you probably know by now, the Airbrush tool has been gone from the Toolbox since 7.0, but you can add Airbrush control to some painting tools by clicking on the Airbrush icon found in the Options Bar of most Brush tools. However, that takes a lot of trips up to the Options Bar. Ah, if only there were a keyboard shortcut that would let you toggle this Airbrush feature on and off at will. Well, there is, and thanks to Michael, we can share it here—it’s Option-Shift-P (PC: Alt-Shift-P). Makes you want to buy Michael’s book, doesn’t it?

November 21st, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Pausing For A Brush Preview

If you’re choosing your brush tips from the expanded Brushes palette, you don’t have to actually click on a brush to see the large preview of it at the bottom of the Brushes palette (which is nested in the Palette Well by default). Instead, just pause your cursor right over the brush you want to preview, and in just a second the preview will appear, even though you didn’t actually click on the brush tip. The catch is: The Show Tool Tips checkbox must be turned on in the General Preferences for this “pause preview” to work.

November 20th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Photoshop’s Hidden Step And Repeat

Although Photoshop doesn’t have a visible Step and Repeat function (like many vector or page-layout programs do), it still has the feature—it’s just a bit hidden. For example, let’s say you have an object on a layer, and you want to duplicate and move or rotate that object a number of times in succession (a typical step-and-repeat), here’s how you can do it in Photoshop CS2: Start by going to the original layer with the object, then press Command-Option-T (PC: Control-Alt-T) to bring up a special version of Free Transform. Now you can transform your object (move it, rotate it, skew it, etc.) then press Return (PC: Enter) to lock in your transformation. You’ll notice that your original object remains untouched on its layer and you now have a new layer with the transformed object. Now press Command-Option-Shift-T (PC: Control-Alt-Shift-T) and this will create a duplicate of your last move, and at the same time it creates a new layer, thereby giving you a step-and-repeat (you have to try this once, and you’ll immediately “get it”).

November 19th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Photo-Retouching Safety Tip

Here’s a tip that many photo retouchers use—do all your retouching on a layer above your image. That way, you don’t damage the underlying image, and you have control over opacity and blend modes you normally wouldn’t have. It’s also easy to erase areas you wish you hadn’t retouched. The key to making this work is to get the Clone Stamp tool (S) and in the Options Bar, turn on the Sample All Layers option. That way you can sample from the underlying image and then paint on the layer above it (believe it or not, by default Photoshop doesn’t let you do that—it only lets you clone from the active layer to that same layer).

November 16th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Lights, Camera, Action: Slide Shows Using Photoshop

You can create a mock slide show presentation by opening multiple images in Photoshop and then pressing Control-Tab to rotate through the images. Plus, you can hold the Shift key and click on the Full Screen Mode icon near the bottom of your Toolbox to allow your images to fill the full screen (holding Shift will switch all of your open images to the Full Screen Mode at once). Press Tab to hide your palettes and you’re all set to give a slick presentation. To exit your mini-slide show, press Tab to see the Toolbox, and then Shift-click on the Standard Mode icon.

November 15th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Moving Your Image In Full Screen Mode

In Photoshop CS2 you can pull off something users have been wanting for years—the ability to change the placement of your entire image once you’re in Full Screen mode (where your image is centered onscreen, surrounded by a black border with no menus, palettes, or tools visible). Just enter Full Screen mode (press F, F, then Tab), hold the Spacebar, and your cursor will change into the Hand tool. Click-and-drag your entire image anywhere on the screen you’d like. To return to regular mode, press F then Tab.

November 14th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Make A Photoshop Client Presentation

To hide all your palettes and all your menus, and to display your current image centered on your monitor with a cool black frame around your image, just press the letter F twice, then press the Tab key (F, F, Tab). To return to your regular Photoshop work area, press F, then Tab. You’ll be the envy of all your friends, and eventually they’ll write folk songs about you. It’s almost embarrassing.

November 13th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

The Advantage Of Photo Filter Adjustment Layers

One of the most brilliant things Adobe did when they added Photo Filters to Photoshop (these filters replicate the old traditional screw-on lens filters) was to make them adjustment layers. You can create one by clicking on the Create New Adjustment Layer pop-up menu in the Layers palette and choosing Photo Filter. After you apply a Photo Filter from the resulting dialog (let’s say, for example, you used Warming Filter 81 to warm a cool photo), you can get the Brush tool (B), set your Foreground color to black, and paint over any areas of the photo you don’t want to be warmed. This gives you a level of flexibility you wouldn’t get any other way.

November 12th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

The Gaussian Blur Keyboard Shortcut

I thought that would get your attention. That’s because you know there’s no keyboard shortcut for applying a Gaussian Blur. But there is in my copy of Photoshop CS2. How is that possible? Because I created one, and you can too. Just go under the Edit menu and choose Keyboard Shortcuts to bring up the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog. Then, from the Shortcuts For pop-up menu, choose Application Menus. In the list of menus in the window beneath it, double-click on Filter to reveal all the choices under the Filter menu. Scroll down to Gaussian Blur, then click on the name. This brings up a field where you can enter the shortcut by pressing the keys you want to use. I recommend using Option-Shift-Command-G (PC: Alt-Shift-Control-G) because there are so few shortcuts not already being used by Photoshop. Click OK, and not only is the shortcut activated but your custom shortcut now appears in the Filter menu to the right of Gaussian Blur.

November 9th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

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Photoshop Tutorials

2012 Text Effect

Recreate the text effect from the title to the new blockbuster movie.
More Fun with 3D

Continue exploring the possibilities with Photoshop’s new 3D tools.
Reverse Restoration

Corey shows you how to make a new photo look damaged by blending in some unusual textures.
3D Background Effects

Use Photoshop’s new 3D tools to create some dazzling background effects.

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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Viewing and Basking in your Image

When I’m done working with an image, I like to sit and admire it (hey, I spent six hours working on it, I should). To do that, I hit the Tab key, then hit the F key three times. This hides all of the panels and toolbars and lets you see the image by itself surrounded by black. To get back to regular mode, press the F key and the Tab key one more time.