July 13, 2009
When using the Vector tools in Photoshop, keep the following in mind. First, The Pen and Shape tools can be used to create Shape Layers, Paths, or Filled Pixel regions. Be sure to select the correct icon (in the Options bar) before starting to work, or you might have to backtrack or go through extra steps to correct it. Also, the Pen and Shape tools can have Styles applied, so if you’re not achieving your expected results, make sure that the Style icon (in the Options Bar) is set to “No Style”.
July 10, 2009
When compositing several images into one document I often find that a portion of a layer will end up being positioned outside of the visible image area. Photoshop, of course, is still keeping track of this information (in case I choose to reposition the layer), but when I’m certain that I will no longer need it, I will choose Select > All and then Image > Crop. This eliminates unnecessary information outside or beyond the visible image area and will typically help to keep my file size more manageable
July 9, 2009
One can always select Image > Canvas Size in order to numerically add or subtract to the width or height of your image. But if you would rather eyeball it, try using the Crop tool. Drag out a crop marquee and release the mouse. Then, grab one of the anchor points and drag it beyond the visible image area. When the crop is applied,the area outside of the image and within the crop marquee will be added to the image canvas.
Note: If you can’t drag the crop outside of the image because the image windows is in the way, try zooming out or using full screen mode.
To add transparency around the image (instead of filling the added space with the background color) convert the Background into a layer by dragging the Lock icon to the trash before cropping.
July 8, 2009
Most people only think of the History panel for multiple undo – but it does much more! Check out the options available through the History panel’s fly out (in the upper right) such as if and when to take Snapshots and Non-Linear History (to retain more current history states if you go back in History and want to try other options without loosing the more current states).
And this is a good time to add that if you do choose to Automatically Create First Snapshot (which is Photoshop’s default setting), you can “undo” an accidental save by clicking on the initial snapshot in the History panel, saving the file, and then returning to your current state and choosing to “Save As”.
July 7, 2009
• Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + Z will toggle undo/redo of the last command.
• Option-Command (Mac) / Alt-Control (Win) + Z will step you back through history.
• Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + Shift + Z will step you forward through history.
To change the number of history states (multiple undo’s) that Photoshop keeps track of per open image, select Preferences > Performance and enter a value for History States. Setting a higher number (50 for example) will save more changes, and allow you to step farther back in time, however it will also require Photoshop to keep track of more information. Therefore, if you increase the number of states and notice a performance hit, trying lowering the number again.
July 6, 2009
Layer Groups are, by default, set to display blending effects (such as opacity, blend modes etc.) just like any other layer in Photoshop. For example, if a layer in a Group has it’s blend mode is set to “Multiply”, it will be multiplied (blended) with all other layers below it. In this default state, clicking on the Group in the Layers panel displays “Pass Through” as the Group’s blend mode (i.e: any blending applied to layers within the group is “passing through” the group to be applied to the layers below it).
To change this default behavior to limit the blending between layers to only those layers within the Groups, target the Group in the Layers panel and set the Groups blend mode to “Normal” . For even more advanced blending of channels within Groups, choose Layer >Group Properties (or Control (Mac)/ right mouse (Win) -click the Group icon in the Layers panel and select Group Properties) to specify which channels to use for special effect blending of layers.
July 3, 2009
Not only are Layer Groups great for organizing your layers, you can also use them to mask the contents of multiple layers at a time. With the Group targeted in the Layers panel, click the Add Pixel (or Vector) Mask icon from the Masks panel. This mask will control the visibility of all layers within the Group.
July 2, 2009
Copying Merged Layers (and Groups)
Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + Shift + C (with a selection) copies a merged view of all visible layers onto the clipboard.
Option-Command (Mac) / Alt-Control (Win) + Shift +E, pastes a merged copy of all visible layers on a (single) new layer above the topmost currently selected layer.
July 1, 2009
Command (Mac) / Control (Win) -click the disclosure triangle next to a layer Group to expand or collapse all layer Groups in the document.
Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) -click the disclosure triangle to expand collapse all groups nested within the current group.
Option-Command (Mac) / Alt-Control (Win) -cick the disclosure triangle to expand and collapse all groups (nested or not).
Or, if you prefer, Control (Mac)/ right mouse (Win) -click the Group’s disclosure triangle and choose “Close/Open this Group” or “Close/Open all Other Groups”.
