A quick way to zoom in to many points in different parts of a picture is command-0 (fit on screen), and then drag with the zoom tool around the part you want to check. Then command-0 again and drag with the zoom tool against another part, and so on.
To cycle through open documents: ctrl-Tab (yes, dear Mac users, not "command"!).
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Photoshop: Masks - things you did not know
To toggle between a view of the mask and the image it covers: alt-click the layer mask.
To create a black new mask: alt-click on the "add layer mask" icon.
To delete a mask: drag it to the trash icon.
To create a black new mask: alt-click on the "add layer mask" icon.
To delete a mask: drag it to the trash icon.
Photoshop: Warp - things you did not know
If you know what Warp is, you probably know how to access it. In case you don't it is in the menu Edit > Transform > Warp.
Using Warp, you can drag about any point of the warped object. You do not have to click-drag on the corner points or lines. You can click-drag on the vast empty spaces between the lines as well.
If you end up with a Warp grid that goes outside the current window, press command-0 (View > Fit on Screen) to see the entire grid.
Using Warp, you can drag about any point of the warped object. You do not have to click-drag on the corner points or lines. You can click-drag on the vast empty spaces between the lines as well.
If you end up with a Warp grid that goes outside the current window, press command-0 (View > Fit on Screen) to see the entire grid.
Photoshop: Layers - things you did not know
To duplicate a layer press command-J. Another quick way to do it is to press V (activate move tool), and then alt-drag the layer.
To copy part of a picture onto a new layer: select that part and press command-J.
To find out which layer contains a visible part of an image: command click on the image. The layer will be highlighted in the layer palette.
To display one layer at the time: alt-click on the eye-icon.
To fill the current layer with the foreground colour: press alt-delete. To fill the current layer with the background colour: press command-delete.
To load layer transparency as a selection: command-click the thumbnail.
To quickly change Blending modes: press V (activate move tool) and then press shift+(plus) or shift+(minus). For the each of the blending modes, there are shortcuts beginning with shift-option, like shift-option-F for Soft Light or shift-option-M for Multiply. They can all be found in the manual under the title "Keys for working with blending modes".
To change opacity: press V (activate move tool) and then type a number. 1=10%, 2=20% and so on. You can also change some of these methods.
To merge all visible layers to a new layer above the currently selected layer: Shift-option-command-E (or alt+ Layer > Merge Visible). This can be useful if you have smart objects, whose pixels you cannot edit directly.
To create a new layer from another image: drag the other image to the current one. To make sure it is centred hold down the shift-key as you drag.
To copy part of a picture onto a new layer: select that part and press command-J.
To find out which layer contains a visible part of an image: command click on the image. The layer will be highlighted in the layer palette.
To display one layer at the time: alt-click on the eye-icon.
To fill the current layer with the foreground colour: press alt-delete. To fill the current layer with the background colour: press command-delete.
To load layer transparency as a selection: command-click the thumbnail.
To quickly change Blending modes: press V (activate move tool) and then press shift+(plus) or shift+(minus). For the each of the blending modes, there are shortcuts beginning with shift-option, like shift-option-F for Soft Light or shift-option-M for Multiply. They can all be found in the manual under the title "Keys for working with blending modes".
To change opacity: press V (activate move tool) and then type a number. 1=10%, 2=20% and so on. You can also change some of these methods.
To merge all visible layers to a new layer above the currently selected layer: Shift-option-command-E (or alt+ Layer > Merge Visible). This can be useful if you have smart objects, whose pixels you cannot edit directly.
To create a new layer from another image: drag the other image to the current one. To make sure it is centred hold down the shift-key as you drag.
Photoshop: Channels - things you did not know
To display only one channel at a time, type command-3, command-4, command 5. You can also drag the eye from one channel to another. You can also alt-click on the thumbnail - not the actual eye, to deselect all other channels.
To make a selection from a channel: command-click the thumbnail.
To make a selection from a channel: command-click the thumbnail.
Photoshop: Curves - things you did not know
To get a fixed point in a curve from a picture: click on the hand tool in the curves dialogue and then command click on the picture. That will fix a point at that particular colour.
Photoshop: Gradients - things you did not know
To apply a gradient exactly horizontally or vertically: hold down the shift-key, as you create it.
Photoshop: Brushes - things you did not know
When the brush tool is active, you can hold down alt to make it to a colour picker, so you can change colour of the brush by clicking on the image.
To change the colour of the active brush from the current image: hold down alt to temporarily make it to a colour picker, and then click on the colour in the image.
To change the opacity of the active brush: just type a number. 1=10%, 2=20% and so on. Or use one of these methods.
To get a straight line with the brush tool: click on one place - shift click on another, and the line will appear between the two. If you go on shift-clicking somewhere else, you get another line, which makes it easy to make a polygon.
Usability trap: In the Brushes palette, you can activate a feature, like Scattering or Noise by clicking on the checkbox next to its name. However, this will not display the options for that feature. You have to click on the feature name to see the options.
When you create a Brush (Edit > Define Brush Preset...), it does not matter if you leave white space around the brush, as all white will be discarded. This is different from when you create a pattern, where the white space is taken into account.
To change the size of a Brush there are two shortcuts: Method 1: Press [ or ]. Method 2: Hold down ctrl+alt and drag horizontally. To change the Brush softness: Command + Ctrl + Option + click-drag.
To change the colour of the active brush from the current image: hold down alt to temporarily make it to a colour picker, and then click on the colour in the image.
To change the opacity of the active brush: just type a number. 1=10%, 2=20% and so on. Or use one of these methods.
To get a straight line with the brush tool: click on one place - shift click on another, and the line will appear between the two. If you go on shift-clicking somewhere else, you get another line, which makes it easy to make a polygon.
Usability trap: In the Brushes palette, you can activate a feature, like Scattering or Noise by clicking on the checkbox next to its name. However, this will not display the options for that feature. You have to click on the feature name to see the options.
When you create a Brush (Edit > Define Brush Preset...), it does not matter if you leave white space around the brush, as all white will be discarded. This is different from when you create a pattern, where the white space is taken into account.
To change the size of a Brush there are two shortcuts: Method 1: Press [ or ]. Method 2: Hold down ctrl+alt and drag horizontally. To change the Brush softness: Command + Ctrl + Option + click-drag.
Photoshop: Selections - things you did not know
To fill a selection with the foreground colour: press alt-delete.
To fill a selection with the background colour: press command-delete.
To fill a selection with the background colour: press command-delete.
Photoshop: Eyedropper - things you did not know
To choose foreground colour from an image, use the eyedropper tool (I) and just click on a part with the desired colour. To choose background colour from an image use the eyedropper tool (I) and alt-click on the desired colour.
To select a colour on the screen outside an image: click and hold down the colour picker and drag it to the point on the screen with the desired colour.
To swap foreground and background colours: press X. To set the default foreground and background colours to black and white: press D.
To select a colour on the screen outside an image: click and hold down the colour picker and drag it to the point on the screen with the desired colour.
To swap foreground and background colours: press X. To set the default foreground and background colours to black and white: press D.
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