Time Proven Tips for Photoshop Beginners

Adobe Photoshop software has revolutionized the world of art and graphic design. This software program can do everything from editing pictures to completely creating new images, and everything in between. It is compatible with almost every operating system out there, and turns tasks that used to take hours or days into tasks that take seconds. The sheer scope of what the program can do, however, makes it daunting. There are just so many applications, tricks, and techniques that it often takes users a lot of time and a lot of practice to master the program. In fact, designers who have been using Photoshop for years are still discovering new ways to do things. To get the most out of the software, you have dive right in there and get your feet wet, but it can be hard to even know where to begin. Experts suggest new users keep the following tips in mind to make their first experiences flow smoothly.

First, new users should recognize that there are many shortcuts to moving around within the program. For instance, to move layers around, you do not have to open your “move control” application. If you hold down the “control” key on a PC or the “command” key on a Mac, you can move layers by dragging them where you want them to go with the mouse. You can also open new documents by double clicking on the Photoshop gray background screen instead of going to “file” and then “open.”

If you want to select all of the pixels in an image to adjust the opacity, but not select the entire background of the image as well, hold down the “control” or “command” key and open the “layers palette.” Then, click on the layer you want within the palette. Even if the background is on that layer, only the image pixels will be selected. Opening the layer palette will also let you copy layers from one document to another. Just use your mouse to drag the layer across to the document in which you want to place it. And if all of those palettes are blocking your view of your image, click the “tab” key on your keyboard, and they will disappear. When you’re ready for them again, just hit “tab” one more time.

If you want to get a closer look at your image and work on it without the tool bar and menu bar being in the way, click the “F” key on your keyboard. This will take you into full screen mode. When you’re ready to go back to the normal editing screen and make some changes, just click “F” again.

When choosing colors, you can bring up the color menu easily by click “I” on your keyboard. This opens your “eyedropper tool.” Click on the color of your choice, and that color will be your foreground color. If you want to switch it to your background color, hit the “alt” key. You can also go back to the default black and white foreground and background by clicking “D” and switch those colors by selecting “X.”

Drawing straight lines can be easily accomplished if you hold down the “shift” key while you use your mouse to draw the lines. This trick can also help you stay in the lines when “coloring” using your paintbrush tool.

These tips will give you a good basic bag of tricks to work with when you’re getting to know your Photoshop program. Much of how you use the program depends on what you’re using it for, so plain old trial and error will tell you which parts of the program will be most important to you.

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