PTotD

Tip #101. What is a layer mask? I think of a layer mask as a shape, defined by me, that acts as a stencil to control what is and is not seen or acted on. It’s created out of black, white and any shade of gray in between. The part of the mask that is white is the ‘hole’ of the stencil. The part that is black is what will be hidden. Anything in gray is partly visible, rather like a ghost. The darker the gray, the more vague the ghost is. So the edges of the stencil can be fuzzy if I use gray, or precise if I use black. The whole layer mask could be like a screen or a filter. It’s really quite flexible in what it can do. But the most important thing about a layer mask is that it is separate from the layer that it is attached to and prevents anything permanent from happening to the item I am working on. If I remove or hide the layer mask, the item is unchanged. If these concepts aren’t really solid in your head, it is hard to work comfortably with layer masks.

Tip #98. You can use an image to create your own brushes. They can be up to 2500 pixels x 2500 pixels in size. That’s pretty darned big. First, use whatever selection tool(s) you need to select what you want to use for your brush. Then go to Edit | Define Brush Preset and give your brush a name. It will append itself to the end of the list of brushes and when you hover your cursor over it, the name you entered will show up. The number included in the brush presets isn’t a count BTW, it is the size of the brush in pixels.

Tip #99. While Photoshop will remember your brushes, they aren’t really saved until they are saved into an .abr file. Use the preset manager to save the brushes you create. The process is just like saving styles, but you are saving brushes.

Tip #100. If your drive were to die tomorrow how much data would you lose? The only correct answer is, “none.” If you don’t have an effective back up system in place, it is time for you to spend money and get one. If you can afford a computer and Photoshop, you can afford to have a good backup system. I do not depend on an additional external hard drive. I use an on-line backup system. And I check it regularly to make sure that the data that I want to be saved has been included in the backup. It is not the responsibility of the service I select to tell me that my important files are backed up. Only I know what is important to me, so it is my responsibility to check.

PTotD

Tip #97. Brushes are similar to Styles, in that you can use the Preset Manager and load different sets of brushes. The file extension for brush files is .abr. Photoshop comes with about 15 different sets of brushes.

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Tip #96. Photoshop can be efficient. Those things that we call ‘Brushes’ are really shapes that it can use for lots of different tools. Did you know that you can choose a brush and use it to Erase with? Or you can Stamp with it. Or use it as a Brush. This is where your tablet and stylus will really shine. Photoshop will respond to changes in pressure and angle.

OK, I Can't Count.

Tip #91. Closing Photoshop and then opening it again won’t clear settings that are causing troubles. Photoshop remembers. Most of the time this is a good thing. You don’t have to spend a lot of time making the same setting changes over and over again. But if you changed a setting and you want to reset back, but you don’t remember exactly where it was before you started, there is always Window | Workspace | Reset workspace Name. That will reset the workspace back to the same settings it had when you created the workspace. If you created your workspace, then loaded several styles, those will no longer be there. You’ll have to load them again.

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Tip #95. It is better to set an option to 0, than it is to leave it blank. Photoshop requires something in the space, even if it is just a place holder. If you try to delete all information, Photoshop will give you an angry red error message refusing to accept a blank, and it will then reset the option to either 0, or the last value entered that is not 0. Angry red error messages are annoying and I like to avoid them when possible. When you are working with something with a slider, instead of struggling to set it to 0, just double click on it and it will move to 0.

Photoshop Tip of the Day

I learned a lot at Photoshop World. I learned a lot about photography, mostly. But I did pick up a few interesting things about Photoshop.

Tip # 85. You REALLY need to be using a tablet. And a small tablet is too small. Get an Intuos 4 Medium. I know, they are expensive. But if you want control, you are not going to get it with a mouse. Period.

Tip #86. Zoom in. Zoom in a lot. If you are at 100% you haven't zoomed in enough. Zoom in more.

Tip #87. There is no such thing as knowing too many keyboard shortcuts. Time = money, in many cases and a keyboard shortcut that saves a few seconds will multiply into saved minutes over a day working on your computer.

Tip #88. Use a smaller brush. If you are painting something and you don't want the darned brush to create horrible blobs of color or shadow, use a smaller brush.

Tip #89. The Quick Select tool, coupled with the refine edge option will do a better job than you think it will. Start with Quick Select and see how well it does. If it's a fail, you haven't wasted much time.

Tip #90. If you Paste Special and choose Paste Into, you can move the layer around and pick the area you want to have showing. You'll have a window cut into a layer, with your new layer under it, showing through your window.

Tip #92. The keyboard shortcut to combine all of the existing layers into a single layer and add it as a new layer on top of your other layers is: Shift + Alt + Ctrl + E, or Shift + Option + Cmd + E. It's worth remembering.

Tip #93. If you are using the Liquify Filter, you can use a Freeze Mask to keep an area from moving. If you want to move one side of a flower petal, but not the whole petal, use the Freeze mask.

Tip #94. If you are using a paintbrush and you suddenly want to paint with a different color, press the Alt or Option key. The brush will turn into an eyedropper and you can select the color you want to use.


And we are now caught up.