[...]... advanced the topic We assume that you’ve installed Photoshop and you’re using the Photoshop User Guide to figure out your way around the program If you’re an advanced user, don’t worry This book is very understandable, but we also get into the real meat of Photoshop and the powerful tools of version CS4 Mac or Windows? From a functionality standpoint, Photoshop is pretty close to identical on Mac and... much more in Photoshop to discover than we could possibly fit into the allotted page count Dan Ablan has created a number of training videos through 3D Garage.com that will help you to take your learning further Visit www.danablan com /photoshop to view Chapter 12, “Workflow,” and a series of bonus videos on assorted useful topics xiii Introduction As with Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS4 has a hybrid... Working Foundations Figure 1.1a Photoshop s CS4 interface is less cluttered than previous versions, but still very customizable Figure 1.1b The PC version of Photoshop CS4 looks and works the same as the Mac version You’ll notice, however, that the menu bar is slightly different 5 Chapter 1 Tools and Panels Primer The panel well that was found in previous versions of Photoshop is no longer available... you’ve worked in Photoshop previously, you might be aware that all of those panels can take up much of your screen, unless you’re fortunate enough to have a second monitor to expand your workspace This chapter will help you to become familiar with Photoshop s tools and panels so that you can manage the updated CS4 workspace effectively Preparing Your Workspace With previous versions of Photoshop, you... the page and start understanding Adobe Photoshop CS4! xiv I PAR PART Working Foundations Chapter 1 Tools and Panels Primer Chapter 2 Selection Primer 3 43 This page intentionally left blank CHAPTER 1 Tools and Panels Primer The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious —Marcus Aurelius Tools and Panels Primer W hen you first open Photoshop CS4, the newly designed interface is unassuming... main Tools panel between one-column and twocolumn layout by clicking its title bar Photoshop CS4 no longer includes a launch button in the Tools panel for ImageReady (the Web graphics application that came bundled with Photoshop) , because ImageReady has been discontinued Some of its functionality has been rolled into Photoshop, and the rest is now included in Adobe Fireworks Figure 1.5 The Quick Mask... Mode By default, Photoshop uses the Standard Screen Mode (Figure 1.6) You’re probably used to working with this mode, with the name of your document at the top of the document window, and possibly scroll bars on the side and bottom of that window Figure 1.6 The Standard Screen Mode is Photoshop s default (©2008 Dan Ablan.) Screen Arrangements The new CS4 Application bar resides just below Photoshop s menu... up the entire screen, Photoshop fills the area around the image with gray Full Screen Mode Full Screen Mode is a longtime favorite of serious Photoshop users In this mode, Photoshop even turns off the menu bar! Now an image can take over the entire screen You can still use many of the menu commands, as long as you know their keyboard shortcuts If you zoom out while in this mode, Photoshop fills the area... the tools have associated settings To access these settings, take a peek at the options bar that extends across the top of the Photoshop window Many people tend to forget about these settings when learning Photoshop Figure 1.11 Photoshop s default Tools panel The Tools panel in Photoshop provides dozens of tools Describing all of them in detail would take up a huge chunk of this chapter (and you probably... image Along came Photoshop CS2 and CS3, packed with a huge number of panels, and adding even more tools With CS4, the interface has been streamlined to help you work You can easily make any panel visible—or not visible—based on your needs, organizing the clutter into an elegant arrangement in just a few seconds Panels and Docks To assist you in maximizing your screen real estate, CS4 provides panel .