148 c h a p t e r 4: F OU N DATIONS ■ For Photoshop Elements Users: Setting Preferences (Continued) Performance The Memory Usage, History & Cache, and Scratch Disk options are similar between CS5 and Ele- ments 8, but Elements does not have options for OpenGL drawing or 3D acceleration. Display & Cursors In addition to CS5-like cursor preferences, the Elements Display & Cursors preference pane has options for the crop shield. The crop shield is what hides the part of the image being cropped. If Use Shield is checked, Elements will darken that area with whatever color you set in Shield Color and by however much you set with Opacity. We recommend using a black color and a 50% opac- ity so that the region to be cropped becomes darker with no color cast. Units & Rulers Elements has an option called Photo Project Units. A photo project includes things like photo calendars and greeting cards. Set this option to the unit of measurement you are comfortable working with. The remaining preference panes are quite similar to those in CS5. Views and Zoom With Photoshop set up just the way you like it, you’re ready to start looking at your images. Photoshop provides a variety of ways to do just that, including ways to display images with Photoshop and ways to navigate within your images using various tools. Some of these are new to CS5. Application Bar The Windows CS5 Application bar, as shown in Figure 4.9, combines the main menu bar as well as features found in the Application bar prior to CS4. The Mac Applica- tion bar does not contain the main menu items but shares the other features. The PC Application bar The Mac Application bar Figure 4.9 The new Application bars have increased functionality. 607343c04.indd 148 4/11/10 11:04:17 PM 149 ■ VIEWS AND ZOOM The Application icon is on the far left; it identifies the application (helpful if you’re using more of the Creative Suite than just Photoshop). Clicking the Applica- tion icon in Windows displays the standard system menu and follows other expected Windows behaviors, including having a double-click close the application. On a Mac it doesn’t do anything. Windows items previously found in the menu bar are next, but on a Mac they remain at the top of the monitor. The next set of icons is new in CS5: F• irst there is an icon for Bridge . Click it to access Bridge. N• ext is an icon to access Mini Bridge . N• ext is the View Extras icon . Click the arrow next to it to access options to apply Show Grids, Show Guides, and Show Rulers. T• he next icon changes to reflect the current level of magnification on the selected image. Click the arrow by it to access options to change to 25%, 50%, 100%, and 200% magnification views. T• he Arrange Documents icon provides access to a multitude of ways to arrange your images on screen, as shown here: N• ext is the Screen Mode icon . Use the arrow next to it to toggle from Standard Screen to Full Screen Mode with Menu Bar to Full Screen Mode. We’ll talk more about these modes in the next section. O• n the far right is a drawer containing the names of the various workspaces. The currently selected workspace is highlighted, and other choices are available from the drop-down menu when you click the icon. L• ast is a button for Access CS Live. This is an online help site, but you must sign in with your Adobe ID and password. Windows and Workspaces Although Windows users have always had a gray background for their workspace, Mac users have not. CS5 offers the option to use an application frame, which provides a solid background and hides the desktop. We find this very helpful so that we aren’t distracted by the clutter on the desktop. If it is not on by default, go to Window > Application Frame and toggle it on. (Of course, if you prefer to see your desktop behind your images, toggle it off.) 607343c04.indd 149 4/11/10 11:04:18 PM 150 c h a p t e r 4: FOUNDATIONS ■ The first thing we recommend doing when you open an image is to size the document window appropriately. In general, this means maximizing the document window so you can see as much of the image as possible (as illustrated in Figure 4.10). To do this, press Ctrl+0/F+0 or double-click the Hand tool icon in the toolbar. We’re always a bit surprised at the number of people in our workshops who are working with their images sized so small that the majority of their monitor is filled with blank gray space. You can work far more accurately when you can see the image in more detail. Figure 4.10 It’s generally best to maximize your document window so you can see as much of the image as possible while working in Photoshop. Screen Modes Photoshop CS5 offers three screen modes: Standard Screen, Full Screen with Menu Bar, and Full Screen. These screen modes change the background surrounding your image as well as how you view your image. To toggle through the screen modes, press the F key; each time you press it, the mode will change to the next one in the series. You can also access the screen modes from the Change Screen Mode icon in the Appli- cation bar or from View > Screen Mode. If you have selected Open Documents as Tabs in Preferences, your images will open in Standard Screen mode as tabbed images, as shown in Figure 4.10. Initially only one image at a time is visible. If the magnification renders the image larger than the screen space, scroll bars appear to help navigate through the image. You control which image is selected and visible by clicking its tab. Click the small X on the right side of the tab to close an image. 607343c04.indd 150 4/11/10 11:04:19 PM 151 ■ VIEWS AND ZOOM To view more than one image at a time you have several options. N-Up is the first option. It refers to the option to divide the workspace among as many images (N) as desired in Standard Screen mode as shown in Figure 4.11. To view multiple images simultaneously, first open the images, then click the Arrange Documents icon and choose the layout you want. Figure 4.11 By using N-Up, you can view multiple images simultaneously and scroll through them independently. You can also opt to view one or more images in their own floating windows. To float an image, click the tab and drag it down and away from the Application bar, or click the Arrange Documents icon and choose Float All in Windows. To return them to tabbed documents, click on the section with the document name and drag them back next to the Application bar. (Note that you must enable this feature in Prefer- ences > Interface > Panels & Documents.) In Full Screen mode with or without the menu bar you can only view a single image at a time. Click the Hand tool and drag the image to control its placement in the window. No scroll bars appear, which makes it difficult to accurately pan through an image. For that reason we prefer to use the Standard Screen mode with the Appli- cation Frame on for most of our work. Full Screen mode can be useful when showing your work to others. To exit Full Screen mode press F again, or press the Escape key. Note: Press the Tab key to hide both the toolbar and the panels on the right. Press Shift+Tab to hide the panels but leave the toolbar visible. 607343c04.indd 151 4/11/10 11:04:19 PM 152 c h a p t e r 4: F OU N DATIONS ■ For Photoshop Elements Users: Screen Modes Photoshop Elements does not have different screen modes; it has only one general workspace. As in Photoshop, the tools and options are on the left and top of the screen, respectively, and the panels are on the right side. You can click on the split bar on the right side of the screen, indicated in the image shown here, to hide or show the Panel Bin. Within the Elements workspace are five key areas. At the top (1) are the Workspace buttons. On the left (2) is the Toolbox, and on the bottom (3) is the Project Bin. The bulk of the screen is taken up by the Workspace area (4), which in this graphic is showing two different images. On the far right is the Panel Bin (5), containing panels with information relating to the image, such as the Navigator and Histogram panels. To have more space for your images, we recommend closing the Project Bin at the bottom of the screen by choosing Window > Project Bin or by clicking the split bar between the bottom of the workspace and top of the Project Bin. Conguring Panels In versions of Photoshop prior to CS3, the panels on the right side of the monitor used a significant amount of monitor real estate. If you were working with a dual-monitor setup, it wasn’t as much of an issue, but with a single monitor it was frustrating and distracting to have so much space devoted to the panels rather than your image. Now the panels are not only completely flexible as to their arrangement, but they are also collapsible. Note: Prior to CS3, panels were called palettes. 607343c04.indd 152 4/11/10 11:04:20 PM 153 ■ VIEWS AND ZOOM You can customize the arrangement of the various panels within Photoshop to suit your own needs. The default arrangement that Adobe created for photographers in CS5 is called Photography. (It displays the panels that Adobe considers to be of most use for photographers. To find this workspace, click and drag the double-line icon before the word Essentials in the Application bar or click the workspace drop-down menu. We find this workspace to be a good starting place for our work; however, you can modify the arrangement if you choose. Keep in mind that your ideal configuration may vary depending on whether you are using a one- or two-monitor setup. To remove a panel click the fly-out menu icon at the right of that panel group and choose Close Tab Group. To make a different panel group visible, select Window in the Application or main menu bar and toggle on the desired item. You’ll see new collapsed iconic panel groups appear, as shown here. To remove an individual tab, click it, go to the fly-out menu, and choose Close. To make it visible again, select Windows from the main Menu bar or the Application bar, and toggle the tab back on. Since we don’t regularly use paths, we close that tab. Hovering the cursor over the icon will reveal the name of the panel. If you click one of the icons, the individual panel expands, as shown in Figure 4.12. Clicking a hidden tab in a panel will bring it forward. Double-clicking a tab in a panel will col- lapse the panel. Click and drag the bottom of a panel to shrink or enlarge that panel. Figure 4.12 Hovering the cursor over a panel icon reveals the name of the panel. 607343c04.indd 153 4/11/10 11:04:20 PM 154 c h a p t e r 4: FOUNDATIONS ■ You can click the double arrow at the top of the iconic panel groups to expand them. However, most of the time we prefer to either move them or keep them collapsed. To move an icon tab group into the panel group on the right, click the thin dou- ble line at the top of the group and drag it to the desired location. A blue line appears where the group will be inserted, and the panel is automatically expanded in keep- ing with the others in that column. You can opt to drag the entire tab group or just an individual icon. In addition, you can group the panels any way that you want by clicking an individual tab and dragging it to the new location, regardless of whether the panel is expanded or collapsed. We find it convenient to have access to the Brush panel, so we add it. When you have rearranged the panels precisely the way you want them, go to Window > Workspace > New Workspace. Give your workspace a descriptive name in case you want to create more than one. Ellen uses “Ellen’s Basic.” Notice in Fig- ure 4.10, shown earlier, that’s what appears as the workspace name in the Applica- tion bar. While working you might drag out a tab to be able to view two items in a particular group simultaneously, or you might add other panels. Anytime you want to return to your saved arrangement or a default workspace, click in the Workspace Chooser and select that workspace. Throughout this book you’ll become familiar with many of the panels you can use, and you’ll start to develop a preference for which panels you want to have visible and how you want them arranged. You may even find that you prefer to establish different configurations for different tasks or for different types of images. Fortunately, it’s easy to switch between various panel arrangements by using the Workspace Switcher. The Adjustments and Masks panels provide quick access to Adjustment tools that automatically create Adjustment layers. It’s the same as clicking the Adjust- ment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, but it’s a bit easier to access and has options for creating masks, clipping layers, and previews that we’ll talk about in Chapter 6, “Exposure Adjustments.” Since the adjustments work in a nonmodal fash- ion in CS5, you can modify various parameters, such as blending modes and zoom, or even alter the mask, while the adjustment dialog is open. The Masks panel contains numerous options for both creating and refining a mask. We cover this in more detail in Chapter 6. Note: If you have hidden the panels on the right by using the Tab or Shift+Tab option, you can access them by hovering the cursor over the dark translucent stripe at the right edge of your monitor. The panels will magically appear, and when you move your cursor away from that area they’ll disappear again. The Tools panel is presented in a single column by default, which we pre- fer. However, if you’re more comfortable with the double-column setup that earlier 607343c04.indd 154 4/11/10 11:04:20 PM 155 ■ V I EWS AND Z OOM versions of Photoshop used, click the gray area by the two triangles at the top of the Tools panel, just above the PS icon. Like any of the panels, you can float the Tools panel by clicking in the dark bar at the top and dragging it wherever you’d like. To redock the Tools panel, drag the floating panel to the left or right side of the screen until a blue bar appears. For Photoshop Elements Users: Configuring Panels Although the default configuration in Elements 8 has only the Effects and Layers panels visible, with a bit of tweaking, it is possible to create a layout very similar to Photoshop CS5’s, as shown earlier in the sidebar “For Photoshop Elements Users: Screen Modes.” Begin by choosing Edit Full in the upper-right part of the interface. We recommend you follow these steps: 1. Choose Window > Histogram. 2. Wherever the panel appears, be it within another tab group or as a floating panel, click the title bar where you see the text Histogram and drag the panel to wherever you want it. Like in Photoshop, you can drag the panels next to each other in the same group or above/ below other panels, making new groups. 3. Repeat these steps for whatever panels you wish to add to the Panel Bin. We recommend adding the Histogram, Navigator, Undo History, Adjustments, and Layers panels. To remove a panel, such as Effects, follow these steps: 1. Make the panel you wish to remove active. 2. Click the fly-out menu button . 3. Choose Close. To collapse or expand a panel, click the disclosure triangle next to the panel’s name. Although there is no way to explicitly save your Elements setup as a named workspace, Ele- ments will remember your settings each time you quit and will reopen the program configured the same way. Zoom Tool The Zoom tool is the most basic of navigation tools, but it does include some hidden features that can be helpful. To select the Zoom tool, click its icon on the Tools panel or in the Application bar, or press Z on your keyboard. Note: If you’re using any other tool, you can switch to the Zoom tool by pressing Ctrl+spacebar/ F+spacebar. When you release the spacebar, your tool switches back. For Photoshop Elements Users: Configuring Panels Although the default configuration in Elements 8 has only the Effects and Layers panels visible, with a bit of tweaking, it is possible to create a layout very similar to Photoshop CS5’s, as shown earlier in the sidebar “For Photoshop Elements Users: Screen Modes.” Begin by choosing Edit Full in the upper-right part of the interface. We recommend you follow these steps: 1. Choose Window > Histogram. 2. Wherever the panel appears, be it within another tab group or as a floating panel, click the title bar where you see the text Histogram and drag the panel to wherever you want it. Like in Photoshop, you can drag the panels next to each other in the same group or above/ below other panels, making new groups. 3. Repeat these steps for whatever panels you wish to add to the Panel Bin. We recommend adding the Histogram, Navigator, Undo History, Adjustments, and Layers panels. To remove a panel, such as Effects, follow these steps: 1. Make the panel you wish to remove active. 2. Click the fly-out menu button . 3. Choose Close. To collapse or expand a panel, click the disclosure triangle next to the panel’s name. Although there is no way to explicitly save your Elements setup as a named workspace, Ele - ments will remember your settings each time you quit and will reopen the program configured the same way. 607343c04.indd 155 4/11/10 11:04:20 PM . layout very similar to Photoshop CS5 s, as shown earlier in the sidebar “For Photoshop Elements Users: Screen Modes.” Begin by choosing Edit Full in the upper-right part of the interface. We. layout very similar to Photoshop CS5 s, as shown earlier in the sidebar “For Photoshop Elements Users: Screen Modes.” Begin by choosing Edit Full in the upper-right part of the interface. We. It’s generally best to maximize your document window so you can see as much of the image as possible while working in Photoshop. Screen Modes Photoshop CS5 offers three screen modes: Standard