Photoshop 6 for Windows Bible- P3 doc

37 Chapter 2 ✦ Inside Photoshop Rearranging and docking palettes In the past, you’ve been able to regroup palettes to suit the way you work. Now you also can dock palettes to each other or to the Options bar. You’re king of the palette hill, as it were. To attach a floating palette to the Options bar, as shown in Figure 2-8, drag the palette tab to the docking well. After you dock the palette, you see just the palette tab on the Options bar. Click the tab to display the palette, as shown in the figure. When you click outside the palette, the palette closes automatically. If you don’t see the docking well, you need to raise your monitor resolution. The docking well isn’t accessible at monitor resolutions of less than 800 pixels wide. Also, if you undock the Options bar, any palettes attached to it hide themselves. To redisplay a hidden palette, choose its name from the Window menu. Figure 2-8: Attach palettes to the Options bar by dragging them to the docking well. In addition to docking palettes in the Options bar, you can dock palettes to each other. Drag a palette tab to the bottom of another palette and release the mouse but- ton when the other palette appears highlighted, as shown in the left side of Figure 2-9. The dragged palette grabs hold of the other palette’s tail and doesn’t let go. Now you can keep both palettes visible but move, close, collapse, and resize the two as a sin- gle entity, as shown in the right half of the figure. When you dock a resizable palette to another resizable palette, you can resize the palettes like so: ✦ Place your cursor over the border between two stacked palettes until you see the double-headed arrow cursor. Then drag down to enlarge the upper palette and shrink the lower one. Drag up to enlarge the lower palette and shrink the upper one. The overall size of the docked palettes doesn’t change. ✦ Alt-drag the border to resize the upper palette only. Still not happy with your palette layout? You can shuffle palettes at will, moving a single palette from one group to another or giving it complete independence from any group. To separate a palette from the herd, drag its tab away from the palette group, as demonstrated in the left column in Figure 2-10. To add the palette to a Tip 6 Photoshop 6 Docking well Note 6 Photoshop 6 38 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 palette group, drag its tab onto the palette group, as shown in the middle column. The right column shows the results of the two maneuvers I made in the first two columns. Figure 2-9: Drag a palette tab to the bottom of another palette (left) to dock the two palettes together (right). Figure 2-10: Dragging a palette tab out of a palette group (left) separates the palette from its original family (middle). Dragging a palette tab onto another palette group (middle) adds that palette to the group (right). If you ever completely muck up the palettes — or a palette somehow gets stuck under the menu bar — choose Window➪ Reset Palette Locations. 6 Photoshop 6 39 Chapter 2 ✦ Inside Photoshop Tabbing through the options I mentioned earlier that you can hide the palettes by pressing Shift+Tab and that you can hide the palettes, toolbox, and Options bar by pressing Tab. But this key- board trick doesn’t work if an option box is active. For example, suppose you click inside the R option box in the Color palette. This activates the option. Now press Tab. Rather than hiding the palettes, Photoshop advances you to the next option box in the palette, G. To move backward through the options, press Shift+Tab. This trick applies to the Options bar as well as to the standard palettes. To apply an option box value and return focus to the image window, press Enter. This deactivates the palette options. If an option box remains active, certain key- board tricks—such as pressing a key to select a tool—won’t work properly. Photo- shop either ignores the shortcut or beeps at you for pressing a key the option box doesn’t like. For more information on shortcuts, read Chapter D on the CD-ROM. While you’re working in the image window, you can return focus to the Options bar from the keyboard. When you press Enter, Photoshop displays the Options bar, if it’s not already visible. If the Options bar offers an option box for the active tool, Photoshop highlights the contents of the option box. You can then tab around to reach the option you want to change, enter a new value, and press Enter to get out. Navigating in Photoshop All graphics and desktop publishing programs provide a variety of navigational tools and functions that enable you to scoot around the screen, visit the heartlands and nether regions, examine the fine details, and take in the big picture. And Photoshop is no exception. In fact, Photoshop’s navigation tools would make Magellan drool (were he inclined to edit an image or two). The view size You can change the view size —the size at which an image appears on screen—so you can either see more of an image or concentrate on individual pixels. Each change in view size is expressed as a zoom ratio, which is the ratio between screen pixels and image pixels. Photoshop displays the zoom ratio as a percentage value in the title bar as well as in the magnification box. The 100-percent zoom ratio shows one image pixel for each screen pixel (and is therefore equivalent to the old 1:1 zoom ratio in Photoshop 3 and earlier). A 200 percent zoom ratio doubles the size of the image pix- els on screen, and so on. 6 Photoshop 6 40 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 Actual pixels Photoshop calls the 100-percent zoom ratio the actual-pixels view. This is the most accurate view size because you can see the image as it really is. Reduced view sizes drop pixels; magnified view sizes stretch pixels. Only the actual-pixels view displays each pixel without a trace of screen distortion. You can switch to this most accurate of view sizes at any time using one of the fol- lowing techniques: ✦ Choose View➪ Actual Pixels. ✦ Press Ctrl+Alt+0. (That’s a zero, not the letter O.) ✦ Double-click the zoom tool icon in the toolbox. ✦ Click the Actual Pixels button, which appears on the Options bar when the zoom tool is selected. Fit on screen When you first open an image, Photoshop displays it at the largest zoom ratio (up to 100 percent) that permits the entire image to fit on screen. Assuming you don’t change the size of the image, you can return to this “fit-on-screen” view size in one of the following ways: ✦ Choose View➪ Fit on Screen. ✦ Press Ctrl+0. ✦ Double-click the hand tool icon in the toolbox. ✦ Select the zoom tool and then click the Fit on Screen button on the Options bar. Strangely, any of these techniques may magnify the image beyond the 100-percent view size. When working on a very small image, for example, Photoshop enlarges the image to fill the screen, even if this means maxing out the zoom to 1,600 per- cent. Personally, I prefer to use the fit-on-screen view only when working on very large images. Well, actually, I almost never use the fit-on-screen view because it’s too arbitrary. Photoshop does the best job of previewing an image when you can see all pixels— that is, at 100-percent view size. Short of that, you want the screen pixels to divide evenly into the image pixels. This means view sizes like 50 percent or 25 percent, but not 75 percent or 66.7 percent. And you never know what it’s going to be with the fit-on-screen view. 6 Photoshop 6 6 Photoshop 6 41 Chapter 2 ✦ Inside Photoshop Print size You can switch to yet another predefined view size by choosing View➪ Print Size. This command displays the image on screen at the size it will print. (You set the print size using Image ➪ Image Size, as I explain in Chapter 3.) When the zoom tool is active, you also can click the Print Size button on the Options bar to turn on the print-size view. In practice, “print-size” view isn’t particularly reliable. Photoshop assumes that your monitor displays exactly 72 pixels per inch, even on the PC, where the accepted screen resolution is 96 pixels per inch. But it’s all complete nonsense, whatever the assump- tion. Monitor resolutions vary all over the map. And high-end monitors let you change screen resolutions without Photoshop even noticing. The long and the short is this: Don’t expect to hold up your printed image and have it exactly match the print-size view on screen. It’s a rough approximation, designed to show you how the image will look when imported into QuarkXPress, PageMaker, InDesign, or some other publishing program—nothing more. The zoom tool Obviously, the aforementioned zoom ratios aren’t the only ones available to you. You can zoom in as close as 1,600 percent and zoom out to 0.2 percent. The easiest way to zoom in and out of your image is to use the zoom tool: ✦ Click in the image window with the zoom tool to magnify the image in preset increments—from 33.33 percent to 50 to 66.67 to 100 to 200 and so on. Photoshop tries to center the zoomed view at the point where you clicked (or come as close as possible). ✦ Alt-click with the zoom tool to reduce the image incrementally — 200 to 100 to 66.67 to 50 to 33.33 and so on. Again, Photoshop tries to center the new view on the click point. ✦ Drag with the zoom tool to draw a rectangular marquee around the portion of the image you want to magnify. Photoshop magnifies the image so the mar- queed area fits just inside the image window. (If the horizontal and vertical proportions of the marquee do not match those of your screen—for example, if you draw a tall, thin marquee or a really short, wide one — Photoshop favors the smaller of the two possible zoom ratios to avoid hiding any detail inside the marquee.) ✦ If you want Photoshop to resize the window when you click with the zoom tool, select the Resize Windows to Fit check box on the Options bar. The check box appears only when the zoom tool is the active tool. 6 Photoshop 6 Tip 6 Photoshop 6 42 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 ✦ Turn off the Ignore Palettes check box on the Options bar if you want Photo- shop to stop resizing the window when the window bumps up against a palette that’s anchored against the side of the program window. Turn the option on to resize the window regardless of the palettes. The palettes then float over the resized window. To access the zoom tool temporarily when some other tool is selected, press and hold the Ctrl and spacebar keys. Release both keys to return control of the cursor to the selected tool. To access the zoom out cursor, press Alt with the spacebar. These keyboard equivalents work from inside many dialog boxes, enabling you to modify the view of an image while applying a filter or color correction. The zoom commands You can also zoom in and out using the following commands and keyboard shortcuts: ✦ Choose View➪ Zoom In or press Ctrl+plus (+) to zoom in. This command works exactly like clicking with the zoom tool except you can’t specify the center of the new view size. Photoshop merely centers the zoom in keeping with the previous view size. ✦ Choose View➪ Zoom Out or press Ctrl+minus (–) to zoom out. The General panel of the Photoshop 6 Preferences dialog box (Ctrl+K) includes an option called Keyboard Zoom Resizes Windows. If you select this option, Photoshop resizes the image window when you use the Zoom commands. (Despite the setting’s name, it applies when you choose the zoom commands from the menu as well as when you use the keyboard shortcuts.) To override the setting temporarily, press Alt as you press the keyboard shortcut or select the menu command. Similarly, if you deselect the option in the Preferences dialog box, you can add the Alt to turn win- dow-zooming on temporarily. If Photoshop is unresponsive to these or any other keyboard shortcuts, it’s proba- bly because the image window has somehow become inactive. (It can happen if you so much as click the taskbar.) Just click the image-window title bar and try again. The magnification box Another way to zoom in and out without changing the window size is to enter a value into the magnification box, located in the lower-left corner of the Photoshop window. Select the magnification value, enter a new one, and press Enter. Photoshop zooms the view without zooming the window. (Neither the Resize Windows to Fit check box on the Options bar nor the Keyboard Zoom Resizes Windows option in the Preferences dialog box affect the magnification box.) Tip 6 Photoshop 6 Tip 6 Photoshop 6 43 Chapter 2 ✦ Inside Photoshop In Figure 2-11, I started with a specially sized window at actual-pixels view. I then entered two different zoom ratios into the magnification box — 156.7 percent and 60.4 percent—alternately enlarging and reducing the image within the confines of a static window. Figure 2-11: To zoom an image without changing the window size, enter a zoom ratio into the magnification box and press Enter. Alternatively, deselect the Resize Windows to Fit check box on the Options bar when working with the zoom tool. Magnification box 44 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 You might like to know more about the magnification box: ✦ You can enter values in the magnification box as percentages, ratios, or “times” values. To switch to a zoom value of 250 percent, for example, you can enter 250%, 5:2, or 2.5x. ✦ You can specify a zoom value in increments as small as 0.01 percent. So if a zoom value of 250.01 doesn’t quite suit your fancy, you can try 250.02. I seriously doubt you’ll need this kind of precision, but isn’t it great to know it’s there? When you press Enter after entering a magnification value, Photoshop changes the view size and returns focus to the image window. If you aren’t exactly certain what zoom ratio you want to use, press Shift+Enter instead. This changes the view size while keeping the magnification value active; this way you can enter a new value and try again. Creating a reference window In the ancient days, paint programs provided a cropped view of your image at the actual-pixels view size to serve as a reference when you worked in a magnified view. Because it’s so doggone modern, Photoshop does not, but you can easily create a second view of your image by choosing View➪ New View, as in Figure 2-12. Use one window to maintain a 100-percent view of your image while you zoom and edit inside the other window. Both windows track the changes to the image. Figure 2-12: You can create multiple windows to track the changes made to a single image by choosing the New View command from the View menu. Tip Tip 45 Chapter 2 ✦ Inside Photoshop Scrolling inside the window In the standard window mode, you have access to scroll bars, just as you do in just about every other major application. But as you become more proficient with Photo- shop, you’ll use the scroll bars less and less. One way to bypass the scroll bars is to use the keyboard equivalents listed in Table 2-1. Table 2-1 Scrolling from the Keyboard Scrolling Action Keystroke Up one screen Page Up Up slightly Shift+Page Up Down one screen Page Down Down slightly Shift+Page Down Left one screen Ctrl+Page Up Left slightly Ctrl+Shift+Page Up Right one screen Ctrl+Page Down Right slightly Ctrl+Shift+Page Down To upper-left corner Home To lower-right corner End I’ve heard tales of artists who use the Page Up and Page Down shortcuts to comb through very large images at 100-percent view size. This way, they can make sure all their pixels are in order before going to print. Personally, however, I don’t use the Page key tricks very often. I’m the kind of merry lad who prefers to scroll by hand. Armed with the grabber hand — as old timers call it — you can yank an image and pull it in any direction you choose. A good grabber hand is better than a scroll bar any day. To access the hand tool temporarily when some other tool is selected, press and hold the spacebar. Releasing the spacebar returns the cursor to its original appear- ance. This keyboard equivalent even works from inside many dialog boxes. Tip 46 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 The Navigator palette I saved the best for last. Shown in Figure 2-13, the Navigator palette is the best thing to happen to zooming and scrolling since Photoshop was first introduced. If you routinely work on large images that extend beyond the confines of your relatively tiny screen, you’ll want to get up and running with this palette as soon as possible. Figure 2-13: The Navigator palette is the best thing to happen to zooming and scrolling since Photoshop 1.0. If the Navigator palette isn’t visible, choose Window➪ Show Navigator. You can then use the palette options as follows: ✦ View box: Drag the view box inside the image thumbnail to reveal some hid- den portion of the photograph. Photoshop dynamically tracks your adjust- ments in the image window. Isn’t it great? But wait, it gets better. Press Ctrl to get a zoom cursor in the Navigator palette. Then Ctrl-drag to resize the view box and zoom the photo in the image window. You can also Shift-drag to constrain dragging the view box to only horizontal or vertical movement. ✦ Box color: You can change the color of the view box by choosing the Palette Options command from the palette menu. My favorite setting is yellow, but it ultimately depends on the colors in your image. Ideally, you want something that stands out. To lift a color from the image itself, move the cursor outside the dialog box and click in the image window with the eyedropper. Tip Size box Magnification box Zoom out Zoom in Zoom slider View box Image thumbnail [...]... turned off and read Chapter 16 for more information ✦ Use Diffusion Dither (on): Here’s an option for you folks working on 8-bit screens that display no more than 2 56 colors at a time To simulate the 16- million-color spectrum on a 2 56- color screen, Photoshop automatically jumbles colored pixels using a technique called dithering This option controls the pattern of dithered pixels Photoshop offers a naturalistic... resolution, read Chapter 3.) Type 6 Photoshop 6 enables you to set the unit of measure used for the type tool and its palettes independently of the ruler units You can work in points, pixels, and millimeters; select your unit of choice from the Type pop-up menu Check out Chapter 15 for more good news about type in this version of Photoshop 59 60 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 Column Size The Column Size... displays the Memory & Image Cache panel, shown in Figure 2-22 63 64 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 Figure 2-22: Photoshop s new caching capabilities speed the processing of very large images This is also where you specify how much memory goes to Photoshop Cache Levels Photoshop has been criticized for its lack of a “pyramid-style” file format, such as Live Picture’s IVUE or xRes’s LRG Both IVUE and... needs it But Photoshop is something of a memory pig and has a habit of using every spare bit of RAM it can get its hands on Left to its own devices, it might gobble up all the RAM and bleed over into Windows virtual memory space, which is less efficient than Photoshop s own scratch disk scheme 65 66 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 The Physical Memory Usage option helps you place some limits on Photoshop s... settings in the Options bar Photoshop remembers environmental preferences, tool settings, and even the file format under which you saved the last image by storing this information to a file each time you exit the program 6 To restore Photoshop s factory default settings, delete the Adobe Photoshop 6 Prefs.psp file when the application is not running The next time you launch Photoshop, it creates a new... files should go 61 62 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 Photoshop Figure 2-21: Tell Photoshop where to find plug-ins and where to put scratch files using these options Additional Plug-Ins Directory 6 By default, the plug-ins are located in a folder called Plug-Ins, which resides in the same folder as the Photoshop application But you can tell Photoshop to also look for plug-ins in some other folder — a handy... these edges and resort to a more geometric dither pattern by turning off this check box 55 56 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 Figure 2-17: The Display & Cursors options control the way images and cursors look on screen Shown here are the default settings, but I turn on Use Diffusion Dither Photoshop 6 Photoshop Tip 6 Turning off the Use Diffusion Dither check box is an awfully drastic (not to mention ugly)... hover your cursor over a tool or palette option The tool tips don’t impede Photoshop s performance, so I see no reason to turn off this option 51 Photoshop 52 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 6 ✦ Keyboard Zoom Resizes Windows (on): Select this option to force Photoshop to resize the image window when you zoom in or out on your image by selecting a Zoom command from the View menu or by using the keyboard... program Photoshop ✦ Show Font Names in English (on): Check this box, and Photoshop displays foreign fonts in intelligible names in the Font menu on the Options bar and in the Character palette — well, assuming that English is intelligible to you, anyway 6 Photoshop In this book, I assume that you have this option turned off when I present tool shortcuts 6 ✦ Reset All Warning Dialogs: Every now and then, Photoshop. .. The check box ensures backward compatibility between Photoshop 6 and programs that support the Photoshop file Chapter 2 ✦ Inside Photoshop format but don’t recognize layers It’s a nice idea, but it comes at too steep a price In order to ensure compatibility, Photoshop has to insert an additional flattened version of a layered image into every native Photoshop file As you can imagine, this takes up a . impede Photoshop s performance, so I see no reason to turn off this option. 6 Photoshop 6 Tip 52 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 ✦ Keyboard Zoom Resizes Windows (on): Select this option to force Photoshop to. when you select the image in the Open dialog box. 6 Photoshop 6 6 Photoshop 6 Note 6 Photoshop 6 54 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 Figure 2- 16: I prefer to set the Image Previews option to Ask When. Resize Windows to Fit check box on the Options bar. The check box appears only when the zoom tool is the active tool. 6 Photoshop 6 Tip 6 Photoshop 6 42 Part I ✦ Welcome to Photoshop 6 ✦ Turn