Photoshop Support - Main Photoshop News Photoshop Tutorials Photoshop Tools Photoshop Resources Photoshop Site Map
photoshop tutorials
photoshop tutorials - top logo
photoshop tutorials - top photo

free Photoshop tutorials
photoshop - tutorials, tips & tricks
See our Photoshop CS3 Tutorials Page for free Photoshop 10 video clips.
Get all your Photoshop upgrade options and the best prices at the Adobe Store.



Photoshop Tips & Tricks — Variety Pack Volume 2

Here is a collection of useful tips and tricks to improve your Photoshop skills.

Flip Through Your Font Collection
Adobe Photoshop tutorialOften when I am searching for that perfect font for a logo I will try hundreds of font faces.

I used to change them one by one in the font pallet. However you can speed things up a bit if you just put your mouse in the font drop down box to select it and use the up and down arrow keys to tab through all your fonts.

It makes quick work of the task and you can even find a few fonts that you never would have tried otherwise.


Reset Dialog Box
When Photoshop opens most of it's dialogue boxes it offers you the ability to click OK or Cancel to accept or cancel the task. Some of Photoshop's dialogue boxes offer a hidden "Reset" option. Items like Levels, Curves, and Hue & Saturation.

Holding the Option key changes the Cancel to a Reset, allowing you to reset the dialogue box without having to cancel, and re-open the box every time you want to start over.


Copy Layer Styles
Here is a handy time saving tip I found very useful within my own work flow. Many times when I am working I create elements all on separate layers. Well then I decide much later on that I want to apply a style to those layers.

Adobe Photoshop tutorialNormally, you may just recreate the effect over and over again on each layer individually. What if you have 20 layers with 4 or 5 layer effects?! That's more work than what I am up for. Fortunately Photoshop has an easy way to apply a style to multiple layers all at once.

First link all the layers that you want to effect. Then select from the menu Layer/ Layer Styles/ Copy Layer Style. Then go back to the same menu and select Layer/ Layer Styles/ Paste Layer Style to Linked.

You can also access these functions by CTRL-Clicking the layer itself. Now all your layers have the same effects applied to them in a matter of seconds.


Stroke A Path
The ability to stroke a path is an elementary, but not widely known function in Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop tutorial

Select the path by clicking on the path layer and Option(Alt)-Click the Stroke Path button at the bottom of the Path palette to open the Stroke dialog box.

Choose from the list of tools. Now that you know what tools are available go back to the tool settings to set them up before applying the stroke to a path.

Adobe Photoshop tutorial

Adobe Photoshop tutorialYou can create complex effects if you create several layers of strokes with different tool settings.

For example select a hard brush tip with big spacing to create a chain of objects or use the smudge tool to simulate a finger smudging a painting along a path.


Color Sampler Tool
Here is another useful feature of the Eyedropper tool.

When you compare several samples of colors with each other you don't need to jot down the numbers on a piece of paper. You can press Shift while clicking with the Eyedropper tool (shortcut: "I"). This opens up an extended Info palette. You can click on your image up to four times. For each selector you will be able to see a corresponding color value in the info palette.

Adobe Photoshop tutorial

To delete any of the selectors press Apple (or Cmd) and drag them out from the image. If you want to see the values in different color systems click the tiny Eyedropper icon below the number in the info palette to bring up a little menu with several options to choose from.

You can also use this function to sample the same color several times and have the info palette show you the values in real time for different color systems, while you're adjusting colors in your image. The position of the color samples are saved into the document, so you can refer to them even after reopening the document.


Pick Up The Average Color
Adobe Photoshop tutorialI've touched on one of the special features of the Eyedropper tool above. BTW it's easy to remember the tool shortcut for the Eyedropper: it's "i" as "eye".

Sometimes when you have a bitmap image, the individual pixels that make up the color of a surface can be very different from each other, especially if the image is noisy. In these cases when you want to pick a color from the surface, you might end up with a much lighter or darker color than the average surface color.

In this case Press CTRL when clicking the area for your sampling to pick a little square of 3x3 or 5x5 pixels instead of just one particular pixel. This way the picked color will truly reflect the overall feel of the color of the surface.

[tutorial and images © Ivan Raszl of CreativeBits]

Photoshop CS3 Upgrade Options And Bundles From The Adobe Store

Photoshop CS3 Upgrade Options And Bundles From The Adobe StorePhotoshop CS3 Extended is ideal for film, video, and multimedia pros and for graphic and web designers using 3D and motion. Get the full version for US $999, or upgrade for US $349. The standard version of Photoshop CS3 is available for US $649, or as an upgrade for US $199.

Photoshop Extended is also available as part of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium ($1,799/$440), which combines all-new CS3 versions of Photoshop, Flash Pro, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat 8 Pro. International options are available at Adobe's UK Store, Europe Store, and Australia Store.

SiteGrinder Photoshop Plugin - CSS Web Tool
Media Lab Release SiteGrinder 2 Basic and SiteGrinder 2 ProThere often seems to be a strict division of labor within the world of web design and development. Creative professionals tend to stick to the Photoshop domain, while those well-versed in scripting are left to the task of implementing their work. Indeed, the two realms are quite different from each other, to which any of us even vaguely familiar with either can easily attest.

Essentially, Photoshop is a no-holds-barred design studio, offering the artist a seemingly endless array of creative options. On the other hand, HTML, CSS, Java and the like follow strict rules of engagement, requiring the developer to take any number of esoteric concerns into consideration in order to ensure that designs are properly displayed on the web.

Turn Photoshop Into A Complete Web Design Tool
SiteGrinder 2 seeks to bridge this gap between design and development. Basically, this program turns Photoshop into an easy-to-use and fully functional web design tool. With SiteGrinder 2, designers will now have the freedom to totally let their creativity loose and then, without skipping a beat, transfer their designs to the web. Bringing esthetic concerns together with more practical considerations, this program is an amazingly powerful tool that would make a fantastic addition to any web designer's bag of tricks.

SiteGrinder 2 Basic and SiteGrinder 2 ProGenerate Your Web Pages Directly From Photoshop
By generating web pages directly from Photoshop, you'll be able to spend much more time on the creative end of the spectrum, since you'll know right off the bat how well particular designs will translate to the web. No more going back to the Photoshop drawing board after getting a phone call from your development team, telling you that what you had envisioned doesn't have a chance of being displayed on the web. You can immediately visually and interactively test your designs, which permits you to then make changes to either esthetics or functions while it's still relatively early on in the design process.

Pricing and Availability
Mac OS X and Windows versions of the SiteGrinder unlockable demo are available now via download. Read our review of SiteGrinder.

Exclusive Special Offer - Fluid Mask 2.0 - $189
Photoshop Plugin - Fluid MaskFluid Mask 2.0 is based on breakthrough segmentation technology inspired by the way the eye, optic nerve and brain perform visual processing. When an image is loaded, Fluid Mask's segmentation engine analyses the distribution of colors, finding the natural groups within the image. Together with information calculated about edges, gradients and textures, a model is constructed which divides the images into objects.

Vertus Software is offering Fluid Mask at the special 'friends and partner' discounted rate of just $189 - PLUS free upgrades for the next 6 months.

This is an exclusive offer to visitors of PhotoshopSupport.com. To qualify, visit the Fluid Mask Discount Price page. Find out more about Fluid Mask on our special Fluid Mask Page.

Exclusive 10% Discount On All onOne Products
Photoshop Plug-in Suite - Photoshop PluginsEnter discount coupon code PSSPPT06 during the checkout process at onOne Software for an instant 10% discount on any onOne Software product. This is a special offer exclusively for PhotoshopSupport.com visitors. Vist our onOne Software Page for summaries and reviews of PhotoFrame Pro, Genuine Fractals, Mask Pro, Nik Sharpener, and The Photoshop Plugin Suite.

From the PhotoFrame Pro Review by Jennifer Apple: "PhotoFrame Pro offers an upgraded batch of new features, making this plug-in even more of a valuable asset for the professional graphic designer or amateur digital photographer alike! The folks at onOne software have compiled what is arguably the most comprehensive collection of border and edge effects available on the plugin market right now. You can treat your digital images to the thousands of new frames offered in PhotoFrame Pro, ranging from crisp black and white to brilliant RGB color — from abstract edging effects to realistic frame-and-matte simulations."
Read the full PhotoFrame Pro review.

Exclusive 20% Discount On Select Total Training Products & Bundles
Exclusive 20% Discount On Select Total Training Products & BundlesTo redeem our exclusive discount coupon, use promotion code save20pss in your shopping cart. You could save hundreds of dollars. Use this special link to see the full offer.

Total Training for Adobe Photoshop
Learn Adobe Photoshop with 21 hours of interactive Adobe Photoshop tutorials. This is training for real-world situations and includes additional tips and techniques used by the pros.

Regular Price: $299.99 (take 20% off with coupon)

photoshop - tutorials, tips & tricks
back to top


PHOTO CREDIT: Tunnel in Metro Detroit airport terminal that changes colors.
© 2003 Nat - [from iStockPhoto] + Levels and Lens Blur by Clearlight of Yogaspace


photoshop tutorials - sidebar logo
search the Photoshop Support site
Adobe Photoshop Blog - Photoshop news and comments
Photoshop Blog
News, links and tips.
Adobe Photoshop Blog - Receive Updates via our XML/RSS feed
Inspiring Photoshop Music...
Inspiring Photoshop Music...
Inspiring Photoshop Music...
join our Photoshop Newsletter and win free prizes
Free Newsletter
Free monthly prizes.
Fluid Mask Photoshop Plugin
Fluid Mask Photoshop Plugin
Fluid Mask Photoshop Plugin
Fluid Mask - $10 Off
Fluid Mask Tour
Free Dreamweaver Tutorials and Dreamweaver Templates - Resource Center - Main Page
DW Center - Main
DW Free Tutorials
DW Video Clips
DW Templates
Free Flash Tutorials and Flash Templates - Resource Center
Flash - Main
Flash Tutorials
Flash Templates
Photoshop software & gear at special prices
Photoshop Deals
Photoshop specials.
Turn your Photoshop designs into CSS websites with SiteGrinder - Photoshop plugin.
Turn your Photoshop designs into CSS websites with SiteGrinder - Photoshop plugin.
Turn your Photoshop designs into CSS websites with SiteGrinder - Photoshop plugin.
Turn your Photoshop
designs into websites
with SiteGrinder
Photoshop CS3 Resources - Photoshop 10 news
Photoshop CS3
PS CS3 Tutorials
Adobe Photoshop Elements - resource center
PSE Main Page
PSE Free Tutorials
PSE Free Clips
Lightroom Resource Center - Adobe Lightroom tutorials and news
Lightroom - Main
LR Free Tutorials
LR Resources
Apple Aperture resource center - Aperture tutorials and news
Aperture - Main
Aperture Tutorials
Aperture Reviews
Photoshop Resources
Photoshop Tutorials
Free Tutorials
Photoshop 9 - CS2
Free CS2 Tutorials
Photoshop Brushes
Free Brushes
Photoshop Plugins
Free Plugins
Photoshop Actions
Free Actions
Photoshop Training
Free Video Clips
Free Stock Photos
Free Photos
Free Fonts Directory
Free Fonts
Free Textures
Free Textures
Digital Cameras
Resource Center
Inspiration
Websites & Artists
Photoshop News
Latest News
Photoshop Books
Latest Releases
Color Resources
Color Management
Just For Kids
Photoshop for Kids
How-To Articles
Photoshop Articles
GoLive Site
GoLive Tutorials
Quick Answers
Photoshop FAQ
Get In Touch
Feedback Form
© 1999-2005 PHOTOSHOPSUPPORT.COM
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION
Some material reproduced by permission of copyright owners
All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners
[this website is intended as a public service]
• navigation bar inspired by Griffin Technology
• website design and development by Futura Studios
web hosting provided by Hostway •