Overview Of Photoshop Basics: Part Two
The window drop-down is a useful menu in Photoshop, and it gives you a list that shows the palettes or panels, but this will be discussed a bit later. You might also refer to the drop-down menu for Help, and you can also use the F1 Help key. Either way it will take you to the online help system at Adobe.com and the community forums.
Remember that you can always use the help system if you ever forget anything. There is also a text field up at the top of the window on the right. You can key in a search topic here to get help too.
Panels or palettes are the last part of the Photoshop interface you need to learn. All you have to do is click the double arrow to expand these outs. If you click once, you will show the specific palette. If you click twice, you can open up or close down the palette. You can also size them by clicking and dragging on the dotted line in between the panels. On the top right of each panel is a small "fly out" button, and this opens up the unique options that you can use with each palette. You should also see the main options specified below each individual palette.
Do you want to customize the interface? Simply click and drag the tab into the middle of your window. Then you can close the by clicking the little cross that is located on the top right corner. You can also change their locations or configurations. Did you lose one of your palettes with all of that clicking around? This is actually fairly to do once you have a lot going on in your session. Simply find them again in the Windows menu at the top. If you share your computer with other Photoshop users, it might also be helpful to know that you can save your configuration, so it is easy to get back to work again whenever you want. Several users can save their own unique configurations too.
The last thing to know is that there is a small box on the bottom left of the image. This has file sizes. The top size shows you the size with the layers fat, but the second one is the size with all of the layers intact. There will be more information about Photoshop layers in the future.
This concludes the information about the Photoshop interface basics. This interface is almost the same as it has been in recently released versions, so if you are familiar with those, you don't have a lot to learn. Most of the time, new functions only affect the most advanced features. There is also almost no difference between using this program on a Mac or a Windows PC.
Next, Photoshop Navigation commands; zooming and panning will be discussed.
About the Author
A trained Photoshop expert, Tom Gillan has been advising corporate clients for seven years in Sydney. You can get more information here: http://www.designworkshopsydney.com.au/adobe-photoshop-courses/ .
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