Adobe photoshop cs2 tutorials
There are several ways you can make your Photoshop work more effective when you are using the Brush Tool. As you have seen, there are a variety of ways to boost the power of the Brush Tool. You can make your creative work even more exciting. Some of these ways involve plugging in a stylus. The stylus allows the user to be even more creative and also to have interactive control over several different brush options like opacity and size.
If you don't have a stylus and the control it allows you when re-sizing a brush tip there is another way to go. You can make use of a keyboard shortcut by using your mouse to apply the brush.
In this way you can interactively change the brush size by pressing the [ key to shrink the brush's diameter. If you use the ] key, you can increase the brush's diameter.
Here are a few other ways to use the Brush Preset picker:
Use the up and down keys to scroll through the list of brushes. This will give you an idea of what choices you have.
If you want a completely new brush tip you can combine two different brushes and you will have something new. If you want to try this you can go to the Brushes palette and click on the Dual Brush option.
At this point you can add a second brush choice from the Brush Preset picker and this will give you an entirely different brush.
You can also design a calligraphy kind of brush tip. This is not difficult to achieve either and gives you a completely different look which is perfect for certain projects. Start with the Brushes palette and click on the Brush Tip Shape option.
Now you can compress the circular brush tip's Roundness setting and your brush tip will become more of an elliptical shape. The Angle setting can also be adjusted using the Brush Preset picker. When you want to do this you can use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the brush choices.
If you want to change the softness and hardness value of a brush, it can be done easily. You just hold down the [Shift] and use the square bracket keys.
In this way you can interactively change the brush size by pressing the [ key to shrink the brush's diameter. If you use the ] key, you can increase the brush's diameter.
Here are a few other ways to use the Brush Preset picker:
Use the up and down keys to scroll through the list of brushes. This will give you an idea of what choices you have.
If you want a completely new brush tip you can combine two different brushes and you will have something new. If you want to try this you can go to the Brushes palette and click on the Dual Brush option.
At this point you can add a second brush choice from the Brush Preset picker and this will give you an entirely different brush.
You can also design a calligraphy kind of brush tip. This is not difficult to achieve either and gives you a completely different look which is perfect for certain projects. Start with the Brushes palette and click on the Brush Tip Shape option.
Now you can compress the circular brush tip's Roundness setting and your brush tip will become more of an elliptical shape. The Angle setting can also be adjusted using the Brush Preset picker. When you want to do this you can use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the brush choices.
If you want to change the softness and hardness value of a brush, it can be done easily. You just hold down the [Shift] and use the square bracket keys.
adobe photoshop cs2 tutorials
Streamline your desktop
When you've finished exploring Photoshop's various Preferences settings and edited them to suit your needs,
Photoshop will remember and save your settings so that they're effective each time you open the software.
The next job is to sort out your virtual desktop. Start by taking a look at your real desktop; you may find that old coffee cups are taking up your elbowroom, or perhaps your
waste paper bin is overflowing and stray rubbish is getting underfoot.
When your work environment is in a mess it can hamper your workflow and make it harder to concentrate the creative process.
While tidying up your desk and surroundings might take some time, it will put you in a position to work more efficiently, and the same principles apply to your virtual
working environment.
It's very easy to be distracted, with dozens of and your desktop wallpaper vying for your attention. Fortunately, Photoshop has some very quick ways to hide unwanted background clutter.
Hide competing background clutter with a click of your mouse
When you first open a Photoshop document, it's displayed
in Standard Screen Mode.
This means that as well as viewing your Photoshop file, you can see your desktop background and other open applications. Near the bottom of the toolbox is a row of three icons. The left icon activates the Standard Screen Mode.
The middle icon changes the screen mode to Full Screen Mode with Menu Bar. This replaces the background clutter with a neutral grey background, leaving you free to focus on Photoshop. The right icon activates Full Screen Mode - the grey background becomes black, and the top menu bar disappears.
For more great tips on understanding and learning photoshop visit - http://www.learnphotoshopnow.com/
When you've finished exploring Photoshop's various Preferences settings and edited them to suit your needs,
Photoshop will remember and save your settings so that they're effective each time you open the software.
The next job is to sort out your virtual desktop. Start by taking a look at your real desktop; you may find that old coffee cups are taking up your elbowroom, or perhaps your
waste paper bin is overflowing and stray rubbish is getting underfoot.
When your work environment is in a mess it can hamper your workflow and make it harder to concentrate the creative process.
While tidying up your desk and surroundings might take some time, it will put you in a position to work more efficiently, and the same principles apply to your virtual
working environment.
It's very easy to be distracted, with dozens of and your desktop wallpaper vying for your attention. Fortunately, Photoshop has some very quick ways to hide unwanted background clutter.
Hide competing background clutter with a click of your mouse
When you first open a Photoshop document, it's displayed
in Standard Screen Mode.
This means that as well as viewing your Photoshop file, you can see your desktop background and other open applications. Near the bottom of the toolbox is a row of three icons. The left icon activates the Standard Screen Mode.
The middle icon changes the screen mode to Full Screen Mode with Menu Bar. This replaces the background clutter with a neutral grey background, leaving you free to focus on Photoshop. The right icon activates Full Screen Mode - the grey background becomes black, and the top menu bar disappears.
For more great tips on understanding and learning photoshop visit - http://www.learnphotoshopnow.com/
The Power Of The Gradient Editor
Photoshop users may be used to using many of the tools that are part of the program but have you used the Gradient Editor as a way to customize Photoshop's default gradients?
You need to have a good working knowledge of Photoshop's Gradient Tool if you want to be able to make the most of the possibilities and this means you have to be able to master the editing options.
No need to be overwhelmed because this is a fairly easy thing to learn and master, it will just take a little practice.
Begin by selecting the Gradient Tool and then click on the gradient preview located in the options bar. This will open Gradient Editor and you are ready to get to work.
When you have opened Gradient Editor you will see several preset gradients. You can choose from the default Foreground, the Background gradient and even the more complex Chrome gradient.
With some practice you will be able to use the preset gradients to create new ones.
You can edit the preset gradients and design new gradients. Some of the gradients have more color stops than others.
The Foreground to Background gradient has two color stops while the Spectrum gradient has seven color stops.
If you want to modify a gradient you can do so by changing the color stops.
Click on one and choose a new color from the color picker, it's that easy.
You can also click on an image and sample a color for your customized gradient. When you do this you can use the Eyedropper Tool to customize or you may want to add new color stops to a gradient that already exists.
You just click anywhere along the bottom edge of the preview bar and you will be able to add new color stops.
Maybe you want to add different opacity settings so that you can have an image fade from solid to transparent.
This can be done when you use the opacity stops that run along the top of the preview bar. The black opacity stop will be 100% solid while a white opacity stop will tell you that this part of the gradient is 100% transparent.
The gray stops show you the values in between.
For more great information and tips on learning photoshop visit - www.learnphotoshopnow.com
Photoshop users may be used to using many of the tools that are part of the program but have you used the Gradient Editor as a way to customize Photoshop's default gradients?
You need to have a good working knowledge of Photoshop's Gradient Tool if you want to be able to make the most of the possibilities and this means you have to be able to master the editing options.
No need to be overwhelmed because this is a fairly easy thing to learn and master, it will just take a little practice.
Begin by selecting the Gradient Tool and then click on the gradient preview located in the options bar. This will open Gradient Editor and you are ready to get to work.
When you have opened Gradient Editor you will see several preset gradients. You can choose from the default Foreground, the Background gradient and even the more complex Chrome gradient.
With some practice you will be able to use the preset gradients to create new ones.
You can edit the preset gradients and design new gradients. Some of the gradients have more color stops than others.
The Foreground to Background gradient has two color stops while the Spectrum gradient has seven color stops.
If you want to modify a gradient you can do so by changing the color stops.
Click on one and choose a new color from the color picker, it's that easy.
You can also click on an image and sample a color for your customized gradient. When you do this you can use the Eyedropper Tool to customize or you may want to add new color stops to a gradient that already exists.
You just click anywhere along the bottom edge of the preview bar and you will be able to add new color stops.
Maybe you want to add different opacity settings so that you can have an image fade from solid to transparent.
This can be done when you use the opacity stops that run along the top of the preview bar. The black opacity stop will be 100% solid while a white opacity stop will tell you that this part of the gradient is 100% transparent.
The gray stops show you the values in between.
For more great information and tips on learning photoshop visit - www.learnphotoshopnow.com
by RobMichael
Hi, my name is Robert Michael my main hobby is photoshop, so over the next weeks, month, years I'll be posting my tips, tricks and techniques, to you.... (more)
