The Basics

Starting out This is the icon for Photoshop. Make sure that you have it!

Starting out Before doing ANYTHING, you first need a new document. (Ctrl + N) or File-> New will give you this window

At A Glance

The Tool Box Divided into sections Some tools have more than one function Anything that has a small black triangle, has more features

Tool Bar In Detail Here is every tool that is on the tool bar. Most you will not see, because they are hidden under other tools. The letters represent the keyboard shortcut for the specific tool.

Layers can be added and stacked on top of one another. Layers can (and should) be named Layers can be hidden by clicking the eye Active layers are blue, inactive are gray Effects can be used on individual layers to create a desired look The Layers Box

Copy and Paste By copying an image into Photoshop, a new layer will automatically be created. This is a good time to NAME IT!! To copy an image from the internet simply right click on the image, and select copy. In Photoshop, hit (CTRL+V) or go to edit and paste. To copy an image from within Photoshop, you must make a selection of what you want copied. Then you can (CTR+C) and (CTRL+V) 0r edit  copy, edit  paste.

The Marquee Tools are used for selecting objects such as rectangles, squares, and ellipses. The Move Tool is used to move selections, objects, and layers. There are several Lasso Tools which are used to make irregular selections. There is a polygonal lasso tool for polygon selections, and a magnetic lasso tool which automatically follows edges of objects. The Magic Wand Tool selects an area of similar colors in a single click (such as the white in the cloud logo). Selection Tools

A foreground color and background color can be set to be used to paint with, color text, and fill objects among other things. This view provides an easy way to see what colors are currently selected, and allows for easy switching between two different colors. Foreground / Background Color

The Brush is used to paint strokes in graphics. This tool can be highly customized to fit your needs. You can change size, edge hardness, shape and the amount of color that you put down using the settings at the top (see below). Brushes and Pencils

The Fill Tools are used to fill entire layers, selections and areas with a solid color, or gradient. You can create a solid color fill as shown Or create a gradient from one color to another Gradients and Color Fills

The Eraser Tool can be used to erase parts of an image, selection, or layer. You can make the same changes to the eraser tool that you did the paint brush (edge hardness, size, shape, and how much is erased). Erasers