A Beginner’s Guide to Photoshop Tools – Part 1 Photoshop toolbar is located on the left of the page (although it’s worth noting this may be changed in the settings, according to user preference). Toolbar is also available on the Window panel. Users have the option of having it appear in either extended or compact mode. Compact mode doesn’t necessarily take up much less space than extended mode, though it is shorter and wider. It’s really all up to aesthetics and personal preference. When using a tool found on the toolbar, it’s as easy as a mouse click to activate it. In part one of our upcoming Photoshop basic tutorial, we’ll cover the toolbar and a few basic tools, which primarily revolve around the selecting of items.

The Move Tool For a bit of added convenience, it’s worth noting that the move tool’s keyboard shortcut is the “V” key. Using the move tool is as simple as selecting it with a left mouse click and then clicking and dragging the image you want to move. To use an example, perhaps you have an image of a bicycle in a different layer over a white background image layer. Clicking and dragging the bicycle will move it without affecting the white image beneath it. The move tool is located on the very top of the toolbar. For extra clarity, just look for the square icon with a mouse cursor and crop symbol within it.

The Rectangular Marquee Tool Underneath the move tool on the toolbar, you’ll notice an icon housing marching ants. Clicking and holding this icon will make a drop menu appear in which you can click on ‘Rectangular Marquee Tool’ to select it. The keyboard shortcut is the “M” key. After selecting the rectangular marquee tool, you’ll be able to click and drag your mouse to select a portion of your workstation, highlighting it with marching ants upon release. Upon highlighting an area, users may impact that area in any way they please through the edit menu. For example, if someone wishes to cut a portion of what appears in their workstation, they would first highlight it with the rectangular marquee tool then select ‘cut.’

The Elliptical Marquee Tool This particular marquee tool is found under the same drop menu as the one above. Upon clicking and holding the icon of the marching ants under the move tool, you’ll be able to select the elliptical marquee tool. The keyboard shortcut is once again the “M” key; whichever elliptical tool was last selected through the drop menu is what will be selected upon hitting this key. The process of using the elliptical marquee tool is the exact same as its rectangular counter part. Simply click and drag your mouse to highlight an area. This time the area will be a circle as opposed to a rectangle. This tool is also used for highlighting areas within your workstation, which can then be modified via the edit menu. Using the same example as that of the rectangular tool, if you find yourself wanting to cut something, you simply highlight it with the tool and select ‘cut.’

Single Row Marquee Tool For example, if an image you’re creating requires a single-pixel-wide line be drawn across the screen, this is the easiest way to go about doing so. The single row marquee tool is found the same way as the other marquee tools. The only difference is that this tool has no keyboard shortcut. To use this tool, you’ll want to click once on the screen (as opposed to a click and drag). A row of marching ants will be created across the x-axis of the pixel you clicked on, from one side of the screen to the other. Unlike the other marquee tools, which are generally used to highlight images or portions of the screen, the single row marquee tool is most commonly used to make lines across the screen.

Single Column Marquee Tool The example used for the single row tool also holds true for the single column tool – if an image you’re creating demands a pixel-wide vertical line, this as an easy way to go about creating such a line. After the single row tool, this one should come as self-explanatory. Once again, this tool is found in the same drop menu as every other marquee tool on this list. Like the single row tool, it also has no keyboard shortcut. Once the tool is selected, you’ll be able to click a pixel and have a vertical line appear down the screen across the pixel you selected.

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