THE PHOTOSHOP ANTHOLOGY

Getting Started With Photoshop In this introductory chapter, I’ll cover some of the basic tools and tasks that we’ll draw on in the later chapters. I’ll also share some of the shortcuts and time-savers that I use frequently. This chapter won’t give you an exhaustive review of the many things that Photoshop can do (where would it end!), but it should provide the bare bones that will help get beginners started. If you’re already familiar with the interface and can perform tasks like making selections, applying gradients, and working with layers, you might want to skip ahead to the next chapter.

The Photoshop Workspace Menu Bar - You will probably already be familiar with the menu bar from other programs. This runs across the top of your Photoshop window, and contains various menu options for Photoshop’s tools.Menu Bar Options Bar - The options bar sits beneath the menu bar and holds contextualized options for different tools. It also contains the palette well, where you can “dock” palettes.Options Bar Toolbox - By default, the toolbox sits to the left of your Photoshop window, and contains shortcuts to Photoshop tools. Palettes - Individual “panes” that hold information or options for working with your file, known as palettes, float on the right-hand side. Each palette is labelled with a tab, and can be minimized, closed, grouped with other palettes, or dragged to the palette well. Document Windows Each open document has its own document window with a status bar along the bottom. The status bar sits to the right of the zoom percentage displayed in the bottom left-hand corner, and displays information that’s specific to the document.

Menu Bar - You will probably already be familiar with the menu bar from other programs. This runs across the top of your Photoshop window, and contains various menu options for Photoshop’s tools.Menu Bar Options Bar - The options bar sits beneath the menu bar and holds contextualized options for different tools. It also contains the palette well, where you can “dock” palettes.Options Bar Toolbox - By default, the toolbox sits to the left of your Photoshop window, and contains shortcuts to Photoshop tools. Palettes - Individual “panes” that hold information or options for working with your file, known as palettes, float on the right-hand side. Each palette is labelled with a tab, and can be minimized, closed, grouped with other palettes, or dragged to the palette well. Document Windows Each open document has its own document window with a status bar along the bottom. The status bar sits to the right of the zoom percentage displayed in the bottom left-hand corner, and displays information that’s specific to the document. The Photoshop Workspace BACK

Menu Bar - You will probably already be familiar with the menu bar from other programs. This runs across the top of your Photoshop window, and contains various menu options for Photoshop’s tools.Menu Bar Options Bar - The options bar sits beneath the menu bar and holds contextualized options for different tools. It also contains the palette well, where you can “dock” palettes.Options Bar Toolbox - By default, the toolbox sits to the left of your Photoshop window, and contains shortcuts to Photoshop tools. Palettes - Individual “panes” that hold information or options for working with your file, known as palettes, float on the right-hand side. Each palette is labelled with a tab, and can be minimized, closed, grouped with other palettes, or dragged to the palette well. Document Windows Each open document has its own document window with a status bar along the bottom. The status bar sits to the right of the zoom percentage displayed in the bottom left-hand corner, and displays information that’s specific to the document. The Photoshop Workspace BACK