Solution #1
posted on Dec 16, 2008
Rank: Wiz
Rating: 81%, 327 votes
20 Things About Photoshop You Have to Know
(Page 1 of 7 )
These
are some of the tools and features that I find myself using on a
regular basis when creating images for the web. These include using the
slice tool on images to decrease page load times and using pre-set
effects that save time when creating forms or menus for your site.Photoshop
is, undeniably, one of the greatest software applications around. It
has been around in one version or another for the last thirteen years,
which is longer than I’ve known what CPU stands for. Currently in its
eighth version, it has so many functions and features that I simply
couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t explain the 20 most important and
useful ones to you.
Layer Sets
These are a
way of organising or categorising common or linked layers in the layers
panel. To create a new layer set, expand the Layer menu and select
New -> Layer set. The new layer set dialogue box will appear and
prompt you to enter a name for the new set. Once you have OK’d this
box, a folder icon will appear in the layers panel; just drag and drop
related layers into this folder. This is useful to organise your
working environment and to apply styles across ranges of layers. This
functionality extends to slices in Imageready.
The Slice Tool
Residing
in the toolbox that appears to the far left of your workspace, and
denoted by the knife icon, the slice tool is essential for creating
clickable rectangular regions of your image. It is powered by
Photoshop’s sister product Imageready (which comes bundled with the
latest release of Photoshop), and needs to be used in Imageready to
make the most of its potential. Nevertheless, Photoshop lets you add
actions when the region is rolled over or clicked, and can be extremely
useful in the creation of roll-over image-swaps or expanding menus on
image-driven web sites. To create a slice, select the slice tool and
drag a rectangle across the appropriate part of your image. That’s
it. You can right-click the slice and select Edit Slice Options… to
add URL, ALT and other information to the slice. Slicing an image also
decreases page load times; a couple of slices download quicker than one
large image.
20 Things About Photoshop You Have to Know - Image Maps, Web Photo Gallery and Paste Into
(Page 2 of 7 )
Image Maps
Image
maps are very similar to slices in that you can use them to create
roll-overs and hyperlinks. The main differences between slices and
image maps are that slices must be rectangular, but image maps can be
any shape. They are used only in Imageready, and have no effect on
image download times.
Web Photo Gallery
This
time-saving function can be found under File -> Automate -> Web
Photo Gallery… and can be used to quickly put together a high quality,
gallery of images in HTML format. You simply select a source directory,
a target directory, and let Photoshop do the rest. It creates as many
web pages as needed to include all of the pictures in the source
directory, which are presented in a tabular layout of thumbnails.
Additional parameters such as page titles and ALT text can also be
specified. It even makes each image clickable and loads the full size
version of the image in a page of its own when the thumbnail is
clicked! This can be used to quickly create a product catalogue or
portfolio.
Paste Into
Accessed via the
Edit menu, this function inserts an image into another image, and crops
the inner image to make it appear as if inside the outer image. For
example, you could draw a rounded rectangle 100 pixels wide and 20
pixels high and then draw another rounded rectangle 40 pixels wide and
20 pixels high directly on top of it. You could then use the magic
wand tool to select the area inside the smaller rectangle, and paste a
photograph into the selected area. Now only the area of the photograph
within the smaller rectangle is visible. Combined with some text, this
makes an excellent web page heading.
Perspective Function
This
is grouped with other similar functions under the Edit -> Transform
Path menu and is used to add, surprisingly, a perspective effect. It
works best with angular images, but can also be used to add the
appearance of movement. To use it, select the image you want to add
perspective to and choose the function in the above menu. Your image
will acquire a border with handles around the edge. Drag these handles
in the appropriate direction to add the required amount of
perspective. Click the tick at the far right of the tool bar at the
top of the screen when done.
Plugins
Plugins
are like applets that can be installed in the plugins directory and
used to add functionality to Photoshop. If there’s something you’re
trying to do in Photoshop that is remotely difficult, there is probably
a plugin that will help you do it more easily. They can be downloaded
from numerous sources on the Internet and are often free.
Styles
The
styles panel is a repository of pre-set effects; if you draw a shape
and then double-click one of the styles, those effects are
automatically applied to your shape. There are a number of different
categories of styles which can be selected by clicking the right-facing
arrow at the top of the panel. There are a number of web styles
including push buttons and roll-overs, and they can save you huge
amounts of time when creating forms or menus for your site.
