Getting to Know the Tools Panel

Adobe Photoshop CS5

Miriam Branco Azores

Adobe Photoshop is the number one software for professional image editing,

used by many professionals in the photography and advertising fields.

Adobe is currently one of the top companies for video, image and text editing. We hope that you are happy with your purchase, and we will proudly help you with any doubts or errors you may find.

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Introducing the Photoshop Tools

I’m giving you just a very brief description of what

each tool does. You’re thoroughly initiated on each

of the tools while you go through on the guide.

Don’t want to go page by page through on the

guide? Okay, you’re in luck; I also give you the

exact spot where you can find more on each of the

tools. For what it’s worth, I’ve organized the tools

into logical groupings — although some can cross

over into other groups, and some are so unique

that they don’t fit well in any group.

Turning On the Tools Panel

You can access the Tools panel by choosing

Window➪Tools. Here are a few tips for using the

Tools panel:

1. To quickly hide and show the Tools panel

(along with the other panels), press Tab.

2. To move the Tools panel anywhere within

the

Photoshop window, drag the title bar. Re-dock the

Tools panel by dragging it back to its origi-nal

location.By default, the Tools panel is a single

column. Click the double triangle at the top of the

panel to display a two-column configuration.

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Selecting tools

To select a tool, simply click it in the Tools panel. A

small black triangle in the bottom-right corner of a

tool slot indicates that more tools are hidden

behind that tool on a flyout menu, shown in Figure

1 (note that the Tools 28 Turning On the Tools

Panel panel in Figure 1 is from the Extended

Version of Photoshop). Click and hold down your

desired tool to access the flyout menu. You can

also access tools by using keyboard shortcuts.

For the most part, you can access a hidden tool by

pressing the Shift key along with the keyboard

letter of the visible tool. For example, to select the

Pencil tool, which shares the flyout menu with the

Brush tool, press Shift+B. Figure 1

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If you don’t like having to press the shift key to

access a hidden tool, chose:

Edit➪Preferences➪General and deselect the Use

Shift Key for Tool Switch option. You can then

rotate through the tools by pressing the same

letter repeatedly.

When you hover your mouse pointer over a tool,

color control, or icon, you see a tooltip. The

tooltiptells you the name ofthetoolor icon and its

key-board shortcut, if any. Although helpful at first,

it can get annoying after a while. Turn it off by

deselecting the Show Tool Tips option in the

Interface section of the Preferences dialog box.

Tools

Rectangular Marquee - This tool allows

the user to select rectangular shaped

areas within an image. The areas can then be

copied or cut and then pasted into new layers. The

tool also can become a bounding border for

"pouring" color with the Paint Bucket or Gradient

tools. Other marquee tools are available by

clicking and holding the button.

Move tool - The Move tool is used to

move selected layers around. Clicking and

holding the mouse button can adjust the positions

of layer elements. This tool is also used to set and

move Guide Lines.

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Lasso Tool - This tool is used to select

parts of a layer for editing. There are

other types of lassos available, including a

Magnetic Lasso and Polygonal Lasso.

Magic Wand - The Magic Wand is used to

select portions of an image based on color.

Sections of the same color are selected when the

wand it touched on the desired color and the

mouse if left clicked.

Crop Tool - The Crop tool is an important

tool for making adjustments to the overall

size of an image. Using the Crop tool affects the

size of the whole image, not just a single layer. This

is a powerful tool and must be used carefully.

Healing Tool - This is an especially helpful

tool that is new starting in Photoshop. It is

used to remove dust marks and scratches from

photographs. The Patch tool is found at the same

position on the Tool Bar, but is used to repair areas

of a photograph that are larger than the typical

scratch.

Clone Tool - The Clone tool is used to

copy portions of a layer from one area to

another. It is similar to the Rubber Stamp tool

found in earlier versions of Photoshop.

Paint Bucket - This tool is used to "pour"

areas of color onto a layer. It is especially

useful when used with a marquee. The Gradient

tool is found in the same location.

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Eraser - The Eraser is used to remove

portions of a layer. Its size can be adjusted

so that it can be used very delicately or quite

grossly.

Blur Tool - The Blur tool is used to

selectively blur areas of a layer. The

amount of blur can be controlled. It is especially

handy when blending colors or objects.

Text Tool - This is the tool that is used to

add to an image and to edit existing text.

Size, color, and other attributes of the text can be

specified and adjusted.

Eye Dropper - The Eye Dropper is used to

select color. The color that is "picked up"

by the Eye Dropper appears as the new foreground

color.

Zoom Tool - This is a very handy tool used

to quickly zoom in or out of an image.

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You can also check these documents:

Adobe Photoshop CS5 – Painting, Drawing and

Typing

Photoshop CS5 – Working with Layers

Adobe Photoshop CS5 – Channels and Masks

For more information or help, contact us at:

http://helpx.adobe.com/contact/