Photoshop
Tips. Tricks. Loveliness.
or... how to make photoshop your bitch. ;)
Webmaster Jam Session • Dallas, TX • September 22, 2006

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& wtf?!
sh n!
re ea
f l
so o c
s o_O?

The focus = The web
although I still love print & photo work.

“
Photoshop’s like the best
friend who will dip your hand
”
in water while you’re sleeping.

=

1
Easy to learn.

2
It’ll bite you in the ass.

3
So, have patience.
(Trial and Error)

3 + more = awesome.
or... maybe not.

For the novice.
Make sure to take notes!

1
Experimentation is key.

2
Don’t rely on tutorials.

3
Filters are for photos.

4
Accidents happen.
Accidents can be good.

5
Guides do wonders.

6
72dpi. Always. Or not?

The only tools you need.
• Marquee Tool
• Horizontal Type Tool
• Eyedropper
• Move Tool
• Free Transform

Shortcuts.
The easy way out.
A=J
in Windows.

A+ Zoom In
A_ Zoom Out

Ad Deselect
SAi Invert Selection
(don’t get this confused with inverting colors)

AD Background Fill
OD Foreground Fill

A; Guides
Snap to Things
SA; (you kind of want things to snap)

At Free Transform
(very powerful!!)
SAT Transform (again)

SAn New Layer
OSa Select All Layers

SAz Step Forward
OAz Step Backward
CS2 ONLY!

O Form From Center
S Add
O Subtract
SO Intersect

OSAk
Disregard everything I just said.

Sans destructive.
Or, the art of being a Photoshop wuss.

1
Playing it safe.

2
Back it up.

3
Watch that eraser!

4
Wait! Don’t flatten it!

5
Can you live large?

Words to live by.
• Clipping Masks AOg
• Layer Masks
• Adjustment Layers
• Layer Sets (to keep organized)
• Back up your layers! Duplicate!

DEMO! (^_^)

Slicing.
Ow. -_-;

The Slicing Tool
Doesn’t Cut It.

o_O?

1
Tables for Layout. :(
But why would you use their HTML anyway? WHY?

2
It’s not flexible!
You can’t overlap slices, and it creates extraneous images!

3
Doesn’t teach you how
to “read” a layout.

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So, how do you
“read” a layout?

Your brain is a much
better slicing tool.

Separate Elements.
• All backgrounds.
• All elements needing transparency.
• All images to be used for image
replacement. ^_^;
• Etc, etc, etc, etc.

DEMO! (^_^)

The Pen Tool.
It’s drawing time kiddies.

The pen tool...
the scariest tool ever!!! o_O!

The pen tool...
one of the most complex!
Stop laughing Illustrator users. -_-;

Terms to Review.
• Anchor or Vertex
• Direct Select Tool
• Path Select Tool
• Convert Point Tool
• Shape Layers

DEMO! (^_^)

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Do we still have time?