3-using the tools

using the tools


Photoshop provides an integrated set of tools for producing sophisticated graphics
for print, web, and mobile viewing. We could easily fill the entire book with details
on the wealth of Photoshop tools and tool configurations. While that would certainly
be a useful reference, it’s not the goal of this book. Instead, you’ll start gaining
experience by configuring and using a few tools on a sample project. Every lesson
will introduce you to more tools and ways to use them. By the time you finish all
the lessons in this book, you’ll have a solid foundation for further explorations of
the Photoshop toolset.

selecting and using a tool from the tools panel

The Tools panel is the long, narrow panel on the far left side of the work area.
It contains selection tools, painting and editing tools, foreground- and backgroundcolor
selection boxes, and viewing tools.
You’ll start by using the Zoom tool, which also appears in many other Adobe applications,
including Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat.


1 Click the double arrows just above the Tools panel to toggle to a double-column
view. Click the arrow again to return to a single-column Tools panel and use
your screen space more efficiently.
2 Examine the status bar at the bottom of the work area (Windows) or image
window (Mac OS), and notice the percentage that appears on the far left. This
represents the current enlargement view of the image, or zoom level.
3 Move the pointer over the Tools panel, and hover it over the magnifying-glass
icon until a tool tip appears. The tool tip displays the tool’s name (Zoom tool)
and keyboard shortcut (Z).



4 Click the Zoom tool ( ) in the Tools panel, or press Z to select it.
5 Move the pointer over the image window. The pointer now looks like a tiny
magnifying glass with a plus sign in the center of the glass ( ).
6 Click anywhere in the image window.
The image enlarges to a preset percentage level, which replaces the previous value
in the status bar. The location you clicked when you used the Zoom tool is centered
in the enlarged view. If you click again, the zoom advances to the next preset level,
up to a maximum of 3200%.
7 Hold down the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (Mac OS) so that the Zoom
tool pointer appears with a minus sign in the center of the magnifying glass ( ),
and then click anywhere in the image. Then release the Alt or Option key.


Now the view zooms out to a lower preset magnification, so that you can see more
of the image, but in less detail.
8 If Scrubby Zoom is selected in the options bar, click anywhere on the image and
drag the Zoom tool to the right. The image enlarges. Drag the Zoom tool to the
left to zoom out. When Scrubby Zoom is selected, you can drag the Zoom tool
across the image to zoom in and out.
9 Deselect Scrubby Zoom in the options bar if it’s selected. Then, using the
Zoom tool, drag a rectangle to enclose the area of the image that includes the
headlight.

The image enlarges so that the area you enclosed in your rectangle now fills the

entire image window.

You have now used four methods with the Zoom tool to change the magnification

in the image window: clicking, holding down a keyboard modifier while clicking,

dragging to zoom in and out, and dragging to define a magnification area. Many

of the other tools in the Tools panel can be used with keyboard combinations and

options, as well. You’ll have opportunities to use these techniques in various lessons

in this book.

selecting and using a hidden tool

Photoshop has many tools you can use to edit image files, but you will probably

work with only a few of them at a time. The Tools panel arranges some of the tools

in groups, with only one tool shown for each group. The other tools in the group

are hidden behind that tool.

A small triangle in the lower right corner of a button is your clue that other tools

are available but hidden under that tool.

1 Position the pointer over the second tool from the top in the Tools panel until
the tool tip appears. The tool tip identifies the Rectangular Marquee tool ( )
with the keyboard shortcut M. Select that tool.
2 Select the Elliptical Marquee tool ( ), which is hidden behind the Rectangular
Marquee tool, using one of the following methods:

   • Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the tool button in the

Tools panel to cycle through the hidden marquee tools until the Elliptical

Marquee tool is selected.

   • Press Shift+M, which switches between the Rectangular and Elliptical

Marquee tools.

3 Move the pointer over the image window, to the upper left side of the headlight.

When the Elliptical Marquee tool is selected, the pointer becomes

cross-hairs (+).

4 Drag the pointer down and to the right to
draw an ellipse around the headlight, and
then release the mouse button.
An animated dashed line indicates that the
area inside it is selected. When you select
an area, it becomes the only editable area
of the image. The area outside the selection
is protected.
5 Move the pointer inside your elliptical
selection so that the pointer appears
as an arrow with a small rectangle ( ).



6 Drag the selection so that it is accurately centered over the headlight.





When you drag the selection, only the selection
border moves, not pixels in the image. When
you want to move the pixels in the image,
you’ll need to use a different technique. You’ll
learn more about making different kinds of
selections and moving the selection contents in
Lesson 3, “Working with Selections.”






using keyboard combinations with tool actions
Many tools can operate under certain constraints. You usually activate these modes
by holding down specific keys as you move the tool with the mouse. Some tools
have modes that you choose in the options bar.
The next task is to make a fresh start at selecting the headlight. This time, you’ll use
a keyboard combination that constrains the elliptical selection to a circle that you’ll
draw from the center outward instead of from the outside inward.
1 Make sure that the Elliptical Marquee tool ( ) is still selected in the Tools
panel, and then deactivate the current selection by doing one of the following:
      • In the image window, click anywhere outside the selected area.
      • Choose Select > Deselect.
      • Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+D (Windows) or Command+D (Mac OS).

2 Position the pointer in the center of the
headlight.
3 Press Alt+Shift (Windows) or Option+Shift
(Mac OS) and drag outward from the
center of the headlight until the circle
completely encloses the headlight. The Shift
key constrains the ellipse to a perfect circle.
4 Carefully release first the mouse button and
then the keyboard keys.



If you aren’t satisfied with the selection circle, you can move it: Place the pointer
inside the circle and drag, or click outside the selection circle to deselect it, and
then try again.

5 Select the Zoom tool, and then click the Fit Screen button in the options bar so
that you can see the entire image.
Notice that the selection remains active even after you change the view.




applying a change to a selected area
In most cases, you’d change the area within the selection.
But in order to spotlight the headlight, you’ll want
to darken the rest of the image, not the area inside the
current selection. To protect that area, you’ll invert the
selection, so that everything but the headlight is selected
in the image.
1 Choose Select > Inverse.
Although the animated selection border around the headlight
looks the same, notice that a similar border appears
all around the edges of the image. Now everything in the
image is selected except the area within the circle. The
unselected area (the headlight) cannot be changed while
the selection is active.
2 In the Adjustments panel, click the Curves icon to add a Curves adjustment
layer. The Curves options appear in the Properties panel.

3 In the Properties panel, drag the control point in the upper right corner of the

graph straight across to the left until the Input value is approximately 204.

The Output value should remain 255. (If you don’t see the Input and Output

values, drag the triangle at the lower right corner of the Properties panel to

extend the panel downward.)

As you drag, highlights are brightened in the selected area of the image.

4 Adjust the Input value up or down until you are satisfied with the results.

5 In the Layers panel, examine the Curves

adjustment layer. (If the Layers panel isn’t open,

click its tab or choose Window > Layers.)

Adjustment layers let you make changes to your

image, such as adjusting the brightness of the highlights

in this car, without affecting the actual pixels.

Because you’ve used an adjustment layer, you can

always return to the original image by hiding or

deleting the adjustment layer—and you can edit the

adjustment layer at any time. You’ll use adjustment

layers in several lessons in this book.

6 Do one of the following:

• To save your changes, choose File > Save, click OK if you see the Photoshop

Format Options dialog box, and then choose File > Close.

• To revert to the unaltered version of the file, choose File > Close, and click

No or Don’t Save when you’re asked if you want to save your changes.

• To save changes without affecting the original file, choose File > Save As,
rename the file or save it to a different folder, and click OK. Click OK in the
Photoshop Format Options dialog box. Then choose File > Close.
You don’t have to deselect, because closing the file cancels the selection.
Congratulations! You’ve just finished your first Photoshop project. Although a
Curves adjustment layer is actually one of the more sophisticated methods of
altering an image, it isn’t difficult to use, as you have seen. You’ll learn more about
making adjustments to images in many other lessons in this book. Lessons 2 and 6,
in particular, address techniques like those used in classic darkroom work, such as
adjusting for exposure, retouching, and correcting colors.


Zooming and scrolling
with the navigator panel
The Navigator panel is another speedy way to make large changes in the zoom
level, especially when the exact percentage of magnification is unimportant. It’s also
a great way to scroll around in an image, because the thumbnail shows you exactly
what part of the image appears in the image window. To open the Navigator panel,
choose Window > Navigator.
The slider under the image thumbnail in the Navigator panel enlarges the image
when you drag to the right (toward the large mountain icon) and reduces it when
you drag to the left.

The red rectangular outline represents the area of the image that appears in the

image window. When you zoom in far enough that the image window shows only

part of the image, you can drag the red outline around the thumbnail area to see

other areas of the image. This is also an excellent way to verify which part of an

image you’re working on when you work at very high zoom levels.