In addition to the application menu commands (from the menus at the top of the screen), you can switch the Menu For pop-up to Panel menus and customize those menus, too. Don’t forget to save your customized menu arrangements with the button directly to the right of the Settings pop-up. Your saved menu set appears in that Settings pop-up for easy access. Keep in mind, too, that while customizing shortcuts, you can drag the lower-right corner of the window to expand it, making it easier to find specific items for which you want to assign shortcuts.
Photoshop keyboard shortcuts can save a bunch of time. Rather than move the cursor to the Toolbox to select the Brush tool, just press the B key. To open the Levels dialog box, press ⌘ +L/Ctrl+L instead of going to the Image menu, down to the Adjustments submenu, and then over and down to Levels. You assign keyboard shortcuts in the same dialog box in which you customize menus. Simply click Keyboard Shortcuts at the top and optimize for efficient workflow.
Spoons can’t chop: Creating tool presets
One of the keys to efficient, accurate work in Photoshop is using the right tool for the job. For example, the Patch tool with Normal active in the Options bar (the default) copies texture only. If you need to cover a spot on a client’s face, changing both texture and color, you may need the Clone Stamp tool or the Patch tool with the Content-Aware option. (You can read about how the tools work throughout this book.)
You can ensure that you’re using not only the correct tool but also the correct settings for that tool by creating tool presets, which store your settings from the Options bar. You can then select the preset tool (and, of course, that’s where the catchy name comes from) from the Tool Presets panel or from the left end of the Options bar, as shown in Figure 3-8.
FIGURE 3-8: Tool presets help you work faster and more accurately.
Although just about any tool is a good candidate for tool presets, some are just plain naturals. Consider, if you will, the Crop tool. As I explain in Chapter 4, a photo from a high-end digital camera has an aspect ratio (relationship between width and height of the image) of 2:3, and common print and frame aspect ratios include 4:5 for 8-x-10 prints, 5:7, and 13:19 for large prints. (Some digital cameras shoot in different aspect ratios.) You’ll often find a need to crop an image to a specific size to meet your printing requirements. And, don’t forget resolution — printing in the correct size at the wrong resolution is simply a waste of paper and ink! Set up a number of Crop tool presets for your typical print sizes and relax, knowing that you’ll always be cropping correctly.
Another logical candidate for tool presets is the Type tool. When you consider all the options for the Type tool in not only the Options bar but also in the Character and Paragraph panels, you have quite a bit to select and track. To ensure consistent text from project to project, consider creating tool presets for each project, including (as appropriate) headline and body text, special effects and accent type, and even your copyright information. Keep in mind, too, that you can use Type tool presets in conjunction with the Character Styles and Paragraph Styles panels (which are discussed in Chapter 12).
Season to Taste: The Photoshop Settings
The program-level Preferences and the Color Settings flavor all your work in Photoshop. The options that you choose in Photoshop’s Preferences (or simply the Prefs) control many facets of the program’s basic behavior. Choices made in the Color Settings dialog box determine how your work looks, both onscreen and in print. And when you get down to brass tacks, that’s what it’s all about — the appearance of your artwork.
Standing orders: Setting the Preferences
Photoshop’s Preferences file stores a whole lot of information about how you use the program. Regardless of whether you prefer to measure in inches or pixels, how you like the grid and guides displayed, what size thumbnails you prefer in your panels, which font you used last — all sorts of data is maintained in the Prefs. Much of the info in the Preferences is picked up automatically as you work (such as the size and color mode of the last new document you created, whether the Character panel was visible when you last shut down the program, and which tool options were selected in the Options bar), but you must actively select a number of options in the Preferences dialog box, as shown in Figure 3-9.
FIGURE 3-9: Use Photoshop’s Preferences to establish many program behaviors.
Open the Preferences on a Mac with the keyboard shortcut ⌘ +K or choose Photoshop ⇒ Preferences to select one of the 17 specific subsets of Preferences to change. The shortcut for Windows users is Ctrl+K, and the Preferences submenu is under the Edit menu. The default settings are perfectly acceptable (after all, they are the defaults for a reason), but the following sections cover some changes to the Preferences to consider, listed by the section of the Preferences dialog box in which you find them.
Preferences ⇒ History Log
The History Log maintains a record of what you’ve done to a specific image. You can record when you opened and saved a file with the Sessions option, see a summary of what you did with the Concise option, or keep track of every command, every feature, and every setting you used with the Detailed option! And the log can be recorded to a text file or stored in an image’s metadata for retrieval by choosing File ⇒ File Info.
Preferences ⇒ Tools
One option not selected by default that you may find very handy is Zoom Clicked Point to Center. When you click with the Zoom tool, this option automatically centers the view on the point where you clicked.
When using the transform commands, Photoshop shows you numerically precisely what you’re doing. A small display shows the new dimensions (when scaling) or the angle (when rotating or shearing). You may find that to the upper right of the cursor isn’t a good location (perhaps while using the stylus in your right hand on a Wacom Cintiq tablet or iPad connected