TUTORIAL PHOTOSHOP

Toolbox

         If you used other Adobe products, such as Illustrator or InDesign, you should be familiar with the toolbox in Photoshop CS3. If you are a novice user of Adobe products, you should keep in mind that you might not need to use all of the tools. In this tutorial, only the basic tools will be discussed in depth.

Some tools in the toolbar have additional "hidden" tools. These tools have small black triangles in the right-hand corner. To view the "hidden" tools, click and hold down on any tool that has a black triangle in the corner.

 

•  Selection Tools

Marquee Tools = Select an object by drawing a rectangle or an ellipse around it. 

Click the tool button, choose a rectangular or an elliptical marquee. Drag the marquee over the area of the image you wish to select.

Move Tools = Used to select and move objects on the page.
Click the tool button, then click on any object on the page you wish to move.

Lasso Tools = Selects an object by drawing a freehand border around it.
Click the tool button, drag to draw a freehand border around the are of the image you wish to select.

Polygonal Lasso Tools = Selects an object by drawing a straight-edge border around it.
Click the tool button, click on the starting point on the image, drag to draw a straight-edge border, click and drag again to select the are of the image you wish to select. Double-click to finish. 

Magnetic Lasso Tools = Selects an object by drawing a border that snaps to the edges of the defined area of the object. Click on the starting point on the image, drag around the are of the image. The tool will make fastening points at the edges. To finish selecting, drag the border to the starting point and click precisely in the point.

Magic Wand Tools = Selects all objects in a document with the same or similar (fill color, stroke weight, stroke color, opacity, or blending mode). By specifying the color range, or tolerance, you can control what the Magic Wand tool selects. 

Crop Tools = Selects and cuts parts of an image. 
Click the tool button, then click and drag the tool over the part of the image that you want to keep. Resize the selected area dragging the squares at the sides and corners. Click the RETURN key when your crop box is sized correctly.

Slice Tools = Used to cut images into slices, which can be exported to a web page.

 

• Alteration Tools

Healing Brush Tools = Corrects small blemishes in scanned photos.
Select the tool, hold down the ALT key and left-click on the
base color you need to heal. Then left-click over the blemish.

Brush Tool = Draws lines of different thicknesses and colors.
Select the tool. Then click on the selected area, drag to draw lines. Use the Options bar to change the Brush, Mode, Opacity, and Flow.

Clone Stamp = Takes a sample of an image and applies over another image, or a part of the same image. Select the tool. Hold down the ALT key and left-click on a certain point of the document where you want to start your copy point. Then, put your mouse over whatever part of the new document you want the picture to go to. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse across the page to 
              copy the picture. 

Art History Brush = Paints over an image using the source data from a specified history state or snapshot.
Select the tool, specify the Brush, Blending Mode, Opacity, Style, Area, and Tolerance.

Erase Tool = Removes part of an existing path or stroke. You can use the Erase tool on paths, but not on text.
Select the tool, click on the part of the image you wish to erase. Drag to erase pixels.

Paint Bucket Tool = Fills and entire area with a specific color of your choice.
Select the tool. Choose a foreground color in the Color Box. Select an area you wish to apply the color to. Click the tool button, then click on the selected area.

Gradient Tool = Applies a gradient fill to a selected part of the image or to an entire layer.
Select an area you wish to apply gradient to, click the tool button, choose a fill in the Options bar, click on the starting point, hold the mouse down and drag to the end point.

Blur Tool = Blurs the sharp edges of an image.
Select an area where you wish to apply the tool. Click the tool button, choose the Brush, Mode, and Strength. Drag the brush along the edges.

Dodge Tool = Lightens areas in an image.
Select the area where you wish to apply the tool. Choose the Brush, Range, and Exposure. Click on the spots you wish to highlight.

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