Photoshop: Tips and Tricks

I have spent a lot of time working with Photoshop this semester. editing and reediting my pictures to make them work for each of my designs. It takes a lot of time and effort, and many of the images never even get used in the final design, but the end result makes the endeavor worthwhile. Here are a few tips and tricks that I use to help with my images.

1. Watch tutorials. Remember that Google is your best friend. There are hundreds of tutorials for all sorts of tasks on Photoshop, so if you're not sure how to do something, look it up. YouTube is another great resource and there are several Photoshop tutorial sites here as well. 
2. Experiment with Photoshop tools. One of the best ways to learn the program is through trial and error. Playing around with the program will help you to familiarize yourself with the software and may even help you come up with new ideas for future projects.
3. When selecting an object in Photoshop, I try to do as much as I can with the magic wand and magnetic lasso tools, but if that doesn't work, I try outlining the image with the eraser tool and then going back to the magic wand tool to clean it up. It seems to make it go a bit faster, but I recently found a few tutorials, such as this one, that have even easier ways to accomplish this. Also, try using the refine edge button at the top of your toolbar to clean up the edges and make changes to the image.
4. Knowing shortcuts can also make life easier. Some of the most important ones include:

• F, F, F | Cycle through Screen Modes 
• Tab | Remove Tools and Palettes 
• Ctrl+H | Hide Extras (Grid, Guides, Slices, etc
• Ctrl+R | Hide Rulers 
• B | Brush Tool
• Right-Click and Select or F5 and Select | Open condensed or full Brush Palette
• or . or , or Shift+. or Shift+, | Cycle through brushes or jump to first or last brush
• [ or ]: | Shrink or enlarge brush radius
• Shift+[ or Shift+] | Decrease or increase brush hardness
• {Numeric Input} | Change brush opacity (e.g. ’5′ = 50%, ’55′ = 55%)