> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ FEBRUARY 2020[ 116 ]
BOOST YOUR PRODUCTIVITY & CREATIVITY
PRESENTATION MODE &
TABBING THROUGH DOCUMENTS
If you don’t already know about presentation mode, don’t
worry, it’s extremely easy to activate. Simply press the F
key twice and you get a nice full-screen image floating on
a black background, with all the panels and toolbars hid-
den. This is a great way to present your work to a client, or
even to a group of people (if you’re that Photoshop-nerdy,
which I am). Now here’s the thing: What if you have mul-
tiple images open and want to move between documents
without leaving that beautiful presentation mode? Press
Ctrl-Tab and it will move to the next image. If you add the
Shift key (Shift-Ctrl-Tab), it will go to the previous docu-
ment. To exit presentation mode, press the F key again, or
the Escape key.FINDING THE RIGHT NEEDLE
IN THE HAYSTACK
In Photoshop, you can create multiple asset libraries in
the Libraries panel (Window>Libraries), which is great
for working on projects,
client tasks, or anything
that you may reuse all the
time. You can also sync pho-
tos from Adobe Stock, as
well as your own images.
The great thing about
libraries is that all these
synced assets will be avail-
able to you wherever you
log into your CC account.
The downside? They can
quickly become like that junk
drawer in your kitchen. You
know the one; it’s where all
those plastic bags, extra bat-
teries, expired coupons, and
all kinds of other stuff live.Your libraries can become that catchall place for stuff you
use or don’t use. The good news (and our tip) is that these
libraries are searchable. At the top of the Libraries panel is a
search field. At the far right of the field is a down-pointing
arrow. Click the arrow and you can target your search to the
Current Library, All Libraries, and even to find new items on
Adobe Stock that you can sync.FILLING TEXT WITH PHOTOS
A fun thing to do in Photoshop is to fill text with images. It
looks so cool and it’s super easy to do. Some people like to
fill whole words, while others just fill individual characters.
The traditional way is to drop the image onto a layer above
the type layer, hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key, and click
on the line between the two layers in the Layers panel. This
creates a clipping group and works well; however, there’s a
newer way to do this by using frames.
Create your type, Right-click on it in the Layers panel,
and choose Convert to Frame. Name your frame, and click
OK. Now you can drag any photo or image into the frame
from another layer, another open document, the Libraries
panel, or your desktop, and it will fill the text. Why is this
better? If you have lots of layers, the type and the image
appear on the same layer, so it’s much easier to manage,
especially if you want to change the photos. All you need
to do is drag in a different image onto the layer from either
the Libraries panel or from your desktop, and it replaces the
existing one. (Note: Dragging an image from another open
document or layer will not replace an image in a frame.)WHY I USE GRAY RATHER THAN BRUSH
OPACITY FOR PAINTING ON MASKS
When working with masks, you use shades of gray to paint
with different transparencies: black will completely hide a
layer (100%), white will completely reveal it (0%), 50% gray
will make it 50% opaque, 20% gray is 20% opaque, etc.Hi, everyone! This issue, I decided to share an old-school “aha” group of tips: the tips that make you
say, “Aha!” and then wonder why you didn’t realize these things before. Don’t feel bad; Photoshop is
such an expansive program, we’re all discovering new things all the time. I hope this column helps you
discover something new. If it does, you might consider going to some back issues to see what else
you may have missed.COLINSMITH
Photoshop Tips