› › D E P A R T MENTS> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ FEBRUARY 2020[ 118 ]
EXPAND YOUR PROPERTIES
This tip is a very basic and practical
one. So much so, that many people
may have missed it.
Whenever you’re using an adjust-
ment layer, such as Curves or Levels,
it will appear in the Properties panel
(Window>Properties). At the default
panel size, you aren’t seeing the
tool at full size. You can click-and-
drag the edge of the panel to make
it larger, which will increase the size
of the tools and make the sliders lon-
ger. This gives you far better control
over the sliders and curves rather than
having them all squashed up.WHERE DID OBJECT SELECTION GO?
If you’ve updated to Photoshop 2020 and synced your
presets, you may notice that some tools (especially the
new Object Selection tool) aren’t visible in your custom
workspaces. This is because you saved the Toolbar set-
tings when you created those workspaces, and those
tools didn’t exist back then. The solution is to reset the
Toolbar and then resave your workspace so it doesn’t
happen next time.
Right-click on the three dots near the bottom of the
Toolbar, and choose Edit Toolbar. A dialog will appear
with some buttons on the right. Click the one that
says Restore Defaults, and then click Done. Now go to
Window>Workspace>New Workspace, make sure to
choose the Toolbar option, name the workspace exactly
the same as the one you’re replacing, and click Save.Photoshop will ask if you want to replace that workspace.
Click Yes, and it will override the workspace with the new
one that has all the tools in the Toolbar.ADD TYPE WHEN TYPE IS ALREADY THERE
A really annoying thing in Photoshop is when you already
have text in your document, and you click to add some
new type, rather than seeing that beautiful new lorem
ipsum text begging you to input your own text, it selects
the existing text. Maybe you lock all the type layers in the
Layers panel, or add the new text away from the existing
text, and then reposition it. Wouldn’t it be nice to add it
exactly where you want every time? If you just hold down
the Shift key as you click to add type, it will force a new
text layer every time. n