down the Shift key as you tap the number keys for the
same result, but Flow changes instead of Opacity. Extra
Bonus Tip: Use Flow for smoother painting and Opacity
for more uniform painting.TURN OFF THE PIXEL GRID
Have you ever zoomed in, like really zoomed into an
image? A grid appears at 600%. This grid outlines each
individual pixel. Maybe you don’t want to see this grid.
Luckily, it’s easy to turn off: Choose View>Show>Pixel
Grid. And you probably guessed how to turn it back on:
just repeat. Unfortunately, there’s no keyboard shortcut,
but you could assign one if you wanted, although I don’t
think it’s something you’d be turning on and off a lot
unless you’re making pixel art. If you do want to assign
a shortcut, then go to Edit>Keyboard Shortcuts. Set
the Shortcuts For drop-down menu near the top left
of the dialog to Application Menus. In the Application
Menu Command section below, scroll down to the
View option, expand it, and scroll down to find Pixel
Grid below Show. Click to the right of Pixel Grid and
enter the shortcut you want to use.ALIGN AND DISTRIBUTE LAYERS
I cringe every time I see someone turn on the rulers,
drag out a guide, and then proceed to move multiple
items around the guide to align them. Then, as if they
have five thumbs on their hand, they measure the
distance between each layer and slowly nudge them
over. Thirty minutes later, they decide they want to add
another object and do it all over again.
I cringe, because I used to do this. But not anymore!
For many years now, Photoshop has had auto Align
and Distribute features. In Johnny-5 thumbs’ defense,
though, it took many years for Adobe to add a ruler to
Photoshop. With the Move tool (V) active, select your
first layer in the Layers panel. Hold down Command
(PC: Ctrl) and click on a second layer in the Layers
panel to add it to the active layers. As soon as you
have more than one layer active (select as many as
you like), the icons that look like tiny bar graphs in
the Options Bar will turn white, which means they
are now active. You can use these icons to align or
evenly space multiple layers. Click the little ellipses to
the right of the tools to see all of the options. They’re
broken into two families: Align and Distribute, which
evenly spaces them apart. nclick the Eye icon to the left of the layer you want to look
at by itself. All the other layers are now hidden except
the one on which you clicked. Here comes the magic!
Hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key and click that Eye
again. Photoshop remembers which layers were turned
on and which were turned off, and it goes right back to
that previous shown/hidden layer state.
TRANSFORM SELECTIONS
Making a rectangular, square, circular, or oval selection
is easy, right? Okay, try making an angled oval selection.
Oh? Here’s the easiest way to change a selection that’s
already active. After you make your selection, choose
Select>Transform Selection. You’ll now see a bounding
box around your selection that can be manipulated just
like a regular layer in Free Transform. Pull the handles
to scale, click-and-drag outside the box to rotate, and
even Right-click for more options.CHANGE BRUSH FLOW WITH THE KEYBOARD
As many of you already know, you can change the
Opacity of your brush in increments of 10 by tapping
the corresponding number on your keyboard: Tap 1 for
10%, 5 for 50%, and so on (0 for 100%). If you didn’t
know that, now you do, and you’re getting two tips for
the price of one. To change the Flow of a brush, hold ALL IMAGES BY COLIN SMITH | PHOTOSHOPCAFE.COM PHOTOSHOP TIPSKELBYONE.COM