› › PHO T OSHOP Q&A> KELBY ONE.COM
[ 103 ]ALL IMAGES BY DAVE CROSS EXCEPT WHERE NOTEDIf you have a Photoshop question that you’d like Dave Cross
to answer in the pages of Photoshop User magazine, send it
to [email protected].your action, you clicked on the Background layer, and
then tried to run it on a document with an unlocked bot-
tom layer (therefore, no longer called “Background”).
One way to avoid this is to have the appropriate layer
selected before you start recording. That way, the action
only records whatever operation you’re doing, and
doesn’t try to select the layer called Background.Q: In Select & Mask, what’s the difference
between the View modes Onion Skin and
On Layers?
A: Onion Skin view has a Transparency slider: Set it to 0% to
see the full-opacity original; use 100% to preview your
selection with only the selected area visible; and use any
percentage in between to see your selection at full opac-
ity and the area outside the selection as semi-transparent.
This last option can be very helpful when determining
where to paint with the Refine Edge Brush tool.
In contrast, On Layers is the equivalent of Onion Skin
set to 100%.Q: I want to create a grid made out of guides. Is
there a simpler way than repeatedly dragging
out guides?
A: Yes! Under the View menu, there’s an option called New
Guide Layout. In the dialog, make sure that Preview is
checked so that any changes you make are shown live.
Then, enter the values for Columns, Rows, and Margins.
Hint: If you want a simple grid, make sure that Gutter
has a value of 0; otherwise, you’ll have extra guides, as
the Gutter is the space between columns (as in page-
design software such as InDesign).
Note: You can also save and then use presets for
commonly used guide layouts. n- Find the file outside Photoshop and make the file
Read Only in Mac Finder’s Get Info dialog or the
Windows File Explorer’s Properties dialog (Right-
click on the file in either and choose Get Info or
Properties from the pop-up menu). - Find the file outside Photoshop and manually change
the extension from .psd to .psdt.
Q: I want to use my existing Foreground
color in a Photo Filter adjustment layer,
but when I try to use the Color option, it
defaults to some orange color. How do I
use my Foreground color in Photo Filter?
A: There’s a simple trick you can use to do this: click on
your Foreground color swatch in the Toolbar to open the
Color Picker and, you’ll see the hexadecimal (#) field at
the bottom of the left column. There, you’ll see a combi-
nation of letters and numbers known as a hexadecimal
code that should be highlighted. Copy the contents of
that field and close the Color Picker. Now add a Photo
Filter adjustment layer and click on the Color swatch. In
the Color Picker, highlight the same field and Paste, and
then click OK. Voilà!
Q: I tried recording my first action, but when I try
to play it on another image, I get an error that
says: “The command ‘Select’ is not currently
available.” What did I do wrong?
A: The steps you record in an action are very specific and
literal. So, for example, if you clicked on a layer called
“Layer 1” while recording the action, it will work only on
another document that also has a layer called “Layer 1.”
You’d get the same error message if when you recorded