> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ MARCH 2017[ 092 ]
BOOST YOUR PRODUCTIVITY & CREATIVITY
In this issue, I have a handful of really useful and cool tips for you to explore. Use them to speed up
your workflow and open up new ideas. When you’re using these tips and a new idea or area opens up
to you, explore it! That’s how you’ll master Photoshop. Don’t worry if it takes you off-track, this column
will still be here when you come back.SLOW MOTION VIDEO
Did you know that you could make slow motion video in
Photoshop? If you didn’t know you could even work with
video in Photoshop, now you know. To make slow-motion
video, simply open the video in Photoshop (File>Open) just
like a regular image. Make sure the Timeline panel is visible
(Window>Timeline), then Right-click on the video clip in the
Timeline and you’ll see a pop-up menu with Duration and
Speed. Change the Speed to 50% to slow down the video
to half speed. Adjust the Duration slider, as needed, so that
you can still play your entire clip, since the duration changes
when you change the speed.CONVERT TYPE TO OUTLINE
Have you ever needed to modify some text and have had
to rasterize it? Wait! Rasterizing your text will change it to
pixels, meaning it will get blocky if you make it larger. Try
this instead: Make a vector path out of the text rather than
pixels—choose Type>Create Work Path. Now you have all
the flexibility of vectors, such as scaling or altering the shape
of the letters, without their losing resolution or quality.RECENT FILES
Choose File>Open Recent and you’ll see the files you recently
opened in Photoshop. (I don’t know how many times this
has saved me!) By default, the list of recent documents is- What if your document was recent, but not within the
last 20 documents? You’re in luck! Choose Photoshop (PC:
Edit)>Preferences>File Handling and change the Recent File
List Contains field from 20 to 100. Now Photoshop will show
the previous 100 documents opened. Bonus: It shows them
retroactively, so you’ll see the previous 100 files immediately
without having to restart Photoshop.
ADJUSTMENT PRESETS
You’re smart and you’re using adjustment layers, right?
They’re famous for being nondestructive and stackable. You
can open these little gems and make endless adjustments
to your images. What you may not have known (or known,
and needed this little push to use them) is that you can cre-
ate presets for your adjustments so that you can call up the
same settings quickly. This is useful for processing similar
images, or for getting a good starting point for frequentlyCOLINSMITH
Photoshop Tips