Upon loading Photoshop, a sidebar with a variety of tools with multiple
image-editing functions appears to the left of the screen. These tools
typically fall under the categories of
drawing;
painting;
measuring and navigation;
selection;
typing; and
retouching.
Some tools contain a small triangle in the bottom right of the toolbox icon. These can be expanded to reveal similar tools.
While newer versions of Photoshop are updated to include new tools and
features, several recurring tools that exist in most versions are
discussed below.
1. Pen Tool
Photoshop includes a few versions of the
pen tool. The pen tool creates precise paths that can be manipulated using anchor points.The
free form pen tool allows the user to draw paths freehand, and with the
magnetic pen tool, the drawn path attaches closely to outlines of objects in an image, which is useful for isolating them from a background.
2. Measuring and navigation
The
eyedropper tool selects a
color from an area of the image that is clicked, and samples it for future use. The
hand tool navigates an image by moving it in any direction, and the
zoom tool enlarges the part of an image that is clicked on, allowing for a closer view.
3. Selection
Selection tools are used to select all or any part of a picture to perform cut, copy, edit, or retouching operations.
4. Cropping
The
crop tool can be used to select a particular area of an
image and discard the portions outside of the chosen section. This tool
assists in creating a focus point on an image and excluding unnecessary
or excess space.
Cropping allows enhancement of a photo’s composition while decreasing
the file size. The "crop" tool is in the tools palette, which is located
on the right side of the document. By placing the cursor over the
image, the user can drag the cursor to the desired area. Once the Enter
key is pressed, the area outside of the rectangle will be cropped. The
area outside of the rectangle is the discarded data, which allows for
the file size to be decreased.The "crop" tool can alternatively be used to extend the canvas size by
clicking and dragging outside of the existing image borders.
5. Slicing
The
"slice" and
slice select tools, like the crop tool,
are used in isolating parts of images. The slice tool can be used to
divide an image into different sections, and these separate parts can be
used as pieces of a web page design once HTML and CSS are applied. The slice select tool allows sliced sections of an image to be adjusted and shifted.
6. Moving
The move tool can be used to drag the entirety of a single layer or
more if they are selected. Alternatively, once an area of an image is
highlighted, the
move tool can be used to manually relocate the selected piece to anywhere on the canvas.
7. Marquee
The
marquee tool can make selections that are single row, single column, rectangular and elliptical.
An area that has been selected can be edited without affecting the rest
of the image. This tool can also crop an image; it allows for better
control. In contrast to the
crop tool, the "marquee" tool allows for more adjustments to the selected area before cropping. The only
marquee tool that does not allow cropping is the elliptical. Although the single row and column
marquee tools allow for cropping, they are not ideal, because they only crop a line. The
rectangular marquee
tool is the preferred option. Once the tool has been selected, dragging
the tool across the desired area will select it. The selected area will
be outlined by dotted lines, referred to as “marching ants”. These
dotted lines are called “marching ants”, because the dashes look like
ants marching around the selected area. To set a specific size or ratio,
the tool option bar provides these settings. Before making a selecting
an area, the desired size or ratio must be set by adjusting the width
and height. Any changes such as color, filters, location, etc. should be
made before cropping. To crop the selection, the user must go to image
tab and select crop.
8. Lasso
The
lasso tool is similar to the "marquee" tool, however, the user can make a custom selection by drawing it freehand. There are three options for the "lasso" tool – regular, polygonal, and
magnetic. The regular "lasso" tool allows the user to have drawing
capabilities. Photoshop will complete the selection once the mouse
button is released. The user may also complete the selection by
connecting the end point to the starting point. The “marching ants” will
indicate if a selection has been made. The "polygonal lasso" tool will
only draw straight lines, which makes it an ideal choice for images with
many straight lines. Unlike the regular "lasso" tool, the user must
continually click around the image to outline the shape. To complete the
selection, the user must connect the end point to the starting point
just like the regular lasso tool. "Magnetic lasso" tool is considered
the smart tool. It can do the same as the other two, but it can also
detect the edges of an image once the user selects a starting point. It
detects by examining the color pixels as the cursor move over the
desired area. A pixel is the smallest element in an image. Closing the
selection is the same as the other two, which should also should display
the “marching ants” once the selection has been closed.
9. Quick Selection
The
quick selection tool selects areas based on edges, similarly to the
magnetic lasso tool. The difference between this tool and the
lasso
tool is that there is no starting and ending point. Since there isn’t a
starting and ending point, the selected area can be added onto as much
as possible without starting over. By dragging the cursor over the
desired area, the
quick selection tool detects the edges of the
image. The “marching ants” allow the user to know what is currently
being selected. Once the user is done, the selected area can be edited
without affecting the rest of the image. One of the features that makes
this tool especially user friendly is that the SHIFT key is not needed
to add more to the selection; by default, extra mouse clicks will be
added to the selection rather than creating a new selection.
10. Magic Wand
The
magic wand tool selects areas based on pixels of similar
values. One click will select all neighboring pixels of similar value
within a tolerance level set by the user. If the
eyedropper tool
is selected in the options bar, then the magic wand can determine the
value needed to evaluate the pixels; this is based on the sample size
setting in the
eyedropper tool. This tool is inferior to the
quick selection tool which works much the same but with much better
results and more intuitive controls. The user must decide what settings
to use or if the image is right for this tool.
11. Eraser
The
eraser tool erases content based on the active layer. If
the user is on the text layer, then any text across which the tool is
dragged will be erased. The eraser will convert the pixels to
transparent, unless the background layer is selected. The size and style
of the eraser can be selected in the options bar. This tool is unique
in that it can take the form of the paintbrush and pencil tools. In
addition to the straight eraser tool, there are two more available
options – background eraser and magic eraser. The
background eraser
deletes any part of the image that is on the edge of an object. This
tool is often used to extract objects from the background. The
magic eraser tool deletes based on similar colored pixels. It is very similar to the
magic wand tool. This tool is ideal for deleting areas with the same color or tone that contrasts with the rest of the image
.
12. Video Editing
In Adobe CS5 Extended edition, video editing is comprehensive and efficient with a broad compatibility of video file formats such as
MOV,
AVI,
MPEG-4, and
FLV
formats and easy workflow. Using simple combination of keys video
layers can easily be modified, with other features such as adding text
and the creation of animations using single images.
13. 3D Extrusion
With the Extended version of Photoshop CS5, 2D elements of an artwork
can easily become three-dimensional with the click of a button.
Extrusions of texts, an available library of materials for
three-dimensional, and even wrapping two-dimensional images around 3D
geometry.
14. Mobile integration
Third-party plugins have also been added to the most recent version of Photoshop where technologies such as the i pad have integrated the software with different types of applications. Applications like the Adobe Eazel painting app allows the user to easily create paintings with
their fingertips and use an array of different paint from dry to wet in
order to create rich color blending.
15. Camera Raw
With the Camera Raw plug-in, RAW images can be processed without the use of
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, along with other image file formats such as
JPEGs,
TIFFs, or
PNGs. The plug-in allows users to remove noise without the side-effect of over-sharpening, add grain, and even perform
post-crop vignetting.
16. 3D Printing Tools
Requiring Photoshop version 14.1, users can now create and edit
designs for 3D printing. After downloading 3D photo models from numerous
online services, users can add color, adjust the shape or rotate the
angles. Artists can also design 3D models from scratch.
17. Color Replacement Tool
The Color Replacement Tool allows you to change the color, while
maintaining the highlights and shadows of the original image, of pieces
of the image. By selecting Brushs and right clicking, the Color
Replacement Tool is the third option down. What is important to note
with this tool is the foreground color. The foreground color is what
will be applied when painting along the chosen part of the image with
the Color Replacement Tool.
