Photoshop Basics: Workspace

You create and manipulate your documents and files using various elements such as panels, bars, and windows. Any arrangement of these elements is called a workspace. When you first start Photoshop, you see the default workspace, which you can customize for the tasks you perform there. For instance, you can create one workspace for editing and another for viewing, save them, and switch between them as you work. You can restore the default workspace at any time by choosing the default option on the Window > Workspace menu.

Photoshop workspace elements:

A) Menu bar: organizes commands under menus.

B) Options bar: displays options for the currently selected tool from the tools palette.

C) Tools palette (Toolbar): contains tools for creating and editing images, artwork, page elements, etc. Related tools are grouped together.

D) Document window: displays the image you’re working on. It’s possible to have more than one document window opened.

E) Panels (Palette): used to help you monitor and modify your image. Some panels are displayed by default, but you can add any panel in the Window menu. Panels can be grouped, stacked, or docked.

Menu bar

They contain all sorts of options. Some of them are available from the different palettes, but some aren’t.

• File: Contains general options related to the documents. Open, Save, Close, Print, Import, Export. Some interesting are:
  - ‘Browse’: Simply saying it’s an enchanted thumbnails browser with nice features to explore.
  - ‘Automate’: Automated features to save you some times.
• Edit: Contains some general option (like undo/redo, cut/copy/paste and preferences), define your patterns/brushes and image altering functions for your current selection.
• Image: Also contains altering functions, but they effect the whole image (document).
• Layer: Contains options that effect only current or selected layers.
• Select: When you work on an image, you often want to select/isolate some part of the image and do something with it. This menu can help you make the perfect selection.
• Filter: Allows you to apply filters to any part of your image. Per example you can change the texture of your image. It’s something you’d want to test yourself. Just to open an image and try the different options to see what will happen to it.
• Analysis: A new menu used to measure.
• View: Allows you to change the view settings. To zoom in and out, see the rulers, see the guides, etc.
• Window: That’s where you can hide and show for each interface element.
• Help: Something I don’t use, I’m sure it can be useful.

Tools palette

The tools palette contains a icons that represent the different tools you can use on your images. These include tools for selecting/moving/transforming/coloring/erasing specific areas of image and many more.

On the top left, you have two little arrow . When you click on it, you can switch from having a 1 or 2 columns palettes. You don’t have less options when you switch. This is new on CS3.

You may have notice that some icon have a little triangle in the bottom right corner of it . That means that you have more tools related. Click on the bottom right corner and you’ll have a little menu. The tool you’ll choose will now be the one display in the tools palette.

To know what a tool does, you can put your mouse over it and you’ll have a little tool tip on what it is. You’ll also see a letter between parenthesis, this is the shortcut to access it. So instead of looking for it in the tools palette, you can just push that letter on your keyboard and it’s ready to use. When you have a group of tool like in the previous paragraph, the tool in the front (the one we see on the palette) will be the one used.

Shortcuts are ones of the things that save you A LOT of times. Like you see, Photoshop has tons of options, so it’s good to know the shortcuts of the commands that you use the most.

The pink square is your foreground color, the orange color is your background color. Those color does not affect your image if you are not using them. When you type a text or use the brush or pencil to draw something, it will use the foreground color. The arrow is to switch position: foreground color become background color… the little square in the bottom left is use to go have black as your foreground color and white as your background color. It doesn’t look like it, but it’s a button you’ll use often. So when you want to change one of the two colors, you can just click on it and the color picker window will open. You can also choose color from your Color and Swatch palette.

Also when you click on one of the tools in the palette, you’ll have the Options bar related to that tool.

Document window

In the document window header you’ll have the name of the file, the zoom percentage (100%), the name of the current layer selected (footer), the color mode (RGB) and the bits (8). There is a ruler on the top and left. You can hide it in the View menu. I am just use to have it even though I don’t use it much.

The best way to work on an image is to have the whole image show (means no scroll bar), but when it’s too big for your screen, there is nothing you can do. The tools to use when navigating in your image is the Zoom and Hand tool. I never use the scroll bar (take too much time). When doing a complex selection, zoom as much as you can!

Some shortcuts to remember:
Zoom in: Ctrl + Space + Click
Zoom out: Alt + Space + Click
Hand tool: Space + press on your mouse while moving it.

Panels

Like the tools palette, I won’t explain what each palette do, there is so many that it will take too many times. In CS3, the way the panels are organized is very interesting.

The two little arrow that you have on the top right, when you click on them, the panels are show as little button. It’s new in CS3 and so useful to save space!! While they are in their button shape, you can just click on it and the palette will show. Now you can have more palette open at the same time! The other two arrow on the left, is to expand the palette of the icon on the left.

When a palette is open, you have a little X on the top right to close the palette and the little line to minimize it (it will be shorter).

This icon on the top left is use to have more options related to that palette.

All the palettes are resizable from all 4 sides.

On the bottom of most palette you’ll also find some functions you can do. It’s very different per palette.

To finish, one thing you might want to know is a shortcut on hide/show the palettes. It can be useful when you want to focus on your image. The shortcut is the TAB key.

So that’s a big resume of the elements in Photoshop workspace. You’ll get use to it while working with it. About how to use them, open an image and try the different options until the next tutorial!