Handy Dandy App to for Shortcuts

A visual and easy to use App that helps you find all the hidden shortcuts to make Photoshop Faster and easier to use. It currently supports Photoshop, Lightroom and Blender in Windows, OS X and Linux.

Click Here To Try It

How does it work
The keyboard layout is able to be changed to your operating system and usually opens to the current one, you then select the program and version you have. These are all above the keyboard. Below is the search bar if you are looking for a specific command. It then tells you what keys will help you out. But it gets better: press another key, like Shift or Space, and the display changes to tell you what each key will now do. It's all color-coded, too, so you know which key brings about what change.

 

Getting started

Welcome to the first class you may feel overwhelmed but we will take it slow and may not get to everything but as long as you have fun and accomplish your own goals you are doing fine.

 In the first class we are getting to know the program and tools. You can use a photos from your own collection or those provided with the lessons to practice on. A photo of a object with a solid color background is best for this lesson. This is a week I just want everyone to be comfortable with their program and just start playing around. If you are unsure what programs or versions you have or have any computer setup questions now is the time to ask. I will try my best to help get everyone up and running.      

Here are a few links for review of the tools we covered this week. We will focus on the selection tools because they are the most commonly used tools but, you can try using other tools to get an idea what they do. 

Try selecting just the blue or peach background, the objects or just parts. Have fun


For the readers

**** When playing with tools remember DO NOT SAVE you could ruin a treasured photo ***

For those looking for advice on how to organize their digital photo collection to make photos easier to find Here is a great article.

  I also have continued on this post the photos we used during the class. Practice makes perfect and have fun. 

To get this image for your program simply RIGHT CLICK and SAVE IMAGE AS and put it in a file where you can find it I usually SAVE TO DESKTOP

Photoshop Tools

In the first two class we will be covering the tools available.

 Photoshop comes with many tools and they increase with each newer version. It depends on what version you have available but the most common tools such as the eraser will always be available. This includes non Photoshop programs like GIMP Some names and possibly some pictures may be different but they all do the same things. 

The neat thing about Photoshop is that some of the tools are hidden behind other tools to give you more space to work. Below is the picture of a toolbar where all your tools are stored. Each box is just like a drawer. If a tool has a BLACK ARROW in the bottom right corner you can "open it". I like to think of the arrow as a drawer handle, by CLICKING AND HOLDING (or RIGHT CLICKING) your mouse on the tool the drawer will open and you can see all the tools inside that are similar. 

The drawers in this picture are all open so you can see all the options and find the tool you are looking for 

You can  follow this link  to a interactive version that you can click on each little tool for a brief description.

 

Keeping Photos Safe

If only we had a dragon to guard our photos

 

Sometimes the hardest thing to do when you edit photos is that first step. You have a great camera and wonderful photos and a computer but how do you move them to a safe place? Most cameras do come with instructions on how to transfer photos from that camera but they are sometimes had to follow. Because all cameras are slightly different I'm going to give you a generic help link for the readers and the visuals.

I hope these help but if not you can check in with me and stay after class for a in person session.