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Photoshop Thread - How to use the tools of Ps

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So in this thread I'll be adding information on how to use most of the tools in Photoshop and how you can use them to get different effects that you can use in signature making.

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Q&A:
• What version of Photoshop are you using?
I'm using Photoshop CC 2015. If enough people ask I will also start using Photoshop CS2 because I've got that as well.

How can I get Photoshop for free?
Everyone can get Adobe Photoshop CS2 for free (Google it) but getting the version that I'm using requires you to purchase it from Adobe.

Can I have some of the things that you are using in your tutorials?
No. You won't learn anything if you are just copying what I'm doing.

Where can I get resources?
Google
Here
PM me and I'll link you somewhere good.

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With that, let's get started.

NOTE: The thread is going to be locked until I've finished the whole thread. I'm going to make it so you can just click on the name of a tool and then be taken to a section about that tool.

Next tool is coming soon.
1. The Move Tool (Keyboard Shortcut "V")
2. The Marquee Tool (Keyboard Shortcut "M")
3. The Lasso Tool (Keyboard Shortcut "L")
4. The Quick Selection/Magic Wand Tool (Keyboard Shortcut "W")
 
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The Move Tool (Keyboard Shortcut "V")

What can I use the move tool for?
The move tool is primarily used for moving different layers/elements around within the Photoshop document you have open. To move a layer around in your canvas, choose the layer you want to move by clicking on it in the layers panel, select the move tool or press "V" on your keyboard, then click and drag anywhere in the open document to move the selected layer around.

P7RbIxc.gif

• What else can the move tool be used for?
While the main function of the move tool is to position layers in your canvas, it can also help to place things in the exact center or edge of your canvas. To do this, select the entire canvas by pressing "Ctrl+A" and click on the buttons in the top bar beneath the menu bar. The buttons will look like this.

GLV46FC.png

What the buttons stand for in order or left to right:
• Align to the top of the canvas
• Align to the middle of the canvas
• Align to the bottom of the canvas
○ Align to the left of the canvas
○ Align to the center of the canvas
○ Align to the right of the canvas

By using this feature you can easily center an object in your canvas with a couple of clicks.

For this one I just aligned the black square to the center of the canvas.
5gwvPD4.gif


• What about the buttons next to the align buttons?
The buttons that are to the direct right of the align buttons are the distribute buttons. These work in much the same way as the align buttons, however these are there so you can evenly space multiple layers on the canvas with only a few clicks.

EphjTmU.png

What the buttons stand for in order or left to right:
• Distribute the top edges
• Distribute the centers
• Distribute the bottom edges
○ Distribute the left edges
○ Distribute the horizontal centers
○ Distribute the right edges

To use this function does require some explanation, so I'm sorry if this is a bit harder to understand.
To evenly distribute multiple layers across a canvas you will need to place the bottom layer on one side of the canvas and the top layer on the other side of the canvas. From there, select everything by pressing "Ctrl+A", then shift click on every layer to select them all in the layers panel. Once you have done that, click on one of the buttons and it will distribute it accordingly.
Sorry if that's a bit hard to understand, hopefully the gif should help with this.

In this gif I used the align to center as the last action. That is why they all are in the dead center and evenly spaced.
1f5h56D.gif


The other things that you can do with the move tool are rather simple so I'll only quickly go over them.
Auto layer select.
y6kbs92.png

With this tool you are able to just click on a layer to move it, rather than having it selected in the layer panel. This may be useful for something with very few elements but not helpful when there are many different layers all placed in the same general area.

Select Group or Layer drop down
qrxSYYp.png

If you wish to select individual layers or groups then you can choose from this drop down menu. If you have move layer selected then you will move only the layers selected in the layer panel, if you have move group selected then you will move the group that the individual layer is in if one layer is selected.

Show transform controls
utHwZtK.png

Used to show the transform box around a layer while not in transform mode. Having this on will give the same effect as pressing "Ctrl+T"

3D tools
T1fSdzF.png

Used for when you are manipulating a 3D object within Photoshop. I'll be going into more detail about these later on so I'll leave them be for now.​
 
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The Marquee Tool(Keyboard Shortcut "M")

What can I use marquee the tool for?
The marquee tool is used as a selection tool within your Photoshop document. To make a selection on your canvas, select the marquee tool or press the keyboard shortcut "M" and click and drag out a selection on your canvas. You can constrain the selection to a 1:1 ratio (a square) by holding "Shift" on your keyboard while making a selection and you can have the center point of the selection to be where you first clicked by holding "Alt" on your keyboard.

AjNL5AN.gif
EACBH7E.gif
dTHVLBn.gif

What else can it be used for?
The main function of the marquee tool is to create selections, it can also be used for cropping down an image to a selected area. To do this, create a selection in the document you wish to crop then head to "Image > Crop". This will then crop the document down to the area you selected. Cropping a document this way can be easier than with the crop tool because you are able to alter your selection quickly and move it around the canvas. If you ever need to move a selection while you are still creating it, hold "Space" and move your mouse to where you want the selection to be.

uWNaSw4.gif
What about if I want to remove a selection?
If you ever need to remove a selection from your document you can do so by going to "Edit > Deselect" or use the keyboard command "Ctrl+D"

There are some other features that you can use the Marquee tool for however I'll cover those at another time due to them being a bit more complex than I'd like to include in this tutorial.
 
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