Graphics & Digital Designers eTips

How many times have you found yourself trying out every single blending mode in the Layers panel? How else do you determine which one works the best on your image? It can be quite time-consuming to individually select each mode from the Blending Mode pop-up menu on the Layers panel. Luckily, there's an easier way to quickly preview blending effects without having to reach for the mouse every time.

To quickly preview blending modes:

1.    Click on the target layer in your Layers panel.

2.    Select a non-drawing tool in the Tools panel, such as the Move tool. (Otherwise, Photoshop cycles through the Mode pop-up menu on the tool options bar.)

3.    Press [shift][+] to select the next blending mode in the menu and apply it to the active layer.

The whole purpose of using guides is to make your graphics line up perfectly. So, the next time you need a guide, don't just eyeball it—have Photoshop place it exactly where it needs to be. To do so, choose View > New Guide. In the resulting New Guide dialog box, select the appropriate Orientation and type a numeric value in the Position text box. Then, click OK.

Usually when you create a path, you have to convert it into a selection. Two well-known ways to do this are to go to the Paths panel and click the Load Path As A Selection button at the base of the panel or to choose Make Selection from the panel's pop-up menu. However, you can make this process much easier using a key command. All you have to do is press [Ctrl][Enter]  ([command][enter] on Mac) to convert the path into a selection.

Unless you have Adobe Acrobat Professional, you can't edit PDF files. You can, however, open PDFs in Photoshop. But what if you just want to repurpose an image that's in a PDF file? No problem!

To extract an image in a PDF:

1.    Launch Photoshop and choose File > Open.

2.    Select the PDF file that contains the image you want to use, and click Open.

3.    Select the page on which the image exists in the preview window, and choose Image from the Select pop-up menu.

4.    Click OK to open just the image and not the entire page.

A common problem of shots taken with a digital camera is overexposure – when the shot looks too light and colors are washed out. You could try to adjust Photoshop's Levels to correct the problem, but many times finding the right balance can become time consuming. The next time your images look washed out, try this quick fix to get darker, richer colors from your overexposed shots.

To darken washed-out pictures:

1.    Duplicate the layer containing the image.

2.    Set the Blend pop-up menu on the Layers panel to Multiply.

3.    Adjust the Opacity to approximately 50%. Change the percentage to find the right color balance for your image.

When using the Unsharp Mask filter, it's important that you're viewing your image at 100 percent. If not, your changes won't preview accurately, and you may díscover that all of your hard work went to waste. At smaller or larger views, you may or may not see artifacts, subtle halos, and other image ailments.

Have you ever noticed that small text looks blurry on the Web? Well, if you find that you have to use text that smaller than 12 points, you may want to increase the tracking between your letters. To do so, go to the Character panel, and enter in a value of 20 or higher in the Tracking text box.

Basically, this is reducing the blurriness by lowering the effects of anti-aliasing. So, the more you space out your letters, the crisper they will be.

Have you ever made changes to an original and then accidentally saved over it without making a backup copy? Well, if this sounds vaguely familiar, we've got some good news to prevent future accidents. To recover your original image, just go to the History panel and click on the opening snapshot to make it active. Then click on the Create New Document From Current State button at the base of the panel. Upon doing so, your original image will be displayed in a new document ready for you to press Save.

Now to go back to your other image and pick up where you left off, just go to the History panel and click on the last History State listed. It's a life saver!

Have you ever opened a new document and started working on a project and realized your ruler was set to inches rather than pixels or vise versa? To change the measurements quickly, right-click (on Mac, press [ctrl] and click) directly on one of your rulers. Upon doing so a pop-up menu will be displayed with a list of measurements for you to choose from.

If you're in a huge rush, just double-click on a ruler and the Preferences dialog box for Units And Rulers will be displayed. Then you can select the desired measurement from the Rulers pop-up menu.

Have you ever had to do a quick photo retouch, such as removing dust or a blemish? If so, we have a great technique for you. The next time you have an image with a mark you'd like to remove, select the Blur tool from the Tools panel. In the tool Options bar, set the tool's Strength to about 35% and then change the Mode pop-up menu to Lighten. Now, paint the unwanted spot until it's gone.