Finding your way around Adobe Photoshop

Below is the basic Photoshop workspace. 

1. Toolbar

• The toolbar contains the basic tools that you can use in Photoshop.  These include selection tools, drawing tools, type tools, retouching tools, vector tools, etc.

2. Photoshop menu bar

• The Photoshop menu bar contains various menus that allow you to edit your file.  These include image adjustments, layer adjustments, filters, workspace and viewing options.

3. Tool menu bar

• The tool menu bar contains all of the settings for the tool you are working with.

4. Expanded palette
5. Hidden palettes

• All of the palettes in the Photoshop workspace can be expanded or collapsed to maximise image area.

6. Navigator palette

• The navigator palette contains a very small ('thumbnail') version of your file and allows you to navigate to particular areas of the file at high zoom levels where the entire file cannot be displayed on the screen.

7. Layers palette

• The layers palette is probably the most important palette in Photoshop.  This palette displays all of the layers of your file, plus whatever effects you have added.

I have uploaded a file onto the cLc called 'CS3 Toolbar Explained', which contains everything you ever wanted to know about the functions in the toolbar.  Make sure you save a copy onto your home drive for reference, it's a handy thing to have when finding your way around Photoshop.

Before we go and start the selections exercise I want you to find the following Photoshop features and functions and list what they do:

1. History palette
2. Eyedropper tool
3. Brushes palette
4. Levels and Curves
5. Burn and Dodge tools