Out of the box, this is what your default CS5 installation will look like.
CS5 autosaves your changes to your workspaces, so create a new, custom one to play around in.
you could always edit your stock Workspaces to fit your liking later.
poke the
to bring up the contextual menu.
Create a “New Workspace” and name it anything you like.
Use your own name, or anything that suits you.
Click your new workspace and feel free to play around in it.
Customizing the Toolbox
The toolbox is where you get all your mouse or cursor-based tools.
By default, it is locked to the side of the screen in a panel area.
The aforementioned double column format of the toolbox.
When you select different tools, you’ll have the various options you’re able to edit here.
Each tool is complex without these options, and can become extremely powerful with knowledge of its options.
What’s in the Toolbox?
Rectangular Marquee Tool: Shortcut key
.
Shift + M will cycle through to the various other selection tools, including the ellipse tool.
it’s possible for you to hold Shift while drawing marquees to create squares.
Move Tool: Shortcut key
.
The basic move tool.
Once you select an area, choose the move tool to move it around.
you could also move whole layers without selecting them.
Lasso Tool: Shortcut key
.
Another selection tool, allows you to draw quick, shaped selections around parts of your image.
Shift + L will cycle through the alternate lasso tools, including Polygonal Lasso and Magnetic Lasso tools.
Quick Selection Tool: Shortcut key
.
A rough selection tool that works like a paintbrush.
Crop Tool: Shortcut key
.
Draws rectangular selections, then cuts your image down to the rectangle you draw.
Eyedropper Tool: Shortcut key
.
Picks a color from any document you have open.
Shift + I will cycle through the tools: Color Sampler, Ruler, and Note Tool.
Spot Healing Brush Tool: Shortcut key
.
Useful for erasing blemishes, scratches or unwanted noise from images automatically by painting over them.
Press Shift + J to find the Healing Brush, Patch Tool, and Red Eye tools.
Brush Tool: Shortcut key
.
The single most complex tool in the toolbox.
Clone Stamp Tool: Shortcut key
.
Shift + S also gives you the pattern stamp tool.
History Brush Tool: Shortcut key
.
Use a filter, then selectively undo parts of it with the History Brush.
Erases layers to transparency, and locked or Background Layers down to the Background Color.
Shift + E will cycle through the Magic Eraser and the Background Eraser tool.
Gradient Tool: Shortcut key
.
Clicking and dragging will fill your layer with a basic gradient using your foreground and background tools.
The options palette has a lot of different gradients to use.
Hidden under the Gradient Tool is the Paint Bucket Tool.
Shift + G will cycle through to it.
Use the Paint Bucket to fill areas of similar color in your image.
Blur, Sharpen, and Smudge Tools: By default, no shortcut key.
These are three photo editing tools that do exactly what they say.
Smudge, in particular, can create excellent painterly effects in your images.
Dodge and Burn Tools: Shortcut key
.
Dodge and Burn are photo editing tools that lighten and darken images, respectively.
This tool is not the zoom tool, as confusing as it may look.
Shift + O cycles between the two of them.
Pen Tool: Shortcut key
.
Similar to the Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator, works in tandem with the Paths Palette.
Shift + P will give you alternate Pen tools related to working with paths.
punch in Tool: Shortcut key
.
Allows you to set typography, by default horizonally.
Path Selection and Direct Selection Tools: Shortcut key
.
More tools made for editing paths in the path palette.
Ignore unless you’re trying to learn the Pen Tool.
Path selection picks whole paths, while Direct Selection picks line segments or points within paths.
Cycle with Shift + A.
Custom Shape Tool: Shortcut key
.
Bizarre tool for creating clipart punch in vector shapes from a library in the options palette.
Zoom Tool: Shortcut key
.
Yes, this is the real zoom tool and not the Dodge tool.
Zoom in with left clicks, zoom out with ALT plus Left Clicks.
This is likely the most basic tool in the toolbox.
Hand Tool: Shortcut key
.
Scrolls your document without using the scrollwheel or scroll arrows.
Background/Foreground: The active colors you are painting with.
The top color is Foreground, the back Background.
swaps the two colors.
reverts them to the default colors, black and white.
Quick Mask Mode: Shortcut key
.
An alternate mode for creating complex selections with the Brush, Eraser, and Paint Bucket tools.
The Q key toggles to and from Quick Mask Mode.
Photoshop tips left you confused?
Start at the Beginning!
Check out the previous installments of the How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop.
