Things you wish you knew about Photoshop sooner, otherwise known as I am a dummy :)

gethane

gethane

New member
So I've been bemoaning that my 750 gb data drive was filling up. Since I use a laptop, the bigger hard drives that are also 7200 rpm are too expensive for my taste ~$400. So I've been looking at my psd files trying to figure out how to make them smaller. First, I should tell you that I don't flatten and save. I keep my photoshop files in layers. Second, I keep everything. If I did a challenge 3 years ago, I still have that file :).

Well, I realized I do some pretty dumb things. When I clip my background papers and photos to the shapes, until today, I never MERGED DOWN. So all my psd files are bloated monstrosities filled with full size background papers even if it's clipped to a tiny little square. Same with my photos. I've been going through and Merging Down today and have so far regained about 35 gb. Granted, on a 750 gb drive, that isn't totally amazing. But it will give me some breathing room.

Another thing I wish I'd known sooner are the little icons you can use to align or distribute the layers you have selected. This is super handy with alphas and buttons. I wish I'd known sooner than, say, earlier this year.

Have you discovered anything in Photoshop you wish you knew sooner?
 
gethane said:
Another thing I wish I'd known sooner are the little icons you can use to align or distribute the layers you have selected. This is super handy with alphas and buttons. I wish I'd known sooner than, say, earlier this year.
Click to expand...

Tell me this trick!
 
I love the align buttons!!! They are a saving grace when doing an alpha title or lining stuff in a row. :)

I just learned this year about blending with the blending modes/brushes. Until then, I would just multiply or screen the photo. I am sure glad I learned that. :)
 
Pachimac said:
Tell me this trick!
Click to expand...

At the top of my CS3, there is a bar with icons.

cs3AlignExample.jpg


Select the layers you want to align with each other, and select an option. For alphas, Align bottom or top often works well. For buttons I like distribute.
 
Further testing reveals you have to have the pointer selected and multiple layers on the active uhh. brainfart. Whatever they are called. Then that bar shows up. Select more than one layer, then hover over the button things at top and they'll tell you what they do. If I get unexpected results I just undo it.
 
OOOOOH, I know what I learned...the Blend if...panel!!!

I use it to blend background layers. You highlight the top layer, and then open the layers palette by tapping command and L or pulling down to the layers menu and choose NEW LAYER STYLE ---> Blending Options

It will open up this dialogue box:
Screen%20Shot%202015-10-28%20at%204.33.26%20PM.png



Go down to the bottom and see the sliders for "Blend if... and then a drop down menu". I leave it as gray, but you can play around with how the colors make a difference.

The top slider will make colors go away from the top layers, from black to white, and the bottom slider will do the same, but make the bottom layer come through.

Play around. It's really fun!!! Play around with the blend modes just like you always do. You'll find your backgrounds blending MUCH better than simply using the opacity slider!

Here's a before and after. I am using Connie Price's "Life Gets Messy" backgrounds to show you.

Snippet of the two background papers:
blendif.jpg


using blend if: I kept it to gray and only moved the sliders. All other options were as is.

Screen%20Shot%202015-10-28%20at%204.53.27%20PM.png
 
Oh, I use that one all the time! LOL I guess I just didn't recognize it. I just posted one for ya'll.

gethane said:
At the top of my CS3, there is a bar with icons.

cs3AlignExample.jpg


Select the layers you want to align with each other, and select an option. For alphas, Align bottom or top often works well. For buttons I like distribute.
Click to expand...
 
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