Understanding the Toolbar in Photoshop

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This tutorial is a little out dated, but its what you need to know to make a good image in photoshop.

 

 

Below is a picture of all buttons that the toolbar has with their names.

To get the submenus right-click on the button.

 

 

 

 

The descriptions are placed in the order like the buttons on the toolbar.

 

Rectangular Marquee Tool

Used to select a rectangular area.

You can expand your selection by holding SHIFT and selecting the area you want added to the current selection.

You can make your selection smaller by holding ALT and selecting the area you don't want in the selection.

 

 

Elliptical Marquee Tool

Used to select an elliptical (round) area.

You can expand your selection by holding SHIFT and selecting the area you want added to the current selection.

You can make your selection smaller by holding ALT and selecting the area you don't want in the selection.

 

 

Single Row Marquee Tool

Selects a single pixel row.

You can expand your selection by holding SHIFT and selecting the area you want added to the current selection.

You can make your selection smaller by holding ALT and selecting the area you don't want in the selection.

 

 

Single Column Marquee Tool

Selects a single pixel column.

You can expand your selection by holding SHIFT and selecting the area you want added to the current selection.

You can make your selection smaller by holding ALT and selecting the area you don't want in the selection.

 

 

Move Tool

Used to move a layer.

Use the mouse or the arrow keys to move it.

 

 

Lasso Tool

Selects an area of your choice. Click and hold the left mouse button to select.

When the left mouse button is released the area will be closed with a straight line from the ending point to the starting point.

Hold ALT while selecting to create a straight line. You can expand your selection by holding SHIFT and selecting the area you want added to the current selection.

You can make your selection smaller by holding ALT and selecting the area you don't want in the selection.

 

 

Polygonal Lasso Tool

Selects an area of your choice. Click to start selecting, then make the selection click by click.

The selection will go from point to point (were you clicked) with straight lines. Hold SHIFT while selecting to make horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines. You can expand your selection by holding SHIFT and selecting the area you want added to the current selection.

You can make your selection smaller by holding ALT and selecting the area you don't want in the selection.

 

 

Magnetic Lasso Tool

Selects an area of your choice.

Click to start selecting, move the tool over the image to create the selection.

This tool will guess were you want to select by selecting were the colors differ the most in the area were you move your mouse.

If you think you should help it a bit just click were you want it to go next.

This tool is very nice if you want to select something on a background with a completely diffrent color.

You can expand your selection by holding SHIFT and selecting the area you want added to the current selection.

You can make your selection smaller by holding ALT and selecting the area you don't want in the selection.

 

 

Magic Wand Tool

Selects a colored area.

Click in the area you want to select.

This tool will select an area that has one color.

For example if you click in a bright red area it will select the whole bright red area, but not the green area next to it.

By setting the tolerance higher it will also select the slightly darker and lighter red next to it.

You can expand your selection by holding SHIFT and selecting the area you want added to the current selection.

You can make your selection smaller by holding ALT and selecting the area you don't want in the selection.

 

 

Crop Tool

This tool enables you to make a selection, and it will delete everything that is not in the selection.

Usefull is you only need a small part of a big image.

 

 

Slice Tool

The slice tool is very usefull when building websites.

You can use it to tear an image down in to seperate images, put into a html table.

When you want to save the stuff go to File>Save for Web... or hit ALT+SHIFT+CRTL+S and save it.

Photoshop will automatically create a html file with the table for you.

 

 

Slice Select Tool

The slice select tool is very usefull when building websites.

Use this tool to set the slices options.

Double click on a slice and an option menu will pop up with various html options like creating a link out of the image.

 

 

Spot Healing Brush Tool

This tool can be used to repair an image.

When an image has a very small scratch or something like that, click on it with this tool and Photoshop will use a nearby color to fix the image.

 

 

Healing Brush Tool

This tool can be used to repair an image.

When holding ALT you can select the source from were you want to copy.

After selecting the source, brushing over the image will copy from the source to the spot were you are brushing and repair the image.

This can be used to repair little scratches in the image.

 

 

Patch Tool

This tool can be used to repair an image.

With this tool, select the part you want to repair.

Then move the selection to another place, and Photoshop will use the second position to repair the first position.

 

 

Red Eye Tool

This tool repairs red eyes.

There's a lot of photos were people have red eyes, something most people don't like.

With this tool, select the pupils and they will be repaired automatically.

 

 

Brush Tool

This tool enables you to brush wherever you want.

There's a lot of standard brushes to use, but you can also download or make your own brushes to use.

 

 

Pencil Tool

This tool is normally used to create little dot's in an image.

It works about the same as the brush tool.

 

Color Replacement Tool

With this tool you can replace a color in an image with the color you want.

Click and hold on the color you want to replace and start brushing.

It will replace the color selected with the foreground color.

 

Clone Stamp Tool

Used to copy parts of the image.

Hold ALT to select the source, then brush on the place you want the source to be copied to.

With this tool you can do stuff like giving a person a third eye.

 

 

Pattern Stamp Tool

With this tool you can brush a pattern on the image.

Very usefull if you want parts of the image to have a pattern.

 

 

History Brush Tool

This tool is basically an undo tool, but then better.

First, in the history window, select the action you want to revert to.

Then brush over the parts of the image you want to have reverted.

Very usefull tool if you want to do an effect on just a part of the image.

Do the effect, then take the History Brush Tool, in the history window click on the step you made before the effect and then brush over the parts of the image you didn't want the effect on.

 

 

Art History Brush

The Art History Brush is almost the same as the normal History Brush except it uses styles.

You can select a style to use and it will paint with styles.

So instead of a regular brush, you just have an artistic brush.

 

 

Eraser Tool

With this tool you can erase parts of your image.

You can use it just like a brush, so you can also erase using custom brushes.

 

 

Background Eraser Tool

This tool will erase the 'background' of an image.

It just erases everything except the color you choose.

 

 

Magic Eraser Tool

This tool works just like the Magic Wand Tool except it erases instead of selects.

 

 

Gradient Tool

With this tool you can create gradients.

You simply choose your colors (or a preset gradient) and draw a line in your image and it will automatically create the gradient for you.

 

 

Paint Bucket Tool

This tool enables you to paint large areas at once.

Yoo click were you want to paint and it will paint everything within the tolerance you selected to the foreground color.

 

 

Blur Tool

The Blur Tool is used to blur an image.

It works like normal brushes so again you can use custom brushes on his tool.

 

 

Sharpen Tool

The Sharpen Tool is used to sharpen an image.

It works like normal brushes so again you can use custom brushes on his tool.

 

 

Smudge Tool

The Smudge Tool is used to smudge parts of your image.

It works like normal brushes so again you can use custom brushes on his tool.

 

 

Dodge Tool

The Dodge Tool is used to set highlights to/lighten your image.

 

 

Burn Tool

The Burn Tool is used to give shadows to/darken your image.

 

 

Sponge Tool

The Sponge Tool enables you to desaturate/saturate your image.

 

 

Path Selection Tool

With this tool you can select a layer by pulling a path around it.

 

 

Direct Selection Tool

With this tool you can select a layer by simply clicking on it.

 

 

Horizontal Type Tool

This tool is used to put some text into an image.

It will write horizontal (like the name suggests).

 

 

Vertical Type Tool

This tool is used to put some text into an image.

It will write vertical (like the name suggests).

 

 

Horizontal Type Mask Tool

With this tool you can make a selection in text shape.

You type your text and it will make a mask (which is a selection).

You can use it to cut your text into an image.

It will write horizontal (like the name suggests).

 

 

Vertical Type Mask Tool

With this tool you can make a selection in text shape.

You type your text and it will make a mask (which is a selection).

You can use it to cut your text into an image.

It will write vertical (like the name suggests).

 

 

Pen Tool

With this tool you can make shapes by clicking on various points and then closing the path.

 

 

Freeform Pen Tool

With this tool you can make shapes by simply drawing a path.

 

 

Add Anchor Point Tool

This tool enables you to make extra anchor points in a path you made before using the Pen Tool.

 

 

Delete Anchor Point Tool

This tool enables you to delete anchor points in a path you made before using the Pen Tool.

 

 

Convert Point Tool

This tool enables you to convert/manipulate anchor points in a path you made before using the Pen Tool.

 

 

Rectangle Tool

With this tool you can create a rectangle in your image in the foreground color.

 

 

Rounded Rectangle Tool

With this tool you can create a rectangle with rounded corners in your image in the foreground color.

 

 

Ellipse Tool

With this tool you can create an ellipse in your image in the foreground color.

 

 

Polygon Tool

With this tool you can create a polygon in your image in the foreground color.

 

 

Line Tool

With this tool you can create a line in your image in the foreground color.

 

 

Custom Shape Tool

With this tool you can create a custom shape in your image in the foreground color.

You can choose from standard or imported shapes.

 

 

Notes Tool

This tool can be used to attach notes to an image.

You can use it to remember things you want to do later or if you made an image for someone and you want to tell/explain him something.

Note that notes only work in .psd files.

 

 

Audio Annotation Tool

This tool can be used to attach audio messages to an image.

You can use it to remember things you want to do later or if you made an image for someone and you want to tell/explain him something.

Note that audio messages only work in .psd files.

 

 

Eyedropper Tool

With this tool you can set your foreground color.

In your image, click on the color you want to have.

 

 

Color Sampler Tool

With this tool you can sample a color.

Click on the color you want to sample and Photoshop will give you all information/real values of the color.

 

 

Measure Tool

With this tool you can measure in various units of measurements like centimeters, inches, pixels, percentages, etc.

 

 

Hand Tool

With this tool you can simply scroll through an image by clicking on it and moving your mouse.

 

 

Zoom Tool

This tool is used to zoom in and out of your image.

 

 

Select Colors

Used to select the foreground/background color.

Clicking on the little white-black button will set the fore- and background color to default.

 

 

Normal/Quick Mask Mode

Use these buttons to switch between normal and Quick Mask mode.

 

 

Screen Modes

Use these buttons to select your screen modes (standard/fullscreen with menu bar/full screen.)

 

 

Edit in Imageready

Click this button to switch from Photoshop to Imageready and edit your image there.