1. BATCH RESIZING IMAGES
Here is a quick and very handy way to batch resize the images in a particular folder.
Let's say that you have a folder that contains 5 images of 3000x2000 pixels (landscape ratio) and 2 images of 2000x3000 pixels (portrait).
1. Open the folder contents in Adobe Bridge.
2. Right-click on any image and select: Sort > By Dimensions.
This will sort the images according to their aspect ratio and dimensions.
3. Select the 5 lanscape images and choose Tools> Photoshop > Image Processor from the menu.
4. The Image Processor window shows up. Click on "Resize to Fit" and enter the new dimensions (width & height). You can change the other parameters of the Image Processor to preference. Hit OK when you are ready.
The script runs. It won't overwrite the original images but it will create a new folder and place the resized images within. You can specify the location of this folder in the Image Processor window.
5. Then select the 2 portrait images and run Image Processor again. Enter the new dimensions and hit OK.
Simple as that!
2. DRAG & COPY LAYER STYLES
In the layers panel you can hold down the Alt key (Windows) or the Option key (MacOS) and drag a style in order to copy it to another layer.
3. SWITCH BETWEEN DIFFERENT TOOLS
Hold down the Alt key (PC) or the Option key (Mac) and click on a tool icon to quickly switch between the various tools within the same group.
4. BATCH RAW TO JPG CONVERSION
Do you have dozens of RAW / NEF images that you have processed in Camera Raw and you want to convert to JPG? Here is a quick and very handy way to do it.
1. Open Adobe Bridge.
2. Select the RAW images which you want to convert to JPG.
3. Choose Photoshop > Tools > Image Processor from the menu.
4. The Image Processor window shows up. Click on "Save as JPG" and enter the JPG quality (0-12). You can save the JPGs in the same or in a different location.
5. MOVING A GUIDELINE IN INCREMENTS
To add a guideline click on the vertical or horizontal ruler and drag to the right or downwards, respectively. What is cool and very handy is that you can hold down the Shift key while dragging the guideline to move it in increments.
To show the ruler press Control+R (PC) or Command+R (Mac).
6. CHECK THE EFFICIENCY!
Did you ever wonder what does the efficiency percentage indicate?
If the efficiency value is below 100% this means that there is not enough RAM for Photoshop to perform its operations and that the application is using the scratch disk. In other words Photoshop operates more slowly.
Hence you may want to increase the percentage of the RAM used by Photoshop. To do so press Control+K (Windows) or Command+K (MacOS) to open the preferences window and click on the Performance tab.
The efficiency percentage can be displayed at the bottom of the document window or at the info panel. To display it at the document window follow the 3 steps shown in the above image. To display this information on the info panel you need to check it at the Info panel options menu.
7. SPEEDING UP ACTIONS
This tip was provided to me by Adam Jerugim from Adobe:
To speed up the execution of actions in Photoshop (especially with complex effects such as the 'Big Pictures'):
- Open Photoshop's preferences (select: Edit > Preferences from the main menu or press Control+K (PC) or Command+K (MacOS).
- Click the Interface tab.
- Change the default window from Tabbed docs to Floating docs (un-check Open Documents as Tabs).
This change will speed things up!
8. TWO TIME SAVERS
Here are two very useful tips that I use everyday:
1. To open an image without using the menu you can double click on an empty part of the workspace
2. To turn the Background layer into a floating layer in one click hold down the Alt key (PC) or the Option key (MacOS) and double click the background layer.
9. OPEN ANIMATED GIFS IN PHOTOSHOP EXTENDED
Photoshop users (versions: CS2 or earlier) used ImageReady to open an animated gif file.
ImageReady passed to oblivion since Photoshop CS3. Many Photoshop users ask this question: How do I open an animated gif?
Here's how:
- On the main menu select: File > Import > Video Frames to Layers
- Type the name of the gif file (including the .gif extension)
- Open the file.
While using a tool you can hold the Control, Alt & Shift keys (Mac: Command, Option & Shift) for enhanced functionality. Nevertheless it's diffucult to remember what extra functions these keys offer you, with each tool.
The INFO panel contains a wealth of information about your Photoshop document. Moreover, the INFO panel can show some very useful hints about the particular tool used.
To show the panel, select Window > Info. Click on the options button at the top right corner and select Panel Options:
Check the Show Tool Hints button at the botton of the options window and click OK:
The INFO panel shows a very useful hint each time you select a particular tool. Here's the generic hint for the Move tool:
If you press Control, Alt, Shift (Mac: Command, Option, Shift) the INFO panel shows a new hint which describes what these keys do with the particular tool.
Here's the new hint shown when you hold down the Control & Shift keys (Mac: Command & Shift):
