The Toolbox

It contains many of the main tools used for retouching, editing, and cropping images, as well as those for making selections, adding type, ...

It contains many of the main tools used for retouching, editing, and cropping images, as well as those for making selections, adding type, and choosing colors. The following pages can be used as a concise guide to these different tools.

• Toolbox shortcuts. To use any tool, click on the relevant icon (some are hidden behind others, so click on the small black triangle in the corner of icons to see what's concealed) or simply use a single letter shortcut (given in brackets after title). If there is more than one tool, continue to press the shortcut key until the correct tool is highlighted.

Navigation tools

• Move (V). Use this tools to move layers and selections, either within the image or when moving to another file.
• Zoom (Z). Use Zoom to quickly magnify or reduce the image. Click on the relevant icon or simply press Ctrl/space + "+" or "-". Set the rate of zoom as a percentage in the Tool option bar. With Zoom, the point where the tool is used becomes the center of magnificent.
• Hand (H). To move an enlarged image around, select the Hand tool and then drag the image.
• Eyedropper (I). Use this to select a color by clicking on any point of an open file, or within the color range of the Color Picker. The color will then be shown as a Foreground Color in the Color Picker. To select a background color, hold down the Alt key before clicking.

Selection tools

• Marquee tools (m). Use the Rectangular Marquee tool to make a rectangular selection, and the Elliptical Marquee tool to make a circular  or oval selection. To move the selection, click inside it and drag it. To remove the selection, click on it or outside of it once, with the same selection tool.
• Lasso (L). There are three different Lasso selection tools used for drawing around an object. The normal Lasso is the best for drawing freehand. Magnetic will automatically trace an outline, and Polygonal draws straight lines.
• Magic Wand (W). Use Magic Wand to select an area of similar colored pixels. Simply click within the chosen area.
• Magic Selection (F). Use this to make a selection of different colors and textures, such as when isolating a figure from a scene. (It is only available with Photoshop Elements.)
• Selection brush (A). Use this brush to draw a shape that becomes a selection when the mouse or graphic pen is released.
• Type tools (T). Four different tools are available for adding text. Horizontal is for normal text, while vertical is use to position type downward. There are also two Type Mask tools, again horizontal and vertical, which will make a selection based on text. 

Crop tools

• Crop (C). The crop tools is the most efficient way to select part of an image. to change the crop, or rotate it at any time, drag or twist any of the handles of the bounding box. To make the crop, press the Return key or double-click inside the area.
• Slice tool (K). Use Slice to cut images into sections for uploading onto websites.

Retouching tools

• Healing brush (J). This is one of the main tools for retouching and can be used to remove parts of a shot. As with any brush, set the style, size, and mode in the Tool Option bar. It works best when isolated objects within either a plain or confused background need to be touched out. Select a source point (usually an area just beside the part to be removed) by holding down the Alt key and clicking once. Move the cursor over the offending part and click again to add the selected area, or hold and brush in the blend. By default, "Aligned" in the Tool Options bar is unticked so that, until a new sample point is clicked, it will continue to sample the same source point.
• Spot Healing Brush (J). This works in a similar fashion to the Healing Brush but is easier to use. Simply drag the brush over a small area to be retouched then release mouse button. Providing the background is suitable, the area being retouched will be replaced by the background tone or pattern.
• Red-Eye Removal (J). Use this tool to remove red eye, which sometimes occurs when a direct flash is used for a portrait, resulting in the retinas at the back of the eyes being illuminated. Simply click over each pupil to turn it black. Set the pupil size and the amount of darkening in the Tool Options bar. To prevent the eyes looking naturally dark or wide, set between 50 and 75 percent.
• Patch (J). Use Patch to repair selected areas with pixels from another section. This tool is similar to the Healing Brush.
• Clone Stamp (S). Use the Clone Stamp tool to sample part of a photograph  and then repeat it elsewhere in the shot in the shot or on a different image. Similar to the Healing Brushes, set the size and mode in the Tool Option bar. Click the area to be retouched while holding down the Alt key, release, then brush in elsewhere on the shot. It is especially good for adding a new texture to parts of an image, though this often requires using a lower opacity settings. Be careful not to overuse this tool from the same direction.
• Eraser (E). Use the Eraser to remove part of the image so the layer underneath is seen. It is a single layer, the background color will become visible. Use background eraser to remove to image and the background as well, and magic eraser to remove the similar colored pixels.
• Blur, Sharpen, Smudge (R). These three tools selectively add each effect to just the area being brushed. They are set to 50 percent strength by default, though this be usually be too strong. While selective blurring can sometimes be effective if done subtly, sharpening is usually  best applied to the whole image.
• Dodge, Burn, Sponge (O). Use dodging and burning to create the effects used in a conventional darkroom to selectively lighten and darken ares of a shot. It is important to select whether the Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights are to be affected. Use the Sponge tool to brush in an increase or decrease in color saturation.

Brush, painting, and drawing tools

• Brush (B). Use this tool to brush the tone selected as a Foreground Color in the Color Picker. set the shape, size, mode, and opacity of the brush separately. The Impressionist Brush does not add a color, but instead changes the existing image by applying stylized brush strokes, the idea being to create the impression of different painting styles. Use it with caution, though, if at all.
• Pencil (B). use this tool, which is very similar to the Brush tool, to add the tone selected as a Foreground Color in the Color Picker. It works like a pencil and will give a hard-edge line.
• Color Replacement. Use this to convert the tone brushed in to the Foreground Color.
• History Brush (Y). Use this to brush in parts of a snapshot made in the History palette to the current image.
• Art History Brush (Y). Use this brush in similar way to the History Brush to create an "artistic" brush style.
• Paint Bucket (G). Use Paint Bucket to fill a defined or selected area with the Foreground Color. Simply click within the selection or the open layer.
• Gradient (G). Use to add a gradation, perhaps to make flat skies appear darker toward the top.
• Shape tools (U). There are several different tools to create shapes. Set their color through the Color Picker. Use the Rectangle tool to make simple plain boxes to drop images into, and Line tool for drawing linear shapes.
• Pen tool (P). Use the various Pen tools to draw shapes and lines. Combine them with the Shape tools to make intricate shapes.
• Color Picker. Set the foreground and background colors through the Color picker. Click on either square to change the color. To return them to the default choice of black or white, click on the two small squares on the bottom left, or simply press D as a shortcut. To reserve the background and foreground color, click on the two top right-hand squares or hit the X key on your keyboard.
• Screen modes. Use the Standard Screen Mode to display the normal canvas on screen. The other modes display the image in a full-frame mode against either gray or black
• Internet link. To directly access www.adobe.com when online. click on the top icon-the Adobe Photoshop logo.