Understanding and practicing the use of basic Photoshop tools

Basic Objective | Photoshop

Part 1 Photoshop tools Like most Adobe programs, Photoshop has a Tool palette with tools that help you do various tasks. Click on a tool to select it. If the tool has a small triangle in the lower right corner, click and hold to expose all of the tools available in that space. Each tool is followed by a lesson to help you better understand how the tool is used. Many of these tools work in conjunction with Photoshop’s Option bar as well, found at the top of the workspace in Photoshop 6.0 and higher.

Marquee toolsThe Marquee tools let you make selections in areas of your image you wish to perform an action, such as copying, moving or designating for filtering or manipulation. There are four different Marque tools; rectanglular, elliptical, single row, and single column.

To use the Marquee tool:Open a file.

Select the rectangle Marquee tool, and draw a box around the picture only. When 1. you release the mouse, you will see the “dancing ants” around the picture. Leave this file open and then continue to the Move tool lesson for a continuation of this lesson.

Move toolUse the Move tool to move the entire image area within the layer you have selected. When you have used a selection tool to select an area within the image layer, you can cut out and remove that area with the Move tool.

To use the Move tool:With a selection made, click inside the selection with the Move tool and move the 1. selected part of your image to a different area.To cut and move the selection to a new area, hold down the 2. Control key and then click and drag to a new area.To copy and move the selection to a new area, use 3. Control + Alt and move the selection to a different area. Go to4. File > New and create a new document.With your selection made click, and drag it into the new file. This process is great 5. for making collages!

Lasso toolsThe various Lasso tools help you draw a custom selection out of the image. When you need a perfect selection, using one of the Lasso tools will generally solve your problem. There are three different Lasso tools: the Lasso tool is used to make a free-form selection, the Polygonal Lasso tool allows you to make your path by clicking as you go to make your selection, and the Magnetic Lasso tool allows you to make your selection by dragging along a solid area to create your selection.

basic tools 01Understanding and practicing the use of basic Photoshop tools.


To use the Lasso tool:Select the Lasso tool.1. Click, hold down and drag around the area you want to select.2. When you release the mouse you should have a selection that is flashing.3.

To use the Polygonal Lasso tool:Click the Polygonal Lasso tool.1. Click once for your starting point, then move along the area you want to select and 2. continue clicking to make your selection.Make sure to click on the beginning point to close your selection.3. You should have a selection that is flashing.4.

To use the Magnetic Lasso tool:Click and release on the edge 1. of the object you are wanting to select. Move the mouse slowly around the edge of the object. It should put little nodes 2. (squares) throughout the line. Make sure to close by clicking on the first node that you started. A circle should 3. appear before clicking.When complete you should have a selection that is flashing.4.

Quick Selection & Magic Wand toolsThese tools allow you to select a consistently colored area (for example, a red flower) without having to trace its outline. You specify the color range, or tolerance, for the tool’s selection in the option bar, based on similarity to the pixel you click.

To use the Quick Selection or Magic Wand tool:Open the Mr. Potato Head file.1. Open a new document by going to the file menu and choosing 2. New. The file will need to be the same size as the Mr. Potato Head file. Enter dimensions of 12 x 12 inches and resolution of 180. Use the Quick Selection tool or the Magic Wand to select the items one at a time. 3. You may need to change your settings in the Options bar to help in making your selection.Use the Move tool to drag them to the new document. Each item you drag and drop 4. will create a new layer. Double-click on each layer in the Layers palette to rename it, for example, “eyes,” 5. “arm.”Use 6. Control + T (transform) to resize or rotate each of the items. Remember you will only affect the item on the layer you have selected.

Crop toolUse the Crop tool to remove unwanted areas of the photo. Any image information outside the cropping area is deleted.


To use the Crop tool:Open your photo.1. Select the Crop tool. Click and drag a selection around the area of the photo you want 2. to crop.If you need to adjust the handles to the area, do that at this time.3. Under the Image menu, choose 4. Crop, or double-click in the cropping area to finish the crop.

Healing Brush toolsUse the Healing Brush to fix flaws in your image. Particularly useful for fixing skin flaws, it will take the surrounding pixel area and fill the area with like pixels using a similarity algorithm. The Spot Healing Brush tool (Photoshop CS2) works the same as the Healing Brush tool, but does not require you to sample like pixels to make corrections.

To use the Spot Healing Brush tool:Click on the Spot Healing Brush tool. 1. Open a picture with a blemish. 2. Make the brush a little bigger then the blemish by changing the size of the brush in the 3. Option bar. Then click on the blemish area. This will fix the area by using surrounding colors.Continue to do this to fix any other blemished areas.4.

To use the Healing Brush tool:Click on the Healing Brush tool. 1. Move to an area that you want to match the blemish. Use 2. Alt + click to select the area. It’s best to click right beside the blemish but not on the blemish.Move the tool to the blemish, and click on the blemish. It should remove the blemish 3. and blend it in.

To use the Patch tool:Click the Patch tool in the Tools palette. 1. Click and drag a selection around the area that you want to correct. 2. Click within the selected area and move it by dragging it to an area you want to fill 3. with to cover the area and correct it.

Red Eye toolThe Red Eye tool (Photoshop CS2 and above) is an easy way to correct red eye in images. Red eye is caused by a reflection of the camera flash in the subject’s retina. You’ll see it more often when taking pictures in a darkened room because the subject’s iris is wide open. To avoid red eye, use the camera’s red eye reduction feature or, use a separate flash unit that you can mount on the camera farther away from the camera’s lens.

To use the Red Eye tool:Open an image that has the red eye issue.1. Select the Red Eye tool. 2.


Click in the center of the red eye. If you are not satisfied with the result, undo the 3. correction.Change the pupil size or the darken amount for the results you want. 4.

Paintbrush & Pencil toolsPaint in the canvas with the Paintbrush or Pencil tools. In the Options bar, select your brush size, style and color for painting. The Brush tool creates soft strokes of color. The Pencil tool creates hard-edged lines. Use different brushes to enhance a photo or to create a background. You can find free Photoshop brushes on the internet.

To use the Paintbrush tool:Change your brush by going to the flyout arrow and dropping down to all the preset 1. brushes listed at the bottom.Choose a different brush and start painting on a blank Photoshop file with the new 2. brush.Make some changes to your chosen brush, such as size, mode, opacity and flow 3. in the options area.

To use the Pencil tool:Select the Pencil tool. Set the brush size and color in the Options bar. 1. Click at a starting point and 2. Shift + click at the end point. The Pencil tool will draw a sharp line between the two points.

Clone Stamp toolThis tool creates a cloned area of the image for painting the exact portion of that image in another area.

To use the Clone Stamp tool:Select the Clone Stamp tool.1. Place the tool over the area you want to clone. Use 2. Alt + click to make the selection.Now move your tool over the area and paint the cloned area in the new location.3. You can continue to do this process with different areas that are to be cloned and 4. painted somewhere else. This can also be used with two photos open at one time. You can make your selection 5. using Alt + click on the area you want to copy on one photo and then move to the other file and start painting in what you have cloned.

History Brush toolPainting with the History Brush tool will return your image to its original state in the area where you are painting. This is useful when you have made mistakes in erasing fine edges and need to restore just small portions of the image.


To use the History Brush tool:Select a picture and change it to black and white by choosing image, adjustment, 1. and then black and white.Select a brush mode from the Mode drop-down menu in the Options bar.2. From either the Brush Presets picker on the Options bar, or from the Brushes 3. palette, select a brush size and style. The Airbrush settings also are available for the History Brush. Drag the History Brush over the image to change the part you want to be color.4.

Art History Brush toolThe Art History Brush tool lets you paint with stylized strokes, using the source data from a specific state or snapshot.

To use the Art History brush tool:Start by opening the image you want to paint in Photoshop. 1. Select the Art History Brush tool from the toolbox. It may be hidden under the 2. History Brush tool.On the Tool Options bar, click on the Brush options. Choose a “Splatter brush” from 3. the list of brushes available. Depending on the size of your image, you may need to change it from the default of 66 pixels. For this image, leave the brush size as 66 pixels.On the Tool Options bar, set the style of the Art History Brush tool to Tight Short. (You 4. may want to try out different styles depending on the effect you want to achieve). Set the area to 50 pixels. Also change the opacity to 30%. Click on an area and drag and paint over that area. The image you select will depend 5. on how the effect will look.

Eraser toolsThe Eraser tool changes pixels to either the background color or to transparent. If you’re working in the background or in a layer with transparency locked, the pixels change to the background color; otherwise, the pixels are erased to transparency.When you click in a layer with the Magic Eraser tool, the tool changes all similar pixels to transparent. If you’re working in a layer with locked transparency, the pixels change to the background color. If you click in the background, it is converted to a layer and all similar pixels change to transparent.

To use the Eraser tool:Open a photo.1. Click on the Eraser tool and start erasing an area of your photo.2. Change the size of the eraser by clicking the drop-down arrow next to the brush. 3. Start erasing the water. The background color will be showing as you erase.4. Leave your photo open and continue to the next lesson.5.

To use the Background Eraser tool:Use the already opened photo.1. Click on the Background Eraser tool and start erasing an area on your photo. 2. Change the size of the eraser by clicking the drop-down arrow next to the brush. 3.


Start erasing and the background will show up as you erase.4. Leave your photo open and continue to the next lesson.5.

To use the Magic Eraser tool:Use the already opened photo.1. Select the Magic Eraser.2. Click on the area to be erased in the picture. Note how all similar pixels 3. disappear.

Paint Bucket toolUse the Paint Bucket tool to fill an area with the foreground color. This tool only fills an empty area or area of the same color as that you clicked.

To use the Paint Bucket tool:Open a black and white ClikArt file. 1. Change the file to RGB color by going to Image mode RGB. 2. Choose your color in the foreground color area.3. With the Paint Bucket tool selected, click on the area where you want to change 4. the color. It will drop the color in that area.

Gradient toolThe Gradient tool allows you to apply blended colors in a selected area or within an entire layer. You can create your own gradients or use a library of Photoshop gradients located in the Options bar.

To use the Gradient tool:With the Gradient tool selected, choose the type of gradient you wish to use in the 1. options area.Click and drag over the area you want to apply the gradient.2. Continue to try the different choices you have in the Options bar to see what is 3. available.

Blur, Sharpen and Smudge toolsUse these tools to blur, sharpen or smudge the different areas of a photo. The Blur tool blurs hard edges in an image. The Sharpen tool makes the edges of an image more crisp or hard. The Smudge tool simulates the effect of you rubbing your finger though wet paint.

To use the Blur tool: Select the Blur tool.1. On the Options bar, select brush type and set options for blending mode to normal 2. and strength to 100%.Click and drag over the image area you want to blur.3.


To use the Sharpen tool:Select the Sharpen tool. 1. On the Options bar, select brush type and set options for blending mode to normal 2. and strength to 100%.Click and drag over the image area you want to sharpen. 3.

To use the Smudge tool:Select the Smudge tool.1. On the Options bar, select brush type and set options for blending mode to normal 2. and strength to 100%.Click and drag over the area you want to smudge. 3.

Dodge, Burn and Sponge toolsUsed to lighten or darken areas of the image, the Dodge tool and the Burn tool are based on a traditional photographer’s technique for regulating exposure on specific areas of a print. Photographers hold back light to lighten an area on the print (dodging) or increase the exposure to darken areas on a print (burning). Set the exposure amount of burning and dodging in the Options bar. The more you paint over an area with the Dodge or Burn tools, the lighter or darker it becomes. The Sponge tool subtly changes the color saturation of an area. When an image is in Grayscale mode, the tool increases or decreases contrast by moving gray levels away from or toward the middle gray.

To use the Dodge and Burn tools:Click to select the Dodge tool.1. Change the settings in the Options bar to meet your preferences.2. Click and paint in the area you want to lighten.3. Click to select the Burn tool.4. Change the settings in the Options bar to meet your preferences.5. Click and paint in the area you want to darken.6.

Type toolCreate type with the Type tool. There are three ways to create type: at a point, inside a paragraph, and along a path.

Point type is a horizontal or vertical line of text that begins where you click in the image. Entering text at a point is a useful way to add a few words to your image. Paragraph type uses boundaries to control the flow of characters, either horizontally or vertically. Entering text this way is useful when you want to create one or more paragraphs, such as for a brochure. Type on a path flows along the edge of an open or a closed path. When you enter text horizontally, characters appear along the path perpendicular to the baseline. When you enter text vertically, characters appear along the path parallel to the baseline. In either case, the text flows in the direction in which points were added to the path. If you enter more text than can fit within a paragraph boundary or along a path, a small box or circle containing a plus symbol (+) appears in place of a handle in the corner of the boundary or anchor point at the end of the path.


Clicking in an image with a Type tool puts the Type tool in edit mode. When the tool is in edit mode, you can enter and edit characters as well as perform other commands from the various menus; however, certain operations require that you first commit changes to the type layer. To determine whether a type tool is in edit mode, look in the options bar — if you see the Commit button and the Cancel button, the type tool is in edit mode.

To use the Type tool:Click on your page with the Type tool.1. Click and drag to your desired text box length and height. 2. Now start typing your text.3. You can use the horizontal or vertical Type tools to change your text in the direction 4. you want it.

Pen toolsThese tools allow you to create and modify paths and create shapes.

To use the Pen tool:Select the Pen tool from the Tool palette.1. Click a starting point on the edge of an image.2. Click another point on the edge of the image to create a straight line from the 3. starting point.To create a curved line, click and drag. This will create handles on either side of a 4. point which control the angle and size of the curve.Continue to create connecting points to trace the outline of the image.5. Once you get back to the beginning point, click on the this point to close the 6. selection.Now select your path with the Path Selection tool and continue to the next 7. lesson.

To use the Add Anchor Point tool:With your path selected, choose the Add Anchor Point tool and click on the path in 1. any location to add points.Continue to add points to the path to see how this works.2.

To use the Delete Anchor Point tool:Select the Delete Anchor Point tool.1. Click on some of the points you just added to your selection to delete them.2.

To use the Convert Point tool:Select the Convert Point tool. 1. Click on points to change them from smooth to corner points.2. Now click and drag on some of the same points. This changes the points to curves 3. depending on the amount you drag to create the roundness of the curve.


Shape toolsCreate rectangles, ellipses, polygons and custom shapes with the Shape tools. Use the Options bar to create path shapes, layer mask shapes or pixel shapes in the layer. See the custom shape drop-down for a library of different shapes.

To use the Shape tool:With one of the Shape tools selected, click and drag the size of the shape you wish 1. to place on your page.If you wish to use one of the custom shapes shown at the left, click on the custom 2. shape at the top in the Options bar. Notice the current shape will appear to the right with a drop-down to let you choose a shape to use or to load other shapes.

Path Selection toolUse this tool to move paths created by the Pen or Shape tools. Selecting a path component or path segment displays all of the anchor points on the selected portion, including any direction lines and direction points if the selected segment is curved. Direction points appear as filled circles, selected anchor points as filled squares, and unselected anchor points as hollow squares.

Direct Selection toolUse this tool to move individual points and bezier handles of your paths created by the Pen and Shape tools.

To use the Direct Selection tool:Use the path created in the Pen tool lesson.1. Click on any of the points with the Direct Selection tool and move to adjust the 2. path.Notice the handles that appear. Click on these and drag to change the curve of 3. the path.

Eyedropper toolThis tool will allow you to select a new foreground color or be able to read the mix of a color to match it in another program.

To use the Eyedropper tool:Open an image.1. Select the Eyedropper tool. 2. To change the sample size of the Eyedropper, choose an option from the Sample 3. Size menu. Point Sample reads the precise value of the pixel you click.Do one of the following:4.

To select a new foreground color, click in the image. Alternatively, position your • pointer over the image and drag anywhere on the screen. The foreground color selection box changes dynamically as you drag. Release the mouse button to pick the new color.


To select a new background color, • Alt + click (Windows) or Option + click (Mac OS) in the image. Alternatively, position the pointer over the image, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), click and drag anywhere on the screen. The background color selection box changes dynamically as you drag. Release the mouse button to pick the new color.

Color Sampler toolUse this tool to match specific colors to previous graphics or objects.

To use the Color Sampler tool:Open an image.1. Select the Color Sampler tool.2. Try the following:3.

To move a color sampler, drag the sampler to the new location.•

This will choose the color of where you drag the sampler to. Use this to match • colors that you do not know what the color is.

To delete all color samplers, click • Clear in the Options bar.

To delete a color sampler while an adjustment dialog box is open, hold down • Alt + Shift (Windows) or Option + Shift (Mac OS), and click the sampler.

Ruler toolRulers help you position images or elements precisely. When visible, rulers appear along the top and left side of the active window. Markers in the ruler display the pointer’s position when you move it. Changing the ruler origin (the (0, 0) mark on the top and left rulers) lets you measure from a specific point on the image. The ruler origin also determines the grid’s point of origin.

To show or hide rulers, choose View > Rulers.

To use the Ruler tool:Open a crooked image.1. Select the Measure tool from the Tool palette.2. Place the tool in the lower left corner of the image. Click and drag moving left to 3. right, following the bottom edge of the image. Release the mouse button at the lower right corner of the image.

Now straighten the image:

Select 1. Image > Rotate Canvas > Arbitrary.The angle that was measured using the Measure tool will already be present in the 2. Rotate Canvas dialog.Click 3. OK.


Zoom toolUse the Zoom tool to click and zoom into your canvas for a close-up. Use the Alt or Option key and click to zoom out. You can also zoom in and out of the canvas using Ctrl + or Ctrl - (Windows), or Command + and Command - (Mac).

Hand toolUse the Hand tool to move the canvas area within the window. This is useful when you are working at a high level of zoom. Hold down the Spacebar to access the Hand tool more conveniently.

To use the Hand tool and Zoom tool:Open an image.1. Click on the Zoom tool and then click on your page several times to zoom in.2. Click on the Hand tool, then click on the image. Click and drag the page around to 3. view an area you want.Change back to the Zoom tool. Use the 4. Alt key and click on an area to zoom out.

Foreground and Background color selectorsClick the squares at the bottom of the Tool palette to set your foreground and background colors. These affect your Paintbrush tool colors and the canvas background color when you erase in the background layer. Swap these colors using the swap arrows, and set the colors to default black and white by clicking the small default icon, or click the letter D on the keyboard.

Quick Mask modeWhen you create a marquee selection, you can change your canvas to Quick Mask mode to see the marquee as a painted pink area. Paint with black or erase in the pink Quick Mask area to modify the selection. Once you return to Normal mode, you will see your modified marquee.

To use the Quick Mask mode:Open an image.1. Click the Quick Mask button to change to the quick mask mode.2. Choose the Paint Brush tool and change the brush settings to a hard brush and 3. size. Draw a line to choose the area you want to make your selection. Make sure to connect back to the beginning point.Change to the Paint Bucket tool and click in the center of your selection to fill.4. Click on the Quick Mask button to change your area to a selection. You should 5. now have marching ants around the selected area. This can be used for creating clipping paths.

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Understanding and practicing the use of basic Photoshop tools