crumbs of enlightenment: a search for tips

[killing.people]

this is rather out of left feild,
but i would like to share some tips i found very fun to know dealing with 2d and 3d digital artwork. i betcha you guys have something to share i could use as well, if you give it just a second, some valued crumbs might come to mind.

i know photoshop the best out of what i know, so i will share some tips for it first. i may add more here later.

friendly photoshop(7) tips i use frequently:

1.> ctrl+h: will hide the "marching ants" of a selection

2.> when using the brush tool,
a.) holding down alt will turn the brush icon into the eyedropper tool.
b.) capslock's on/off status will toggle the icon's appearance
c.) the "< >" keys will toggle through brush types.
d.) the "[ ]" keys will adjust the brush's size.

3.> ctrl+j will duplicate your current layer and place it 'oneup' on your layer stack.

4.> ctrl+e will "merge below" - combining the layer with just the layer beneath it.

5.> with an area selected, shift+ctrl+c will "copy merged" a selection, which copies everything with in the selection, as if it had been "flattened".

6.> alt+[ will select 'onedown' alt+] will select 'oneup' in your layer hierarchy - this is good for creating "actions" (or macros)

7.> with the numlock on, the numbers on the numpad are hotkeys for a brushes opacity, for example:
1 = 10%, 05 = 5%, 0 = 100%, 23(quickly) = 23%

8.> holding alt and clicking inbetween two layers will "group with previous" - this places the top image inside of the opaque portion of the lower layer, kind like a mask.

9.> finding the "transparency lock button", it is located in the layers window - when the transparency is locked, you cannot paint on the transparent areas and stay clean.

10.> the f key will toggle 3 different view modes - painting fullscreen and knowing the hotkeys for tools and menus really kicks ass.

11.> tab will hide your menu windows

12.> F5 - F9 will show/hide certain menus like color, layers, history - good with fullscreen and hidden menu windows

i used these all the time, i hope something was new to you. until next time!

[Darkstrider]

Wow thanks man! Just what I needed! :)

[MindCandyMan]

I'm more familiar with painter so this helps a ton thanks killing you rule!

[SirRon]

In addition to changing the brush sizes using the "[ ]" Hold down shift to soften or harden the brush.

Soften Edge-- shift+[
Harden Edge-- shift+]

I'll probably use that hot key less once I get my wacom :D

killing.people: Thanks for the list, learned a couple new ones

[Gonzo]

Photoshop CS:

Space Bar + left-clicking + drag = Pan Tool

For the buttons that have multiple tools (Ex. R = Smudge, Sharpen, Blur), holding down Shift + R will cycle through those tools that are assigned to the R hotkey.

[strych9ine]

Ctrl + alt + ~ selects the luminosity of the image. Copying and pasting this to a new layer brings out brightness where it is supposed to be and leaves the shadows dark.

Ctrl + alt + shift + e makes a composite stamp of all of your layers on any layer you choose instead of having to flatten the image.

[Crithon]

Awesome, hotkeys killing.people. I've been using Photoshop for over 7 years and even I learn something new with Photoshop everday. That's why I love it sooooooo much

[Waster]

Transparency lock button saves the day for me now. Thanks!

[killing.people]

awesome guys! thanks! here are some more:

from my friend "adammectley" (Maya):
(i am not sure how accurate these are, i am not a maya user)
1. G is last tool. This speeds up your work immeasurably.
2. Ctrl+Shift+left click on a menu item adds the tool to your shelf.
3. Insert switches between manipulating the pivot and the object.
4. F2 through F5 changes your menu bar (animation, modeling, etc.).
5. Shift+W, E, or R sets keys only on translation, rotation, or scale channels, respective with the hotkey that changes to that tool.
6. V+middle mouse snaps selection to vertex, X+middle mouse to grid, C+middle mouse to curve/edge (this one you have to make the selection, hold on C, then middle click right on the curve to which you wnat to snap).
7. Ctrl+A toggles between your attribute editor and channel box.
8. Ctrl+middle click on an axis of a gizmo disables that gizmo when transforming (i.e. uniform 2-axis scaling, restrivting to y-z plane of movement, etc.).
9. F9-F12 changes component selection type (vertex, edge, face, UV). Alt+F9 changes to vertex-face
10. Ctrl+F9-F12 converts the selection to the respective type. For example, if you have a loop of edges selected and want to cluster them, hit Ctrl+F9 to convert the selection to vertices.
11. F8 toggles between component and object mode (way faster than using the marking menu).

(he adds to #8 on my first list {photoshop7})
Ctrl+G will also group with previous (with top layer selected).


not sure what version of photoshop, but this was from "poopinmymouth" (insane artist) (Photoshop?:
12. ctl [ ] will move your layer up and down (kp: alt in 7 as far as i know)
13. holding down space will let you move your window
14. holding down space will let you move a marquee selection or line in mid draw without disrupting your drawing of the shape
15. ctrl d will deselect current selection
16. ctrl clicking on a layer selects its contents
17. ctrl shift clicking a layer, adds its contents area to the current selection
18. ctrl alt click subtracts layers contents from current selections
19. ctrl shft alt click a layer shrinks current selection to the layers contents that lie within current selection.
20. ctrl alt d is shortcut for feather

this is from "marine" (Photoshop6-maybe7?) :
21. transparency lock is bound to / in ps6, might be in ps7 and 8 too

some of these are so obvious, i wouldn't remember to bring them up, but this is a good thing to know about photoshop! from "mr.toast" (Photoshop7):
22. in photoshop if you lack the skills of drawing a straight line with a mouse, with any tool hold shift down when you stroke and the line will be perfectly straight, if you want straight diagnol lines, hold shift down and click where you want the line to begin, then while holding shift click where you want the line to end and it will draw a straight line in the direction you want, very useful for drawing clothing seams if you lack a wacom

this is a cool one from a bad ass that calls himself "mop" (i haven't tried this one, but sounds cool!) (Max 5+):
23. Also, in 3dsmax 5+, holding down CTRL and clicking on a sub-object icon in Editable Poly will convert your selection from what it was to what you are clicking.
So if you have a face selected, and hold down CTRL and click the vertex icon, it will select all verts that make up the face.
Most people probably already know that but just in case, eh?

thanks again guys! more to come!

-killing.retinas

[Gonzo]

Don't have much time, but here's some for Max:

Number Keys 1-6 = Sub-Object Mode (Vertex, Edge, Face, Polygon, Element, and Sub-Object Exit)

Middle Mouse Button = Pan
Alt-W = Full screen viewport
Shift-Z = Viewport Undo (Priceless!!!)

Ctrl-C = Connect (Not sure if this is default....)

Enjoy!

[loken]

The [] and shift+[] keys work really nicely when binded to your stylus' two buttons towards the tip.

I guess if you dont want to change sizes without changing the spacing you could also bind <> for changing the brush to those buttons as well.

[Velo]

These photoshop tips are awsome! I've never thought about hotkeys in PS, but these look immensely useful. ;)

[killing.people]

from "loken": custom stylus buttons/photoshop
The [] and shift+[] keys (kp: brush size and edge softness hotkeys) work really nicely when binded to your stylus' two buttons towards the tip.

GmanX: photoshop
d will set black foreground/white background colour

x will swap foreground /background colour

if you generate clouds on a 640 square canvas (or multiple thereof)the image will tile seamlessly


tips from "mandarin":
Photoshop CS hotkeys: http://joshuanoble.com/random/PSCSKeyboardShortcuts.pdf

Other versions: http://www.digitalretouch.org/hotkeys.html


There are ways to streamline file dialogs, too--I used to waste a lot of time making my way around project directory structures to save/load crap. You might waste 5 seconds per file operation, but that adds up pretty fast over the course of the week. Both of these utilities add buttons on common file dialogs to select from a specified list of folders (check out the QuickFolders page for a better idea of what I mean). Personally, I use Access Folders. It has a system hotkey to show you the same folder list to open an explorer window.

Access Folders - http://www.shelltoys.com/access_folders/index.html
QuickFolders - http://www.bytegems.com/quickfolders.shtml

You can customize the five-icon list of folders on the left side of Windows XP file dialogs too. Use Tweak UI from Microsoft ( http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp ). I believe QuickFolders has tools to change these, too.

and here are some just fun ones to know:
(windows) the "printscreen" button will take a screen capture and store the image in your clipboard.
if you open a new canvas in photoshop, the canvas's dimensions will be that of the printscreen capture.
edit > paste to paste the contents of your clipboard onto your canvas.
"Alt+printscreen" : captures the active window

"windows key"+M : minimizes all windows
"windows key"+D : view desktop (same thing)

"windows key"+U : opens utility manager. some stupid options in here. the narrator is fun.

[Aerythes]

Thanks for these shortcuts, everyone. :) I've a photoshop question: Is it possible to make the cursor the inverse color of the place where it's at? Sometimes, it's really hard to see the cursor if the picture is somewhere in the color of 50% gray...

[Boom]

Great tips. Maybe some one could put all of these in one single post, so we can look them through more easily and leave out dublicates (not sure if there's any)...

One thing I use alot is the Action hotkeys which can be assigned ANY command within PS to do a certain task. ie. my F12 key mirrors the highlighted dokument horizontally. F11 brings up the un-sharp mask filter menu. F10 desaturates the layer/dokument, etc. you name it.



How to set this up: (in this example i'll do a simple 'Flip canvas horizontally' and add the command to the F12 key)

- Open a new dokument (not all ps features are accessable without a dokument open).
- Go to the actions menu (located together with the 'history' and 'tool presents' menus. If not, go to Window in the top bar and click on 'actions')
- In the actions menu, hit the small arrow in the top right corner. In the roll down menu press: New action.
- A pop up menu appears. Name your new Action : 'Mirror Horiz'. Under Set you should leave the selected at default actions.atn. Select f12 in the function key roll down menu. You can give the action a color if you want. Orange is hot! ;)
- when ready hit the Record button.
- Now PS is in record mode. Go to image/Rotate canvas and select - 'Flip canvas horizontal'. Take notice that the command is added under your 'Mirror horiz' action item!
- If it is - then hit the little square (stop) at the buttom of the Actions menu.
- You're set! Now try it out on your 250MB multilayered PS painting and go make some coffea while you wait! :)

And you can even do ctrl/shift combinations of those keys to allow for more hotkeys.

that's it. Ofcourse Actions can consist of multiple commands, which I guess it was meant for in the first place. This way of using Action keys is however more cool! ;)

[pabh]

Some awesome crumbs here. I'll just add one I learnt in college, if you are converting an image from RGB to CMYK (to print it for example), you should convert it to LAB colour first (i.e. RGB>LAB>CMYK) as it goes someway to stopping the colour shift.

[bardaux]

Thanks for these shortcuts, everyone. :) I've a photoshop question: Is it possible to make the cursor the inverse color of the place where it's at? Sometimes, it's really hard to see the cursor if the picture is somewhere in the color of 50% gray...


Not sure which version it happened in, but I think that as long as you go to preferences [Ctrl+K] and got to Cursors, setting the cursor to Normal brush will do this.


If that still doesn't work, another tip for whenever your cursor gets lost is to quickly hit Spacebar. This just brings up the Hand, but it's more visible.


Now some shortcuts:

Image Size dialog: ctrl+alt+i

Canvas Size dialog: ctrl+alt+c

Lasso: L -- If lassoing like the cowboy you are, and you want to quickly select along a straight edge, hold alt and it will temporarily become the Polygon Lasso tool

Smooth a lasso selection: after lassoing, hit Q and go to filter>Median

Color picker: This tool's settings determine the tolerance for the colormixer's color picker and range of magic wand selection

Magic wand: This tool's tolerance affects the value of range on the Select>Similar command

Scrub fields: CS and above let you increase field values by dragging on the field title, BUT you can also hold Shift to make it change faster.

Toolbox: Click the tiny grey rectangle above the feather to collapse the box!

Zoom: Full Size: ctrl+alt+0 or double-click zoom tool - Fitting to window: ctrl+0 -- If you are in free transform and the transformee is bigger than the canvas, this will fit the view to the size of the object

Fill selection: Shift+backspace

Duplicate selection and transform: Ctrl+alt+t

Math: You can type simple math in the text fields of CS2 [ex:300*4, 256+87, 1800/13]

Find a color in curve dialog: Open Curves and ctrl+click on the color in the image to make a point on curve line

Straighten an image: Grab ruler tool [dropdown Eyedropper (I)] and drag along edge you want aligned. Image>canvas>rotate canvas>arbitrary. Computer fills in angle for you.

BETTER straigtening for scans: Scan images [even works for multiple per scan] and File>automate>crop and straighten photos

Flip through images: Ctrl+tab

Decrease effect of an action: After doing a filter/brush/any pixel adjustment, you can go to edit>fade [ctrl+shift+f] to change its opacity/blend

Quick magical in-program presentation! F+F+tab. The tools are still useable, just no pallettes/menus. Also useful if you want as much image real-estate as possible and are handy with the shorcuts you're learning. F+tab to exit mode.

Undo AFTER a save?!?!: yes, ctrl+alt+z a bit and you will undo to before your save

Copy layer effects: alt+drag the "f" icon on a layer to another. Also works for masks

Toggle through blend modes: while in move tool [v] just do "shift"+"+"

Layer Opacity minus the clicking: While in the move tool, hit a number on your numpad [0=100%, 1=10%, 2=20%, 52 quickly = 52%]

View the mask: alt+click the mask image. Click anywhere else in Layers to exit. Hit \ with mask selected to view as red pixel overlay



Any shortcuts you haven't found or are looking for or want to change, you can personalize your own by edit>keyboard shortcuts


Hooray to "Photoshop CS2 killer tips" for a number of those