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*** DesignGeek ***
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Tips and techniques for the digital designer
In this issue:
-- My Top Ten Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts
-- Fun with Illustrator Pattern Fills, Part 2
-- One More YouTube!
Issue 66, 10/12/07
Written by Anne-Marie "HerGeekness" Concepcion
... for her clients, colleagues, random contacts and interested subscribers
(c) 2007 Seneca Design & Training, Inc.
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My Top Ten Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts
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Not including the single-key shortcuts for items in the Tools palette, here are the Adobe Photoshop keyboard shortcuts I find most useful. It says "Top Ten" but there's actually a bunch more that I included in each item, variations of the main one. Did I leave your favorite(s) out of the list? E-mail me and I'll include them in an upcoming issue.
To keep things simple, I'll use Mac shortcut keys. If you're on Windows, just think "Control key" when I say "Command" and "Alt" when I say "Option."
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1. Undo/Redo again and again
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Command-Option-Z to step back through time, Command-Shift-Z to step forward after stepping back.
It's frustrating to me that I can't just keep pressing Command-Z to undo multiple times as I can in InDesign, but there ya go. Photoshop's Command-Z only undoes the most recent action. However, Command-Option-Z serves as both a regular Undo as well as an Undo again. My History palette is gathering dust.
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2. Cycle through layers
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Option-[ selects next layer down, Option-] selects next layer up
Amazing how much time you save groping for the mouse and the Layers palette just knowing these two guys.
In the more recent versions of Photoshop, you can add the Shift key to select multiple layers -- Shift-Option-[ or ]. That's handy if you want to do a Free Transform (see #4 below) on multiple layers.
Let me jam in a couple more layer shortcuts that I use all the time: To add a layer, press Command-Shift-N. To skip the New Layer dialog box while you're doing so, press Command-Shift-Option-N. And to make a selection into a new layer, press Command-J.
I count 45 entries in the "Keys for Using the Layers palette" keyboard shortcuts page in the Photoshop CS3 Help file (my faves above are the tip of the iceberg). But not one of the shortcuts is a mouse-free method of showing/hiding a layer. Sigh. The closest you can get is Option-clicking on a layer's eyeball to toggle between a) hiding all other layers except that one, or b) showing all layers including that one.
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3. Increase/decrease brush size
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[ (left bracket) to make it smaller, ] to make it bigger
Oh how I hate the brush diameter slider. This is way faster for us Wacom stylus-deprived users, and it works with any tool that uses a Brush or Pencil, including the Eraser, the Clone Stamp, Spot Healing, etc.
Add the Shift key while pressing [ and ] to just change the brush's Hardness without changing its size. Watch the Option bar at the top to preview the amount of softness/hardness as you tap the keys. Press the number keys to change the brush's opacity.
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4. Free Transform
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Command-T
Pressing this shortcut puts a temporary frame and handles around a selection -- or around all the opaque pixels on the active layer(s) if nothing is selected -- allowing you to scale, rotate, and distort (use the Command key as you drag a handle to distort) the artwork.
Want to transform a copy of the selection or layer, leaving the original intact? Press Command-Option-T instead.
Press Esc if you want to start over, press Return/Enter if you want to apply your changes. (You'll have to do one or the other to get out of Free Transform mode.)
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5. Escape Text Editing Mode
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Enter key (PC users: Control-Enter or Numeric Enter)
While you're editing text, you can't use a keyboard shortcut that doesn't include a modifier because the shortcut letters just get added to the text you're writing. Use the Enter key to get out of the mode, then you can use any keyboard shortcut you want. Click inside the text with the Type tool (shortcut is T) to continue editing.
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6. Deselect and Reselect
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Command-D, Command-Shift-D
The Deselect shortcut is so second nature to me I almost forgot to include it. But did you know you can press Command-Shift-D to reselect? Photoshop remembers the last set of marching ants, even if you've done a bunch of other stuff to the image since then.
Remember you can do a Free Transform on a selection itself -- not its pixels, just the selection boundaries -- by choosing Transform Selection from the Select menu. There's no keyboard shortcut for it unless you add one yourself from Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.
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7. New File from Selection
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Command-C, N, Return/Enter, V, E
You heard me! After you make a selection, keep the Command key held down and press the listed keys in sequence (not all at the same time). The end result is a new file, perfectly sized, containing a flattened copy of your selection. I do this a lot when I'm testing masks or extracting a channel to use as a grayscale image or texture.
No, you don't *need* the Command key pressed when you hit Return/Enter, but it's fun to just lean on it the whole time... it doesn't harm anything. You'll need it for the V (the Paste) and the final, optional E (Merge Down).
The initial Command-C copies whatever is selected in the current layer. If you want to copy whatever's in the selection from *all* the layers, press Command-Shift-C (Copy Merged) instead of just Command-C while doing the shortcut sequence.
Of course, if you just want a flattened copy of the whole layered image, it's fastest to choose Image > Duplicate and turn on the Duplicate Merged Layers Only check box.
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8. Zoom In and Out
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Command-+ (plus), Command-- (minus/hyphen)
Photoshop CS3's default is to resize the window as you zoom in or out. I think in earlier versions, the window didn't resize by default, the image just got bigger or smaller within it. It's a Preference setting.
In any case, adding the Option key to the shortcut toggles it to the "other" behavior. So in CS3, Command-Option-+ zooms in without resizing the window.
To zoom into a specific area on the fly, hold down the Spacebar (so this won't work if you're editing text) and *then* add the Command key, giving you a temporary Zoom tool. With Spacebar-Command held down, drag a Zoom marquee around the area and then release the mouse button. The area that you marqueed fills the window.
We all know that Command-0 (zero) shows the entire image in the window, yes? So does double-clicking the Hand tool, which also changes the window size. Either is a good "home base" to start zooming in from.
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9. Scrolling with Mr. Spanky
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Spacebar-drag
You can press the Spacebar at any time (again, except while editing text) to get a temporary Hand tool, aka Mr. Spanky. Keep the spacebar depressed as you drag the image around in the window to reveal other areas of it. (Of course, if the window is already showing the entire image, nothing will happen.) Mr. Spanky is a lot faster than the scroll bars. Mr. Spanky is your friend.
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10. Preview
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F (and F, and F, and F) and maybe a Tab
Oh, you know the F key loves it, so just keep tapping it to cycle through various Preview modes in Photoshop. You'll see the palettes, tool bar and Option bar stick around during all this, so remember you can always press the Tab key to hide them, good for a slide show. Press Tab again to bring all of it back. Use Shift-Tab to only hide/show the big fat palettes on the right, keeping the Tools and Option bar revealed.
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All Photoshop CS3 Shortcuts
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Here's a single web page that nicely organizes all the shortcuts in Photoshop CS3. Go ahead, count the ones for the Layers panel ... yup, there's 45 of them!
http://www.keyxl.com/aaac987/148/Adobe-Photoshop-CS3-keyboard-shortcuts.htm
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Fun with Illustrator Pattern Fills, Part 2
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Last month, investigating a new user's single, innocent question about Illustrator ("Does it have any patterns other than the ones in the default Swatches palette?") led me to hours of playing around with patterns in Adobe Illustrator CS3 and tons of new discoveries. There was so much I wanted to share with you, I had to break the article up into two parts.
In the previous issue's Part 1 of the story, I covered Illy's Pattern Swatch Libraries (the answer to the user's question); Making Your Own Patterns; Turning Symbols into Patterns, and Editing and Updating Patterns.
You can read all that in DesignGeek 65:
http://senecadesign.com/designgeek/dgarchives/designgeek65.php
Since then I've been compelled to show users how easy it is to create patterns (just drag and drop a selection of artwork into the Swatches panel) to fill other shapes with, and really enjoy seeing their jaws drop, even seasoned Illustrator users like myself who haven't paid much attention to patterns.
I'll get to Part 2 topics in a second. First, I want to share some reader feedback from Part 1.
Donna wrote in to suggest that I mention (if I hadn't been planning to already, she said ... so diplomatic! heh ... thanks...) that users keep in mind that pattern fills may cause output problems, because they're so memory- and processor-intensive. In other words, patterns can be a lot of information for a RIP to handle; and sometimes you -- or worse, your print provider -- will end up with a PostScript error. (And, as Donna points out, how many billable hours will it take the pre-press guys to figure out the glitch is caused by a pattern fill?)
So true, Donna, and thanks for reminding me. Adobe covers pattern fills in a great TechNote, "Creating efficient files and improving print performance (Illustrator CS2 and CS3):"
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=311742&sliceId=2
The TechNote recommends that if you think a pattern is going to cause a problem, you should expand it (Object > Expand) in the final artwork before saving it. See the section below (where yes, I had been planning on talking about it) on Distorting Pattern Fills for more info.
My friend David Creamer, owner of IDEAS Training in southern California, also e-mailed me after reading last month's issue, to alert me that CS3's new Live Color feature works on pattern fills. That means you can recolor patterns without needing to edit the base pattern tile (as I had mistakenly explained was the only way to change the colors in a pattern fill).
Man, how could I miss this? After reading David's e-mail, I immediately opened the Illustrator file I had been using to test patterns with, and checked it out. Very cool! I'll cover that first.
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Recolor Pattern Fills (CS3 only)
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If you've seen any Illustrator CS3 demos, I'm sure you'll remember the uber-cool Live Color feature. That's the new dialog box that lets you recolor artwork on the fly via a fascinating interface and breakthrough tools, all based on color groups and harmony rules. To my mind Adobe could've sold it as a separate product all together, but I'm happy that they chose to introduce it by integrating it throughout Illustrator CS3.
To use the Live Color dialog box, select your pattern-filled object(s) and choose Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork, or choose Edit Colors from the fly-out menu in the new Color Guides panel. Make sure that the Recolor Artwork check box at the bottom of the dialog box is enabled, and start adjusting the colors.
Now, explaining exactly *how* to adjust colors with Live Color is another matter. There are an overwhelming number of options. I suggest you begin by watching Brenda Sutherland's five-minute video tutorial, free on Adobe's web site:
Using Recolor Art to Change Colors in Illustrations
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/?id=vid0061
Brenda uses a clip-art illustration as an example, but everything she shows can also be done to the colors contained in a pattern-filled object.
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Pattern Transform Preference
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When you fill something with a pattern, what Illustrator actually does is fill the entire document with the pattern but uses the object's shape as a kind of clipping path or mask. So as you drag the filled object around on the artboard, it's like moving a window around ... the pattern is stationary, just different parts of it are revealed as you move the clipping path around. When you scale an object with the Scale or Free Transform tool, the pattern doesn't scale.
If you don't like that, and would prefer that the pattern move and transform with the object, open Illustrator's Preferences dialog box and in the General section, turn on Transform Pattern Tiles. This might be on by default already ... but now you know that if you *don't* want the pattern to scale or rotate when you use one of the transform tools, you should turn this preference off. It won't change anything in existing pattern-filled artwork, just things you do from now on, until you change the preference again.
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Manually Transforming Pattern Fills
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Regardless of the state of this preference setting, you can always override it by using the Transform dialog boxes (instead of the tools) in the Object menu. Each of these dialogs -- Move, Rotate, Reflect, Shear and Scale -- has a checkbox that lets you specify if you want the transformation to be applied to the object and the pattern, or just the pattern, or just the object. The Preview checkbox lets you see the results as you play with the settings.
By turning off the "Object" checkbox and leaving "Pattern" enabled, you can use these dialog boxes to transform *just the pattern* and not the shape. For example, if you want to vary the size of the pattern tiles from one pattern-filled object to the next, select one of the filled shapes and choose Object > Transform > Scale. Enable just the Pattern checkbox here and you can scale the fill until it looks just right. Ditto for the other transform commands in Object menu.
Not into dialog boxes? You can use the transform tools to transform just the pattern of a filled shape, if you can remember to hold down the Tilde key (right below the Esc key) as you use them on a selected object.
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Distorting, Warping, and Other Perversions
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Going beyond the basic transforms, the easiest way to have a pattern distort in concert with distorting the object shape is with one of the Object > Envelope Distort commands.
First, make sure that you turn on the Distort Pattern Fills checkbox in the Object > Envelope Distort > Envelope Options dialog box. Otherwise it won't work.
Then select the pattern-filled object and choose one of the Envelope commands, like Warp or Mesh. Nice and simple, and the pattern's still "live" so you can edit and update it, as I detailed in the previous issue. This does tax Illustrator's processing power, though, and when you try to print it, your local laser printer may get up, walk over to you and say, "You have got to be kidding me" as it dumps the PostScript code in your lap and leaves in a snit.
We don't want that to happen. So I'd recommend that when you're happy with the final distortion, copy it to another document for safekeeping (in case you need to tweak it later) and in the actual file, expand it (Object > Expand). The artwork retains its appearance and its paths and fills are editable, but it's no longer an editable effect or pattern fill, so it should print much more easily.
Now, Live Effects (those cool things from the Effects menu like Twist, Pucker & Bloat, and so on) are another matter. Technically, these are actually *path* effects, not *fill* effects. So they'll work on pattern-filled shapes, but the fill won't be "effected" (ouch) only the shape containing it.
I double-checked this with Illustrator guru Mordy Golding, author of the recent Real World Illustrator books (CS3 just came out), who maintains a enjoyable companion blog and videocast:
Real World Illustrator
http://rwillustrator.blogspot.com/
Mordy confirmed this, though he added that the 3D Effects (Extrude and Bevel, Revolve, Rotate) will distort pattern fills because it flattens (expands) the fills as it renders the 3D image. Better get a very fast computer, though, to experiment with it!
If you really need to Twist or Bloat the pattern as well as the shape, you'll have to expand it first (Object > Expand) before you apply the effect. The problem is that when you expand a pattern fill, it turns into a mountain of selected objects, so it's almost impossible to judge when the Effect settings are just right. You have to apply the Effect and then wait a few seconds (or minutes) while Illustrator works on it, then deselect the shape to see the results.
When you're satisfied with the artwork, be sure and Expand it one more time to convert the live effect into permanent artwork, as explained above, to avoid output problems.
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One More YouTube!
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In the previous DesignGeek, I thought I had written up all the "YouTubes for DesignGeeks" I had been bookmarking for the last few months.
This morning as I was clearing out my bookmark slush-pile, I found one more. Can't believe I forgot to include it, it's one of my favorites (you may have been one of the 330,000 plus who have already seen it).
Caution: The sound track is from Quentin Tarantino's movie, Pulp Fiction, so there's STRONG language! Turn down your audio first if there are people around who might not appreciate it.
Pulp Fiction in Typography
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syf8olcM0z4&NR
It's a fascinating video; you've got to check it out.
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DesignGeek is a free monthly publication written by Anne-Marie "HerGeekness" Concepcion, a cross-media designer and authorized Adobe and Quark training provider. She owns Seneca Design & Training, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois (http://www.senecadesign.com/).
Anne-Marie also writes InCopyFlow (for InDesign/InCopy workflow users), free subscription at
http://senecadesign.com/designgeek/incopy.html
... and writes InDesign tips at the blog she co-hosts with David Blatner, InDesignSecrets, at
http://indesignsecrets.com
To subscribe to DesignGeek or read archived issues, go to its home on Seneca's site:
http://www.senecadesign.com/designgeek/
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Contact Seneca by phone at 312-946-1100 or e-mail at info@senecadesign.com
Copyright 2007 by Seneca Design & Training, Inc.
Please forward without cutting. Please contact Seneca for reprint permissions. We don't guarantee accuracy of articles. Company or product names mentioned in DesignGeek may be registered trademarks, we use the names in an editorial fashion with no intention of infringement.
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