Graphics Zone - Getting Organized

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Getting Organized in Photoshop

by BarryHilton, Adult NetSurprise

In this tutorial we'll be setting up Photoshop to make it easier to work with and showing some essential short cuts and icons that will speed up your work! Click Here to view the Starting Photoshop Default Menu Set-Up.

You can move all the menus around by clicking and dragging on the top blue bar of each menu block... Click Here to view Screen Shot with Instructions. This is useful if you are left handed for example, and would like the main menus on the left side of the screen instead of the default right side.

To speed up your work in Photoshop you need the menus you use most displayed on the screen at all times. To do this you need to break-up the default menu blocks or palettes. Clicking and dragging on any menu tab will move it's position, dragging a tab outside its menu block will make a new block... Click Here to view Screen Shot with Instructions.

Before we start assembling the menu blocks we need, split up all the default menu blocks into single menus, like this...Click Here to view Screen Shot with Instructions.

If you work at a screen resolution of 1024x768 or higher you'll see a grey box in the top right corner of the screen. You can store any menus here that you don't use very often, but would like handy! (The menus only appear when clicked on, and disappear again after use) Click Here to view Screen Shot with Instructions.

Drag any other menus that you don't use often into the box, keep adding menus until it's full. If you put too many menus in the grey box they become difficult to read... Click Here to view Screen Shot with Instructions.

Normally you use the Layers menu most, so position this menu in the top right of the screen... Click Here to view Screen Shot with Instructions.

I use the History menu a lot to go back through steps if I want to correct or change anything I've done previously, so I've added the History menu next to the Layers menu. Finally, I've added the Channels menu that is used for transparency effects... Click Here to view Screen Shot with Instructions. All three menus require more space than the standard 'palette' sized menus and benefit from being placed together.

Now, position the Swatches menu below the Layers menu to make our next menu block... Click Here to view Screen Shot with Instructions.

I don't use Navigator, Styles or the Color menus very often, so I'm not going to include them in our Swatches menu block. But, there are two menus that aren't included in the Default set-up that I use very often, the Character and Paragraph menus. Look through the Windows drop down menu at the top of the screen to see if there are any menus that aren't displayed that you use a lot. Select Show XXX, to display the relevant menu... Click Here to view Screen Shot with Instructions.

I've dragged the Character and Paragraph menus into the Swatches menu block, then closed the remaining three menus that I'm not using... Click Here to view Screen Shot with Instructions.

Next, I've dragged the Swatches menu block to the bottom of the screen and resized the Layers menu block so it's much larger (displaying around 10 Layers ata time) and quicker to navigate... Click Here to view Screen Shot with Instructions.

lastly, we've put together the essential shortcuts and information for speeding up your Photoshop design work Screen 1, Screen 2 and Screen 3 Each screen contains important buttons, icons and information that will help with your designs :o)

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Set up Photoshop to make it EASY for YOU and have fun with your work!