5 Ways To Work Faster in Photoshop

Posted May 8th, 2008 · 2 appreciated comments. Add yours!

Here are some helpful hints, tips and tools to increase your productivity level in photoshop:

  1. Hot Keys: Using hot keys can reduce a lot of clicking when designing in photoshop. Here are a few that I use most regularly and what they do.
    • CTRL + “N” = Create New Document
    • CTRL + "W" = Close Current Document
    • CTRL + "A" = Select All or Current Layer for Pasting
    • CTRL + "C" = Copy Current Selected Layer
    • CTRL + Shift + "C" = Copy All Layers and Merge Them
    • CTRL + "V" = Paste Copied Information in Clipboard
    • CTRL + Shift + "V" = Paste Inside a Selected Area
    • CTRL + "B" = Bold Text
    • "T" = Text Tool
    • "W" = Magic Wand Tool
    • "U" = Shape Tool
    • "D" = Stamp Tool
    • CTRL + Shift + ALT + "S" = Save For Web
    • there are many more, what ones do you use?
  2. Use Masks Rather Than Eraser!
    Here’s a very helpful video with a side of humour!


  3. Use New Layers Rather Than Painting on Image Layers
    Let’s say you have a photograph and you want to add some blue color to the horizon.

    WRONG WAY:
    Clicking on the paintbrush tool, choosing the blue color and painting all over your photograph layer

    RIGHT WAY:
    CTRL + SHIFT + "N" = Create New Layer (another hot key!). Now start painting! Even give it a name, "Blue Paint Layer"

  4. Save Document Presets!
    Do you design ads, websites, flyers etc a lot and each time you have to create the dimensions from scratch?! Well, often you will be designing material that has the same width and height as a document you already created. Save a preset and save time!

  5. Batch Scripts! (what, you didn’t know?!)
    Let’s say we’ve got 20 images that we took with our digital camera, saved on our hard drive. We need to use those 20 images for a design we are working on. One annoying problem…..all of the images are at least 2mb in size and I need them all reduced by 50%. Do I really have to open all 20 individually and reduce the image size myself?!

    Second problem….we also need all of the photographs to be in black and white only.Do I really have to manually and individually change all 20 images to make this happen?!

    Answer: No, of course not…..but you have been for the past 3 years haven’t you?! Well, today that all ends, and you will now save hours every year you work in photoshop.

    Here is a tutorial on batch scripting
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Business Cards of Bloggers

Posted May 1st, 2008 · 21 appreciated comments. Add yours!

Welcome to “Business Cards of Bloggers”!

If this post gets popular, it will feature hundreds of business cards from the active blogging community, or the graphic design and web design bloggers at least!

Here’s what to do:

1. Write a post on your blog or website about the “Business Cards of Bloggers” […] Continue Reading…

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Video Worth A Look #1

Posted May 1st, 2008 · Be the first to comment| Click here

Ok, I’m going to start posting random videos I come across during my online travels right here on BrianYerkes.com.  Some of the stuff people come up with these days is fascinating (and often disturbing!) so I would like to share what I find in case you have not seen them […] Continue Reading…

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May 1st - RSS Awareness Day

Posted May 1st, 2008 · Be the first to comment| Click here

 Rssday.org are trying to build awareness of RSS technology and I am adding my support to the project. Many of us in the web design, graphic design and internet marketing business use RSS technology every day. It is important that our industries try to promote it and get it […] Continue Reading…

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PHP Redirect - 2 domains pointing to one website

Posted April 27th, 2008 · Be the first to comment| Click here

My company was recently hired to take over the management of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce website, and as we dugg thru the site, the databases and the emails, I realized that the Chamber had two domain names, and 2 identical websites. FortMyersBeach.org, and Fmbchamber.com. Not good! […] Continue Reading…

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Logo Composition (Part 3) - Proportions

Posted April 24th, 2008 · Be the first to comment| Click here

Last week we discussed “Symmetry” as Part 2 of our seven part series on Logo Design Composition.

This week:

Part 3: Proportions

The relative size of the elements

Differences in size between the individual elements are often used to create a contrast. However, you should pay attention to not force the smaller element […] Continue Reading…

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David Airey: How He Did It - Die Cut Card Mockup

Posted April 18th, 2008 · 19 appreciated comments. Add yours!

On February 26th, David of DavidAirey.com posted about his logo design project for a client and he also showed a mockup of the business card with a die cut. Due to the fact that this card wasn’t in print yet, David wanted to show the client what the die […] Continue Reading…

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Logo Composition (Part 2) - Symmetry

Posted April 11th, 2008 · 2 appreciated comments. Add yours!

Last week we discussed “Format” as Part 1 of this 7 part series on Logo Design Composition.

Part 2: Symmetry

Humans perceive symmetry as harmonical. Visual things that are symmetrical provide a calming effect, and we recognize them more easily. Symmetry signalizes a form of stability. This is why we often […] Continue Reading…

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10 CSS Web Design Resources

Posted April 8th, 2008 · 1 lonely soul of a comment, add yours!

Tables are like that annoying fly that won’t leave the room. Many web developers are still coding their html using tables. When will the fly leave the room?!

CSS coded websites are high quality, professional websites.

Table Layout are low quality, unprofessional websites.

It’s that simple.

There are many advantages to CSS based […] Continue Reading…

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Logo Composition (Part 1) - Format

Posted April 3rd, 2008 · 4 appreciated comments. Add yours!

We start with Part 1 of this 7 part series on Logo Design Composition.

Each week I will write a small post for each part to help those of you unfamiliar with logo design composition and the overall importance of this logo design aspect in the creation and development process […] Continue Reading…

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