Photoshop Tutorials : Lesson # 2 = Tools, palettes and the mouse

Tools and palettes
Today’s course covers those tools shown in  bold type below. To use a tool, single-click it.  Most tools have options, eg  tool thickness and opacity can be
set  in the palette which runs along the top of your screen. This palette changes according to which tool you have selected.

History palette
The History palette keeps a step-by-step record of every operation you perform in
Photoshop. You can undo any number of steps by clicking on the white tab for which-ever change you wish to go back to.

Foreground and Background colour
Any drawing, painting or writing tool which you use in Photoshop will use
the Foreground colour by default.
Any erase operation you do in Photoshop will use the Background colour by
default, or the original background if you hold down the Option/Alt key.
To  change either the Foreground or Background colour:
1 Double-click the Foreground or Background colour box.
2 Select  a different colour from the narrow vertical strip in the window.
3 Click on the shade of that colour in the large box or enter the pantone number.
Then click Okay.

The mouse

The mouse is an integral part of Photoshop and to make the most of Photoshop, users must be confident in their mouse use.

Mouse operations include:
Pointing - the mouse is placed over a part of an image. This is normally a
pre-requisite to dragging or selecting;
Selecting - after pointing, the mouse is clicked or double-clicked to select (highlight)
a particular menu instruction, toolbar or part of the image;
Dragging - after pointing, the mouse button is held down while the mouse is dragged
across part of the image. Often dragging is used to move parts of the image or to drag
a new colour across;
Option-clicking (Mac)/Alt-clicking (PC) - the option or Alt key* is held down, the
mouse is then pointed at a part of the image and the mouse button is clicked once.
The option key is then released. This is used with the rubber stamp tool (see page 15)
to “pick up” a sample of colour for use elsewhere in the image.
*On some Mac keyboards, the option key is known as the Alt key.

Foreground and Background colour
Any drawing, painting or writing tool which you use in Photoshop will use
the Foreground colour by default.
Any erase operation you do in Photoshop will use the Background colour by default, or the original background if you hold down the Option/Alt key.
To  change either the Foreground or Background colour:
1 Double-click the Foreground or Background colour box.
2 Select  a different colour from the narrow vertical strip in the window.
3 Click on the shade of that colour in the large box or enter the pantone number.
Then click Okay.