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ARROW |
Images that are larger than the workspace to start with or which have been zoomed in on until they no longer fit the image window can be moved by using the ARROW TOOL. Click on the ARROW and then click and hold on the image. Dragging the mouse will move the image until you can see the part you want in the image window.
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ZOOM |
 The ZOOM tool becomes a magnifying glass when clicked. Left click on your image to ZOOM IN and right click on your image to ZOOM OUT. The image to the right has been zoomed to 11 times normal viewing and can be edited pixel by pixel.
 If you go to Window on the menubar and choose New Window, you will get a second view of the current image. This is NOT a separate image and anything done to one of the images, happens to the other. This is extremely useful when you are doing closeup zoomed in work like photo retouching because you can zoom in on one window to work and keep an eye on the effect on the normal image.
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DEFORM |
 This tool can only be used on gray scale and 24 bit images. I've had a bit of trouble getting it to cooperate with me on being available but did find that if I make a selection from an image and copy it and then paste it as a new selection into a new zillion color image, it lets me use it. The image to the right has not been deformed at all yet. Click on it to see some deformation applied. This tool can be tricky to get desired effects but it can also be fun. There are additional deformations options available in Image Effects menu and this tool will be covered in more depth in that lesson.
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CROP |
The CROP tool is quite simple to operate once you get the hang of it and, I find, more accessible and easy to use than fooling with the Images menu from the menubar. Click on the CROP tool... move the cursor to the part of the image you wish to retain and hold down the left mouse button while you drag across the area. A rectangular selected area appears as you do this.
To change the area to be saved you can drag any edge of the rectangle in or out by holding the mouse over it until you get the two headed arrow and then clicking and dragging the edge. You can click and hold INSIDE the area and drag the *frame* to another part of the image or you can start over all together by right-clicking on the image.
When you have it exactly how you want it, double click inside the selection or click the CROP IMAGE button on the Control Palette. POOF!!! the image changes to your cropped selection and the window around it resizes to fit.
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MOVER |
The Mover Tool can be used to move selection or to move the Selection Marquee (the little ants trudging around your selection). To use it right click inside a selected area or on the marquee and drag the marquee to a new location.
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SELECT |
 The SELECTION Tool makes a selection of a precise shape: Square, Rectangle, Circle or Ellipse. To select rectangular or square shapes, start in one corner and drag across to the opposite corner (i.e., top left to bottom right; bottom left to top right; and so forth). To select an elliptical (oval) or circular shape, begin smack dab in the center of the desired area. You must make your shape and other option choices BEFORE making the selection.
Using no feathering or antialias leaves what are often referred to as "jaggies".Checkmarking antialias makes a neat smooth precise edge. It is especially useful when working with text or combining images. Feathering controls the sharpness of the edge. You can feather it from 1 to 20 pixels and you can either select feathering on the Control Palette before making your selection or, after making your selection, from the Selection menu on the menubar, choose Modify.... Feather.
To move the Control Palette in and out of the workspace, use the O key. The Tool Palette (on the left) moves in and out with the P key; the Toolbar (across the top) uses the T key and the Color Palette is the C key. All floating toolbars and palettes will come and go at once with the TAB key.
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Lasso |
The LASSO or Freehand Selection Tool is a bit trickier to use. It is essential though for irregularly shaped selections and has the same antialias and feathering choices as the regular SELECTION tool. There is an additional choice on the Control Palette of Freehand, Point-to-Point or Smart Edge and for Sample Merged. The latter refers to selecting through all layers if it is a multiple layer image rather than just the current layer.
Freehand means just that literally --- you draw your selection line freehand. When the line crosses itself, you have your selection. To add to a selection, hold down the Shift key while selecting additional area.
To use Point-to-Point selection, click on your starting point. Then click on the next point where you want to anchor the line and/or change your direction. Continue around until you reach the startpoint again and either right click or double-click it.
Smart Edge tries to think for you. Actually, it works quite well if you have some decent contrast between two colors or two levels of brightness. Choose Smart Edge from the Control Panel and click at your starting point. As you move the cursor away from the starting point, you'll see a box --- stretch the box until the other end of it is at one end of the area edge and all of the desired edge is inside the box. Click and a selected edge line appears. Continue as needed, keeping the edge inside the box. When you're all the way around, right-click or double-click to complete the selection.
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WAND |
The Magic Wand also thinks for you but takes some tinkering with the settings sometimes to get what you want. Using either, RGB Value, Hue or Brightness as it's guide, it will select an area of similar pixels at one click. Unless you have a dramatically clear selection area (such as a black letter on a light background), you may have to fiddle with the tolerance levels and match mode choice but it can be a heck of a lot easier than trying to get an irregular area using the LASSO.
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SELECT |
The EYEDROPPER icon is used to select colors from images to place them in the Active Color boxes. Left click to place in the foreground color box and right click for the background color box.
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