This part is devoted for some tricks that can make the drawing process more convenient.

Part III. Useful tricks for fast work in Photoshop

1. Changing the color of masks

By default, the color of masks is red. It is very bright and unfriendly for eyes. There is a way to change it. After applying mask to the layer, double-click the mask icon. In appeared window click the colored square and select the color you like the most. For example, [#2575b3] gives great blue mask. You don't need to make this change every time you apply new mask, this option will be saved permanently.
Unfortunately, it cannot be applied for Quick Mask feature.

2. Open the same file in new window for better navigation

While painting, it is common thing to use zoom. It makes work with details easier, but it is impossible to keep viewing the whole image at the same time. So, you have to zoom in/out many times, it slows down the work process and distracts from painting. Photoshop allows to avoid this inconvenience. Go to Window -> Arrange -> New Window for [name of your file]. In that way, you'll get the second window with your work file, that can be used as reference while the first window is zoomed.
Please note that this trick is not for slow PC, because it doubles the amount of real-time rendering of every your action with file.

3. Hiding palettes

It is well-known tip that pressing Tab hides all palettes. In addition, pressing Shift+Tab hides all palettes except the toolbar, so in that way you'll get clear screen with all tools you need in quick access.

4. Clean temporary information about current work session

The Purge command cleans memory used by the the History palette, Undo command, and the clipboard. If you use many history states or use clipboard functions (copy/paste) often, the amount of taken memory grows up and can slow down the work. Go to Edit -> Purge and click this menu item. You can choose what do you want to clean: History, Undo, clipboard, or all of them.

5. Keeping crosshair cursor along with brush shape

Usually, the crosshair cursor for precise drawing is called by pressing CapsLock. But in that way the brush shape is lost, and bound of covering area became invisible. To keep crosshair always active, go to Edit -> Preferences -> Cursors and select Normal or Full Size brush tip along with checking "Show Crosshair in Brush Tip" option.

6. Toggling between screen modes

Photoshop interface has four modes: cascade window mode (you may toggle between various files and see all bars), full window mode (you see one file, but can't move or drag it freely and must work only in its center of fixed frame), semi-fullscreen mode (you can drag the file without any bounds, only status bar and title bar are hidden), and fullscreen mode (all bars are hidden). It can be changed by clicking "Change Screen Mode" button on the bottom on Tools panel or by hotkey F. But it is very handy, to assign separate hotkeys for fast toggling between your preferred screen modes. You can do it here: Edit -> Keyboard Shortcuts.

7. Quick selection of layers in certain area

Every Photoshop tool has a specific menu available by right-click. While Move Tool (V) is active, right-click somewhere on the canvas shows all layers that are under the area of click and allows to select the layer you need. By pressing Alt+right-click, you will be moved to the top layer of the file.
It can be very convenient for work in cel-shading style or coloring with overlay layers.

Part I • Part II
Your comments are welcomed here.

Popularity: 1% [?]