Chapter 2. The Photoshop Workspace, Preferences, and Tools

IN THIS CHAPTER

Overview of the Photoshop workspace

Preferences

Presets and the Preset Manager

Customizing shortcuts and menus

Tools

Learning Photoshop is not the quickest or easiest task in the world, but there is something that can make it a lot easier: Start off with a good foundation of knowledge about the workspace and its general functions, including becoming a stickler about knowing the name of each part of the workspace.

I know that may not exactly sound like the fun part of learning Photoshop. But if you are trying to figure out how to accomplish something that is fun and you are being directed to the tool options bar, you'll be left behind if you wind up in the Toolbox. If you need to make adjustments to the color space and you wander off to the menu for the workspace, you'll be headed in the wrong direction. You might never find your way to making your friend with a full head of hair look like he's got a toupee flying off in the wind for his 40th birthday card, and in frustration, you might curse Photoshop and sell it on eBay.

So, in the interest of making a smoother ride for yourself on the way to creating utterly useless yet amusing imagery (or an image you actually need to create for your job), you may want to become an expert about the tools of the trade.

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