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If you’re new to Photoshop the interface can be a pretty daunting sight. The best way to learn  is to attend one of our tutor led Photoshop training courses which are delivered by industry experts.

However – here are 5 quick and easy tips that will help beginners with their Photoshop technique and help you to save time:

1: Temporarily Hiding Palettes.

Opening lots of palletes at the same time can clutter the Photoshop workspace and hide the image you’re working on. An easy way to get rid of palettes temporarily is to press the tab key. To bring them back again you just press the tab key once more.

2: Selecting Pixels

When editing an image using Select>All (or Ctrl+A) will select the whole layer. This is fine if you want to work with the whole layer. However if you just want to select the pixels then press and hold the Ctrl key (or for Macs the Command key), and then in the “Layers Palette” click on the layer.

3: A Quick Way of Opening Documents

In order to open a new document, rather than making your way through the File menu etc, simply double click on the grey Photoshop window background and the “Open File” dialog box will open.

4: Position a Layer Precisely

To get a more accurate control over the placement of your layers, hold either the ctrl key (if you want to move the layer 1 pixel at a time) or the shift key (10 pixels at a time) then use the directional arrows on your keyboard. This effectively “nudges” the layer and allows you to achieve a more precise positioning.

5: Create Straight Lines Easily

If you want to create a straight line with the brush tool, you don’t necessarilt need a super-steady hand! If you hold the Shift key Photoshop will reposition any deviating errors back into the nearest 45 or 90 degree angle.

If you found these tips useful, keep your eye on our Free Photoshop Tutorials section which we’ll be regularly updating with more hints, tips and projects for you to try out.

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Beginners, Photoshop, techniques, Tips, top tips, Tutorial

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This entry was posted by Colin Welch on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 5:07 pm and is filed under New Free Resources, Photoshop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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