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Photoshop

New Images

Image Window

The top and bottom bars of an image window contain useful information about the image. The top of the image window, called the title bar, displays the image name, the magnification of the image, the current layer name, the working colour space, and a slash followed by the number of bits.

The bottom of the image window is called the status bar. The first field on the left displays the current image magnification. The icon to the right of that is only enabled when your computer is on a network. Clicking it accesses Workgroup Management options displayed on a fly-out menu. Next there are two numbers separated by a slash. That portion of the image window displays various types of file information. Clicking on the sideways arrow (circled) opens a fly-out menu from which you can choose the information you want displayed.

The file information available is:

Adobe Drive

This is a file version management feature available when Photoshop is part of Adobe Creative Suite. This field will be empty with a standalone version of Photoshop.

Document Sizes

The first number shown represents the approximate size of the file if it was flattened to one layer and saved in the Photoshop format. The second number shows the size including all the individual layer data, channels, and any other data embedded in the file.

Document Profile

The document profile will display the colour space used for the image.

Document Dimensions

This option shows the width and height of the image. You can press the Alt (Option) key and click on the display area of this field to temporarily show the width and height of the image as well as its colour space and resolution.

Measurement Scale

This option is present only in the Extended version of Photoshop.

Scratch Disk

The scratch disk option will display the amount of RAM and scratch disk space needed to work with the image. The number on the left shows the amount of memory that Photoshop is currently using to display all open images. The number on the right represents the amount of memory available to process images.

Efficiency

This setting will show the percentage that Photoshop is relying on the scratch disk to assist in processing the image. If the number is below 100%, Photoshop is not running as fast as it could be.

Timing

This displays the time it took to perform the last operation in Photoshop.

Current Tool

This shows the tool from the Toolbox that is currently selected.

32-bit Exposure

This option lets you adjust the display of a 32-bit HDR image. The option isn't available unless the image is an HDR image. (HDR stands for high dynamic range. This is a photography technique that merges multiple versions of the same image to create an image with a greater range of tonal variations.)

Close New_Image.psd without saving it by going to File > Close or using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-W (Cmd-W).

Arranging Image Windows

There are a number of ways that you can display multiple image documents in the workspace. They can be grouped together, floating, or a combination of both.

Grouped Image Windows

When you have multiple image documents open in Photoshop, by default they are grouped in a single tabbed window. File information about the active window is displayed in the window's title bar. Each tab contains most of the same information, space permitting.

In this example, Cat.psd and CDROM.tif are tabbed images. The active image's tab is a lighter grey. Clicking on the tab for CDROM.tif will make it the active image. Notice that each tab has its own close button.

If you want to switch the order in which the tabs are arranged, click and drag a tab to another spot in the tab area.

Sometimes tabs can be hidden or partially hidden depending on the width of the window and the number of tabs it has. When this happens, an icon will appear on the right edge of the tab area. Clicking on it will open the image selection menu. The currently active image has a check mark beside it. You can choose the name of another file from the menu to make it the active image.

The default background colour of image windows is the grey colour you see here but you can easily change it. Right-click (Ctrl-click) on the background itself to display a pop-up menu. The other basic option is Black or you can create your own custom background colour by choosing Select Custom Colour.

The Photoshop colour picker will open, allowing you to set the background colour of your choice.

There is yet another menu available when you right-click (Ctrl-click) on the image area. The commands listed here will be covered in later sections.

Floating and Grouping Image Windows

Removing an image window from a group and floating it works just the same as it does with panels: click and drag the image document's tab away from the group window and release it. If there were only two images in the group to begin with, both will be floating windows now.

You can also float a window in a group by making it the active tab and going to Window > Arrange > Float in Window. If you have several images grouped, you can float them all at once by choosing Window > Arrange > Float All in Windows.

To group all floating images into a single tabbed window, go to Window > Arrange > Consolidate All to Tabs.

You can also add individual floating windows to a group manually but you need to enable the Internet preference Enable Floating Document Window Docking. This is required for the procedures described in the next two paragraphs.

To add a floating window into a grouped image window, drag it by its title bar and drop it on the group's tab area. As your cursor gets near the group, the image will become semi-transparent and a blue highlight will indicate you're on target.

To manually merge two floating windows into a group, drag one window by its title bar until your cursor is just under the target image's title bar. You can see in this example that the dragged window has become semi-transparent and a blue highlight surrounds the image area in the target image. Once you release the title bar, the two images will be in a tabbed group.

While having images grouped keeps your work area tidy, you can only view one image at a time. You may prefer to always have your images floating so you can compare them side by side. To do this, go to the Interface preferences and disable Open Documents as Tabs. Each image you open or create will float in its own window and then you can drag them by their title bars to any location.

Arranging Documents

Multiple floating windows can be organized without grouping them in tabbed windows. Photoshop has quite a few options for accomplishing this. The first two commands we'll look at are found in the Window > Arrange menu shown earlier in this lecture.

Cascade

This option overlaps images diagonally in the workspace.

Tile

This option arranges images in rows and columns. The entire workspace is filled. Notice that the windows will expand larger than the image itself when necessary to align itself with the rows and columns.

Arrange Documents Menu

In CS4, Adobe introduced the Arrange Documents menu. Its icon is located on the Applications bar. The top section of icons provides options for arranging windows in the workspace. The bottom section contains window and magnification commands. We've already looked at Float All in Windows and will look at the New Window command shortly. The magnification options will be covered in a later lecture in this module.

Shown here is an enlarged version of the menu's top row. This features general layouts that are applicable when two or more windows are open.

Consolidate All

This option will group all open documents in a single tabbed window. It is the same as going to Window > Arrange > Consolidate All to Tabs.

Tile All in Grid

This will organize all the open windows into rows and columns that fill the available workspace. It does the same thing as the Window > Arrange > Tile command discussed earlier. Like the rest of the layout icons, this icon is designed to give you a rough idea of what it does.

Tile All Vertically

This option fills the workspace with a single row of side-by-side windows.

Tile All Horizontally

This option fills the workspace with a single column of windows stacked vertically.

Each of the remaining icons is for laying out a specific number of images. The first two icons in the top row are both named 2 Up and are specifically for two images. The next four icons (last two in row 1 and first two in row 2) are called 3 Up. This is the pattern and the final two icons are 6 Up, which is the maximum number of images that can be accommodated by this set of icons.

Any icons not applicable will be greyed out. For example, if you have four documents open, the options for five and six documents will be greyed out.

The first two commands in bottom of the Arrange Documents menu are described below.

Float All in Windows

This command will convert all tabbed images into floating windows. An alternate method of accessing the command is: Window > Arrange > Float All in Windows.

New Window

This is an interesting option and it has nothing to do with arranging documents. It allows you to open an active document in a separate window for viewing purposes. Let's say you're zoomed in editing details of an image but you want to know how it's affecting the image at its normal size. Instead of zooming out to look and then zooming back in for more editing, you can use the second window to assess your editing progress. Edits you make in one window will be immediately displayed in the other window. This is not the same as duplicating a document which creates two independent files. The document created with the New Window command is simply a viewing device. This command is also available in the Window > Arrange menu.

Image Window Summary

• The image document window displays information about the image you are working on along its top and bottom bars.
• The title bar displays the image name, the magnification of the image, the current layer name, the working colour space, and a slash followed by the number of bits.
• The status bar displays the image magnification, workgroup management options, and file information based on the option you select from the fly-out menu:
  • Adobe Drive
  • Document Sizes
  • Document Profile
  • Document Dimensions
  • Measurement Scale
  • Scratch Disk
  • Efficiency
  • Timing
  • Current Tool
  • 32-bit Exposure
• Image documents can be grouped in a tabbed interface or floating.
• Windows can be arranged using the Cascade or Tile commands in the Window > Arrange menu. Cascading arranges them in a diagonal formation while tiling arranges them in a grid formation.
• The Arrange Documents menu in the Application bar provides many other options for arranging image windows.
  • Consolidate All will group all open documents into a tabbed interface.
  • Tile All in Grid is the same as using the Window > Arrange > Tile command.
  • Tile All Vertically arranges the windows in a single row of side by side images.
  • Tile All Horizontally arranges the windows in a single column of images.
  • The Arrange Documents menu also includes layouts for a specific number of multiple windows.
  • Float All in Windows will ungroup all images and float them.
  • The New Window command will open a special view-only window that you can use to monitor the progress of your edits in the actual document.

Image Window Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Temporarily display width, height, colour space, and resolution: Hold down the Alt (Option) key while clicking on the file information area of the image window.
• Close: Ctrl-W (Cmd-W)

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Photoshop - TOC - Introduction - Books -
New Images - Links - Questions -
1 - [ 2 ] - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 -

Photoshop - TOC - Introduction - Books -
New Images - Links - Questions -
1 - [ 2 ] - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 -