Photoshop can seem overpowering at first glance due to the program's lack of simple tutorials and seemingly challenging interface. Cast your worries aside, because the basics of Photoshop are much easier than they might appear.
Upon first inspection you will see that Photoshop is basically made up of four areas: the menu bar, at the top, the toolbar just below it, the toolbox on the left and the palettes on the right. The different modes and options you can choose are located in the menu bar and toolbox which always stay the same. The toolbar will change with the context.
An updated status of your image is provided by the palettes. This includes a history of all of the actions and changes you have made along with a thumbnail image of the current results.
As an example of how the interface changes as you use it, select the type tool from the toolbox (looks like a capital T). Note how the toolbar changes completely to permit changes to the font name, size etc.
In the history palette, your use of the type tool will be added to your history, and a new layer will be created for your text and shown in the layers palette.
No matter the project you are working on in Photoshop, you will most likely start with either the toolbox or the menus. Everyday tools and features will be found in your toolbox, such as selecting, filling and making shapes. The menus contain the more advanced functions such as blurring, sharpening and all of the other possibilities Photoshop can provide, most of which are found under the Filter menu.
You can adjust the settings of tools from the toolbox using the toolbar. When doing this, options from the menu will typically open a dialog box. Should you want to change any actions you have made to your image, simply do so through your palettes. While the palette history is helpful, palettes have other uses also such as changing colors.
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