Tips and Tricks
Here are a list of links to some artists who are interesting in relation to photomontage and photoshop pingpong
cmd T – transform, and use the shift key to maintain proportion, the cmd key to move a single corner. Remember the warp mode in the menu bar!
brackets – to make brushes bigger and smaller – and the shift with brackets to make brushes harder and softer
cmd D – to deselect – the shortcut that I use most
When using a mask layer- remember the X key to swop foreground colour from black to white
cmd 0 is useful – to go straight back to full view if you are zoomed in (cmd + and cmd – to zoom in and out, and space bar to move around)
remember the key to move around the tool bar – B for brush, W of wand V for move S for Stamp E for eraser, m for marquee etc. – if you hover over the tool it will tell you it’s shortcut. also use shift at the same time as the short cut key to scroll through this different options for the tool
Possibly the safest place to find free royalty free images is flicrcc – then check out the about page to see what filtering you need.
M is for Marque – alt click on the tool to scroll through variations
(use the modifier keys – shift or alt – to add to and subtract from selections, and use refine edge to modify the edge of a selection)
V is for moVe
B is for Brush
alt cmd/ctr Z = undo, shift cmd/ctr Z = redo
brackets to make the brush larger or smaller – shift brackets to make it softer or harder
(don’t don’t forget that you have a multitude of possible brush shapes, and complete control over the opacity/transparence of the brush)
cmd/ctr T is for Transform – cmd to skew – and remember the distort tool
(don’t confuse with T for the Type tool – keep an eye on your layers – f11 to bring up the layer hud palette)
(you may have to drag the window bigger to see the whole transform box, and don’t forget to double click or press rtn to apply the transformation)
cmd/ctr + and – to zoom in and out – or alt and use scroll to zoom in and out
space bar = grab – to move around an enlarged image
cmd/ctr 0 to return to full view
shift click mask on mask layer to switch it on and off
X = toggle background and foreground colour
shift cmd/ctr S to Save As
- and the Pièce de résistance… shift alt cmd/ctr E to make a composite layer from all the layers below (great for animating)
Some Basic Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts
cmd O – open
cmd S – Save
cmd shift S – save as
cmd C – copy
cmd V – paste
cmd T – transform
cmd Z – step back
cmd Z + alt – step back again
cmd Z + shift – step forward again
cmd I + shift – select inverse
cmd W – close (active window)
cmd – – zoom out
cmd + – zoom in
cmd J – duplicate layer
F7 – open layers window
V – cut / move tool
M – Marquee tool
L – lasso tool
W – magic wand tool
C – Crop tool
Q – quick mask tool
Press space bar to activate grab (navigate)
Modifier keys for selections
shift (add to selection)
alt (Subtract from selection)
shift and alt (intersection between two selections)
The Return key will activate buttons, or act as a double click in many cases
A few more short cuts (for the experts)
Alt+Backspace - Fill with foreground colour
cmd F - Apply last filter
cmd Alt F - Last filter dialog box
cmd Shift X - Liquify
cmd Shift T - Transform again
cmd Shift ] - Bring layer to the front
cmd Shift [ - Send layer to the back
cmd Shift N - Create a new layer
cmd G - Group with previous layer
cmd Shift G - Ungroup layers
Ctrl O – open
Ctrl S – Save
Ctrl shift S – save as
Ctrl C – copy
Ctrl V – paste
Ctrl T – transform
Ctrl Z – step back
Ctrl Z + alt – step back again
Ctrl Z + shift – step forward again
Ctrl I + shift – select inverse
Ctrl W – close (active window)
Ctrl – – zoom out
Ctrl + – zoom in
Ctrl J – duplicate layer
F7 – open layers window
V – cut / move tool
M – Marquee tool
L – lasso tool
W – magic wand tool
C – Crop tool
Q – quick mask tool
Press space bar to activate grab (navigate)
Modifier keys for selections
shift (add to selection)
alt (Subtract from selection)
shift and alt (intersection between two selections)
The Return key will activate buttons, or act as a double click in many cases
A few more short cuts (for the experts)
Alt+Backspace - Fill with foreground colour
Ctrl F - Apply last filter
Ctrl Alt F - Last filter dialog box
Ctrl Shift X - Liquify
Ctrl Shift T - Transform again
Ctrl Shift ] - Bring layer to the front
Ctrl Shift [ - Send layer to the back
Ctrl Shift N - Create a new layer
Ctrl G - Group with previous layer
Ctrl Shift G - Ungroup layers
Here are links to sites where you can find royalty free images, or content that is covered by the ‘creative commons‘ agreement, which indicates how content may be re-used.
pics4learning.com – this is a collection that has been specifically created by and for teachers and students for use in projects
flickrcc – images from flickr that are covered by Creative Commons licenses .
compfight – similar to above
flickrcc – similar to above
Clipart Etc – Florida education project – Victorian woodcut like clip art – great for collage
open clipart.org – is what is says
cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/StoryMedia – link to a whole wiki of further resources
commons.wikimedia.org – quick and easy way of finding images that are covered by CC licences
free digital photos – lots of photos, generally free if you only use small size images
the full montage – resources of collage artists – beautiful cutouts, but you have to pay a bit for them
textures – free textures for use in photomontage and 3D rendering
cgtextures – as above, but you have to create an account
