Photoshop Workspace

[Jeanox]

Alright, first off, I've never written an art-related tut before, so bear with me.

This is the workspace I've come to like over the couple years I've been photoshopping. It seems to be a bit more fluant to work in than the clunky default.

This layout is minimalistic, meaning that you strip everything down to only what you readily use and navigate mostly through keyboard shortcuts. This may sound complicated, but it really makes painting a lot easier and quicker once you get it down.

Step One: Familiarization
First off, in order to use this layout, you will need to be familiar with several photoshop shortcuts:

***Green Text = Painting Shortcuts***
***Blue Text = Navigation Shortcuts***

B = Brush
with brush tool selected...
Alt = Quick Eye Dropper (makes color selection easy)
Alt + Space = Quick Zoom Out
Ctrl + Space = Quick Zoom In
Ctrl = Quick Move Tool (don't use it that often, but handy)
Space = Quick Hand Tool (helps move where you're looking)

E = Eraser
R = Smudge Tool (don't abuse this tool, crazy bastages!)

Ctrl + Alt + 0 = Actual Pixels (zooms in/out to actual pixel size)
Ctrl + 0 = Fit on Screen (conveeeenient)

F = Toggles Page style (regular, white bg, black bg)
Tab = Show/Hide Pallets

It is not complicated to use shortcuts once you're used to it. Seriously, I paint with my right hand and always keep my left on the keyboard.

Step Two: Scrapping Default
Default = Clunky. As internet-savvy n00bs would say, "D3p4aUl7 15 0f teh 5ux0rz!".

*ahem*

http://wiggle.howarddesigns.biz/info/tutorials/pic1.jpg

Default configuration really does waste a lot of space. It's good if you don't know what photoshop has to offer in terms of tools/keyboard shortcuts, but for those who are familiar with the program, much of what's on the screen isn't needed if all you're doing is painting.


Step Three: Storing Useful Pallets

Scope out what's on the screen. Identify what you use and get rid of what you don't.

http://wiggle.howarddesigns.biz/info/tutorials/pic2.jpg

Now, with what you DO have left, drag your remaining pallets up into the darkish grey area to "dock" them (by default, File Browser and Brushes should already be there. If you have a low resolution, i'd suggest getting rid of at least one of them, especially if you don't use them and make way for more important pallets).

http://wiggle.howarddesigns.biz/info/tutorials/pic3.jpg

See? They're still there for you to access, just tucked away so that when they're not needed they don't cramp your drawing space.

http://wiggle.howarddesigns.biz/info/tutorials/pic4.jpg


Step Four: Immersion & Getting Over the Navigator

It's a brave new world! You've just tidied your workspace and now there's a clean area to work in. But, let's take it a step further.

The "F" key provides some yummy alternatives to just looking at a window within photoshop.

Press it once, and your image becomes centered and your drawing space takes up the entire work area letting you focus on your drawing a bit better while still allowing you full access to the Menu Bar (File, Edit, etc)

http://wiggle.howarddesigns.biz/info/tutorials/pic5.jpg


Press "F" once more, and the background becomes black and the Menu Bar disappears giving you even more room to work.

http://wiggle.howarddesigns.biz/info/tutorials/pic6.jpg


Now, you may be wondering how you're going to function without the beloved Navigator. I've docked mine, although i seldom end up using it.

Whie painting, if I need to zoom in, i use ctrl + click to zoom in, or alt + click to zoom out.

I can pan all over the place by just holding Space down and dragging my stylus. If you need to quickly get a view of the entire image, press ctrl + 0 to see the entire thing fitted to my screen.

http://wiggle.howarddesigns.biz/info/tutorials/pic8.jpg


Additionally, if i want to zoom in to get at the details, I press ctrl + alt + 0 to zoom in to the actual pixel size.

http://wiggle.howarddesigns.biz/info/tutorials/pic7.jpg


Last of all, if you want absolute immersion in painting a piece, you could press tab to get rid of any other distracting pallets leaving you with the most simplistic of all the options thus far. If you are fluent in shortcuts, painting in this mode is easy and simple.

Once you have the workspace that fits you, go to Window > Workspace > Save Workspace.
http://wiggle.howarddesigns.biz/info/tutorials/pic9.jpg

I hoped this helped some people out. Especially, if you have smaller monitors. I feel your pain! Up until 6 months ago, i had a 15" which was about 50% dimmer than regular monitors.

[Evil Iori]

Hey this is really useful, i'm just beginning to colour and what not, thx for the advice :). make a colouring tut :).

[HunterKiller_]

Thanks for the shortcut keys.

[Jeanox]

No problem. :D Here's a couple more that I forgot that are also useful...

http://wiggle.howarddesigns.biz/info/tutorials/pic10.jpg

While in the brush tool...

Shift + Right Click = Quick blending options


http://wiggle.howarddesigns.biz/info/tutorials/pic11.jpg

Also in the brush tool...

Ctrl + Right Click = Toggle Layers (This is why it's handy to name layers).

Also, this is handy if you go through layers quickly like I do while sketching (when I'm madly doodling, I don't bother to create new documents when moving from sketch to sketch; I just create new layers and hide the old ones).

Ctrl + Shift + N = New Layer

[Aires]

Hmm not bad, Miss Wigs, could you do a tut on getting tablet sensitivity?

[japozi]

impressive and very helpfull! beautifull art also!

[Jeanox]

Aires: Tablet sensativity? That's too simple to make a tut about. Just go into the wacom settings (assuming you have a wacom) and fiddle with it. A person's pressure preference will be different each time.

Plus, I just have a wimpy little graphire 2.

Japozi: Thanks! I hope people benefit from what I've just learned on my own over the past few years.

[IAC]

Yes, very nice Tut, Miss Wiggle, any chance we could see a Miss Wiggle Tut on painting, from blank canvas to amazing scene?

[Jeanox]

hehe. I don't feel adequate enough to give a very good tut AND I don't think there really is a tut to teach you exactly "how to" do something.

I'll probably end up doing a walkthrough of a piece or something to show how I did it--not necissarily how it should be done. I hope that makes sense. :b

[IAC]

Perfect sense. It's always cool to see how things are created start to finish. Who knows, maybe there are some small tips/procedures you do that can help.

[Gamerdork]

You can save even more room by auto hiding the start bar if your using windows.

[fanboy]

whats a vehicualr elipse tool
I cant find it on my PS

[hezzart]

I would love to see someone do the same thing for Painter, along with brush customisation in both applications. Great stuff wiggs :D

[openthegrave]

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