This is a VERY comprehensive guide to Photoshop tools and functions. Feel free to share this tutorial wherever and however you like as long as you give credit where it's due and don't claim to have created it.




SELECTION TOOLS

Marquee Tools
Rectangular Marquee Tool – used to select rectangular areas of an image.
Elliptical Marquee Tool – used to select elliptical areas of an image.
Single Row Marquee Tool – used to define a border using a 1px row.
Single Column Marquee Tool – used to define a border using a 1px column.

Selection options for marquee tools
- New selection
- Add to existing selection
- Subtract from existing selection
- Intersect with existing selection

Feather – the number of pixels entered for this determines the number of pixels which will be selected around the initial selection, creating softer, fading, edges.

Style options for marquee tools
Normal – at this setting, drag the selection to the desired size.
Fixed Aspect Ratio – allows setting of height to width ration for selection.
Fixed Size – allows setting of exact size of selection.


Move Tool
This tool is used to move a selected area or component of the image. Holding down the ‘Alt’ key will copy the selected component (into the same layer) and allow the copy to be dragged.

Options for the move tool
Auto Select Layer – automatically selects the top layer containing pixels under the move tool instead of the layer that is highlighted.
Auto Select Groups – this selects the layers group that the chosen layer is in.
Show Transform Controls – this shows ‘handles’ on the bounding box around the selected item.


Lasso Tools
Lasso Tool – used for the freehand selection of components of an image.
Polygonal Lasso Tool – used to select components of an image using straight lines.
Magnetic Lasso Tool – automatically snaps to edges of part of image being selected.

Feather – the number of pixels entered for this determines the number of pixels which will be selected around the initial selection, creating softer, fading, edges.

Anti-alias – partially fills edge pixels of a selection, creating a smoother edge.

Selection options for magnetic lasso tool
-New selection
-Add to existing selection
-Subtract from existing selection
-Intersect with existing selection

More parameters for magnetic lasso tool
Width – distance from edge of selection to consider adding to path.
Edge Contrast – contrast from edge of selection to consider adding to path.
Frequency – the frequency with which points are added to the path while selecting.


Magic Wand Tool
This tool is used to select an area of a particular colour (without having to actually select the edges by hand).

Selection options for magic wand tool
- New selection
- Add to existing selection
- Subtract from existing selection
- Intersect with existing selection

Alt key – subtracts from selection.
Shift key – adds to selection.

Further setting for the magic wand tool
Anti-alias – creates smoother edges to the selection.
Contiguous – makes only adjacent areas of chosen colour part of the selection. If this is not ticked all areas of the chosen colour in the image will be selected.
Sample All Layers – this means that relevant coloured parts of the whole image, from all layers, will be added to the selection instead of just the selected layer.





CROP AND SLICE TOOLS

Crop Tool
This tool is used to crop the image (trim it). The image can be resampled while cropping by filling in the ‘Width’, ‘Height’ and ‘Resolution’ boxes.


Slice Tool
This is used to create ‘slices’ of an image which can then be given different properties when used in a web page while maintaining the appearance of being one image.

Style options for slice tool
Normal – at this setting, drag the selection for the slice to the desired size.
Fixed Aspect Ratio – allows setting of height to width ration for slice selection.
Fixed Size – allows setting of exact size of slice selection.

The ‘Slice Select’ tool is used to select slices that have been made.





HEALING TOOLS

Healing Brush
This is used to paint over areas of that need to be corrected, the healing brush matches the colour, lighting, texture and transparency of the surrounding pixels to make the offending
parts disappear.

Options for Healing Brush
Sample –heals from a selected sample of the image.
Pattern – heals using a pattern selected from the pattern drop down menu.
Aligned - Selecting ‘aligned’ allows you to sample continuously from the same sampling point, even if you let go of the mouse button.
Sample all layers – Ticking this box means that all layers will be used in the healing sample, not just the selected layer.

Modes for Healing Brush
Normal – heals colour.
Replace – heals colour, maintaining grain and detail.
Multiply – multiplies base colour by ‘heal’ colour (always results in darker colour).
Screen - multiplies inverse of base and ‘heal’ colours (always results in lighter colour).
Darken – selects darker of base and ‘heal’ colours and alters lighter colours to match.
Lighten – selects lighter of base and ‘heal’ colours and alters darker colours to match.
Colour – heals by maintaining luminance of base colour but matching the hue and saturation of the ‘heal’ colour.
Luminosity – opposite of ‘colour’ mode. Maintains hue and saturation of base colour but matches luminance of ‘heal’ colour.

You can choose the size, shape and hardness of the healing brush as you would with any brush in Photoshop.


Spot Healing Brush
This is used like the healing brush tool, but a sample area from which the correction is to be takes is not required. The spot healing brush automatically samples the surrounding pixels.

Options for Spot Healing Brush
Proximity match – heals using actual pixels form the surrounding area.
Create texture – heals by reproducing a texture from the surrounding pixels.
Sample all layers – Ticking this box means that all layers will be used in the healing sample, not just the selected layer.

Modes for Spot Healing Brush
Normal – heals colour.
Replace – heals colour, maintaining grain and detail.
Multiply – multiplies base colour by ‘heal’ colour (always results in darker colour).
Screen - multiplies inverse of base and ‘heal’ colours (always results in lighter colour).
Darken – selects darker of base and ‘heal’ colours and alters lighter colours to match.
Lighten – selects lighter of base and ‘heal’ colours and alters darker colours to match.
Colour – heals by maintaining luminance of base colour but matching the hue and saturation
of the ‘heal’ colour.
Luminosity – opposite of ‘colour’ mode. Maintains hue and saturation of base colour but matches luminance of ‘heal’ colour.

You can choose the size, shape and hardness of the spot healing brush as you would with any brush in Photoshop.


Patch Tool
This is used to cover an undesirable area of the image with another selected part, matching the colour, lighting, texture and transparency of the part of the image that is being used as the patch.

Options for Patch Tool
Source – patches the source FROM the destination.
Destination – patches the destination FROM the source.
Transparent – results in the finished patch being blended with the base image.
Use pattern – select a pattern from the menu to patch with.

Selection options for Patch Tool
-New selection
-Add to existing selection
-Subtract from existing selection
-Intersect with existing selection


Clone Stamp
The clone stamp allows you to select part of an image and copy it over another part of the image. You can also copy selections from one layer to another layer. Options which you can set for the clone stamp are brush tip, mode, opacity, flow and airbrush on/off.


Pattern Stamp Tool
This tool allows you to paint with a pattern. You can select the patterns from pattern libraries within Photoshop or create your own. Options which you can set for the pattern stamp tool are brush tip, mode, opacity, flow and airbrush on/off.


Red Eye Tool
This is used to remove ‘red eye’ (when the camera flash reflects in the subject’s retina when the photograph being taken, resulting in the pupils of the eyes being red).

Options for Red Eye Tool
Pupil size – the number entered here sets the size of the pupil.
Darken amount – the number entered here sets how dark the pupil will be.


Eraser Tool
The eraser tool rubs out part of the image. If you’re erasing pixels from the background layer or a layer that has transparency locked it will erase to the background colour. If you’re working in any other layer, it will erase to transparent. It can also be used to ‘erase to history’ (holding the ‘alt’ key while using the eraser will also do this).

Options for Eraser Tool
Brush – eraser tip, flow and airbrush can be set in this mode like with any other brush in Photoshop.
Block – the eraser is square and its opacity flow and mode cannot be changed.
Pencil – only the opacity can be altered in this mode.


Magic Eraser Tool
This is like the eraser tool except it affects all similar pixels. The options for this brush are Tolerance, Anti-alias, Contiguous, Sample All Layers and Opacity.


Background Eraser Tool
This works like the other eraser tools but it samples a colour from the centre of the brush and then erases any other instances of that colour under the brush. The options for this brush are the same as those for the magic eraser tool.





BLUR, SHARPEN AND SMUDGE TOOLS

Blur tool – used to soften and remove detail from parts of an image.
Sharpen tool – used to make edges harder and add clarity and detail.
Smudge tool – used to push areas of the image around.

Options for blur, sharpen and smudge tools.
Brush – this can be set to any size, shape or hardness like all the brushes in Photoshop.
Mode – this is the blending mode (previously explained above).
Strength – this sets how strong the effect will be.
Sample all layers – this allows all layers to be affected, not just the selected layer.


Dodge Tool
This is used to lighten areas in an image. Brush tip, range (shadows, midtones and highlights), exposure (strength of effect) and airbrush on/off can be set.


Burn Tool
Used to darken areas in an image. Brush tip, range (shadows, midtones and highlights), exposure (strength of effect) and airbrush on/off can be set.


Sponge Tool
Used to change the saturation of areas in an image. Brush tip, mode (saturate or desaturate), exposure (strength of effect) and airbrush on/off can be set.





PAINTING TOOLS

Brush Tool
The brush tool is used to paint on an image. The size, shape and hardness of the brush can be defined.

Brush settings
Opacity – this sets how opaque or transparent the brush strokes will be.
Flow – this sets how strong the brush strokes will be, imitating the amount of paint coming off a real paintbrush.
Mode – the manner in which the brush strokes are blended with the existing base image can also be altered. Modes which can be selected for the brush tool are Normal, Dissolve, Darken, Multiply, Colour Burn, Linear Burn, Lighten, Screen, Colour Dodge, Linear Dodge, Overlay, Soft Light, Hard Light, Vivid Light, Linear Light, Pin Light, Mard Mix, Difference, Exclusion, Hue, Saturation, Colour and Luminosity.

You can use the brush tool in ‘airbrush’ mode by clicking the ‘airbrush’ button (on the bar next to all the other brush settings).


Pencil Tool
The pencil tool is used to draw in a similar way that the brush tool is used to paint.

Pencil settings
Opacity – this sets how opaque or transparent the pencil line will be.
Mode – the way that the brush stroke are blended with the existing base image can also be altered. Modes which can be selected for the pencil tool are Normal, Dissolve, Darken, Multiply, Colour Burn, Linear Burn, Lighten, Screen, Colour Dodge, Linear Dodge, Overlay, Soft Light, Hard Light, Vivid Light, Linear Light, Pin Light, Mard Mix, Difference, Exclusion, Hue, Saturation, Colour and Luminosity.
Auto-erase – selecting this option draws the background colour over the image.


Colour Replacement Tool

This tool replaces coloured parts of an image with colours from elsewhere in the image. The brush size, shape and hardness can be set like any other brush within Photoshop. The mode can be selected from Hue, Saturation, Colour and Luminosity, but is usually set to ‘Colour’ for this tool.

‘Sampling’ options for the colour replacement tool
Continuous – this means that colour will be sampled continuously as you paint with the brush.
Once – replaces colours only in areas of the image that are the same colour as the first place you click.
Background Swatch – uses the selected background colour form the colour swatches as the sample colour.

‘Limits’ option for colour replacement tool
Discontinuous – replaces sample colour anywhere that you paint over it.
Contiguous – only replaces colours in areas that are the same colour as the area under the brush.
Find edges – keeps edges sharp while replacing colour.
Tolerance – the higher the percentage entered here, the larger the range of colours that can be replaced. A really low percentage means that only areas of the image very close to the colour of the originally selected pixels will be replaced.


History Brush
This tool is used to paint over altered parts of the image, returning them, to their original state. The brush properties, as well as the mode, opacity and flow can be set as with any
other brush.

The history brush can also be used in airbrush mode (as with the normal brush).


Art History Brush
This works the same way as the History Brush except it allows you to set the style of the brush to create interesting effects (such as long tight curl and dab).


Paintbucket Tool
This is used to fill areas of an image with a solid colour or pattern.

Options for the Paintbucket Tool
Foreground/pattern – this sets whether you fill the image with a pattern (chosen from the adjacent drop-down menu) or the foreground colour in the swatch under the tool palette.
Mode – this contains all available blending modes.
Opacity – this determines how solid the fill effect is.
Tolerance – this determines the size of the range of similar pixels which will be affected by the fill.
Anti-alias – gives smoother edges to the fill effect.
Contiguous – ticking this will cause only pixels adjacent to those clicked on with the fill tool to be filled. Otherwise, all pixels of that colour throughout the image will be affected.
All layers – fills all layers, not just the one selected.


Gradient Tool
This tool is used to fill an area of an image with a colour gradient.

Options for the gradient tool
Colour – selected from the first drop-down, this determines the colours in the gradient fill.
Shape – this is the shape in which the gradient will fill the image (linear, radial, diamond, reflected or angle).
Mode – sets the desired blending mode for the gradient.
Opacity – this defines how opaque the fill effect will be.
Reverse – this reverses the colours in the gradient.
Dither – this creates a smoother blending effect.
Transparency – this allows a transparency mask to be used for the gradient.





DRAWING AND TYPE TOOLS

Path Selection Tool
This is used to show the transform paths on a shape.


Direct Selection Tool
This is like the Path Selection tool, but it uses a bounding box to select the area of the shape to show the transform paths on.


Horizontal Type Tool
This creates a layer of text in an image. Font, size, style, colour, alignment and warping can be adjusted.


Vertical Type Tool
Created a layer of text in an image, but places it vertically instead of horizontally. Font, size, style, colour, alignment and warping can be adjusted,


Horizontal Type Mask Tool
Creates a layer of text in an image, horizontally, which can then be filled with an image.


Vertical Type Mask Tool
As Horizontal Type Mask Tool, but creates vertical text.


Vector Shape Tool
This creates a shape with a vector mask. There is a choice of rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, polygon, line or custom shape (which can then be chosen from a menu at the top of
the page).

Options for shape tool
- New shape
- Add to existing shape
- Subtract from existing shape
- Intersect shapes
- Exclude overlapping parts of shapes.


Pen Tool
This is used to create both shapes and curves with a vector mask. It can be used along with the vector shapes, to add to and remove from them.


Freeform Pen Tool
This is used to create shapes with a vector mask, but they are drawn freehand instead of following a line or curve automatically as with the normal pen tool.


Add Anchor Point Tool
This tool adds anchor points to a shape. These anchor points can then be moved to manipulate the shape.


Delete Anchor Point Tool
This tool allows you to delete anchor points from a shape.


Convert Point Tool
This tool allows you to select an anchor point on shape and then change it to a line or curve to alter the shape.





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