- Introduction
- Optimizing Photoshop
- Setting General Preferences
- Setting File Handling Preferences
- Setting Interface Preferences
- Changing Sync Settings Preferences
- Setting Cursors Preferences
- Controlling Transparency & Gamut Preferences
- Working with Units & Rulers
- Working with Guides, Grid & Slices
- Setting Plug-Ins Preferences
- Selecting Scratch Disks
- Allocating Memory & Image Cache
- Setting Type Preferences
- Managing Libraries with the Preset Manager
- Using and Customizing Workspaces
- Building Specialized Workspaces
- Creating a Customized User Interface
- Defining Shortcut Keys
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Setting General Preferences
Photoshop’s General preferences help you configure some of the more common features of the program. Color picker, image interpolation, and image Smart Object settings, as well as the History log, are set up in General preferences. Other options, such as beeping when an operation is finished, auto-updating open documents, and using the Shift key for tool switching, can all be turned on or off in the Options area. The Color Picker options allow you to select a color picker, either Adobe or the OS, and a HUD color picker (in 8-bit and 16-bit documents). The History Log lets you save all the History States performed on a particular document. For example, when you open an image, all the adjustments and actions performed are saved in a text file. This gives you access to valuable information, and lets you reproduce the steps performed on one image to correct another.
Work with General Options
Click the Edit (Win) or Photoshop (Mac) menu, point to Preferences, and then click General.
Click the Color Picker list arrow, and then select Adobe or another. operating system (Windows or Macintosh).
Click the HUD Color Picker list arrow, and then select a color picker style, such as Hue Strip or Hue Wheel.
Click the Image Interpolation list arrow, and then select Nearest Neighbor, Bilinear, Bicubic, Bicubic Smoother, Bicubic Sharper, and Bicubic Automatic.
Select the various options you want to use:- Auto-Update Open Documents. Creates a link between the open image and the image file on disk.
- Beep When Done. Makes a sound when an operation is complete.
- Dynamic Color Sliders. Previews color effects within the slider bars.
- Export Clipboard. Transfers a copied image to the operating systems clipboard.
- Use Shift Key For Tool Switch. Allows you to use the keyboard shortcut when two tools share the same slot in the toolbox.
- Resize Image During Place. Allows you to resize an image during a Place.
- Animated Zoom. Enables continuous-motion, smooth zooming in and out of your document, and Scrubby Zoom.
- Zoom Resizes Windows. Forces the image window to resize when zoom is selected.
- Zoom With Scroll Wheel. Determines whether zooming or scrolling is the default operation of the scroll wheel.
- Zoom Clicked Point to Center. Centers the zoom view on the clicked location.
- Enable Flick Panning. Enables quick mouse movement over the image instead of holding down the mouse.
- Vary Round Brush Hardness based on HUD Vertical Movement. Enables brush variations (hardness and opacity) when vertically moving brush HUD.
- Place or Drag Raster Images as Smart Objects. Converts raster images to Smart Objects when you place or drag them.
- Snap Vector Tools and Transforms to Pixel Grid. Enables the snapping of vector tools and transformations to the pixel grid.
Select the History Log check box and then set the log options you want to use.
Click OK.
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For Your Information: Resetting Photoshop Preferences
If your preference settings in Photoshop are causing display or performance problems, you can reset Photoshop preferences back to their defaults. To reset Photoshop preferences, press Shift+Ctrl+Alt (Win) or Shift+Option+
(Mac) immediately after you start Photoshop, and then click Yes to delete the Adobe Photoshop Settings File.