Tool Options Bar

In early versions of Photoshop, tool options were set on a palette just like Layers or History. With version 6, users learned to reach for the Tool Options bar instead. As you change tools, the bar changes according to whatever options are available for that tool. If it's been turned off, choose Options in the Window menu, or simply double-click any tool to open its Options bar.

There's an option on the bar called the Tool Preset menu. It's at the far left of the toolbar, which is shown in Figure 1.8 with the Brush Options active. You can use tool presets to save specific option sets for tools you use often.

Figure 1.8. Any toolbar component with an arrow has a pop-up menu.