Kinds of Presets


There are seven kinds of presets in Photoshop, but it's sometimes more helpful to think of them in two major categories: tool presets, and everything else. Tool presets are all found in the options bar, whereas the other six kinds also appear in other palettes, as I describe later in this section. Keeping that distinction in mind can help you look for a preset in the right place.

Brush Presets and Tool Presets for Brushes

A tool preset remembers how you set up the options bar for a tool in the Tools palette. Click the Tool Presets picker at the left end of the options bar to display a list of any tool presets available for the current tool. If you disable the Current Tool Only checkbox, the Tool Presets picker lists all tool presets for all tools.

Saving brush settings can be kind of confusing because brush configurations really exist on two levels. First there are brush presets, which live in the Brushes palette. When you save a brush, that brush remembers the settings you set up only within the Brushes palette. On top of that you have tool presets for brushes, which live in the options bar. A tool preset for brushes remembers the brush you selected and also includes the settings you set up in the options bar (Figure 4.3).

Figure 4.3. A tool preset for brushes remembers the combination of brush tool settings plus all settings on the options bar.


Brush presets aren't just for the brush tool itself. You can make brush presets for other tools that act as brushes, such as the Clone Stamp and History brushes. If you do extensive painting or retouching that involve tweaks to the options bar, you'll want to study brush presets more closely.

The Brushes palette itself is so deep that a complete description of all of its features is outside the scope of this book; you can find option-by-option descriptions in Photoshop Help. This topic focuses on how to use brushes as presets.

To create a brush preset:

1.

In the Tools palette, select the brush tool you want to customize.

2.

Click the Brushes tab in the palette well or choose Windows > Brushes.

3.

If you want to use an existing brush preset as a starting point, select Brush Presets and then select a brush preset from the list. Your changes won't replace the preset you select.

4.

Select Brush Tip Shape and specify settings on the right (Figure 4.4).

Figure 4.4. The Brush Tip Shape is one of the many settings you can save as part of a brush preset.


5.

As needed, select any of the brush attributes below Brush Tip Shape on the left side and specify settings on the right.

6.

After you've configured the brush the way you want, click the Create New Brush button at the bottom of the Brushes palette. Name the brush and click OK.

To create a tool preset for a brush:

1.

In the Tools palette, select a brush tool.

2.

In the options bar, click the Brush Preset picker (second from the left) to select the brush you want. If the brush you want isn't in the list, open the Brushes palette, where you can create a new brush or edit the brushes in the list, and then make sure the brush you want is selected in the options bar.

3.

Make sure all settings in the options bar are the way you want them to be in the tool preset.

4.

In the options bar, click the Tool Presets picker and click the Create New Tool Preset button.

5.

Name the tool preset and click OK.

To use a brush tool preset:

1.

In the Tools palette, select the brush you want to use.

2.

In the options bar, click the Tool Presets picker to see the Tool Presets list and select the preset you want to use.

If the Brushes palette is dimmed, you probably selected a tool that only supports basic brush options. For example, the Healing Brush only uses the basic Brushes palette options because there isn't much point in having a calligraphic Healing Brush. You can still set basic brush options by clicking the Brush Preset picker in the options bar, next to the Tool Presets picker.

If your scratch disk space is limited, you may want to minimize the number of brush presets you keep with a document. You can use the Preset Manager (Edit > Preset Manager) to delete brush presets you aren't using. Tool presets for brushes don't consume RAM.


Swatch Presets (Swatches)

A swatch preset is a saved color specification. You've probably heard of swatches; that's actually just another, shorter way of saying swatch presets. They live in the Swatches palette, as you've probably noticed. Swatches help you specify colors consistently, either within your own document or across a workgroup if you distribute your swatches to others.

The swatches you see aren't saved with individual documents, but with Photoshop settings in general. If you customize the Swatches palette, those changes stay in effect for any document you have open. Any document you open takes on the swatches currently in effect in Photoshop, which may not be the same as the swatches that were available the last time you edited that document. The colors in your document won't change, however.

To create a swatch preset:

1.

Set the foreground color using either the color picker in the Tools palette or the Color palette (Figure 4.5).

Figure 4.5.


2.

In the Swatches palette, click the Create New Swatch of Foreground Color button (Figure 4.6).

Figure 4.6.


To use a swatch preset, just select a swatch.

Tool Presets for Gradients

Remember how brush configurations exist at two levels? That's true for gradients as well. You'll find that the options bar for the gradient tool contains both a list of gradient presets and a list of tool presets for the gradient tool.

To create a tool preset for the gradient tool:

1.

In the Tools palette, select the gradient tool.

2.

In the options bar, click the gradient picker arrow (Figure 4.7) to select the gradient you want. If the gradient you want isn't in the list, click the gradient itself to open the Gradient Editor, where you can create a new gradient or edit the gradient presets in the list. (Because this topic focuses on presets, we won't go into the ins and outs of the Gradient Editor here.)

Figure 4.7.


3.

Make sure the settings in the options bar are the way you want them to be in the tool preset.

4.

In the options bar, click the Tool Presets picker and click the Create New Tool Preset button.

5.

Name the tool preset and click OK.

To use a gradient preset:

1.

In the Tools palette, select the gradient tool.

2.

In the options bar, click the Tool Presets picker to see the Tool Presets list and select the preset you want to use.

Layer Styles and Layer Style Presets

A layer style is a visual effect, like the drop shadows, strokes, and fills you apply using the Layers palette or the Layer Style dialog box. Many cool Photoshop effects are actually made up of stacked layer styles, and you can save any combination of layer styles as a one-click layer style preset. Layer styles live in the Styles palette (Window > Styles). Photoshop comes with many layer styles built in, so you can use the Styles palette to easily try them out or to use as starting points for your own layer styles.

To create a layer style preset:

1.

In the Layers palette, select a layer to use just as an example to set up the layer style preset. The example layer should be about the size of the layers you'll typically use with the layer style you're creating.

2.

Set up all of the layer styles you want to include in the layer style preset (Figure 4.8).

Figure 4.8.


3.

In the Styles palette, click the Create New Style button (Figure 4.9).

Figure 4.9.


To use a layer style preset, select a layer and click a layer style in the Styles palette.

As with brushes and gradients, there are two levels going on here, so I just want to summarize the distinction again, just to be clear. A layer style is only a single instance, whereas a layer style preset can include a combination of multiple layer styles. A layer style preset can still be useful for a single instance of a layer style if you want to apply that layer style with specific settings (Figure 4.10).

Figure 4.10. Layer styles are listed in the Layer Style dialog box, whereas layer style presets (saved layer style combinations) are listed in the Styles palette in Figure 4.9.


Pattern Presets

A pattern is an image that Photoshop remembers as a tile. You can make a pattern out of any selection or image. When you apply a pattern to a layer, the pattern fills the layer by repeating itself over and over. Pattern presets are often called just patterns. You'll encounter patterns in the Edit > Fill dialog box or in the Pattern adjustment layer.

To create a pattern preset:

1.

Select a layer or use the rectangular marquee tool to select an area of a layer.

2.

Choose Edit > Define Pattern.

3.

Name the pattern and click OK (Figure 4.11).

Figure 4.11.


To use a pattern preset:

1.

If you want to apply the pattern to a specific area, select that area first.

2.

In the Layers palette, click the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button and choose Pattern Fill.

3.

Click the pattern preset button (Figure 4.12), select a pattern, specify options, and click OK.

Figure 4.12.


You can also apply patterns by using the Edit > Fill command or by using the brush tool.

To fine-tune a pattern so that it doesn't look so much like a tile, try the Pattern Maker. Select the layer you want to use as a pattern and choose Filter > Pattern Maker.


Patterns consume scratch disk space, so if your scratch disk space is limited, minimize the number of patterns you use. Some of the built-in layer styles use patterns, and those patterns also take up RAM.


Contour Presets

You use contours to customize the bevel effects that you apply to layers. Contours appear in the Layer Style dialog box (Figure 4.13). If it isn't obvious how the contour shape translates into the final bevel, think of the contour as a cross-sectionwhat the bevel's silhouette would look like if you sliced it off and looked at it from the end.

Figure 4.13. Gloss Contour effects in the Contour picker customize the shape of an edge.


To create a contour preset:

1.

Select a layer.

2.

In the Layers palette, click the Add a Layer Style button and choose a layer style in the list below Blending Options (Figure 4.14).

Figure 4.14.


3.

Click the Contour or Gloss Contour picker (the arrow, not the thumbnail) to see the available contours and then select the contour you want to use as a starting point (see Figure 4.13), such as bevel and emboss. If you don't see a Contour or Gloss Contour picker, select a different style along the left side of the Layer Style dialog box and make sure the one you don't want is unchecked.

4.

Click the contour or gloss contour thumbnail (not the picker arrow) to open the Contour Editor dialog box (Figure 4.15).

Figure 4.15.


5.

Shape the contour path by dragging the points on the curve. If points don't exist where you need them, click the path to add a point. To remove a point, drag it off the editor graph.

6.

Click the New button, name the contour, and click OK.

7.

Click OK to close the Contour Editor dialog box. The contour is now available to all layer styles.

8.

If you were only creating a contour and you don't want to apply the selected effect to the selected layer, you can click Cancel until you return to the document window. Otherwise, continue applying layer styles to the selected layer and when you're done, click OK.

As you edit a contour, you can preview the effect of your changes if the selected layer is visible in the document window.


Although contours are vector paths, you can't draw them with the pen tool or exchange them with Adobe Illustrator CS2. That's not a big loss, because they're usually simple enough to shape right there in the Contour Editor dialog box.

Custom Shapes and Tool Presets for Shapes

Shapes are vector-based paths drawn using shape tools or the pen tool. Unlike the pixel-based graphics you usually edit in Photoshop, shapes are resolution-independent, like the shapes you'd create in drawing programs like Illustrator. You can use shapes as masks or convert them to selections (Figure 4.16). When you want to create an area that involves flawlessly straight lines or perfectly smooth curves, it's often easier and faster to draw and edit its outline using a shape tool or the pen tool than it is to use other methods like the lasso tool.

Figure 4.16. Starting with a shape (left), click the Load Path as a Selection button in the Paths palette (center) to convert the shape to a selection (right).


Most of the shape tools are basic, such as the usual rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, polygon, and line tools you've seen in countless other programs. If you need a vector shape other than those, such as a business logo, you can use the pen tool to draw a custom shape. You can save custom shapes in the options bar for later use, and Photoshop comes with some predefined custom shapes such as arrows and common symbols.

Shapes have two kinds of presets, just like the brush tools and gradients. You can save a custom shape, which will appear on the Custom Shape picker next to the standard shapes. You can also save a tool preset for shapes; as you probably guessed by now, a tool preset for a shape saves both the selected shape tool and all of the options bar settings for that tool. This can be very confusing, because you can have a custom shape that isn't part of a shape tool preset, or a shape tool preset that doesn't use a custom shape! Don't worry about such mental mazes; just remember the difference between creating custom shapes and creating tool presets for shapes.

You see the Custom Shape picker in the options bar only when the custom shape tool is selected.


To create a custom shape:

1.

In the Tools palette, select the pen tool or any shape tool.

2.

In the options bar, make sure the Shape Layers button is selected (Figure 4.17).

Figure 4.17.


3.

Draw a shape.

4.

In the Layers palette, select the shape layer's vector mask (Figure 4.18).

Figure 4.18.


5.

Choose Edit > Define Custom Shape.

6.

Name the shape and click OK. You can now select your new custom shape from the Custom Shape picker on the options bar when the custom shape tool is selected (Figure 4.19). This is kind of trickyyou often won't see the Custom Shape picker because it only appears when the custom shape tool is selected. Just remember to select the custom shape tool.

Figure 4.19.


You can use a shape in Adobe Illustrator as a custom shape in Photoshop. In Illustrator, select the shape and choose Edit > Copy. Switch to Photoshop and choose Edit > Paste. In the Paste dialog box that appears, select Shape Layer and click OK. With the new shape layer's vector mask selected, you can choose Edit > Define Custom Shape.


To create a tool preset for any shape tool:

1.

In the Tools palette, select any shape tool.

2.

Make sure the settings in the options bar are the way you want them to be in the new tool preset.

3.

In the options bar, click the Tool Presets picker and click the Create New Tool Preset button.

4.

Name the tool preset and click OK.

Think about using custom shapes whenever you want to create simple graphics or masks, such as a company logo or a standard graphic symbol.

One advantage of a shape is that enlarging a shape doesn't result in jaggy edges, like those you get when you scale up a bitmap. However, when the document is exported or printed, the shape is converted into a bitmap at the resolution of the document as stated in the Image > Image Size dialog box. Shapes remain resolution-independent only when you save as a Photoshop PDF file.


Custom shapes aren't the same as saved paths. Custom shapes live in the Shape picker in the options bar for shape tools for all documents, whereas saved paths live in the Paths palette for a single document. You use the first three icons on the left side of the shape tool options bar to determine whether a custom shape is added as a shape layer, a path, or as filled pixels on the current layer. Saved paths don't affect a layer until you convert the path to a selection.


Including Multiple Paths in a Custom Shape Preset

You might have a logo or other complex vector-based symbol that you'd like to save for quick access in Photoshop. If you want more than one path to be part of the custom shape preset, there are a few things you should do before adding more paths to the original path.

1.

In the Layers palette, select the shape layer's vector mask.

2.

In the options bar, make sure the Paths button is selected and select one of the path area buttons in the group of four buttons beyond the shape buttons in the options bar. That controls whether multiple paths overlap or cut holes in each other (Figure 4.20).

Figure 4.20.


3.

Draw additional paths or shapes, and they should be added to the existing custom shape. If you already have an Adobe Illustrator version of the vector shape, you can paste it in.

4.

When you're done, remember to save it as a custom shape, as described in the section "Custom Shapes and Tool Presets for Shapes" in this chapter.


You can't really edit presets. If you want to make changes to a preset, you have to start from the existing preset, modify it, add it as a new preset, and delete the old one.





Working Smart in Adobe Photoshop CS2
Working Smart in Adobe Photoshop CS2
ISBN: 0321335392
EAN: 2147483647
Year: N/A
Pages: 161
Authors: Conrad Chavez

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