Chapter 5: Setting Up Photoshop

Overview

Before any job, there is always preparation. Let s say you are going to change the oil in your car. Before you crawl under it and loosen the plug, you ll need to move the car to an appropriate location ” certainly not near your newly planted front lawn, and not on the side of a hill. You ll need to find a level spot and gather an oil filter, pan, pouring spout, and rag. A simple job, yes. But consider how difficult the task would be if any of the elements were missing. If you choose the wrong location, you might kill your grass; if you park on a hill, some of the old, dirty oil will stay in the crankcase. The pan is essential, because without it, the oil will spill onto the ground.

The point is, you need to choose the right workspace and prepare it with all of the things you need before you begin the job. In the case of Photoshop CS, that means setting up the program to run at its optimal level, customizing the interface to best suit your needs, and choosing the best color environment.

This chapter will describe:

• Modifying settings and preferences

• Allocating memory

• Utilizing the Preset Manager

• Calibrating the monitor