FAQ

[The Mask of Norro]

Got the idea from the lounge when someone mentioned that it would be good to have one. We've got a lot of graphically minded people here, and I think all of us around here could benefit from sharing our knowledge with others.

If you have any questions regarding any graphic designing program, from Adobe to Corel to anything else, post them in here. Hopefully, someone should be able to answer them.

Use this thread wisely, folks. I'll be putting together an FAQ in this post based off of all the questions asked in here and the answers given.

[Docpepper]

I've got two questions:

I'm using painter classic and realized that as soon as I launch its using 100@ cpu and other programs refuse to load. I've launched it by it self with nothing loaded and it still is 100% . How can I fix it ?

The tip of my wacom pen has become shorter and when I use it i can feel it pushing down into the pen itself . is there a way I can pull the tip back out ?

[nufan]

I've got two questions:

I'm using painter classic and realized that as soon as I launch its using 100@ cpu and other programs refuse to load. I've launched it by it self with nothing loaded and it still is 100% . How can I fix it ?

The tip of my wacom pen has become shorter and when I use it i can feel it pushing down into the pen itself . is there a way I can pull the tip back out ?

[Docpepper]

thanks. I found out it was a bug in the software.

I have some general tips for Photoshop users

1. Learn the keyboard shortcuts for the version of photoshop you are using. They are a great time saver . the less keystrokes the better.

2. if you have to use the Lighting effect filter do so on a new layer filled with a 50% gray color. This isn't destructive and can be tweaked to fit what you need. Also when you use the burn and dodge tool , use it on a 50% gray layer. when you done with the burning and dodging. set the blend mode to overlay or softlight with an opacity of whatever suits.

3. If you're like me you probably spend most of your time with photoshop opened experimenting trying new things and etc. Say you create this great effect and you want to use it for layer. instead of opening notepad or getting out paper writing the steps out. Open Photoshop's annotation tool too and take notes as you go along. it will save with the file as long as you save it as a psd.

[Herr Matzat]

Nice drawingcourse for classic animation

http://www.karmatoons.com/drawing/drawing.htm

[AnnIQ Edison]

I have a question. I've made a picture that is transparent like some of the sigs that people have here. I make it fine but when I save it as a .gif file it gets this gray crap around it.

Here it is:

How do I get rid of it. Oh and I use Photoshop CS2

[Cadet Ember McLain]

The best transparent pictures are saved as .PNG. If you've still got the original render, or a copy of the file (saved as a .PSD), it's much easier to remake it than to fix it. If you haven't, you can use the Magic Wand tool to select the grey leftovers.

[AnnIQ Edison]

You are a god send. Thank you very much

[Guest Google.com]

Nothing to see here.

Edited April 7, 2008 by The Mask of Norro

[Stevie B]

Im not sure if this would be the right thread, but it seemed the most appropiate. Im looking for some new fonts for Photoshop 7, but ive never thought about adding new fonts before. Does anyone have any recommended websites for new fonts, along with a tutorial as how to add them?

Guess i was looking for a resources thread or something similar.

[New Damage]

Dafont.com is probably the main one.

And what you said about resources too, I've been thinking about that lately too, where theres a resources thread/sub-forum where people can post good tutorials/tutorial sites, brushes, PSD sites, font sites, etc.

[alldaws1]

dafont doesn't get updated too often anymore although a quick look at the site tells me they've updated since I last checked a couple of weeks ago. They do have quite a good library of fonts, though. I recommend just taking a while to browse through all the different categories there, you'll get lots of decent fonts.

To install them you can just copy the font file (usually .ttf or .otf) into the C:\Windows\Fonts folder then they should be available in PS (may need to restart PS first).

[New Damage]

Just in case anyone needs them, a very less obvious shortcuts, some shortcuts on Photoshop (as of version CS2):

V - Move

D - Default colours selected (black & white)

X - Switch background and foreground colours

Ctrl + Shift + E - Merges all visible layers

Ctrl + E - Merge down selected layer

Ctrl +Alt + E - Stamp Down

Enter (numeric pad) - When in type or transform mode, confirms text input/transform

Ctrl + Tab - Switch between windows/documents inside PS (works on most programs with multiple windows/tabs, ie. Internet Explorer, Firefox etc.)

Ctrl + W - Closes current window/document (again works in other programs)

Also, I'm wondering if anyone can help me with some shortcuts. Is there a shortcut to maximize every window in Photoshop, so that I don't have to maximize each one as I want to look at it? also, is it possible to enter the transform? mode by pressing a button, instead of clicking the corner points? It's pain to zoom all the way out if using a big picture (also the scroll on my mouse dances around instead of going straight back )

[Docpepper]

for the transform you can hit Ctrl+T then at the top on the bar will be places you can type in a number for height and etc. is that close to what you are talking about ?

Also in CS and CS2 I believe you can create your own shortcuts. the closest thing I can find for maximizing is hitting Ctrl+0

[FireDoughnut]

How do I get a really distinctive glow around text in GIMP?

Like really distinctive... Very like the text in this picture.

Edited September 8, 2008 by FireDoughnut

[K]

Without knowing if The GIMP has an outer glow option, the way I used to do it manually before photoshop was to duplicate the text layer, then apply a Gaussian Blur, then drop it behind the main text layer.

To make it look more like the picture, you should probably increase the size of the duplicated text before you blur it.

Edit: Or install this plug in

http://registry.gimp.org/node/186

[New Damage]

for the transform you can hit Ctrl+T then at the top on the bar will be places you can type in a number for height and etc. is that close to what you are talking about ?

Also in CS and CS2 I believe you can create your own shortcuts. the closest thing I can find for maximizing is hitting Ctrl+0

The Ctrl+T part is it. Thanks.

But what I mean with the maximize thing is not the zoom (Ctrl+0 fit's it to the window, Ctrl+Alt+0 zooms to 100% ) but the actual window/canvas that the image is on. You know, like how you'd click the 'square' next to the 'X' to maximize the window. Any way to maximize every window/image/canvas at once, so I don't need to click each one?

[FireDoughnut]

Without knowing if The GIMP has an outer glow option, the way I used to do it manually before photoshop was to duplicate the text layer, then apply a Gaussian Blur, then drop it behind the main text layer.

To make it look more like the picture, you should probably increase the size of the duplicated text before you blur it.

Edit: Or install this plug in

http://registry.gimp.org/node/186

Awesome. Thanks K.

[Docpepper]

But what I mean with the maximize thing is not the zoom (Ctrl+0 fit's it to the window, Ctrl+Alt+0 zooms to 100% ) but the actual window/canvas that the image is on. You know, like how you'd click the 'square' next to the 'X' to maximize the window. Any way to maximize every window/image/canvas at once, so I don't need to click each one?

ok finally figured it out. open all the documents you want. minimize all of them(so they shrink to the bottom of photoshops window) Now maximize one of the documents that you are working one. Now just hit Ctrl + Tab and one fo your other documents will pop up maximized. the key is to have all the others minimized first.

I think thats what you are after

[Plubby]

Not sure if this is the right place - it's probably not going to be bringing the "F" to "FAQ" any time soon...but anyway...

I have been sent a photo for work purposes, and the light is very obviously coming in from one side, casting a big fuck-off shadow across the other side of his face. The best i've been able to accomplish is an oh-so-slight evening of the light/shadow...thing.

The end result I want is to print it to a printer that only has four colours, one of which is black - so printing is darker than displayed on a monitor, and effects like this become drastic. I'm not very graphically minded - so can anyone help with some ideas of how to fix this?

Edited October 21, 2008 by The High Britches Kid