5 Photoshop Tricks & Tips That You Don’t Know (Probably) – Part 3

In this video, I will go through five Photoshop tricks and tips that you probably don’t know.

This is part three of my Photoshop tricks series if you have not seen part 1 or part 2 then check them out now!

Here’s a quick overview of the Photoshop tricks and techniques shown in this video.

Photoshop Trick 01 – Bring Back Select and Mask in Photoshop CC

Photoshop CC 2015.5 introduced the Select and Mask Workspace and removed the old Refine Edge (Refine Mask) dialog box. If you prefer to use the old dialog box when working with selections, then use this little-known shortcut in Photoshop CC 2017 and newer to bring back the Refine Edge dialog box.

With a selection or mask active, press-and-hold Shift, and go to Select > Select and Mask. This will open the Refine Edge window instead of the Select and Mask Workspace!

Photoshop Trick 02 – Keep a Text Record of Every Step With Photoshop’s History Log

To keep text record of every single step that you have done to an image, turn on Photoshop’s History Log.

Press Ctrl K (Mac: Command K) to bring up the Preferences panel. In the History Log tab, click on the History Log check box. Then click Text File, and choose a location to save the file and give it a name.

You can now start working on your image and Photoshop will record every step you take. To review the steps, find the text file and double click on it.

Photoshop Trick 03 – Open a Flattened Version of a Layered PSD

To open a flattened version of a layered PSD file, go to File > Open and find the PSD file you would like to open and click on it once to select it. Then hold down Shift Alt (Mac: Shift Option) and click Open. Photoshop will then ask you if you want to “Read the composite data instead.” Press OK, and a flattened version of that file will open up.

This is an excellent way to open a large file that usually takes a long time to open. In case you only want to show it to someone or share it in an email or social media.

Remember always to do a “Save As.” Saving the document will override the original file, and you will lose all your layers.

Note:
This is my Adobe Max interview mentioned in this tutorial.

Photoshop Trick 04 – Protect Your Images

When sending a copy of a project to a client, you may want to protect the file, so that it requires a password to print or edit. This will prevent your client from using it before you get paid!

To protect your file save it as a PDF (File > Save As… and choose Photoshop PDF). In the Save PDF dialog box, Click “Security” and under “Permissions“, you can enter a password to prevent printing and editing.

You can view the files in Acrobat, but you won’t be able to print it or copy it.

Photoshop Trick 05 – Select Any Color From Outside of Photoshop

To select any color from outside of Photoshop first activate the Eyedropper tool (I on the keyboard). Then left-click-and-hold inside of your image in Photoshop, and drag the cursor outside of Photoshop to any other window or application. Sample the color that you like, then release your mouse button, and the sampled color will appear as your new Foreground color.