Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers - Martin Evening [27]
The keyboard arrow keys can be used to nudge a layer or selection in 1 pixel increments, or 10 pixel increments when the key is held down. A series of nudges count as a single Photoshop step in history and can be undone with a single undo ( ) or a step back in history.
Layer selection using the move tool
When the move tool is selected, dragging with the move tool moves the layer or image selection contents (the cursor does not have to be centered on the object or selection, it can be anywhere in the image window). However, when the Auto-Select Layer option is switched on (circled in Figure 1.69), the move tool auto-selects the uppermost layer containing the most opaque image data below the cursor - this can be useful when you have a large numbers of image layers stacked up. Multiple layer selection is also possible with the move tool, because when the move tool is in Auto-Select Layer mode you can marquee drag with the move tool from outside the canvas area to select multiple layers, the same way as you can make a marquee selection using the mouse cursor to select multiple folders or documents in the Finder/Explorer (see Figure 1.70). It is also worth noting that if you have the move tool selected and the Auto-Select Layer option is unchecked, holding down temporarily inverts the state of the move tool to Auto-Select Layer mode.
Figure 1.69 The move tool Options bar with the Auto-Select layer option checked.
Figure 1.70 When the move tool is selected and the Auto-Select box is checked, you can marquee drag with the move tool from outside of the canvas area inwards to select specific multiple layers. If the Auto-Select Layer option is deselected, you can instead hold down the key to temporarily switch the move tool to the ‘Auto-Select’ mode.Client: ET Nail Art Model: Susannah @ Storm Makeup: Camilla Pascucci
Auto layer/layer group selection
When the move, marquee, lasso or crop tool are selected, a + right mouse-click selects a target layer based on the pixels where you click. When the move tool only is selected, -click selects a layer group based on the pixels where you click.
Group or layer
The move tool Options panel contains a menu that allows you to choose between ‘Group’ or ‘Layer’ auto-selection. When ‘Layer’ is selected, Photoshop only auto-selects individual layers, but when ‘Group’ is selected, Photoshop can auto-select whole layer groups.
Where you have many layers that overlap, remember there is a contextual mode for the move tool that can help you target specific layers (use right mouse-click to access the contextual layer menu). Any layer with an opacity greater than 50% will show up in the contextual menu. This then allows you to select a specific layer from below the cursor.
Align/Distribute layers
When several layers are linked together, you can click on the Align and Distribute buttons in the Options bar as an alternative to navigating via the Layer Align Linked and Distribute Linked menus (see Chapter 9 for more about the Align and Distribute commands).
Layer selection shortcuts
You can at any time use the shortcut to select all layers. But note that the move tool layer selection method will not select any layers that are locked. For example, if you use the Auto-Select layer mode to marquee drag across the image to make a layer selection, the background layer will not be included in the selection.
Navigation and information tools
To zoom in on an image, you can either click with the zoom tool to magnify, or drag with the zoom tool, marqueeing the area you wish to inspect in close-up. This combines a zoom and scroll function in one (a plus icon appears inside the magnifying glass icon). To zoom out, just hold down the key and click (the plus sign is replaced with a minus sign). You can also zoom in by holding down the Spacebar + the key (Mac) or the key (PC). You can then click to zoom in and you can also zoom out by holding down the Spacebar + the key (Mac) or the key (PC). This keyboard shortcut calls up the zoom tool in zoom out mode and