Housekeeping in Adobe Photoshop

As we always mention, housekeeping is essential. After organizing our files, we will set our artboards and tour the Photoshop workspace.

File Management and File Creation

Synopsis: After downloading and organizing our assets, we will create our project file, name it, and save this .psd document in our project folder.

Duration: 2 minutes

Downloads

These are the files we will use in our workshop:

File specifications

  • Print file
  • Size: 11 x 17 inches
Screenshot of file specifications

Best practices

  • Settings for screen use: 72 PPI. 
  • Settings for print use: 300 PPI.

The Photoshop interface

Synopsis: We will break down key features and areas in the Photoshop interface we will use in our workflow.

Duration: 2 minutes

Best practices

  • The move tool (four-directional arrow) allows you to move content. 
  • Similar tools are grouped within the Tool Panel. To access related tools, long-click a particular tool (example: text) and the hidden tools will appear (example: type on a path tool, vertical type tool).
  • If you scroll over the tools in the toolbar, you will see a short video that showcases what each tool does.

Working with the layers panel

Synopsis: The Layers panel is an essential panel and a central component of the Photoshop workflow. In this video, we will show how to work with layers. 

Duration: 5 minutes

Best practices

  • To protect a layer, lock it with the lock icon. 
  • You can temporarily hide a layer with the eye icon.