Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Click Here for Terms of Use in Objective-C

Create Quick Response Code in Objective-C Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Click Here for Terms of Use

ust about every program you work with on your computer contains some set of preferences you can customize to suit your specific needs, and Photoshop is no different This chapter opens with a discussion on how the Photoshop preferences can affect your work as a web designer, and continues with essential tips on customizing your version of Photoshop for the design of web graphics

When you use a program like Photoshop frequently, you undoubtedly find yourself performing the same or similar tasks over and over again For web designers, this might mean changing the unit of measurement for each Photoshop file from inches to pixels the unit of measurement used on computer monitors Typically, the developers of the program know this and find ways to minimize the time it takes for you to perform tasks such as this one By customizing Photoshop for tasks commonly associated with web design, you not only can save yourself time but also make it easier for the program itself to produce your desired results For example, by changing your default unit of measurement to pixels a tip included in this chapter the program will use pixels as its unit of measurement by default, for every file you open That way, you ll more easily be able to recognize the screen measurements of web graphics than if you had to first translate the measurements from inches or centimeters to pixels

The majority of the tips in this chapter refer specifically to Photoshop and not ImageReady The reason is that while Photoshop is a tool used by both web and print designers, ImageReady was designed specifically for web design As such, the program is already customized for web designers

Before I move on to the tips in this chapter, let s look at how the following characteristics of web design affect the creation of graphics in Photoshop: Computer operating system Monitor settings Color

The operating system you use affects not only which version of Photoshop you purchase but also some of the preferences you define as a web designer Specifically, your operating system affects the following items: Image previews and thumbnails within file directories Pint-size versions of images used to help identify them

File naming conventions How you decide to name a file, including how many characters you use and which characters those are Memory allocated to Photoshop The amount of RAM given to Photoshop as well as the amount of available overflow memory, referred to as the scratch disk Tips in the following sections specify exactly how to deal with these issues when customizing Photoshop for web use

If you ve ever looked at Photoshop on a 15-inch monitor and then on a 21-inch monitor, you re well aware of how monitors and their settings can affect the program Photoshop s work area includes several palettes that are typically visible in addition to the file you re working on, as shown in Figures 1-1 and 1-2 If you re using a small monitor, or even if you re using a large monitor but have the resolution set to emulate that of a small monitor, all these palettes can quickly take over the screen In addition to the monitor s size and resolution, its calibration can affect how your web graphics display on your screen This is particularly important to web designers, because you want your

Figure 1-1

Figure 1-2

images to display as close to normal as possible in order to get an idea of how they ll look on other users monitors Tips in the following sections specify exactly how to deal with issues related to a monitor s size, resolution, and calibration when customizing Photoshop for web use