The Adobe Photoshop Toolbox

The tools in the toolbox allow you to select, paint, edit, and view images.

Listed below are descriptions of the tools in the toolbox.

The tools

The marquee tool is used to make rectangular and elliptical selections within the image.

The lasso tool is essentially the same as the marquee toll, except that the lasso tool enables the user to define the selection freehand. This tool is especially helpful in isolating irregularly-shaped objects surrounded by other objects.

The magic wand tool makes selections based on the color similarities of adjacent pixels. This tool is useful in selecting part of an image without tracing the outline with the lasso tool.

The move tool is used to move selections by dragging the mouse.

The hand tool is used to scroll through an image that does not fit in the active window.

The zoom tool is used to magnify an image (not to change its size). This tool can also be used in conjunction with the Option key on the keyboard to zoom out.

The cropping tool discards the remainder of the image outside of the region selected by the tool.

The paint bucket tool fills in areas that are adjacent to the point you click with the current foreground color.

The gradient fill tool creates a gradual transition from the foreground to the background color.

The line tool paints straight line segments. Properties of the lines,

including width and arrowheads, can be changed by double-clicking on the line tool in the toolbox.

The eyedropper tool is used to sample and match colors in an image.

The eraser tool erases pixels and changes them to the same color as the background color (usually white).

The pencil tool can be used to color individual pixels.

The airbrush tool is used to apply a diffused spray of the foreground color on the image.

The paintbrush tool paints soft-edged strokes of the foreground color.

The rubber stamp tool samples a part of an image and can place an exact copy of that sample elsewhere.

The smudge tool simulates the effect of dragging a finger through wet paint.

The blur/sharpen tools blur or sharpen parts of an image.

The dodge/burn/sponge tools can lighten, darken, or change the saturation of part of an image.


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Submitted by Michelle Gallagher

Virginia Tech Materials Science and Engineering

http://www.eng.vt.edu/eng/materials/classes/MSE2094_NoteBook/97ClassProj/visual/tools.html

Last updated: 5/7/97