Breaking Bad Habits in Photoshop
I’ve been a regular Photoshop user for almost a decade, which makes me feel old. But Photoshop 1.0 came out in 1990 which means some of you were learning to think in Layers while I was listening to NKOTB and wearing slap bracelets.
After ten years of Photoshop use you’d think I’d be a pro. And yeah, I’m decent. But I’ve got some lousy techniques deeply ingrained in my psyche. Many are amateur methods I learned as a beginner and should have outgrown. Some are just outdated ways of working with an ever-improving piece of software. They all impact my speed, efficiency, and quality. But it’s never too late to address a bad habit, so here are a few I’m working on curbing:
Not organizing layers and folders from the start
Bad habit:
Often, I jump into a project with so much enthusiasm and excitement that I can’t be bothered to name my layers or create folders. That’s fine when the file you’re working on is 10-20 easily recognizable layers. But when it creeps up to 100+ mini bits with their own layer and absolutely no semantics, it becomes ridiculous. I find myself clicking like crazy trying to find the layer holding a the 1px solid line seperator named “Layer 121”. Not cool, and definitely not efficient.
Easy fix:
Impose order form the start with a few basic folders. Mine typically include Header, Main, Sidebar, Footer and Background. If I’m working off of wireframes I label the folders to match them. I always keep these base folders in all-caps, with subfolders labeled in lowercase. Once I have nicely named folders I try to keep the momentum going by naming my layers as I create them. It only takes a few extra seconds. If other designers or developers are going to be working with your files, this type of structure will save everyone some headaches.
Using the Marquee tool to create basic shapes
Bad habit:
Before Photoshop 6, you made all your basic shapes with the Marquee tool. When you wanted to resize the shape without getting fuzzy edges, you had to do a whole bunch of futzing or just make a brand new one. If you wanted to change the color of the object, you had to do more silly futzing. Embarrassing as it is to admit, up until a few weeks ago I was still doing this and it was a major p.i.t.a.
Easy fix:
Start using the Shape tools. It’s formed by using a layer mask and simulates vector art and will give you the crisp, clean edges you’re looking for. As long as you don’t rasterize it you can easily change the color by double-clicking, and you can scale your shapes without losing quality. Photoshop CS3 has quite a bit of built-in vector goodness, so use it!
Erasing instead of masking
Bad habit:
I STILL catch myself making a duplicate layer of an image and removing the background with the Eraser tool while keeping the original copy in an invisible layer as a “backup”. I didn’t learn how to use Masking until a few years ago for some reason. In fact, I was masking in Flash and AfterEffects well before I got around to it in Photoshop. No idea why. Laziness is my best guess.
Easy fix:
No need to have extra layers or backup copies - now I always make a mask. It’s easy and undoable. You can use the same tools you’d use to delete, and you can reuse that mask on other layers as well.
Not saving swatches and styles
Bad habit:
Instead of saving my color palette as swatches, which takes all of two seconds, I end up using the color picker to grab colors from elements I’ve already created. This results in lots of missed grabs and slightly-off colors. Also, instead of saving styles to the palette for reuse, I often copy/paste layer styles.
Easy fix:
Web designs always have a pretty clear color palette and set of styles so it makes sense to save them as you go along. For one thing, they’re more easily reused. Not to mention it ensures your colors are consistent across the board. If you’ve got a color you want in your Foreground Color palette, just click on the “New Swatch” icon to add it to your swatch palette. The Styles palette works the same way.
Not taking advantage of Smart Filters
Bad habit:
Smart filters were one of the biggest bestest additions to CS3, yet I rarely remember to use them. You can often find me applying a blur to something, only to kick myself later for doing it the old-fashioned undoable way.
Easy fix:
Smart Filters are nondestructive, meaning they leave your original image intact and re-editable. Once you’ve created a filter, you can save and copy/paste it as well - so there’s no need to remember the exact settings to use it on other layers. To use Smart Filters, select the layer you you want to work on. Then go to the Filters Menu and select “Convert to Smart Filters”. It’ll make this layer a Smart Object, another something we should all be using.
...Or Smart Objects
Bad Habit:
I make duplicate copies of some type of element for a web design - for instance, a set of table data that I want to repeat 10 times in the layout. When I decide I want to tweak something about the style or layout of that element, I have to repeat the change 10 times.Pfffft.
Easy fix:
If I make these things Smart Objects instead of duplicates, I can change it once and have the edits be applied to all instances. Another reason to use Smart Filters is that you can transform and alter them without ruining the original information - whether it’s a vector or an image.
Not Using Shortcuts
Bad habit:
I use the mouse far more than I should. With this one it’s not really laziness. I’ve got a dodgy memory so I have trouble remembering all the various shortcuts.
Easy fix:
I haven’t found one yet, although this keyboard skin would be perfect for me:
http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/photo-app-keyboards/
I could go on forever, but those are definitely my worst Photoshop habits. What are yours?
Smart filters and smart object, a little guilty in both those areas. Great benefits though, so no excuse.
People using the marquee tool (or rasterizing their vector shapes to “reduce file size) drives me up the wall. It makes the file near impossible to work with. So yeah, don’t do that. :)
I’m guilty for all of these.
Thanks for providing these easy fixes, Mindy.
Definitely a great post!
great tips, I liked them all. :)
I’ll have to remember to save my color palette as swatches. And I’ll have to look into smart objects, I know Fireworks has symbols which sounds similiar, but didnt know PS had this.
I need to learn about masks. I used them in iconographer and in resedit but for some reason I just can’t figure them out via tutorial. Maybe I just haven’t found a good tut yet. I sorta get it, but I need practical examples.
I’m guilty of some of the same stuff, but I don’t have cs3, just photoshop elements 1, hah.
Interesting post :)
I didn’t know about “Not saving swatches and styles” and “Not taking advantage of Smart Filters”.
Thanks for sharing.
I totally build my layers and folders one thought at a time, which results in monstrous PSDs. I’ve also never used the Smart Filters, but vow to begin immediately.
Nice tips! I would like to note my little opinion.
Mask layers and Smart Objects are powerful tools...with lot of hungry of memory and resources. If you work with big archives (700-800 mbytes and higher), delete mask layers or flatten some things during the process or you’ll fall sleep in your keyboard when make new changes :D.
Another option is make temporary versions of your files.
Thx for sharing!
Great article! Though I am guilty of preferring raster shape layers as opposed to the mask ones...those always seem so much harder to edit later. Like to proportionally resize a rounded rectangle...I like to just marquee the bottom half, scoot it down, then re-stretch the middle to fill the hole that is left. I’m not saying this is the right thing to do, just the way I am used to working for some reason!
And STILL trying to convince my boss to use layer masks and especially adjustment layers...which I think you may have left off!
“Thou shalt not damage the pixels...”
Well, most of these I’m already clued up on except for ‘Smart Filters’, shall check out that new(ish) feature pronto.
Just a note on using Raster shapes..Whilst easily the most time-saving way to build your shapes, unless you are working with the vectors themselves, it can be difficult to get full control over the pixels that are generated.
The pixel edges that the shapes show are not always perfect or precise, especially when you start resizing things so this can lead to blurry edges which is never a problem when working with the marquee tool and eraser/brushes. So always zoom in and check the edges of your work when using Raster shapes.
Keep up the good blogging :)
Dear Bad Habits,
We’ve been friends for such a long time. These words don’t come without great trepidation. I’m leaving you and heading to the hills with my lover Easy Fix. Our time together will never be forgotten.
Yours truly,
T
Glad everyone is finding the tips helpful. Lots of good tricks in the comments. And Myles, I hear you on the funky scaling issue - if you look back a few posts you’ll see I found a solution to scaling rounded rectangles without getting blurry edges. They’re a big pet peeve of mine. With shapes intact, you can pull points like you would in Illustrator.
Good luck breaking habits! I’m still working on quite a few.
Baby steps.
Wow...I am so bad at organizing and naming my layers. Glad to know I’m not the only one who forgets sometimes!
I really love the new functionality of Smart Objects, but man, on a really slow computer it totally kills off memory!
Wished it worked like links in Illustrator, but alas!
Personally I’m guilty of not naming layers - I do try to make it up by putting them into nice folders though. :O
I’m guilty of all except the marquee shape habit. Glad to know I’m not the only one that’s kept these bad habits - I need to get on the Smart Object/Filter train quick. Thanks for this well done write-up.
Um, this is kinda the coolest Photoshop advice ever!
It’s simple, straightforward, and valuable. I have all those bad habits, and I’m going to get off my butt and fix them now.
Thanks Mindy!
*stammers* well, well, um, well, in my defense the swatches functionality in Photoshop is so hard to work with!
Seriously though, at least some global colors and per-document palettes would be nice! Not to mention an improvement on the interface for color swatches.
while naming and organising layers is definitely a good idea, you can easily find the layer for a 1px line for eg. by selecting the move tool (v) and holding ctrl + clicking the line or part of the psd you’re working on.
I can’t stand to see a layer named “Layer x”! But sometimes in haste I forget to give it a name and then every layer that I create after is named “Layer 2” and I don’t have the time to dig through all the folders to find the culprit.
My biggest problems right now are not using shortcuts and swatches enough.
These are all excellent. I knew about everything except the Styles palette - I thought that was for beginners or something. Consider me corrected.
My favorite trick is to use 16-bit color mode instead of 8-bit if you’re working on web graphics. Your gradients will be smooth as silk forevermore. The only thing is some tools aren’t available in 16-bit mode, but those are the ones I NEVER use.
Wow, thanks for the little push into a new world. I’ve got to admit, I’ve been stuck in the rut of using Illustrator for building web layouts primarily because I really like vectors.
This article has convinced me that maybe it’s time to revisit photoshop after all these years!
Thanks!
Great post. I am in my 8th year with PS, and I am guilty of every one of the ‘bad habits’ you listed. I know all the solutions you mentioned too. It really just must be laziness, or maybe a bit of stubbornness ... but I am going to make your post be a new beginning for me and PS. I vow right now to simply stop, and do things the right way.
Thanks.
“Not saving swatches and styles” - the same thing :D. Although I’m a beginner, I’ve never used swatches palette and will start after your article!
I need to get in the habit of Smart Objects, too (I use CS2 at work, but CS3 at home, so dido at home with the Smart Filters).
A few people have suggested deleting masks or otherwise getting rid of hidden layers and such. I do this too, but first do a Save As for the “fully editable, layered” version and then a new “clean” version with only the necessary information. I’m paranoid about not being able to easily edit files later!
I dunno about that keyboard skin… I think I would end up spending way more time hunting on there than it would take me to find the stuff by menus! For me, most of the shortcuts in the Adobe products are pretty intuitive. I for eyedropper (hehe), M for Marquee, T for text, Ctrl+T for transform, etc. Shortcuts save me soo much time and I don’t think I could function without them! You can also customize them if other key commands are easier for you to remember.
@Faith, I wrote a Photoshop masking tutorial series on my blog a while back. I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have!
@Brandi, you can use a similar method to resize rounded rectangle with a shape layer. Use the Direct Select tool (white arrow) and just select the proper anchor points within the vector mask. And I totally agree with you on masks and adjustment layers! I like your little commandment too :P
Oh! And one last tip that I use all the time in regards to organizing layers: I always forget to do this as I go, so when I’ve got all the initial ideas down in the document, I select my stray layers that I want to put in a folder and go to the menu on the Layer panel and click the option New Group from Layers. A life-saver!
And did you know that when you create a new group/folder or layer with the icons at the bottom of the Layers panel, you can hold Alt (PC) or Opt (Mac) and get a dialog box to name your folder/layer? Do this with any new adjustment layers, too! This is also a quick way to add the clipping mask feature, because you can check the box right under the name field. Options for Blending Mode, Opacity and applying a layer color (for organizing in the Layers panel) are also in this dialog box.
LaurenMarie and Justin - Great tips! I also wrote a post about scaling rounded rectangles by pulling points a few weeks ago - it’s up here.
As for the keyboard cover, I just got one in the mail today (Thanks, Photojojo!) so I’ll let you know how it works. I’m thinking if I practice with it a few hours a day, I’ll memorize the shortcuts eventually and will not need to hunt. Once I’m over the learning curve I should work more efficiently.
Most of these habits I have finally managed to shake off but the folder structure on is always responsible for messing up my psds!
Usually hitting a new project with a lot of ideas ends up with a huge list of unnamed layers (and folders where I’ve just hit ctrl+G to keep some kind of organisation). Those 1px lines and tiny shadow layers always catch me out when moving stuff!
Really nice article, I have some of these bad habits too, but the best way I found to break them was starting use Fireworks… it’s the best tool to design sites in my opinion ;)
In my years of photoshop use, I think I’ve caught myself doing all of these bad habits at one time or another, but I’ve gotten better, especially with using masks and vector shapes. My one complaint- if you make a rounded rectangle, you still can’t resize it without ruining the rounded-ness of the edges. Does anyone know a better way of fixing this?
Hi Rachel,
There’s a few good ways. The way I do it is to pull points, like you would in Illustrator. I blogged a how-to: http://www.viget.com/inspire/resizing-rounded-rectangles-in-photoshop/
A few more good techniques listed in the comments of that post.
It’s easy once you know what to do. ;)
thank you..
I am guilty of not organising my layers properly. Sometimes I do it and sometimes I don’t. I think it generally comes down to how much time I have got. If I am in a real rush I don’t bother at the initial stage but go tidy it up later on.
Not naming layers...hmmm...I would know NOTHING about that. ;)
Equally guilty with the smart filters (smart objects I’m starting to get the hang of). But...I did manage to create a color coded shortcut menu using an iskin for the keyboard. It worked so well, I created the same for Illustrator and Final Cut.
Thanks for this article, and a gentle kick in the @$$ to start using smart filters a bit more.
Innocent of all charges !
Wait a minute: layers can have names?? :)
We are one in the same when it comes to bad Photoshop habits.
I pretty much do the same thing and just can’t be bothered to change. Like they say:
“Why fix something when its not broken in the first place?”
Hi there!
I had a really good and technical photographer teach me about color spaces and nifty little bits you could do to a picture without creating too large files. I really recommend it! It took me 2 hours to learn more about pixels since Photoshop 4…
/T
I really recommend it! It took me 2 hours to learn more about pixels since Photoshop
br
svetainiu kurimas
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