Datasheet

19
Chapter 1: Getting to Know the Work Area
Selecting tool options from the Options bar
When you click a tool on the Tools
panel, the Options bar offers you
choices specific to the selected tool.
Figure 1-11 shows the options avail-
able when the Brush tool is selected.
Playing with panels
Elements provides you with a bunch
of panels that contain settings and
options used to refine the tools you select on the Tools panel and tasks you
perform to edit images. Assume for a moment that you want to let your cre-
ative juices loose and create a Picasso-esque painting — something that you
can do easily in Photoshop Elements.
Figure 1-11: The Options bar provides attribute choices for a tool selected on the Tools panel.
First, click the Brush tool and then click a color on the Color Swatches panel.
On a new canvas, you begin to paint. When you want to change color, click
again on the Color Swatches panel on a different color. This kind of interactiv-
ity between the Tools panel and another panel is something you frequently
use in Elements.
Panels are accessed from either the Panels Bin or the Window menu. Many
options on panels are intuitive. To become familiar with various panel options,
just poke around a little, and most of the options will become familiar to you.
You can drag panels away from the
Panel Bin and scatter them all over
the Elements workspace. If you
remove panels and want to return to
all panels docked in the Panel Bin,
click Reset Panels at the top of the
Editor window.
By default, you find the panel buttons
for Edit Full (while in Edit Full mode),
Create, and Share with the panels
expanded, as shown in Figure 1-12.
Figure 1-10: Click and hold the mouse button
on a tool that has a tiny arrowhead to open a
pop-up toolbar.
Figure 1-12: The default view shows panels
expanded.
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