Photoshop Toolbar

We analyze the Photoshop toolbar and recognize its different components.

In this article we already get into the matter, to learn how to use Photoshop from its most basic parts. I think the best way to start is by talking about the toolbar, since it contains the utilities that we must learn to master to get the most out of the program.

Other Photoshop manuals begin by explaining how to create a new file with Photoshop, or open an existing file. This text is aimed at people who already have a certain amount of fluency in handling programs in general, even people who have already tinkered with Photoshop and have found that it is fairly complex software. So we assume that you are able to open an existing graphic file on your computer, or that you know how to create a new file, all through the “File” menu.

So, let’s take a first look at the aforementioned toolbar and recognize its different parts.

The Photoshop tools button appears in a floating window that is usually located to the left of the program’s work area. This floating window can be hidden if desired, so it is not 100% sure that you are seeing it. From the “Window / Tools” menu you can tell Photoshop to show or hide it, according to your needs.

The toolbar looks like the one we can see in the image on the left. Different versions of Photoshop include new tools, so your toolbar may not look exactly like this one (this image is of the Photoshop CS2 toolbar). In any case, the fundamental tools with which we are going to start will be the same.

We have enlarged the image so that each of its icons can be seen better. You will be able to see that at the top there are several rows of icons placed in two columns. These are the tools available in the program. Towards the bottom of the toolbar, you’ll see icons and controls that aren’t really tools, but give you access to important Photoshop functionality, like the foreground and background color picker.

Photoshop Tools Icons

As I said, in the toolbar are the different utilities to make designs. Really, all these tools are only a part of what you will have to learn to master Photoshop, since there are many components that are not included in this button panel. However, the tools are a good place to start your learning.

As you will see, some tool icons have a small arrow in the lower right corner. This means that several different tools are grouped in that icon. In the following image you can see the arrow to which we refer marked:

To see all the tools that are grouped under an icon we have to click on that icon and keep the mouse button pressed for a second or so. Then a menu will be displayed with all the tools that are grouped under that icon, symbolized in turn by other icons.

In it we will do a quick review to list the tools that we consider most important.

Color configurator or color selector

Reviewing the toolbar, there is another important place that we must look at. It is the color configuration tool. In the following image you can see the part of the toolbar where the color configurator is, with several points that we have indicated and that we are going to explain.

1. Foreground Color: This is the color we’ll be painting with, when using many of Photoshop’s tools, such as brushes.
2. Background color: this is the background color that our canvas will have, where we are going to work with graphic files. The background color is not for painting but to define the background color of the new files (When creating a new file with Photoshop we can decide if we want it to have a transparent background, a white background or a “background color” background, in the latter case the background color of our color selector will be used) and to fill with color what is deleted on the special “background” layer, if we have it.
3. Switch foreground and background colors: Simply swap the two colors seen above, foreground for background and vice versa.
4. Default Background and Foreground Colors: Returns the background color to white and the foreground color to black, as they appear when you open Photoshop.

In the toolbar there is another series of buttons a little further down, to enter the quick mask mode and to go to other screen modes, as well as a button to go from our graphic file to Image Ready. All these tools are more or less advanced and we will see them later.

Note: If you place the mouse over an icon that you don’t know what it is, after a second -more or less- without moving the pointer, a message will appear with the name of each icon or each tool.

Now we can continue knowing the .