When opening opened existing graphics in PhotoShop 5.0, Web designers would have noticed drastic colour shifts. The new colour management system used in Photoshop 5.0 reinterprets files by default. If you work with Web graphics, you need to turn this feature off. Open File > Colour Settings > Profile Setup. Uncheck RGB under the Embed Profiles. Under Assumed Profiles, select None from the RGB dropdown. Under Profile Mismatch Handling, select Ignore.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
The Color Sampler can find out the colour values for any pixel in an image. Photoshop now allows you to sample colour values from up to four locations at once. To use it, select the Color Sampler tool — hold down the mouse on the Eyedropper tool to access it. Make sure the Info palette is visible. As you click the Color Sampler on different locations, you can see the corresponding numbers on the image and the Info palette expands to include the new section. To delete a sampled location, press Alt and click on it. You can also move it to a new location by clicking and dragging it.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Photoshop has improved index colour conversion, which allows higher quality 8-bit, 256-colour conversions from 24-bit images. Although photographs are normally saved as Jpeg images, the improved colour conversion makes it worthwhile to convert them to Gifs for Web use. This reduces file size while retaining image quality. To save an image as a Gif, click on File > Export > GIF89a Export.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Typing vertical text is now much easier. You can simply select the Vertical Type Tool from the toolbar. Hold down the mouse on the Type Tool to bring up the options under it and select the Vertical Type Tool.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Actions automate routine tasks and save a lot of time. To create an Action, click on the Menu arrow on the Actions palette and click on New Action. Click Record to start recording and carry out all the steps for the action. When you finish, click on the Stop button on the Actions palette. To repeat the Action, select it and click on the Play button on the palette.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
PhotoShop provides a wide range of preset Actions which can be used to automate a lot of tasks. To load the Actions, click on the Menu arrow on the Actions palette and click on Load Actions. In the Browse In the Browse dialog box, open the Goodies folder and look for Actions within that. Choose the actions you wish to load and click on Load. To play an action, select the action and click on the Play button on the Actions palette.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Photoshop now lets you resize, rotate, skew and distort selections within an image. Click on Select > Transform Selection to edit a selection. You can use any of the handles on the selection border to resize the area. Hold the cursor near the outside edge of the selected area and it turns into a curved arrow which can be used to rotate the image area. Pull out a corner while pressing the Ctrl key to skew the image.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
The new 3D Transform plug-in lets you work with 2D images as if they were solid 3D objects, so you can adjust the perspective on an image from straight-on to various angles. Click on Filter > Render > 3D Transform. Draw a wire-frame on your image. Use the Pan Camera and Trackball tools to manipulate the image perspective and click OK.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Crooked scans can be accurately straightened easily with Photoshop. The Measure tool lets you calculate the distance between two points and analyse angles in an image. Using this, you can determine how skewed your scan is and rotate to make it straight. Select the Measure tool and drag between vertically across the image, holding down the Shift key. This gives you a reading of 90 degrees in the Info palette. Hold down the Alt key and drag the tool horizontally from the end of the vertical line. Click on Edit > Transform > Numeric. The Rotate section indicates the number of degrees you need to rotate your image to straighten it out. Click OK to adjust the image.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
If you have an image that you use over and over again, such as a logo or signature, you can make it into a brush. When you create custom brushes from image files, Photoshop saves the image on your Brushes palette. Select the image, click on the Menu arrow on the Brushes palette and select Define Brush. The image now appears on the Brushes palette. You can use it just like any other brush.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Batch processing is a saves a lot of time. By loading up effects into your Actions palette, you can use the Batch command to apply effects across an entire folder of images. Load the required Actions on the Actions palette. Click File > Automate > Batch. On the Set dropdown, select the Action set you wish to apply and select the Action from the Action dropdown. Set the Source to folder and click Choose to select the folder. When you click OK, Photoshop opens each file, applies the effect, saves it and closes it.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
The Fit Image command resizes an image to fit within a given area without altering its aspect ratio. Click on File > Automate > Fit Image. Enter a new width or height and click OK to resize the image.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Photoshop can convert images from images from one colour mode to another. Changing colour modes has now been enhanced with the Conditional Mode Change feature. This is ideal for batch processing when you need to convert a bunch of images to one mode. Click on File > Automate > Conditional Mode Change. In the Source Mode area of the dialog box, check the colour mode of your files. In the Target Mode area, choose the output mode. Click OK to change the colour mode.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
If you get a warning on the screen like 'Your scratch disk is full', you can free up some space by saving the file. However, Photoshop may not let you save it. Create small file, say 3x3 pixels and save it in Photoshop format. Photoshop will flush the scratch and you will be able to save the file that you are working on.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
If you need to position an image in the centre of the canvas, you don't need to calculate image parameters and reorganise the image accordingly. All you have to do is to cut the object and paste it back.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Hold down Ctrl and Alt on the keyboard and click on Help > About Photoshop. When the Strange Cargo splash screen appears, type 'burp' (without quotes). Photoshop will 'burp' and the crate will open slightly with the Big Electric Cat peeking out. Type the cat's name - 'Udo' - to hear him meow. Press Alt to speed up the scrolling credits. Scroll to the end of the credits to see a name you may recognise.Strange Cargo and Big Electric Cat were the code names for Photoshop 5 and 4 respectively, while they were in development.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Hold down Ctrl and Alt on the keyboard and click on Help > About Photoshop. Wait for the credits to begin scrolling. Press the Alt key to speed up the credits and click the sun while the Alt key is still pressed. While you're still holding down the Alt key, press and hold down the Ctrl key. Leave the Alt key. Look for the secret messages right above the scrolling credits.

Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Hold down Ctrl and Alt on the keyboard and click on Help > About Photoshop. Take a screenshot of the Special Cargo splash screen, paste it in Photoshop and hide all but the blue channel. You will see the face of Marc Pawlinger, a Senior Scientist on the engineering team. The eye in the sunset is that of Senior Scientist Mark Hamburg.

Adobe ImageReady 2.0
Hold down the Ctrl key and click on Help > About Adobe ImageReady to see the beta splash screen. You can also open this by holding down Alt+Ctrl and clicking the logo on the toolbar.

Adobe ImageReady 2.0
Hold down the Alt key and click the logo at the top of the toolbar. The picture becomes a duck.Open a new image with a transparent background. Type the word 'duckerboard' (without quotes). The checkerboard pattern is replaced with a duck pattern.

Adobe ImageReady 2.0
Converting images to GIFs or JPEGs in as a batch can save a lot of time when working with many images. You can save your preferred settings in a droplet and then apply it to any image or batch of images. To create a droplet, click on the Create droplet arrow on the Optimize palette. Save the file on the hard disk. To process a files or folders, drag them onto the droplet icon from an Explorer window. The droplet will create copies of the original files in the same folder.

Adobe ImageReady 2.0
You can use multiple views to compare images in various modes. Click on View > New View to create a new view. For example, you can use one view as your workspace, another to view the image with browser dithering and a third to see how the image would look on a Mac. Change the new views to Optimized mode by selecting the tab on the image workspace.

Adobe ImageReady 2.0
ImageReady can become very slow when working with very large images. The program works best with only 72 dpi images. All other editing should be done with PhotoShop, resized to this resolution and then worked upon in ImageReady.

Adobe ImageReady 2.0
Click on File > Image Info to enter the title of the output Web page. Click on File > HTML Background to set the background colour or image that you want the image to appear on in the browser.

Adobe ImageReady 2.0
If you use an Imagemap, name it's layer wisely — the name appears as a tooltip over the map when viewed in a browser. To rename a layer, double-click it on the Layers palette.

Adobe ImageReady 2.0
Use the Optimised tab to check how the image will look when compressed regularly. Use the 2-Up and the 4-Up views to compare different types and levels of compression for the image.

Adobe ImageReady 2.0
If you intend to use an image as a tiled background on your HTML page, select the image using the Marquee tool. Click on Filter > Other > Tile Maker. This will optimise the image for a tiled effect.

Adobe ImageReady
2.0
When using antialiased text with a transparent background, define the Matte colour to be the same as the background colour you're using on the HTML page. This avoids the appearance of a halo effect around the edge of the text. To specify the Matte colour, select the colour from the Matte dropdown on the Optimize palette. You can also select either the Foreground or Background colours as the Matte colour from here.

Adobe ImageReady
2.0
Use Actions to automate repetitive tasks and save time. To create an Action, click on the Menu arrow on the Actions palette and click on New Action. Provide a name for the Actions and click Record to start recording. Carry out the steps for the action in the sequence that they should occur. Click on the Stop button on the Actions palette to stop recording once you finish. To apply an Action, select it and click on the Play button on the Action palette.

Adobe ImageReady
2.0
The Dither Algorithm dropdown on the Optimize palette lets you choose a dithering method for the image. The Dither percentage slider lets you control the range of colours simulated by dithering. A higher dithering percentage creates the appearance of more colours and more detail in an image, but can also increase the file size. For optimal compression, use the lowest percentage of application dither that provides the colour detail you require.

Adobe Illustrator
9.0
You can set layer options for multiple layers by selecting them on the Layer palette and double clicking one them. You can set all attributes except the Layer Name.

Adobe Illustrator
9.0
To lock and hide items, by select the objects and click on Object > Lock or Object > Hide Selection. However, often it may be easier to lock or hide the items that are not selected. To do so, hold down the Alt key while clicking these menu items.

Adobe Illustrator
9.0
You can view some items in Preview mode and other items in Artwork mode simultaneously. Place the objects on separate layers. Double-click the layers you wish to see in Artwork mode and disable Preview from the Layer Options dialog box.

Adobe Illustrator
9.0
You can cut an object within the shape of any other object that has a path. First, draw the shape that will be the mould for the other object. Now position the other object over this one and select both the objects. Click on Object > Masks > Make.

Adobe Illustrator
9.0
To use an object as a brush, select the object and click on the New Brush icon on the Brushes palette. On the New Brush dialog box, select the kind of brush to create and click OK. Set the properties for the brush from the Brush Options dialog box and click OK to create the brush.

Adobe Illustrator
9.0
You can apply text around any object in Illustrator. First create the object around which you want the text to appear. Select the Path Type tool. To do so, hold down the mouse button on the Type tool until the options below it appear. Create an insertion point near the edge of the object and type the text.

Adobe Illustrator
9.0
In the lower left hand corner of the drawing area, Illustrator by default displays the current tool being used. You can click on it to view other items, such as the Date and Time, the amount of Free Memory and the Number of Undos. If you hold down the Alt key while clicking on the drop-down, you can choose items like number of shopping days left till Christmas, a pair of eyes that follow your cursor, the number of mouse clicks, the moon phase among other things!

Adobe Illustrator
9.0
You can have Illustrator display colours on screen close to what they would look like when printed. Click on File > Color Settings. Enable Simulate print colors on display. The colours will match more closely if the correct colour profile is chosen for each device.

Adobe Illustrator
9.0
For best performance, provide Illustrator with ample swap space on the hard disk where it can temporarily store information about the workspace, such as the image information, undo information, etc. This will ensure smooth functioning of the program, especially if you work with large, complex graphics. To change the location of the scratch disk, click on File > Preferences > Plug-ins & Scratch Disk.

Adobe Illustrator
9.0
When you draw or move objects, hold down the Shift key so as to affect it within a range of 45 degrees. This angle can be changed from File > Preferences > General. Enter the new Constrain Angle and click OK.

Adobe Illustrator
9.0
You can change the appearance of the pointer from the tool pointer to a cross hair for more precise control. When the pointer is a cross hair, more of your artwork is visible. This is convenient for detailed drawing and editing. To make a drawing tool pointer appear as a cross hair, press the Caps Lock key before you begin drawing with the tool. To make this change permanent, open File > Preferences > General. Enable Use Precise Cursors and click OK.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
InDesign can apply hanging punctuation to justified text. This moves punctuation characters slightly outside the text margin to create an illusion of a more uniform edge. Select the text and click on Type > Story. On the Story palette, enable Optical Margin Adjustment to hang punctuation in the margin. Select a size for the amount of overhang. Ideally, this should be the same size as that of the font used.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
When applying hyphenation, InDesign can look at the current line as well as previous ones to evaluate the best place to break lines. This feature results in more even spacing for the text and fewer hyphens. Select the text and click on Adobe Multi-line Composer from the Paragraph palette menu. You can also set how many lines InDesign looks at to determine the best line breaks. To do this, open Edit > Preferences > Composition. Set the number of lines to analyze in the Look Ahead field. The number of alternatives that should be considered can be set in the Consider Up To field. Note that higher numbers will slow down editing.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
If you want a line to appear above or below a paragraph, you can do so using the Line tool. However, if the text is realigned, the line does not move with the text. Paragraph Rules allow you to create lines that travel with the paragraph and that can be applied as part of style sheets. Select the text and click on Paragraph Rules from the Paragraph palette menu. Enable Rule On for Rule Above and/or Rule below to enable these lines. Select the appropriate options for the rules and click OK.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
The step and repeat function is very useful for creating precisely spaced duplicates of an object on a page. To duplicate any object or set of objects, select them and click on Edit > Step and Repeat. Set the horizontal and vertical distances to place the copies accordingly.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
InDesign treats images with clipping paths as nested objects within their frames. To move images and their paths as a unit, click on an area just outside the clipping path with the direct selection tool. Press Alt+Shift, and click on the clipping path. Release the keys and move the image freely within the parent frame.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
Layers are a very neat way of organizing a document, especially for managing multiple versions of a document. You can also use layers to layout objects that you may want to not print every time or try out new layout ideas. To create a new layer, click on the Create new layer button on the Layer palette. You can edit its properties by double-clicking it on the Layer palette.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
In InDesign, you can easily replace a colour palette with another. Create a new Swatch for the new colour by clicking on the New Swatch button on the Swatches palette. Now delete the old one by selecting it and clicking on the Delete Swatch button on the Swatches palette. InDesign will ask if you want to replace the swatch with another colour or make it an unnamed colour. Choose the replacement colour from the Defined Swatch dropdown list. All occurrences of the original swatch are replaced with the new one, including any tints or gradients. This works the same regardless of the colour models used.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
When printing documents, it is essential that all the fonts used reside on the system it is printed from. Small amounts of type in a document may be converted to outlines to avoid font issues. However, you will no longer be able to edit these. To do so, select the text and click on Type > Create Outlines.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
To wrap text around an image, select the image and click on Object >Text Wrap. Click on either the Wrap Around Bounding Box or the Wrap Around Object Shape button on the Text Wrap palette.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
To insert special symbols into a document, say, for an end-of-story character, you don't need to use images; you can use fonts instead. Click on Type > Insert Character to view all fonts and their character sets. Choose the font from the Font dropdown list, select the character you want to insert and click on Insert.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
You can easily create drop caps and raised caps using InDesign. Using the Type tool, place an insertion point anywhere in the paragraph for which you want to create a drop cap. On the Paragraph palette, enter the number of lines for the drop cap in the lowermost field on the left. In the field next to it, set the number of characters to be enlarged as a drop cap. To set a raised cap, first set a drop cap and place an insertion point after the last letter in the drop cap area. Press Enter twice to move the text down two lines. Due to the drop cap setting, another drop cap is created. Set the drop cap value to 0 for the new ones.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
You can edit a text frame just as you would a graphics frame and have it take up the shape of virtually any shape on the document. Use the Selection or the Direct Selection tool to select the text box. Use the Pen tool to add anchor points. You can manipulate these anchor points just as on an image.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
Use the eyedropper tool in InDesign to copy character, paragraph, fill, and stroke attributes across text. This saves time and ensures consistency. By default, the eyedropper tool copies all attributes of a type selection, but you can specify the attributes to be copied. To change the settings, double-click the Eyedropper Tool. Choose the desired options and click OK. To apply the formatting, select text you want to format using the Type tool. Select the Eyedropper tool and click the text you want to copy attributes from. The formatting is copied and the Eyedropper tool reverses direction and appears full to show that it has copied the attributes.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
InDesign gives you the ability to measure an object from the edge of it's stroke or from the center of it's stroke. The stroke weight always starts from the center of the stroke, because of which the object's size can be affected. To know the size of the object from it's actual stroke edge, enable Dimensions Include Stroke Weight from the Transform palette menu.

Adobe InDesign
1.5
In InDesign, hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys and click Help > About. Instead of the regular About screen, you can now see an Adobe InDesign Component Screen that displays the Application Information, Required Plug-ins and information about the installed plug-ins.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
To quickly create new styles, select some text and format it with all the character and paragraph attributes for the style. On the Style palette, double-click [No Style] and enter a name for the style. Click OK to add this style.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
To rotate an object using the Rotating tool, it is not necessary to use one of the object's handles. The object can be rotated from any center, within or outside the object area.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
To set a default setting for any of tool, select the tool and don't create anything with it. Instead, change the properties from the relevant menu items under the Element menu. All items created henceforth with that tool will use these settings.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
To move objects by precise amounts, you don't need to draw guides. For a quicker solution, cut the object and click on Edit > Paste Multiple. Paste one copy, entering the offset as the distance you wish to shift the object by.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
If you use layers on your publication, you may need to select objects that are not on the layer you are currently working on. You don't need to switch to the layer to select it. Keep the Ctrl key pressed as you select the object on top of it. Every time that you click, the object on a layer lower will be selected. To select more than one object on different layers, keep the Shift key pressed as you select in the above manner.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
If you want a line to appear above or below a paragraph, you can draw one using the Line tool. However, if the text is realigned, the line does not move with the text. PageMaker can set lines before and after a paragraph. Click on Type > Paragraph > Rules to open the Paragraph Rules dialog box. Select the appropriate choices for the rules above and below the paragraph and click OK.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
Leaders adopt the formatting of the space before them, so you cannot select the leader area and change its formatting attributes. You can, however, put a space before the leader and format that blank space. The leader will adopt the same formatting.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
To combine several text blocks into one story in the order you want, arrange them below each other, the first on the top and the last at the bottom. Ensure that there is a carriage return at the end of each text block, or the following text block will not begin on a new paragraph. Use the Pointer tool to draw a selection box around these and cut the selection. Select the Text tool, create a text block and paste the text.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
To wrap text around an existing text block, select the text block with the Pointer tool and click on Element > Group. Click on Element > Text Wrap and change the Wrap option. Now you can flow text around the grouped text block. You can do the same with already flowed text.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
When wrapping irregularly around an object, hold down the spacebar while modifying points to prevent the screen from redrawing each time. The screen will refresh when you leave the spacebar.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
To insert special characters into your publication, you would have to use ASCII codes. If you know the ASCII code for a character, type Alt+xxxx, where xxxx is the code. You don’t have to look too far for these codes. The PageMaker installation includes a publication template that contains all the characters with their ASCII codes. It is a file called Charset.t65 located in the Extras folder under the PageMaker installation folder.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
Registration is a CMYK black that is made of 100% Cyan, 100% Magenta, 100% Yellow and 100% Black, instead of the normal 100% Black. This is printed on every plate. Registration is useful when you want information to be printed on every separation. To set text to Registration colour, select the text and click on Type > Character. Choose Registration from the Color dropdown.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
To change your measurement system, you can click File > Preferences > General and select the desired measurement unit. It would be faster, though, to right-click on either ruler and select the unit from the context menu.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
If your images are supplemented with captions, place the image with text wrap turned off. Type or place the caption, again with text wrap turned off. Select picture and caption and click on Element > Group. Now set the text wrap from Element > Text Wrap. On resizing the image, the text size will not change. You can still edit the text, just like any other text block. Also, the image and caption will always move together.

Adobe PageMaker
6.5
To use typographer's quotes, open File > Preferences > General > More. Enable Use Typographer's Quotes. This works on the publication currently open. If you want it to work on all future publications, close any open publications and follow the same procedure.