Here are 5 things I learned in Photoshop this weekend from either an online tutorial, by asking Jef, or by accident, that will change my entire experience with the software. This also solidifies my desire to take a class to learn more.

1. How to “stroke” an image (which sounds way dirtier than it is). It’s simply the act of adding a border all the way around the image. Do you know how much easier this makes my life? Do you know how long I’ve been eyeballing the ‘line’ tool for this?

2. How to create a batch process for ‘actions’. I knew you could batch process things like resizing and renaming, but I didn’t know how to batch other actions. I’m a little embarrassed at how easy it is. For example, Noise Ninja is a third party filter for image ‘noise’ reduction (those teeny multi-colored pixels you see in low-light or high-speed photos). I use this all the time, making it a ‘batch’ feature will make my life much easier.

3. How to add a vignette the RIGHT way. Vignetting is the darkening (or lightening) of the outer edges of an image. I’ve been cheating and doing it in Picnik because it’s as simple as clicking one button. By learning the ‘proper’ way to do this in Photoshop and creating a batch script (see above), this is just as easy.

4. How to link layers. I was creating ’sets’ to group layers, but Jef showed me how to ‘link’ them to move them around and edit them.

5. How to add drop shadows. Seems simple, but all I’ve really used Photoshop for is to edit photos, so I haven’t had much use for drop shadows. I found this one all on my own.

My brain is full now, so I’m signing off the Internet.