-:- PhotoShop CS2 -:- Learning -:-

General Controls

Select Edit, Preferences, General to open the Preferences window to the General page (in Mac OS X, select ImageReady, Preferences, General). You use this page to control interpolation, the Color Picker option, and a number of other general application parameters.


1. Preferences Title pop-up menu: Click the arrow to display a list of other pages in the Preferences window; select an option to open that page. Currently it should be set to General to view the options discussed here.

2. Color Picker pop-up menu: Click the arrow to display the list of options; then select the Adobe or System option.

3. Interpolation pop-up menu: Click the arrow to display a list of interpolation options. Select Nearest Neighbor (Faster), Bilinear, Bicubic (Better), Bicubic Smoother, or Bicubic Sharper. In most cases, use Bicubic Smoother when enlarging an image and use Bicubic Sharper when reducing or downsampling. Each image is different, however, so experiment for best results.

4. Redo Key pop-up menu: Click the arrow to select the key combination that redoes an undone command.

5. Undo Levels field: Determines the number of undo states supported by the History palette. Type a value in the field to change the setting. The higher you set this number, the more memory ImageReady uses to store the changes.

6. Recent Files field: Type the number of recent files you want to appear in the Recent Files submenu.

7. Anti-alias PostScript check box: Select this option to achieve smooth results when placing or importing PDF or EPS images.

8. Save Palette Locations check box: Reopens palettes in the same place and at the same size as when they were closed or when ImageReady was closed.

9. Show Font Names in English check box: Displays all font names in English.

10. Notify when Done check box: Enable this check box to produce a notification when tasks are completed.

11. Show Tooltips check box: Activates the pop-up tool descriptions when you hover the mouse pointer over the interface elements.

12. Auto-Update Open Documents check box: Updates open files automatically.

13. Use System Shortcuts check box (Mac only): Enable this check box if you want to use shortcut commands that are Mac OS X specific.

14. Reset All Tools button: Resets all tools to their default configurations specified at the initial installation.

15. Reset All Warning Dialogs button: Resets all warning dialog boxes to their default configurations specified at the initial installation.

Slices

Click the Next button to go to the Slices Preferences window or select Edit, Preferences, Slices to open the Preferences window to the Slices page (in Mac OS X, select ImageReady, Preferences, Slices). You use this page to specify how ImageReady generates slices, including naming conventions, colors, and slice lines. A slice is the portion of the image when ImageReady divides an image into smaller pieces for optimization and display in an HTML table.


1. Preferences Title pop-up menu: Click the arrow to display a list of other pages in the Preferences window; select an option to open that page. Currently it should be set to Slices to view the options discussed here.

2. Show Lines Only check box: Shows only the slice lines when you view slices, omitting the transparent coloring.

3. Line Color pop-up menu: Specifies the color of the slice lines. Choices include 24 color options.

4. Color Adjustments User Slices box and slider: Determine the opacity for the color shading of the user slices (slices created manually by the user). Click the arrow and drag the slider or type a number value to change the setting.

5. Color Adjustments Auto Slices box and slider: Determine the opacity for the color shading of the auto slices (slices created automatically based on guide lines). Click the arrow and drag the slider or type a number value to change the setting.

6. Numbers and Symbols radio buttons: Control the size of slice numbers and icons. Select None or the small or large icon button.

7. Numbers and Symbols Opacity box and slider: Click the arrow and drag the slider or type a number value to control the opacity of the slice numbers and symbols.

Image Maps

Click the Next button to go to the Image Maps Preferences window or select Edit, Preferences, Image Maps to open the Preferences window to the Image Maps page (in Mac OS X, select ImageReady, Preferences, Image Maps). You use this page to specify how ImageReady displays image map information. An image map refers to the process of creating hot spots in web images that serve as links or triggers for other actions.


1. Preferences Title pop-up menu: Click the arrow to display a list of other pages in the Preferences window; select an option to open that page. Currently it should be set to Image Maps to view the options discussed here.

2. Show Lines Only check box: Uses an outline only with no overlay to designate an image map.

3. Show Bounding Box check box: Creates a rectangular bounding box around an image map.

4. Line Color pop-up menu: Allows you to select the line color for outlining image maps from a list of 24 line colors.

5. Image Map Overlay box and slider: Designate an image map with a white fill to separate it from the rest of the image. The slider value determines the fill opacity.

Guides and Grid

Click the Next button to go to the Guides and Grid Preferences window or select Edit, Preferences, Guides and Grid to open the Preferences window to the Guides and Grid page (in Mac OS X, select ImageReady, Preferences, Guides and Grid). You use this page to control guide and grid parameters.


1. Preferences Title pop-up menu: Click the arrow to display a list of other pages in the Preferences window; select an option to open that page. Currently it should be set to Guides and Grid to view the options discussed here.

2. Guide Color pop-up menu: Select the color of the guide lines. Choices are Gray, Light Blue, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Light Gray, and Black.

3. Smart Guide Color pop-up menu: Smart guides automatically appear near the edges of objects as they're being dragged into alignment. This setting determines the color of the smart guides. Choices are Gray, Light Blue, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Light Gray, and Black.

4. Horizontal Space field: Enter a pixel value to determine horizontal padding around an object for the snap-to guides feature.

5. Vertical Space field: Enter a pixel value to determine vertical padding around an object for the snap-to guides feature.

6. Grid Color pop-up menu: Select the color of the grid. Choices are Gray, Light Blue, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Light Gray, and Black.

7. Grid Style pop-up menu: Determines the format of the grid. Options are solid Lines, Dots, and Dashed Lines.

8. Gridline Every X Pixels field: Enter a pixel value to determine the pixel spacing between gridlines.

9. Subdivisions field: Determines how many subdivisions fall between each main gridline. Enter the desired value in the field.

Optimization

Click the Next button to go to the Optimization Preferences window or select Edit, Preferences, Optimization to open the Preferences window to the Optimization page (in Mac OS X, select ImageReady, Preferences, Optimization). You use this page to specify how optimization settings are calculated and displayed.


1. Preferences Title pop-up menu: Click the arrow to display a list of other pages in the Preferences window; select an option to open that page. Currently it should be set to Optimization to view the options discussed below.

2. Default Optimization radio buttons: Select how you want to generate optimization defaults for an image. Choices are Previous Settings, Auto Selected GIF or JPEG, and Named Setting. The Named Setting option allows you to select from a list of standard optimization defaults.

3. 2-Up Settings pop-up menus: Determine which iterations of the image are displayed in the 2-Up window. Defaults for the first menu are Original and Current, but the second menu allows you to select from a long list of optimized presets.

4. 4-Up Settings pop-up menus: Determine which iterations of the image are displayed in the 4-Up window. Defaults are Original and Current, but you also can select from a long list of optimized presets, including Auto, which uses the next logical level of compression.

Cursors

Click the Next button to go to the Cursors Preferences window or select Edit, Preferences, Cursors to open the Preferences window to the Cursors page (in Mac OS X, select ImageReady, Preferences, Cursors). You use this page to specify brush and cursor shapes and sizes.


1. Preferences Title pop-up menu: Click the arrow to display a list of other pages in the Preferences window; select an option to open that page. Currently it should be set to Cursors to view the options discussed here.

2. Painting Cursors radio buttons: Select Standard (icon), Precise (cross hairs), or Brush Size (actual sized outline) as the shape of the painting cursor.

3. Other Cursors radio buttons: Select Standard (icon) or Precise (cross hairs) for the cursor shape.

Transparency

Click the Next button to go to the Transparency Preferences window or select Edit, Preferences, Transparency to open the Preferences window to the Transparency page (in Mac OS X, select ImageReady, Preferences, Transparency). You use this page to specify how transparency is depicted in a file.


1. Preferences Title pop-up menu: Click the arrow to display a list of other pages in the Preferences box; select an option to open that page. Currently it should be set to Transparency to view the options discussed here.

2. Grid Size pop-up menu: Controls the size of the checkerboard used to indicate transparency. Options are None, Small, Medium, and Large.

3. Grid Colors pop-up menu: Controls the color of the checkerboard used to indicate transparency. Options are Light, Medium, Dark, Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, and Custom.

4. Custom color swatches: Click one or both of the swatches to select specific colors for the transparency checkerboard.

5. Transparency preview window: Shows the current transparency checkerboard pattern.

Plug-ins

Click the Next button to go to the Plug-ins Preferences window or select Edit, Preferences, Plug-ins to open the Preferences window to the Plug-ins page (in Mac OS X, select ImageReady, Preferences, Plug-ins). You use this page to tell ImageReady where to look for plug-ins. Plug-ins are utilities and filters that extend ImageReady's core functionality. The default plug-ins folder is located under the main Photoshop directory; install any plug-ins there. However, for sharing with other applications or housekeeping purposes, you might want to use a separate folder for any third-party plug-ins. This page of the Preferences window allows you to specify an additional folder for ImageReady to access.


1. Preferences Title pop-up menu: Click the arrow to display a list of other pages in the Preferences window; select an option to open that page. Currently it should be set to Plug-ins to view the options discussed here.

2. Additional Plug-ins Folder check box and Choose button: Enable the check box and click Choose to navigate to an additional plug-ins folder.