> 1. Why do people call Photoshop PhotoShop even though Photoshop� is > trademarked?
Because Microsoft's spell checker believes it's spelled with an intercap despite many messages from Adobe legal. > 2. What happens to a file when it is flattened? The visible composite becomes the background -- all layers, blend modes, masks, etc. are blended together into the background. All data outside the canvas boundary is discarded. Extra alpha and spot channels remain. > 3. What happens to the scratch disk file when Photoshop is closed? They're deleted (there can be many of them, existing on multiple volumes). > 4. When I resize an image with Constrain Proportions selected, why does the > height always changes when I want only the length to change? Because that's what "constrain proportions" means -- keep the ratio of width to height the same. If the image started out 3X4, and you change the width to 6, the height must be changed to 8 to maintain the same proportions. If it didn't do that, the picture would be stretched in one direction or the other, which is what you said you didn't want it to do. > 5. Does applying a filter to a transparent layer increase the file size? I'm assuming you're saving in a format like PSD or TIFF that preserves layers, as opposed to JPEG or other "flat-only" format. If you mean applying a filter that adds image data to a fully transparent layer (like one of the render filters), then yes. If you mean "to a partially transparent layer", it depends on whether you convert a bunch of previously transparent pixels (which are written in compressed form) to non-transparent ones (which probably aren't), then the file size will increase. Further, if you make big chunks of previously identical pixels different (e.g. Add noise to a layer that's partially transparent and otherwise a single color), then yes. Identical chunks of pixels or fully transparent pixels are (losslessly) compressed. If the pixels are all different, then they can't be compressed. > > 6. When I crop an image, where are the discarded pixels stored and are they > likely to fill up my HDD over time? If you use the "hide" option of the crop tool, the pixels on layers stay in your document and take up just as much space as they did before. The background pixels in this case, and all the discarded pixels in the "delete" case, are stored only in the scratch files (for undo and history), until the last history state that contained them disappears from the history palette, at which time the space in the scratch file(s) where they were stored becomes eligible for re-use. You can retrieve "hidden" pixels at any time (since they're saved with the file), with the "reveal all" command. The only way to get deleted pixels back is to go back to a history state where they existed (so once you close the file, they're gone). > 7. Why does Save for Web always save GIFs with only 256 colors and not > millions? Have I got a duff plug-in? The GIF format is specified as having no more than 256 colors. > 8. Why does the USM Amount level go to 500% when a percentage is a fraction > of a hundred (cent). Does the dollar have 500 cents? Percentage values greater than 100 are common and well-defined. 50% of something is half of it; 200% is twice as much as the original. 500% of a dollar is $5. The question is "percent of *what*". I'd have to check. > 10. Why can't I use the Move tool when the lock icon is showing in the > Layers palette? Because that's one of the things that "locked" means. The lock icons mean (from left to right): lock transparency (the old "preserve transparency" checkbox) -- can't make transparent pixels non-transparent or vice versa, lock pixels (can't change transparency or the values of pixels -- no painting or filtering), lock position (can't use the move tool), and lock *everything* (all of the preceding). Russell =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
