Photoshop CS Timesaving Techniques For Dummies [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Using the File Browser

The File Browser is your place for one-stop shopping when you need to find image files, open them, save copies, rename them, flag or rank them, and so on. The File Browser is a large window, which you can open by clicking the Toggle File Browser button on the Options bar, choosing File>Browse, or pressing Ctrl+Shift+O (the letter)/z+Shift+O (the letter).

The File Browser, shown in Figure 1-1, is divided into two sections. Four palettes are on the left side of the window and a Preview pane is on the right:

The Folders palette shows you a branching, hierarchical view of all your folders and files. The tree structure lets you dig around in folders to find your image files.

The Preview palette shows you a thumbnail image that is selected in the Preview pane. If you double-click the preview image in the Preview palette, the image opens.

The Metadata palette displays information about the currently selected image file, including file size, date created, image height and width, resolution, color mode, camera data, and other important info. The Metadata palette also includes a GPS section that you can set to the exact position on the earth where you took the photo (just in case you want to return to the exact spot!).

The Keywords palette displays keywords assigned to an image. You can group and organize images by these keywords.

The Preview pane shows thumbnail previews of the image file types that Photoshop

cs supports.

Figure 1-1: The File Browser makes finding and opening images easy.

File Browser basics

The first step to managing your image files is to understand the basic functionality of the File Browser — opening files, selecting images in the Preview pane, moving files to different folders, and deleting files. Here’s a list of the basics:

To select a file in the Preview pane, just click the image thumbnail. A larger version of the selected image thumbnail appears in the Preview palette.

To open a file, either double-click the image thumbnail in the Preview pane, double-click the image thumbnail in the Preview palette, or select the image in the Preview pane and then choose File>Open from the File Browser menu.

To navigate through your folders in the Folders palette, on a PC click the plus sign next to a folder name to view all the subfolders inside that folder. On a Mac, click the triangle next to a folder name to view the subfolders.

To move a file to a different folder, select the image file in the Preview pane, and then drag it to the desired folder in the Folders palette.

To delete a file, you can either select it in the Preview pane and then press the Delete key, drag the image from the Preview pane to the trashcan icon at the top of the File Browser window, or right-click/option-click on the thumbnail in the Preview pane and choose the Delete option from the context-sensitive menu.

Renaming individual files

To rename an individual file, click the filename below the thumbnail in the Preview pane. The filename becomes highlighted. Type a new name for the image file, and then click the image thumbnail. When you click the image’s filename to rename it, only the filename is selected, not the three-letter file extension that tells Photoshop cs what kind of file it is (such as .tif or .pdf). You must drag over the file extension to change the file type, if you want.

Batch renaming

When you use the Batch Rename command, you can rename the files in the folder where they currently live or move them to a different folder. (Remember: Moving files does just that — it moves them to a new folder instead of creating copies.) Also, you can add up to six different additions to each filename, such as a serial number or letter or month/day/year. Follow these steps to rename multiple files at once:

Select the files you want to rename.

Select a bunch of files from the same folder by holding down Shift (to select consecutive files) or Ctrl/z (to select non-consecutive files) and clicking the files. Or you can choose Edit>Select All from the File Browser menu to select an entire folder of images.





Choose Automate>Batch Rename from the File Browser menu.

The Batch Rename dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 1-2.




Figure 1-2: You select the location of the renamed image files and set how to modify the image file- names in the Batch Rename dialog box.






Select whether you want to keep the files in the folder where they are currently located or move them to a new folder.

In the Destination Folder area, select the Rename in Same Folder or the Move to New Folder radio button. Click Browse (Windows) or Choose (Mac) to locate a folder for a different location.





Use the File Naming area to select how you want to rename the files.

You have the option of appending up to six different file variables with the drop-down menus, such as a serial number or letter, or a date (shown in Figure 1-3). For example, I want the images I selected in Step 1 renamed using the document name + the date + the three-letter file extension. For instance,

Flower.jpg is renamed

Flower010904.jpg .




Figure 1-3: You select the filenaming variables you want to use with the drop-down lists.






Select the Compatibility check boxes at the bottom of the Batch Rename dialog box.

This ensures the files are named so that they work on any computer, no matter what operating system is running.





Click OK.

Photoshop

cs goes to work renaming all the selected files.

Creating a new folder

Creating a new folder for your images with the File Browser is easy. Select the location for the new folder with the Folders palette — this can be a hard drive or another folder (if you select a folder, the new folder appears as a subfolder within the selected folder). Then, either right-click/option-click on the selected folder and choose the New Folder option from the context-sensitive menu or choose File>New Folder from the File Browser menu.