You often want precise control over the display of your image, which is tough, because when you switch to a Full Screen Mode, you lose the image window along with this custom zoom value down here in the lower left-hand corner. Notice the first mode goes ahead and hides the value, and of course, the second mode ends up hiding everything, and we reveal this large area of pasteboard along the left and right-hand sides of the image. That's where the Navigator panel comes in. I'll start by introducing you to the panel and then I'll show you how to use it in the Full Screen Mode.
So I'm going to press the F key in order to switch back to the Standard Screen Mode. And then I'll go up to the Window menu and choose the Navigator command to bring up the Navigator panel. As you may recall, I've docked the panel in this column of icons over to the right of the image, and it's important that you do so as well if you want to use the panel on the Full Screen Mode. Now as you can see the, Navigator features a very small preview of the image, but you can make it larger just by dragging a corner of the panel in order to expand it.
This red rectangle represents your view into the image. So if I press Ctrl++ or Command++ on the Mac, the rectangle grows progressively smaller because after all, I can see less of the image at a time. You can change which part of the image you're viewing by dragging the rectangle, and as you can see, that goes ahead and pans the image on the fly. Another option is to press the Ctrl key or the Command key on the Mac, which gets you the Zoom tool and then you drag inside the image in order to define the area of your zoom.
Down here at the bottom of the panel, you have a zoom slider which allows you to zoom in and out incrementally. You can also click on the big mountain to zoom in or the little mountain to zoom out. Problem is, neither the little mountain icons nor that slider give you all that much control. The control comes in the zoom value that appears in the lower-left corner of the panel just as it does on the lower left corner of the image window. And it works just like that value as well. So if I press Ctrl+0 or Command+0 on the Mac to zoom all the way out, and then I go ahead and hide the Navigator panel.
I'll press the F key a couple of times in order to switch to the Full Screen Mode. And then if I press Ctrl+0 or Command+0 on the Mac, I have more screen real estate to work with. So I zoom a little farther in, however, I still have all this pasteboard. If I want to zoom into that exact ratio that's going to hide the pasteboard but show me as much as possible of the image. When I hover against the right-hand side of the screen to bring up those right-hand panels, I click on the Navigator icon to bring up the Navigator panel, and then I use it just as I do that value in the lower-left corner of the image window.
Now you have to take care, by the way, to keep your cursor inside the panel or everything is going to disappear like so. All right, I'll go ahead and bring things back up and I'll select that value. And let's say I dial in a value like 40% and press the Enter key or the Return key on the Mac. I can see that's too far away. So I have a couple of options available to me. One is to highlight the value and then press the Down arrow key a few times and press Shift+Enter or Shift+Return on the Mac in order to zoom out and keep the value active.
I can also press the Ctrl key or the Command key on the Mac, and then go ahead and scrub the value in order to zoom to that exact percentage that's going to work. And for me, it happens to be 32%. Once you find a value that works for you then go ahead and move your cursor away from the panels and all you'll see on your screen is image, and that's how you work with the simple but remarkably powerful Navigator panel.
Author
Released
4/26/2012- Opening an image from Photoshop, Bridge, or Camera Raw
- Navigating, zooming, panning, and rotating the canvas
- Adding, deleting, and merging layers
- Saving your progress and understanding file formats
- Cropping and straightening
- Adjusting brightness and contrast
- Identifying and correcting a color cast
- Making and editing selections
- Enhancing portraits by retouching skin, teeth, and eyes
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
Q: Where can I learn more about graphic design?
A: Discover more on this topic by visiting graphic design on lynda.com.
Q: When I double click the welcome.psd file included with the exercise files, I get the following error message:
"Some text layers contain fonts that are missing. These layers will need to have the missing fonts replaced before they can be used for vector based output."
Unlike the TIF and JPEG files which display and open correctly, all the icons for PSD files are blank but other than the welcome.psd file, they seem to open correctly without the error message. Is this a problem that I should address (perhaps re-download the files or find the missing fonts)?
A: The TIFF and JPEG files are flat, so they don't contain fonts and the operating system can interpret them (and generate thumbnails) without help from Photoshop. The PSD files have two issues:
First, they may contain editable text complete with font info. The files are designed with fonts that ship with Photoshop, so you don't get error messages, but Adobe sells some versions of Photoshop without fonts. This may be your issue.
Second, the PSD files contain no flat previews. This makes for smaller files, but it means the operating system, Mac or Windows, cannot generate previews. That won't effect your experience in Photoshop, but it does mean you can't see the file until you open it.
Related Courses
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Deke's Techniques
with Deke McClelland155h 55m Intermediate -
Photoshop CS6 One-on-One: Intermediate
with Deke McClelland9h 25m Intermediate
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1. Opening an Image
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Welcome to One-on-One2m 24s
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Opening through Camera Raw2m 32s
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2. Getting Around
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Navigating tabs and windows4m 32s
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Panels and workspaces4m 27s
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Zooming incrementally4m 29s
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Zooming continuously2m 43s
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Entering a custom zoom value2m 25s
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Scrolling and panning images2m 31s
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Cycling between screen modes3m 10s
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Using the Navigator panel3m 38s
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Adjusting a few screen prefs4m 16s
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3. Image Size and Resolution
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Digital imaging fundamentals1m 45s
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The Image Size command3m 27s
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Common resolution standards3m 20s
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Upsampling vs. real pixels4m 36s
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Changing the print size6m 16s
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Downsampling for print4m 12s
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Downsampling for email3m 11s
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The interpolation settings5m 22s
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Downsampling advice4m 36s
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Upsampling advice6m 10s
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4. Using Layers
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The layered composition1m 40s
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Introducing the Layers panel4m 12s
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Dragging and dropping layers4m 36s
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Stack, reveal, and rename2m 58s
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Applying a clipping mask3m 58s
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Finishing off your artwork3m 13s
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Layering tips and tricks7m 2s
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5. Saving Your Progress
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Saving layers to PSD6m 38s
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Saving print images to TIFF4m 48s
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Saving a flat photo to JPEG4m 18s
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6. Crop and Straighten
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Honing in on your image1m 43s
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Editing your last crop3m 1s
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Filling in missing details6m 44s
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7. Adjusting Luminance
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First, there is brightness2m 12s
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How luminance works4m 18s
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The three Auto commands3m 27s
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Editing adjustment layers3m 52s
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Introducing the histogram4m 58s
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Measuring an adjustment3m 34s
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8. Adjusting Colors
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And second, there is color1m 31s
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Identifying a color cast3m 34s
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Changing the color balance6m 10s
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The Hue/Saturation command5m 26s
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9. Select and Edit
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The freeform Lasso tools3m 59s
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Creating rays of light4m 44s
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Quick Selection and Similar4m 11s
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Integrating image elements2m 39s
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Magic Wand and Grow5m 17s
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10. Retouch and Heal
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Content-Aware Fill6m 11s
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Using the Spot Healing Brush5m 36s
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Meet the Clone Source panel3m 53s
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Caps Lock and Fade4m 57s
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The Dodge and Burn tools5m 1s
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Smoothing skin textures5m 58s
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Intensifying eyes4m 43s
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Conclusion
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Goodbye51s
-
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Video: Using the Navigator panel