tut request

[123456789]

Having no professional experience, I was wondering if someone could, very kindly, help me to get organized. I've never seen a tut on organizing a project. You know, what do you do when you start work on a new project? I'm thinking layer sets, toolbar placement, workspaces, and any little detail which could make me more efficient and professional looking (I've only recently started naming my layers, for example.) Any shortcuts (which aren't listed in the drop-downs) would also be helpful, like Shift+drag to resize proportionally etc.
AdvTHANKSance for any and all help. :)
ps- I know everyone has their own quirks and setup but maybe I could pick through the ones which best suit my methods.

[PDG]

We spoke about Shortcuts earlier. Here's the link to the post...
http://www.pixeladdiction.com/bb/showthread.php?t=1322&highlight=shortcuts?do=markread

As far as organizing the palettes...I don't really do much. But I do that for a reason. Since i find myself moving from machine to machine a lot it's easier to simply use the default layout.

Naming layers is the single most important thing you could do. After that would be creating folders to place the layers into. For example, when drawing a character, you could create various folders (arms, legs, background, hair, etc) and put the named individual layers into those folders to organize even further.

But this is all relative. I've seen amazing artists that never even name their layers or change anything.

[Chris49]

I have a similar question, how do you embed a folder within a folder?

[down2earth2]

[QUOTE=chris49]I have a similar question, how do you embed a folder within a folder?[/QUOTE]If you have an existing set (folder) that you want to embed into another existing set you can just drag it there. If you want to create a new set (folder) inside an existing set, click on a layer in the existing set, and go to the flyout menu on the layers palette (the little triange in the upper right corner of the palette), and choose "New Layer Set".

[Chris49]

No dose not work. It must be because I have PS7 and not CS

Thanks any way

[Scott]

Unfortunately nested layer sets, sets within sets, are a CS feature.


Naming layers, like PDG posted, is the single biggest thing to do. After that... use masks rather than erase on layers. Overall think "Editability" it's best to work in a manner where ANYTHING can be corrected or adjusted later. So use adjustment layers rather than their corresponding commands.

After that... do what works for you. There aren't any real "rules" and in the end if your files never leave your desk then how you work, wether you name layers, use layer sets, just doesn't matter.

[PDG]

Sometimes, when I'm really lazy I don't even name layers. I just CTRL+Click them to see what gets selected. Then a quick CTRL+D Deselects the selection.

[123456789]

Yeah, CTRL+click to see what layer, I used to do that a lot until I started to learn how to duplicate layers for multiple blending effects (still over my head.) Thanks for the tips everyone, I guess it's a matter of finding your own style. I agree that editability is key, but I tend to either forego creating new layers for small changes (big mistake) or make so many layers that I lose track. I often create new documents from current state before merging layers, though, 'cause I'm never really sure about the timing. I also found out that merging layers will bring down the weight of a document which can help a lot during compression (save for web.)