Summary:

Photoshop provides more precision editing tools than perhaps any other graphics program. Now that you know how to select and move image content (please refer to the Selection tutorials), you may want to try out these tools. These features of Photoshop will help you align your selections perfectly. Throughout this course, we will train you on Grids, Guides, and Rulers. While going through this tutorial we will show you some tips and tricks with these features, such as how to lock your guide or how to use the snap to feature.

Currently we are using Windows Vista Home Premium 64 Bit and the Photoshop CS4 Extended 64 Bit version.

Knowledge You Need to Know:

If you are unfamiliar with certain areas that are not covered in this tutorial, feel free check out other tutorials on our website. We have many different types of tutorials that can be downloaded (Video, PDF) or viewed online that will train you for free! Once you have the knowledge, feel free to come back and go through this tutorial again.

Preparing For This Tutorial:

You will be using the Sky image which we have used in past tutorials. If you do not have this image, please scroll down to the “Click Picture To Download Supporting Files” and download the image. Please open the image DSC03562 in the Photoshop Program.

Grids:
A grid is a nonprinting gridlines in the current images window which will help you align your selections in an image. You can show or hide the grids as needed. To turn on or off grids, Left click the “View” menu and move your mouse pointer to “Show”. Now you will see a menu that you can Left click to turn on grids. Photoshop Tip – To turn off grids, follow the instructions above and it will turn off your grids (you will see a check next to the command if it is turned on).

You will now see grid squares similar to the image below. You will see larger boxes and smaller boxes. Please note either box size is actually the grid. A lot of people get confused that the bigger box is only the grid. Photoshop Tip – Sometimes it is easier to see the specific grid boxes by zooming into the image (please refer to the Zoom And Panning tutorial for more details).

Snap To Feature:
The Snap To Feature in Photoshop ensures that a selection aligns to the grid or even to the custom guides (custom guides will be explained later in this tutorial). Before you use this Snap To Feature, you must turn on the grids. To use the “Snap To” feature, Left click on the “View” menu and move your mouse to the “Snap To” option. You will now see a new menu displayed. On this example make sure the “Grid” option is selected. If it is not selected, either Left click on the “Grid” command or “All” in the Snap To sub-menu.

It is hard showing “Snap To” in a written form (we will try our best) and we would recommend to get a better understanding of this feature is to view the video tutorial. In this example we would like you to use the “Rectangular Marquee Tool” (refer to the Selecting Image Content tutorial) to select a portion of the image. Begin using the “Rectangular Marque Tool” by holding down the Left mouse button on one of the gridlines. You will notice it will “Snap To” the gridlines.

Now let’s turn off the “Snap To” feature. One easy way to turn off the “Snap To” feature is to go back to the “View” menu and move your mouse to the “Snap To” and then you will notice a sub-menu displayed. Left click on the “None” command.

Now that we have the “Snap To” feature turned off, use your “Rectangular Marquee Tool”. You will see it no longer snaps to a grid line. Photoshop Tip – You are not limited to use only selection tools to snap to a gridline. You can even copy and paste a portion of the image and when you move your pasted copy, it will try to snap onto the grid.

Rulers:
A ruler in Photoshop comes in handy when you need to position a selection at a precise location within the image. Turn on the rulers when you need to position selections based on measurements and then turn them back off when you no longer need them.

To turn on the ruler, Left click the “View” menu and Left click the “Rulers” command. Photoshop Tip – Use the keyboard shortcut of CTRL-“R” to turn on and off the ruler.

You will notice towards the top of the screen and towards the left hand side a ruler will be displayed. By default the measurement are in inches. As you move your mouse over the image, you will notice there will be a line added to the rulers. This line is your current location.

To change the measurement of the ruler, Right click within the ruler and Left click the measurement. The current measurement will have a check next to the measurement.

Guides:
Guides in a sense serve as custom gridlines. You put a guideline into position so that you can align selections to it. Also, guides show up as blue lines. The easiest way to add a guide (remember it is a non-printable line) is to use the ruler. To use the guides, please follow the instructions below.

	A). If you wanted to draw a vertical guide (up and down), move your mouse pointer over and inside the left ruler. Now hold down the Left mouse button and drag your mouse to the right. When you are happy with the placement, release the Left mouse button.
	B). If you wanted to draw a horizontal guide (left and right), move your mouse pointer over and inside the top ruler. Now hold down the Left mouse button and drag your mouse down. When you are happy with the placement, release the Left mouse button.

Once you have your guides in place, you can move your guide or even delete the guide. To move your guide, switch to the “Move Tool” (refer to the Selecting Image Content tutorial for more information). When using the “Move Tool”, Left click the guideline and hold down the Left mouse button and move your mouse. Release the Left mouse button when you are happy with the guide location. To delete a guide, drag the guide back to the inside of the ruler.

To clear All guides at once, Left click on the “View” menu and Left click the “Clear Guides” command.

Locking The Guides:
As you can see, guides can be moved and sometimes you can accidently move a guide with the “Move Tool”. To lock down a guide, first create your guide(s). Now Left click on “View” and Left click on “Lock Guides”. Photoshop Tip – To unlock the guides, follow the steps above (you will notice a check is next to the command when it is activated).

Please note, locking the guidelines doesn’t prevent you from clearing them. If you unintentionally clear the guidelines, immediately undo the change (use: CTRL-“Z”). If you use the “Move Tool” and try to move/delete a guideline, you will receive the following dialog box. Left click the “OK” button to proceed. Remember one way to unlock the guidelines is to go into the “View” menu and Left click “Lock Guides”.

This concludes this course on grids, guides and rulers. Most users will turn on and off grids and rulers as they need them. You should know by now how to use the “Snap To” feature and how to lock your guides. Please take a few minutes and answer our 10 question quiz below. Remember to view the other tutorials and to take the Pop Quiz which is a total of 20 questions from previous tutorials.

Quiz

1). A Guideline is?

	A). It is a wizard within Photoshop, which will guide you through lines.
	B). Guidelines is the larger square box when you have “Grids” turned on.
	C). Guidelines are similar to a custom “Grid”.
	D). Guidelines are used within the ”Warp” tool.

2). What sub-menu is the “Grids” located in?

	A). Once you are in the “View” menu, hover over the “Grids” command to display the sub-menu.
	B). Once you are in the “Edit” menu, hover over the “Grids” command to display the sub-menu.
	C). Once you are in the “View” menu, hover over the “Show Grids” command to display the sub-menu.
	D). Once you are in the “View” menu, hover over the “Show” command to display the sub-menu.

3). What is the keyboard shortcut to turn on or off the “Ruler”.

	A). CTRL-“R”.
	B). ALT-“R”.
	C). “R”.
	D). None of the above.

4). What is one way to delete a custom guideline?

	A). Right click with the “Move Tool” and Left click “Delete”.
	B). Hover over the guide with the “Move Tool” and Left click “Delete”.
	C). Left click the guide and in the Guideline options bar, Left click “Delete”.
	D). Use the “Move Tool” and drag the guideline back to the “Ruler” to delete it.

5). What command would you use if you wanted to clear all guidelines?

	A). In the “View” menu, Left click “Guides Clear”.
	B). In the “View” menu, Left click “Clear Guides”.
	C). In the “View” menu, hover over “Guides” and select from the sub-menu “Clear”.
	D). In the “View” menu, Left click “Delete Guides”.

6). What is one way to add a guide?

	A). Left click the “View” menu and Left click “Guide Addition”.
	B). Left click the “Guide” option in the toolbox and select “Add”.
	C). Left click the “View” menu and Left click “Add Guide”.
	D). Move your mouse to the inside of the ruler and hold the Left mouse button and drag to the image.

7). The “Snap To” feature when turned on will?

	A). Allows you to snap a line (similar to a chalk line) onto the image.
	B). Work with the ruler to allow you to create custom gridlines.
	C). Allows you to snap a selection, etc. to the gridlines.
	D). Allows you to break (snap) a current grid line.

8). How do you change the measurement of a ruler?

	A). Hover over the ruler and use the keyboard shortcut of CTRL-“R”.
	B). Right click inside the ruler and Left click the measurement.
	C). Use ALT-“R” to display the measurement options for the ruler.
	D). Left click the Ruler and then Left click the “Edit” menu and Left click “Measurements”.

9). What is one reason why you should “Lock” the guidelines?

	A). If the guides are unlocked, the ruler will be double the normal size.
	B). If the guides are unlocked, an outside user can make changes to the image.
	C). If the guides are unlocked, it will clutter the gridlines. If it is locked it is more transparent.
	D). None of the above.

10). If you just cleared the guidelines by accident, how do you get them back quickly?

	A). Within the “View” menu, Left click “Revert”.
	B). Use CTRL-“Z”.
	C). Within the “View” menu, Left click “Guide Revert”.
	D). Use the “Undo” option in the “Show” sub-menu.

Answers: 1). C, 2). D, 3). A, 4). D, 5). B, 6). D, 7). C, 8). B, 9). D, 10). B

Scoring:

0 - 5 = Please review the video tutorial and re-read this document either offline (PDF) or online.

6 – 8 = We would recommend that you print this document off and read it at a later time.

9 – 10 = Congratulations you have passed the quiz. Go ahead and view another tutorial on our site.

We hope you enjoyed this detailed tutorial. Please visit us at: http://www.Photoshopeducation.blogspot.com to expand your knowledge within Adobe Photoshop.

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