How To Set Photoshop To Default Settings

Before y'all starting time using Photoshop you should set it up properly. Don't worry if you don't understand what all the options mean, just follow the guidelines beneath for starters. With time and all-encompassing utilise the significant of all those fancy and (apparently) complex options will fall into place and you will know exactly what you lot want. You have to start somewhere, right?

View Other Articles in This Series

How to ready Photoshop
Photoshop Interface Explained (Part 1)
Photoshop Interface Explained (Function 2)
Introduction to the Photoshop Toolbar (Role 1)
Introduction to the Photoshop Toolbar (Role two)
Introduction to the Photoshop Toolbar (Role iii)
Photoshop Channels and Color
Photoshop Selections (Part 1)
Photoshop Selections (Part 2)
Photoshop Layers

General Preferences

Let'due south start by going to Edit > Preferences > Full general (Ctrl+G).

General

Uncheck "export clipboard" and leave the rest as default.

Interface

Here you lot can too exit as default but you may want to temporarily check "show channels in color" to encounter them in color and perchance better understand the way RGB channels piece of work. But you volition want to uncheck this choice eventually because it volition brand channel evaluation difficult.

File Treatment

I commonly uncheck "Enquire before saving layered TIFF files" because information technology is annoying to accept the warning pop upwards every time stating that using layers increases file size. I also choose "Never" from "Maximize PSD and PSB file compatibility" popup carte du jour. But if you are using your files across multiple versions of Photoshop or other Adobe Suite products you may want to go out this to "Always" or "Inquire".

Operation

Memory usage
This depends on your available RAM but I usually let Photoshop use lxx% of total available retentivity. This is enough for my system to do multitasking and not asphyxiate if I take other apps open simultaneously.
History & Enshroud
The only thing you should change is "History States". This option is very important considering it determines how many history states you have available when editing a file (that is how many ctrl+Z or steps dorsum yous can go). 500 is a adequately right amount but be careful of maxing information technology out (chiliad) because it will require more than RAM and it will increase your scratch file size (nosotros will get to that side by side).
Scratch disks
Scratch disks are disks where your scratch files are stored. Simply what is a scratch file? Well, a scratch file is usually a file on your hard-disk where Photoshop stores history states (remember them from higher up?), cache levels and other data about your working documents. Equally yous continue to edit your images the scratch file size increases. So you lot should select equally chief scratch disk a fast, large hard-drive (other than the one the operating system is installed). A Solid Country Drive would be swell, but a defragmented hard-disk with 20+ Gigabytes will exist enough for most of your tasks.
GPU Settings
You should definitely bank check "Enable OpenGL Drawing" if your graphic card allows it. That is, if the choice is grayed out yous probably don't have a expert enough graphic card or your drivers are missing or they are quondam in which example you should update your GPU drivers. This is not essential for working with Photoshop but information technology sure makes navigation and editing smoother and more eye-processed.

Cursors

Painting cursors
Get with the "Total size brush tip option" and cheque "Show crosshair in Castor Tip" as this increases your precision when painting.
Other cursors
Exit information technology to "Standard". You tin can press Caps Lock to bring up the precise cursor.

Transparency & Gamut

Here y'all can leave the default settings.

Units & Rulers

Because I mainly use Photoshop for the Spider web I fix "Rulers" to "pixels". Simply if you are working with files for print or other medium you can change the "Rulers" to the other measuring units available. Be aware of the "New Document Preset Resolution" option. You should leave "Impress Resolution" at 300 pixel/inch but yous can change the "Screen Resolution" to 80 pixels/inch if you are working with images for Web display and raise it up to 250 pixels/inch if you lot are working with images that will have multiple future destinations ( impress, web, video editing etc.).

Guides, Grid & Slices

Here you can leave the default settings.

Plug-ins

The but notable change you tin can brand here is to check "Additional Plug-Ins Folder" and select your plug-ins binder. How is this going to aid you lot? If you use lots of plug-ins you can install them in dissimilar folders ( other than the default plugins folder ) and select merely the folder with plug-ins you need that day or that week. The affair is that the fewer the plug-ins, the faster the start-up.

Type

Here you tin leave the default settings.

3D

I don't employ 3D on a regular basis and then I tin can't give yous proper communication about how to set up this effectively, but on the rare occasions that I work with 3D the default setting work just fine.

Color Settings

Colour settings is a very important thing to set right because your entire workflow is affected by it. These settings establish the style Photoshop treats your images so you should be careful and set it up properly. Go to Edit > Colour Settings (Ctrl+Shift+One thousand).

The first matter you should practise is click the "More options" button which reveals some advanced settings.

Working Spaces
Here you lot tin cull in what colour infinite y'all volition be working. I suggest you go out "Gray" and "Spot" as they are and also leave CMYK at "US Web Coated SWOP v2" unless you have specifications from your printing service. The RGB is set to default at "sRGB IEC61966-2.1" and information technology should work fine if you edit images only for the web. However, if your images will have multiple future destinations ( video editing, impress, etc. ) you should choose either "Adobe RGB(1998)" or "Pro Photo RGB" color space. What is a color infinite? Well, when you work in a color space, your image will be displayed using all the colors bachelor in that color space. sRGB is a smaller color space than others, then your prototype will look less smooth and poorer in colour variation than it would look if you have displayed your image on Adobe RGB or Pro Photo RGB because the terminal two are larger colour spaces and thus contain more than color nuances. If y'all are interested in the subject you can check this Wikipedia commodity. Follow this full general rule: If your images are for the Web but than cull sRGB. Otherwise go with AdobeRGB or Pro Photo RGB.
Color Management Policies
Here yous prepare the mode Photoshop care for the profile mismatches and images with missing profiles. My advice is to leave "CMYK" and "Gray" to "Preserve Embedded Profiles" and "RGB" to "Convert to Working RGB". This setting will convert an prototype with and existing or missing contour to your working profile ( your working profile will be the color space you selected from the dialog higher up this ane ). Also you should check "Profile Mismatches" "Ask when Opening" and leave the other two options unchecked. This is useful when you are working in a smaller color space and the paradigm yous open has a larger color space Considering the conversion volition discard some colour information you lot should be aware of it when it will happens. As a rule of thumb convert to working RGB only when your working RBG is Adobe RGB or Pro Photo RGB and the image you're converting has an sRGB or an unknown colour profile.
Conversion Options
Leave the "Engine" to "Adobe(ACE)" but if yous are working mainly with photos then I recommend that you alter the "Intent" to "Perceptual". This will preserve the color relations in a photo when converting information technology to another color infinite and that is important for photography. If you are working only with charts or logos this is not something you desire for your pictures.
Later on you lot're done changing the options yous should salvage your settings for future use and for in-between applications colour management compatibility. Past saving your settings you ensure that the same colour settings are applied throughout other Adobe apps (Span, Dreamweaver etc).

Those are the basic settings you should set before starting to utilize Photoshop. You could tweak the keyboard shortcuts and menus (Edit> Keyboard Shortcuts) but if y'all are a newbie to Photoshop I suggest you leave those unchanged until you lot are more than comfortable with the program and you have developed sure workflows and habits. Effort experimenting for yourself and detect how various settings touch on your images only ever render to the safe options which yous know for certain work for y'all unless you know precisely that y'all want something else.

Source: https://photoshopstar.com/how-to-set-up-photoshop/