Tip of the Week - H is for Help!
H is for HELP!
For the topic this week, I want to introduce you to your trusty ol’ HELP MENU. The poor lonely little HELP MENU is often overlooked and is usually ignored, but hopefully this juicy bit of information will change all of that!
I will bet that most of you haven’t even looked at the HELP MENU. WHY NOT?!
I am guessing that most people don’t think the HELP MENUS are very helpful, they can’t tell by the tone of your voice what you were meaning when you yelled firmly that it isn’t doing what you wanted it to. By no means are these little HELP MENUS mind readers.
The shortcut key for the HELP MENU in most programs is the F1 function key (above the number keys on your keyboard).
If, instead of using the F1 shortcut, you actually go up into the MENU BAR and click on HELP, you will find a plethora of useful, hidden, little, golden nuggets of information. In Photoshop Elements you find online support, a glossary of terms, and TUTORIALS!!! YEP, you read me right, TUTORIALS!!! They aren’t all world tutorials, but they definitely help you get started. AND, in Photoshop CS3/CS4, there are several “How To” options (same as tutorials, but I guess they felt it needed to be called something else for full blown Photoshop).
Also, in the HELP MENU (Photoshop (& Elements) help) you will find indexed information. You can click on one of the information links in the left pane, OR you can type in questions into the search box. I personally use the search box method, so I’m not guessing which link the info is indexed under and it might give me suggestions that I might not have thought to search for.
So now that you know what that sneaky little HELP MENU is hiding, GO CHECK IT OUT!! Become friends with the poor lonely little HELP MENU. It is after all there to HELP!
**Final note**
If you still can’t find the information you need, you can also go to GOOGLE and type a question into the search box. You will most likely get Waaaaaaaaaaaay more answers than you have time to look through, but it is a great way to see what others have done with the information you are after.
You can also email questions to me and I will dig around for the answers and then tell you where I found them.
