Arrow Tool - When using the Zoom tool to zoom in close on a graphic, you will, more than likely, not be able to view the entire zoomed graphic at once, because it will not all fit into your viewing window. The Arrow Tool can be used to move specific areas into view. Simply press and hold down your left mouse button. The cursor will then change into a hand. Continue to hold down on the mouse button, and drag the image until the portion you wish to see comes into view.

Zoom Tool - Sometimes, when working with a graphic, you will need to be able to see a more close up view. For example, this might be necessary, or at least helpful, when applying certain effects to small areas of your graphic. To zoom in on an image, left-click anywhere on your graphic. To zoom back out, right-click on the image. The normal viewing level is 1:1. Each time you zoom this level changes according to the number of clicks on your mouse ie 1:2, 1:3 etc. To check the level, hold your mouse over the file name on your image.

Deform Tool - This tool can be used to rotate, resize, skew and distort imagew or selections. To 'deform' an image, first make sure that the layer you want to 'deform' is active. Once you have selected the desired layer, then click on the deformation tool button, and the tool will appear on your image. You may then click on a corner or side point, or the rotation guide of your chioce. When you move your cursor over the various points, small arrows will appear to show you which directions the particular point may be 'dragged'. To make the desired change(s), simply click on the desired point, hold down your mouse button, and 'drag' in the desired direction. Once you have made the desired changes, simply double-click on the image to apply.

Straighten Tool - Sometimes you will find that the image you're working with might not be perfectly 'straight' or 'square'. The straighten tool can be used to correct this problem. To activate this tool, click on the appropriate tool icon on the tool bar. When the tool is activated, a line will appear on your image, with a draggable 'point' at each end. Simply click on one of the points and move it in the desired direction to straighten your image.

Perspective Correction Tool - Use this tool to change the perspective of your image. Simply click on one of the corner points and drag as desired. Double-click on your image to apply the change(s).

Mesh Warp Tool - This tool is very helpful when you need to make major changes to the overall shape of your image. When the tool is activated, a grid will appear over your image, with a draggable 'point' at each intersection of the grid. Simply click on one of the points and drag as desired. You may click and drag as many points as you like. When you have achieved the desired effect, simply double-click on your image to apply the change(s).

Crop Tool - Use this tool to cut away unwanted portions of an image and/or unneeded/unwanted portions of the image canvas. This is very helpful with scanned images, where there is often a great deal of 'extra' space surrounding the actual image. The crop tool includes two shapes to choose from... (rectangle and square). Click on the corner of the image that you want to keep and use your left button on your mouse to drag and surround the parts of the image that you want to keep. Release the mouse button. The area inside the rectangle/square will be kept. Once you have selected the area to keep, it will then be outlined by a 'box' with draggable corner and side points. To adjust the selected area, simply place your cursor over one of the points, press the left button and drag as desired. To clear the crop selection, simply right click on the image. The 'box' will disappear and you can start over, or choose not to crop at all. To apply your crop, simply click inside the selected area, or click the desired crop button on the tool options palette.

Mover Tool - Use this tool to move a selection or a layer. To move a selection with marching ants, use the right button on your mouse and click inside the selection and drag as desired. To move a layer/image, click the left button on your mouse and drag to the desired location on the canvas.

Selection Tool - Use the Selection Tool to create a selection on your image. This tool includes various shapes (rectangle, square, rounded rectangle, rounded square, ellipse, circle etc). To view a list of the available shapes, open your tool options window and use the drop down menu for Selection type. For a rectangle and square, including the rounded ones, place your cursor at the corner of the area you wish to select. To do a circle or ellipse, place your cursor in the middle of the area you wish to select. Wish your cursor in place, press your left mouse button and drag to the desired size and then release. Once you release the mouse button, the selected area will be surrounded by the marquee...aka... 'marching ants'. If your selection isn't placed exactly where you want it, you can move it with the 'Mover Tool'. (See Above)

Freehand Selection Tool - This tool allows you to create selections with irregular shapes as well as straight lines. It also offers various selection styles, which you may choose from the drop down menu on your Tools options window. The available styles are Freehand, Point to Point and Smart Edge. Left-click at the point where you would like to begin your selection. Release the mouse button, move your cursor to the next 'point' and left-click again. Continue these steps until you have returned to the starting point of your selection. Once you're back at the starting point, double-click on that point to join the points and activate the selection. Your selection will then be surrounded by the 'marching ants'. Smart Edge can be used to select between two areas of contrasting colour or light.

Magic Wand Tool - The Magic Wand creates a selection based on content rather than defining edges. Selections may be created by RGB Value, Color, Hue, Brightness, All Opaque or Opacity. The default 'match mode' is RGB value, which is based on pixel color(s). On your Tool Options bar, you can specify the Tolerance. The higher you put the tolerance the more pixels it will pick up. If you want to make a selection on the entire image and not only on a specific layer, you should check the Sample Merged box. To make a selection place your cursor on the colour you want to select and press your left button on your mouse and you will see marching ants. If your dont get all the desired colour try raising your tolerance until you get all the colour.

Dropper Tool - Use this tool to select a color in your graphic and apply it to the foreground and/or background styles box. Place your cursor on the color you wish to select. Left-click on the color, and it will appear in the Foreground (Stroke) box. Right-click on the color, and it will appear in the Background (Fill) box.

Color Replacer Tool - Use this tool to replace a color in an image with a new color. Use your Tool Options bar to choose the shape and size of your brush. Left-click to brush with the Foreground (Stroke) color. Right-click to brush with the Background (Fill) color.

Paint Brush Tool - This tool can only be used on Raster layers. If you attempt to use the paint brush tool on a vector layer, a prompt box will appear, telling you that the layer will have to be converted to a raster to use this tool. You may either choose to continue, and the layer will automatically be converted, or you can cancel the paint tool and the layer will remain as a vector. This is one of the painting tools group. The others are Airbrush and Warp Brush. To 'paint', click on the image where you wish to begin painting. If you are using a special brush to obtain the specific shape of the brush, then simply click once where you wish the brush shape to appear. (Left for foreground and right for background) If you wish to make a brush stroke, to achieve your desired shape, then you will need to hold down on your mouse button and drag your brush as desired. There are various shapes that you can choose for your brush tip. These can be chosen from the drop down menu on your Options Palette. You may also specity the brush Size, Hardness (sharpness of edges), Opacity (degree of transparency), Step (spacing of drops of paint), and Density (amount of paint and brush bristles). To choose a custom brush, click on the brush icon on the Tool Options window and choose a brush from the drop down list.

Clone Brush Tool - You use the Clone Brush to copy part of your graphic into another area of your graphic. On your Tool Options you can chose the shape of the brush as well as the size. To clone an area place your cursor on that area and click the right button on your mouse then bring the cursor to the place you want the cloning copied to and click the left button. You can also change the clone mode to Aligned or Non-aligned. Aligned the source area that you are copying moves with the brush. The non-aligned the source area that you are copying does not move with you mouse.

Retouch Tool - With this tool you can lighten or darken a colour as well as being able to do other retouch jobs. Using your Tool Options you can choose your options as explained in the other tools but you can also choose the mode which is on tab 2. you can use this tool to blend colour. Push and soften colours as well as emboss. I like to play around with this when Im doing digital painting.

Scratch Remover Tool - This tool cannot be used in layers or transparent backgrounds. Use it to remove unwanted areas in your image such as imperfections. On the Tool Options you can choose the width and selection shape. The width is from 4 to 500. Place your cursor over the area you want to remove and click your left button. Drag along the unwanted area and release the button to remove. While dragging you can also use the page up,down,left,right arrows on your keyboard to change the size of the selection box.