Photoshop Elements >
Move Tool
The Move tool is used a lot.
Therefore, it's the first tool in the tool panel on the left side of your screen.
Do the following.
Basics
Download
1) Download move_tool_exercise.psd.
The file has four colored shapes.
Open
2) Open the above file.
Select the Move Tool
3) Select the Move tool.
Click the icon or press v.
Move Something
4) Place the cursor over the red circle, click and hold, and drag.
The red circle moves.
To nudge an object, use the arrow keys on your keyboard.
If your press and hold Shift, and then move the red circle, it will move in a straight line.
That's the basic move of the Move tool.
Bounding Box
The Move tool places a bounding box around an object.
The squares are called handles.
Change the Shape
5) Click and hold on one of the handles, and drag.
The red circle changes.
6) Press Esc (upper-left corner of your keyboard).
If you use a handle on the corner, the aspect ratio of the object is preserved.
The red circle remains a circle, but is bigger or smaller.
If you use a handle on one of the sides, the shape will be distorted.
The red circle may become an oval.
Experiment!
Press Esc to undo each experiment.
7) Look for the box with the green check mark and the red circle-with-diagonal.
Click the:
• Green check mark to keep a change.
• Red circle-with-diagonal to cancel a change, or press Esc.
Rotate
8) Place the cursor outside the bounding box, near one of the corner handles.
The cursor will change to a double arrow.
9) Click, hold, and drag.
The object is rotated.
The degrees are shown in options bar/Tool Options.
If you press and hold Shift, the rotation is done in increments of fifteen degrees.
That's All, for Most Folks
The features described below are less used, except for Auto Select Layer and More Move.
Skim, if you may have special needs.
Otherwise, jump ahead to:
• More Move.
Less Used Features
Reset the Tool
10) Reset the tool.
The Move tool is restored to its default settings.
Go to Reset the Tools.
Let's look at the features in options bar/Tool Options.
1 - Auto Select Layer
The first choice in options bar/Tool Options is Auto Select Layer.
11) Click one of the shapes, and the click another shape.
As you do so, watch the layers on the right side of your screen.
When you click the red circle, the Red layer becomes active (highlighted).
When you click the green circle, the Green layer becomes active (highlighted).
Useful for . . .
Let's say you have:
• Lots of layers.
• Want to edit the humming bird.
Which layer contains the humming bird?
Do the following.
a) Click on the humming bird on your photograph.
b) The layer containing the humming bird becomes active (highlighted).
Not So Useful
If you deselect Auto Select Layer, press and hold Ctrl when you click on an object.
The layer containing the object will be selected.
2 - Show Bounding Box
As described, the Move tool places a bounding box around an object.
If the bounding box is distracting while positioning an object, deselect Show Bounding Box.
3 - Show Highlight on Rollover
12) Click on the red circle.
13) Move the cursor to the green circle.
A blue highlight will appear around the green circle.
The highlight shows you which shape is under the cursor.
Jump Ahead If You're Using
Photoshop Elements 11 & Later
The following topics only apply to Photoshop Elements 10 and earlier.
4 - Arrange
The arrange menu has commands for moving layers in the layers stack on the right side of your screen.
You may find it easier to move a layer directly in the layers stack.
Do the following.
14) Click and hold on a layer.
15) Drag it to a new position in the layers stack.
Sometimes, the layer doesn't move.
Try again, and it will.
Here's what the commands do in the arrange menu.
|
Bring to Front |
Moves the layer to the top. |
|
Bring Forward |
Moves the layer up. |
|
Send Backward |
Moves the layer down. |
|
Send to Back |
Moves the layer to the bottom. |
Adobe uses the terms front and back.
Below:
• The yellow shape is the top layer, so it's the front.
• The red shape is the bottom layer, so it's the back.
Below:
• The yellow shape is the top layer, so it's the front.
If you move the yellow shape around, you'll see that it's in front of the other shapes.
• The red shape is the bottom layer, so it's the back.
If you move the red shape around, you'll see that it's in back of the other shapes.
Here's the work area, and the layers stack, side-by-side.
5 - Huh?
When you read about Align and Distribute below, you may be scratching your head.
The difference between the Align and Distribute commands is hard to understand.
Imagine a football field.
There are four players on the field.
When you click:
• An align command, the players all "run" to the same location.
• A Distribute command, the players spread themselves out on the field according to the rule of the command.
Read on, and then come back here to read the football-players analogy again.
6 - Align
The Align menu has commands for moving objects together, to the same location.
16) Press and hold Ctrl, and click all four of the object layers in the layers stack.
17) Open the Align menu.
18) Click one of the commands.
Below, Top Edges was clicked.
The objects are arranged by their top edges.
7 - Distribute
The Distribute menu has the same commands as the Align menu.
Here, the objects are distributed evenly in the area defined by the objects.
Below, Top Edges was clicked, the same command used above.
The objects are spread out evenly according to their top edges.
More Move
Go to:
• Move a Face.
The above tutorial is for positioning a face in a photograph in which the person wasn't present.
To move a face, as in exchanging a poor-expression face for one with a better expression, go to File > New > Photomerge Group Shot.
• Move a Layer.
You know how to move layers in the layer stack.
You can also move a layer from one photograph to another photograph.
• Moving Selections > 1 - More Used Methods.
The Move tool is used in some situations to move selections.
• Moving Selections > 2 - Less Used Methods