Tools

There are many different tools in photoshop, and each can be used and altered in many different ways. When you click on a particular tool, always keep in mind what options are available for it in the Options Bar.

Burn tool: This tool is designed to darken areas of your image by adding black (grey).

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Dodge tool: This tool is designed to lighten areas of your image by adding white

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Sponge tool: This tool is designed to either Saturate or De-saturate areas of your image.

In the photo of the girl in the red dress, the sponge tool has been set to Saturate and used to enhance the saturation of the red dress.

In the photo of the girl on the steps the sponge tool has been set to De-Saturate and used to remove the blue cast of the steps in the background.

Remember, to Saturate means to improve the purity of the color (remove black), and to De-Saturate means to reduce the purity of the color (add black).

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  Smudge tool: This tool is designed to allow you to smudge your image in the way that you might with oil pastels
 

Blur Tool: This tool is designed to allow you to locally blur areas of your image.

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Sharpen tool: This tool is designed to allow you to locally sharpen ares of your image.
  Clone Stamp tool: This tool is one of the most powerful tools in Photohsop for fixing images. It is designed to paint in one are of your image with pixels from a different area, or even a different image.
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  Healing Brush: This tool is almost identical to the Clone Stamp Tool, but can be easier to use because it is more subtle. Learn More
  Paint Brush tool: This tool can be used to paint colors on your image and operates much like a spray can of paint. It is more often used, however, to help you burn or dodge with color, or to manipulate masks.
  History Brush tool: This tool allows you to paint with pixels from a previous history state. Learn_More.
  Eraser tool: This tool acts as an eraser--most often used with multiple layers.
  Paint Bucket tool: This tool simply paints in areas of similar color and adjacency with another solid color.
  Gradient tool: This tool allows you to blend an area with a gradient--a blended continuum of one color to another color.