Photoshop Basics

What are some differences between .JPEG and .PSD files? What are some some reasons you would use each?

JPEG's or other photo file formats, you can select in Bridge and edit in Camera RAW, but you will not be able to have the non-compressed RAW data.

JPEG's are typically the format in which photos are captured on most cameras and are a small files size. But these are a smaller size and cannot be edited in RAW as they are more compressed. You can also export into a JPEG from a PSD which will flatten all layers and edits. Often used since it creates small files to download quickly.

Photoshop files (PSD) are the editable files created in Photoshop and you can open them back up to edit layers, shapes, text, etc.

What is Adobe Bridge and what does it enable you to do?

A separate software from Photoshop. This is a file browser which helps manage photos, logos, InDesign documents, etc. You can make new folders to organize work (I've found it helpful for culling and editing in RAW) and check focus and even rate different files then you can filter by rating. Bridge is also super helpful for editing photos in batches. I often use Lightroom for this often for editing albums of photos which I know are overall shot too dark and brighten up or warm up in a batch. These are non-destructive and working with original photo data and can be pulled into Photoshop from there for more specific edits.

What key is a shortcut to having Photoshop take up the entire screen on your computer?

F

What are the keyboard shortcuts to view your image at 100% and ‘fit to screen’?

Ctrl+0 to fit on screen and Ctrl+1 for 100%

How do you pan around a document without clicking on the Tools panel?

The h key for the hand tool to scroll or pan to drag the image around.