Using tools

You can use the tools to perform a variety of image editing and creative tasks. When you hold the pointer over a tool, a tooltip displays the tool name and shortcut key, and the status bar displays hints for using the tool.

The Edit tab lets you access a wide selection of tools for advanced image creation and editing. Some of these tools, such as the Crop, Move, and Text tools, reside in their own space on the Tools toolbar. Most tools, however, are grouped with other tools that perform similar tasks. A group of tools is denoted by a small flyout arrow on the right side of the active tool.

Some tools are grouped together in flyouts. You can access all tools in a flyout by clicking the flyout arrow beside the active tool.

For information about hiding and showing tools, see Viewing and hiding tools.

For information about moving, hiding, and displaying the Tools toolbar, see Using toolbars.

Depending on the type of layer you are working on, some tools may not be available. For example, the Paint Brush and Clone Brush tools work only on raster layers; the Pen tool works only on vector layers. For more information about raster and vector layers, see Understanding layers.

The following table briefly describes each tool on the Tools toolbar of the Edit tab.

Tool	Description
Pan	Lets you control which part of the image is visible in the image window
Zoom	Zooms in when you click, or zooms out when you right-click. You can drag to define an area for zooming.
Pick	Moves, rotates, and reshapes raster layers, and selects and modifies vector objects
Move	Moves a raster layer or a vector layer on the canvas
Auto Selection	Selects the edges of an area automatically when you enclose the area in a selection rectangle.
Smart Selection Brush	Selects the edges of an area automatically when you brush over a sample area.
Selection	Creates a geometrically shaped selection, such as a rectangle, ellipse, or triangle
Freehand Selection	Creates an irregularly shaped selection
Magic Wand	Makes a selection based on pixel values within a specified tolerance level
Dropper	Lets you choose the foreground/stroke color by clicking or the background/fill color by right-clicking
Crop	Trims or eliminates unwanted edges. Floating Crop toolbar also provides access to image enhancement options.
Straighten	Rotates a crooked photo to straighten it
Perspective Correction	Squares the perspective of buildings or other objects that appear to be leaning
Red Eye	Quickly corrects the red-eye effect commonly seen in photos
Makeover	Provides five modes — Blemish Fixer, Toothbrush, Eye Drop, Suntan, and Thinify — which let you apply cosmetic fixes to subjects in your photos
Clone	Removes flaws and objects by painting over them with another part of the image
SmartClone	A content-aware cloning tool that lets you blend a source selection into a new background.
Scratch Remover	Removes wrinkles, wires, and similar linear flaws from digital photos, and removes scratches from scanned photos
Object Remover	Covers unwanted elements of a photo with a neighboring texture in the same photo
Paint Brush	Lets you paint on your image with colors, textures, or gradients
Airbrush	Simulates painting with an airbrush or spray can
Lighten/Darken	Lightens areas as you drag, or darkens areas as you drag with the right mouse button. This effect is stronger than the effects produced by the Dodge and Burn tools.
Dodge	Lets you lighten areas of a photo by clicking or darken areas by right-clicking
Burn	Lets you darken areas of a photo by clicking, or lighten areas by right-clicking
Smudge	Smears pixels by picking up new colors as you drag, or pushes pixels by not picking up new colors as you drag with the right mouse button
Push	Pushes pixels by not picking up new colors as you drag, or smears pixels by picking up new colors as you drag with the right mouse button
Soften	Softens pixels as you drag, or sharpens pixels as you drag with the right mouse button
Sharpen	Sharpens pixels as you drag, or softens pixels as you drag with the right mouse button
Emboss	Creates an embossed effect by suppressing color and tracing edges as you drag
Saturation Up/Down	Makes colors more vivid as you drag, or less vivid as you drag with the right mouse button
Hue Up/Down	Shifts pixel hue values up as you drag, or shifts them down as you drag with the right mouse button
Change to Target	Recolors pixels while retaining detail
Color Replacer	Replaces the background/fill color with the foreground/stroke color when you click and drag, or replaces the foreground/stroke color with the background/fill color when you right-click and drag
Eraser	Erases raster layer pixels to transparency
Background Eraser	Erases around the edges of the areas you want to keep in a photo
Flood Fill	Fills pixels of a similar tolerance level with the current foreground/stroke material when you click, or with the current background/fill material when you right-click
Color Changer	Changes the color of an object while preserving the shading and luminosity of the original color
Gradient Fill	Adds a gradient fill that can be adjusted interactively on an image
Picture Tube	Places picture tubes, theme-based artistic elements, in your image
Text	Places text on your image
Frame Tool	Creates a container (frame) that you can fill with an image
Preset Shape	Adds predefined shapes (such as callouts, arrows, and starbursts) to your image
Rectangle	Creates a rectangle or square
Ellipse	Creates an ellipse or circle
Symmetric Shape	Creates symmetric or star-shaped objects
Pen	Creates connected or unconnected lines, freehand curves, and Bézier curve segments
Warp Brush	Shrinks, grows, twists, or distorts pixels
Mesh Warp	Distorts a photo by dragging points along an overlay grid
Oil Brush	Simulates oil brushstrokes on an Art Media layer
Chalk	Simulates drawing with chalk on an Art Media layer
Pastel	Simulates drawing with pastels on an Art Media layer
Crayon	Simulates drawing with crayon on an Art Media layer
Colored Pencil	Simulates drawing with colored pencil on an Art Media layer
Marker	Simulates drawing with an ink marker on an Art Media layer
Watercolor Brush	Simulates watercolor brushstrokes on an Art Media layer
Palette Knife	Simulates applying oil paint with a knife (instead of a brush) on an Art Media layer
Smear	Smears whatever pigment you’ve applied to an Art Media layer
Art Eraser	Erases whatever pigment you’ve applied to an Art Media layer