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Photoshop CS5's new HUD Color Picker, and a neat helper app that enables auto-saving
Adobe Photoshop CS5 has a new feature that digital artists have been demanding for years: it's called the HUD Color Picker and I'm sure it's making Photoshoppers dizzy with excitement. That is if they even know it exists -- you see, the HUD (heads-up display) is buried under a truly atrocious shortcut: Shift+Alt+Right Click. Still, if you have Photoshop CS5, try it -- you can see it in the picture above -- it's pretty cool!
Now, to make things easier, there's an app called 'apssistant' (Adobe Photoshop aSSistant, get it?) It's open-source, and be warned: the English documentation is not great (it's written by a talented Chinese artist). Not only does this neat helper app re-bind the awful HUD shortcut to the ergonomic backtick ( ` ), but it adds another neat function: auto saving! With a couple of clicks you can set apssistant to auto-save every X minutes, or simply prompt you to save with a high-visibility dialog box.
Due to the English-Chinese language gap, the app's interface is a bit messy and hard to understand, but turning auto-saving on is easy enough. Still, here's what I've learnt, from a bit of experimentation:
Now, to make things easier, there's an app called 'apssistant' (Adobe Photoshop aSSistant, get it?) It's open-source, and be warned: the English documentation is not great (it's written by a talented Chinese artist). Not only does this neat helper app re-bind the awful HUD shortcut to the ergonomic backtick ( ` ), but it adds another neat function: auto saving! With a couple of clicks you can set apssistant to auto-save every X minutes, or simply prompt you to save with a high-visibility dialog box.
Due to the English-Chinese language gap, the app's interface is a bit messy and hard to understand, but turning auto-saving on is easy enough. Still, here's what I've learnt, from a bit of experimentation:
- You can use apssistant to pop up the normal Foreground Color Picker in earlier versions of Photoshop -- you can also simply set up a keyboard shortcut inside Photoshop (Edit>Keyboard Shortcuts>Tools), but the app makes it a lot easier.
- 'Sticky' color picking -- by default, you change the foreground color by hovering over it with your mouse. 'Sticky' makes it so you must click to select the new color -- a lot safer!
- I have no idea what 'Change Step Forward / Backward shortcut' does -- if anyone can work it out, let me know. Maybe it's quite cool...!
Comments
11
Subscribe to commentsdavid gregoireJun 3rd 2010 3:25PM
I tried a few different mac keyboard shortcuts and couldn't get this HUD. Does anyone know the mac shortcut key?
Felipe FregosoJun 3rd 2010 3:30PM
Command-Control-Option.
DavidJun 3rd 2010 3:32PM
Command-Control-Option-Click, and don't forget to change the settings by Command-K.
MaxJun 3rd 2010 3:45PM
While you're at it, check out the interactive brush sizing: hold down ctrl-option (mac) and drag left-right to change brush size and up-down to change brush hardness.
With the color HUD, you can use prefs settings to change the type of HUD, either a wheel as shown or a rectangle/slider.
Sebastian AnthonyJun 3rd 2010 3:46PM
Yeah, I noticed something -- if I right click, while brush is selected, I get the brush options menu. Not sure if that's the default action, or the apssistant!
alahmnatJun 3rd 2010 4:10PM
The brush options panel on right-click when using the brush tool is long-standard behavior.
"Change step forward/step backward shortcut" would be referring to the "mega-undo" ability for Photoshop to step back more than just the most recently-performed action in the History panel. Ever noticed you sometimes can't just "undo" a few changes, you have to go to the Edit menu and select "Step Backward" until you're back far enough? Yeah, that's what this option has to do with (and I always end up in the menu because I can never remember the stupid shortcut).
millionartJun 7th 2010 5:26PM
'Change Step Forward / Backward shortcut' is used to modify the default of 'Undo' and 'Redo' shortcut key to CTRL + Z and CTRL + Y, because my friend too lazy to change it.
Thank you for your introduction, as you know, I am not good at English, so the interface is very confusing. Hope someone can help me translate the English language documents and help files.
I hope you like APssistant and recommend to your friends, thank you. :)
John CorJun 29th 2010 12:34PM
There's also a nice color wheel extension panel for Photoshop - Photoshop magicPicker (http://anastasiy.com/panels)
Works like a genuine panel in PS
Sebastian AnthonyJun 29th 2010 12:35PM
Woah, scary website. Still, looks neat! Thanks for the link.
KingabyJul 9th 2010 6:34AM
This is an absolutely brilliant little App, totally brilliant.
1 thing though: i get an error when i try to set the HUD to the shortcut
Alt + B
it flickers on and off, i think because it is interfering with a photoshop shortcut to scroll through brush modes. I cannot find a way to disable this. Is it possible? It would fit my tablet keybinds much better, and would be a nice variant on the standard colour picker of Alt while you have brush selected.
solomonJul 22nd 2010 3:54AM
I really like the fact that "mirage" (still don't know his name) came up with the perfect solution for the HUD color picker
thank you allot :)
and also thanks for the auto save feature too
I'm very sure that its gonna come in handy
and thank you Sabastian for featuring this :) , if not then i really wouldn't have known about such an amazing application that would speed up my work
:)