(upbeat electronic music)
- [Gareth] Hello, and welcome to this video tutorial.
Gareth here from TastyTuts.com.
In this tutorial, we are going to look at one
of the most common tasks performed in Photoshop,
copy and paste.
In the last video, we learned how to make selections
with the selection tools.
Now it's time to use these tools
to build and create in Photoshop.
As you create in Photoshop and work with multiple documents,
you will be performing this task a lot
to build your artwork.
To copy and paste is a simple task,
but as a beginner, it will help to know how
to perform this task.
In this video, I will also be demonstrating a useful way
to transfer creative elements
from one document to another.
Now the best way to learn is by watching and doing.
So to help you, I have created this worksheet.
To follow along with this video,
you will need to open this document I have prepared
especially for this tutorial.
This document can be found in the essential practice folder
in the project folder.
Now you can download this project folder
for free, the download link is in the description.
So with the project folder open,
click essential practice.
Open the copy and paste folder.
And open the copy and paste PSD.
Then, you should have something that looks like this.
Along the way, I will be mentioning
some useful shortcut keys,
which you can find in the description
and in the shortcut key page in the project PDF,
which you can also download in the description.
So here we have this document open,
and if we look in the layers panel,
we can see with have a layer called bird layer.
And a layer called blue base with bird.
So the first thing we are going to do,
is copy and paste the purple bird from the blue base
with bird layer.
So I'm going to come up to the main menu
and select the rectangular marquee tool.
Now with the tool active, I'm going to come over
and click and drag a selection over the purple bird like so.
Upon release, we will have this dashed square selection
around the purple bird.
So in this instance, we can see that the dashed line
covers not only the purple bird but also the yellow
and blue.
In this instance, we only want to copy and paste
the purple bird.
So next, I'm going to make sure I have the
blue base with bird layer selected.
It's important I have the layer selected before I copy.
With the layer selected, I can do one of two things.
I can either come up to edit,
scroll down and click copy,
or press the keyboard shortcut, command + C.
Pressing command + C will copy whatever is in the current
active selection area on the layer I have selected
in the layers panel.
Now after pressing command + C,
the selection will still exist in the document area.
So once I'm happy I have copied the area,
I'm going to paste.
Now I can again do one of two things.
I can either come up to edit, scroll down,
and click paste.
Or press the command shortcut, command + V.
Pressing command + V will paste whatever I copied previous.
So I'll press command + V to paste.
Now, at first glance, nothing has appeared to have changed.
Now if we look closely in the layers panel,
we now have a new layer on top of the blue base
with bird layer.
We can see this is called Layer 1.
Now if I press V on the keyboard
to activate the move tool,
then click and drag over to the right,
you can see that I now have a new layer
with a copy of the purple bird.
Nice.
So that's the basic method to copy and paste in Photoshop.
Remember, before you copy,
you must have the right area first created
and the right layer selected.
Press command + C to copy and then command + V to paste.
Upon pasting, you will always create a new layer
with the new pasted created on.
So that was the most simplest way to copy and paste.
Let's try another exercise.
This time, I'm going to pay close attention
to the bird pair layer.
So I'll press V to activate the move tool.
I'll select the bird pair layer
and click and drag in the canvas area.
Now we can see that this layer includes both the blue bird
and the yellow bird.
These two birds are set on a transparent layer.
So this time, I want to copy and paste the yellow bird.
I'm not interested in copying the blue bird,
just the yellow bird.
So this time, I'm going to use the polygonal lasso tool.
So up in the menu,
I'm going to select the polygonal lasso tool.
I will know I have this one selected
as I can see the lasso icon with points like so.
So this time, I'm going to carefully
click and draw a selection area
around just the yellow bird.
So I have made this rough selection around the bird,
as I know this yellow bird is currently sitting
on a transparent layer.
So when I copy, all I will copy is the yellow bird
and nothing else.
So here I have a selection around the bird.
So I'll make sure I have the bird pair layer selected
in my layers panel.
And I'll press command + C to copy.
Then press command + V to paste.
Upon pressing command + V,
I will now have a new layer in my layers panel
directly above the previous,
and if I press V to activate the move tool,
I can move this new pasted created
over to the right like so.
So what I did there, was use the lasso tool
to make a detailed selection around a specific part
of my artwork.
And then copied and pasted just that.
And here, we have the yellow bird on its own like so.
Okay, so lets try another exercise.
So this time, I'm going to use the lasso tool again.
But this time, draw an area around the purple bird.
This time I will press L on the keyboard.
L is the keyboard shortcut to activate the lasso tool.
Now because we used the polygonal lasso tool last,
by pressing L, this will activate this tool
and not the other lasso tools.
So I'll press L to activate the polygonal lasso tool,
then carefully draw an area around the purple bird like so.
Once joined back at the start,
I can see a dashed line around the outside
of my purple bird.
So unlike previous, this time I have made a much more
accurate trace around what I wish to copy.
This time, I'm going to copy and paste just the bird.
So with my selection area active,
I'm going to click on the blue base with bird layer,
then press command + C to copy
and command + V to paste.
Upon paste, we will create a new layer in the layers panel
with the pasted artwork.
So now I have the purple bird on a transparent layer
cut out from the layer with the blue background.
And I'll move this over to the right.
So in this instance, we made a very particular selection
to copy and paste, nice.
So that's the basics to copying and pasting in Photoshop.
Be sure to practice those techniques
to get a good grip of them,
as you will find yourself using these a lot in the future.
Now these techniques I have demonstrated
work well when you're inside the same document.
So what if you were working with multiple documents
and you needed to take creative elements from one document
to another?
Well let's take a look at this.
So for this exercise I'm going to create a new document.
Now I can do one of two things.
I can come up to file in the top menu
and click new document.
Or I can use the keyboard shortcut command + N.
On this occasion, I will use the keyboard shortcut,
command + N.
Upon pressing command + N, up will pop a menu.
For now, I'll just click on the preset tab.
I'll choose international paper
and select A4 and click okay.
Upon click, a new document will be created
and here we can see a blank canvas.
So if we look on the top of the Photoshop document,
we can see we have these two tabs here.
So these are here so I can jump back and forth
into other documents that are currently open in Photoshop.
So I'm going to come back into my original document.
And on this occasion, I want to copy and paste
the big blue bird into the new document.
So just like earlier, I'm going to press L
to activate the polygonal lasso tool.
I'll quickly make a selection around the blue bird.
Now I have made a rough area around the bird
as I know this blue bird is currently sitting
on a transparent layer.
So when I copy it,
all I'll copy is the blue bird and nothing else.
So next I'll make sure I have the correct layer selected
in the layers panel.
The bird pair layer.
Next I'll press command + C to copy.
With the bird area copied, I'll click on the tab
of my new document.
With the new document open,
I'll simply press command + V to paste.
Upon pressing command + V,
I will paste in the bird and create a new layer
in the layers panel.
By pressing V, I can activate the move tool
and move it around like so.
Easy.
So that's one way to paste a creative
from one document to the next.
So next I'm going to demonstrate another useful way
to get creative elements from one document to another.
So I'll come back into my original document.
Notice I still have the selection active.
I'll just press command + D to deselect that.
So this time, I want to get this yellow bird,
this purple bird, and this purple bird set on the
blue square background into my new document.
Currently, these are three elements existing
on their own layers.
So how can we get these specific layers across
into the new document?
Well we can do this really easy.
So first, I need to select the layers in the layers panel.
So I'll come over into the layers panel,
I'll press and hold command on the keyboard,
or control for PC users.
I'll first select the purple bird layer
set on the blue background.
Then, I'll click on the purple bird
set on a transparent background.
And the I'll select the yellow bird.
By pressing and holding command on the keyboard,
this will enable me to select multiple
individual layers.
So with these layers selected in the layers panel
I'll press V to activate the move tool.
On the canvas area, we will know we have these selected
if I gently click and drag around slightly,
we can see we have these layers selected.
So with them selected and the move tool active,
I'm carefully going to click in the canvas area
and drag up to the tabs at the top like so.
Now with my mouse held down, I'm going to drag
into the new tab
next to my current document.
Now as I move my mouse cursor into the new tab,
you will notice the new document become visible.
With the mouse still held down,
I'm going to move the mouse cursor
into the new document area.
With the mouse in the new document area,
I will release click.
Upon release, the creative elements will now appear
in the new document.
And notice in the layers panel,
the layers have been carried across as well.
So now I can click on a particular layer, for example,
this purple bird,
and simply move that around into a new place freely.
So that's another way of copying from one document
to another.
Now this is one of the most useful tips.
I actually use this technique a lot when
transferring creative from one document to the next.
So be sure to practice with this one.
So that is an introduction to copying and pasting
and transferring creative from one document
to another in Adobe Photoshop.
In the next video, we are going to start to
manipulate creative elements in our canvas area.
In the next video, we are going to learn how to use the
transform tools in Photoshop.
See you in the next video.
(upbeat electronic music)