about updating the software, registration, and tutorials.
Figure 4-1 shows a list of items that appear under the File menu in Photoshop.
Each application has additional application-specific menus determined by the needs of the software. For example, you can use the Photoshop Image menu to resize the image or document, rotate the canvas, and duplicate the image, among other functions. InDesign has a Layout menu you can use to navigate the document, edit page numbering, and access controls for creating and editing the document’s table of contents; we discuss these menus where appropriate throughout this book.
FIGURE 4-1: Menus in Photoshop let you choose and control different options.
Using Dialog Boxes
A dialog box is a window that appears when certain menu items are selected. It offers additional options in the form of drop-down lists, panes, text fields, checkboxes, and buttons that enable you to change settings and enter information or data as necessary. You use dialog boxes to control the software or your document in various ways. For example, when you open a new file, you typically use the Open dialog box to select a file to open. When you save a file, you use the Save As dialog box to select a location for saving the file, to name the file, and to execute the Save command.
Some dialog boxes also include tabs. These dialog boxes may contain many settings of different types that are organized into several sections by using tabs. A dialog box typically has a button that executes the particular command and one that cancels and closes the dialog box without doing anything. Figure 4-2 shows a common dialog box.
FIGURE 4-2: Using a dialog box to change filter settings.
A dialog box in Windows offers the same functionality as a dialog box on the Mac. Dialog boxes perform similar tasks and include the same elements to enter or select information. For example, here are some tasks you perform by using dialog boxes:
Save a new version of a file
Apply a filter to a selection
Specify printing or page-setup options
Set up preferences for the software you’re using
Check the spelling of text in a document
Open a new document
Encountering Alerts
Alerts, which are common on any operating system and in most applications, are similar to dialog boxes in that they’re small windows that contain information. However, alerts are different from dialog boxes because you can’t edit the information in them. Alerts are designed simply to tell you something and give you one or more options that you select by clicking a button. For example, an alert may indicate that you can’t select a particular option. Usually you see an OK button to click to acknowledge and close the alert. You may see other buttons on the alert, such as a button to cancel what you were doing or one that opens a dialog box. Figure 4-3 shows a typical alert.
FIGURE 4-3: A simple choice: OK or cancel.
Discovering Common Menu Options
Various menu options are typically available in each of the Creative Cloud applications. However, within each of these menus, several other options are available. Some of them open dialog boxes — this type of option is typically indicated by an ellipsis that follows the menu option, as shown in Figure 4-4.
FIGURE 4-4: Choosing a menu option with an ellipsis opens a submenu.
The following menu options are found in several Creative Cloud applications, and these commands either perform similar (or the same) functions or they open similar dialog boxes:
New: Creates a brand-new document in the native file format. For example, in InDesign, a new INDD (the extension for InDesign documents) file is created by choosing File ⇒ New ⇒ Document. You can sometimes choose the type of new file you want to create.
Open: Opens a dialog box where you can choose a (supported) file to open on your hard drive or a disc.
Close: Closes the current document. If it has unsaved changes, you’re prompted to save those changes first.
Save: Saves the changes you’ve made to the current document.
Save As: Saves a new copy of the current document using a different name.
Import: Imports a file, such as an image or sound file, into the current document.
Export: Exports the current data to a specified file format. You can sometimes select several kinds of file formats to save the current data in.
Copy: Copies the selected data to the computer’s Clipboard.
Paste: Pastes the data from the Clipboard into the current document.
Undo: Undoes the most recent task you performed in the application. For example, if you just created a rectangle, the rectangle is removed from the document.
Redo: Repeats the steps you applied the Undo command to. For example, if you removed that rectangle you created, the Redo command adds it back to the document.
Zoom In: Magnifies the document so that you can view and edit its contents closely.
Zoom
