Common Adobe CS4 Tools

By Jennifer Smith, Christopher Smith, and Fred Gerantabee

Part of the Adobe CS4 Design Premium All-in-One For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Adobe CS4 is full of tools, most identified with little icons that hint at their functions. For example, use the tool that looks like a brush if you want to create brush marks. (Smart, huh?) Peruse this table that shows the most common tools and what each one does.

Tool	What It Does
Selection	Selects elements in the document.
Marquee	Selects elements in a document using a rectangular or oval shape.
Lasso	Makes freehand selections in a document.
Magic Wand	Selects similar adjoining colors in a document.
Pencil	Makes freehand solid marks (with a hard edge) in the document.
Pen	Creates vector paths in a document.
Brush	Creates painterly brush marks in the document; brushes vary in size, shape, and pattern.
Text	Adds text to the document.
Shape	Creates various shapes in the document.
Scale	Increases or decreases the scale (size) of an element in the document.
Hand	Moves the contents of the document for viewing purposes.
Zoom	Changes the magnification of the document.