Often as I work with an image (particularly when making detailed repairs with the Clone and Healing tools) I need to zoom in. It’s very easy when working at 100% magnification to lose your perspective when working in Photoshop.

navigator2

Enter the very useful Navigator panel. When you zoom in to a pixel level for image touchup, you often won’t be able to see the entire image onscreen. This is where the Navigator comes in handy.

  1. Open an image in Photoshop.
  2. Select the Zoom tool from the Tools panel or press Z (the tool looks like a magnifying glass). Make sure the Scrubby Zoom option is selected in the Options bar.
  3. Click and drag in the image to zoom in.
  4. Call up the Navigator panel by choosing Window > Navigator. Drag the corner of the Navigator panel to make it larger and easier to see.
  5. You can now navigate within your photo:
    viewer1
    • Drag the red view box around the thumbnail to pan within the image.
    • Resize the Navigator panel for a larger image preview.
    • Move the Zoom slider to zoom in or out on the image.
    • Click the Zoom Out or Zoom In buttons to jump to a uniform magnification.

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