Here are some useful tips for beginners or just to those who didn't know.
Useful Hints/Tips/Tricks
By: ultee./
For: 7 and CS, don't know the rest.
When you open Photoshop and open a saved image which could be a .jpg image you usually see a padlock on the layer in the layers pallete. This means that you cannot do anything to the layer. I've often seen people saying that it cannot be removed. That is not true. Actually it is very simple. Double click the padlock and a pop up will appear. You can now call it what you want and can edit what you want.
Simple but useful.
By: Oliver
For: All
Jpeg can handle more colours, millions of them, which is why image quality is better for things like photos, where as a gif only has 256 colours.
By: Jack
For: I discovered it in CS, doubtless it works in 7 and below too.
What it does: Helps you recolour and provide good depth of colour.
Tutorial:
Step One: Click 'Layer' and then flip down to 'New Adjustment Layer'. Click 'Colour Balance'. Then, just fiddle around. Make sure you don't just do the midtones, but also the shadows and highlights for best effect.
Name: Exultance
For: v.7, CS, CS2, may work for earlier versions.
What it does: Cuts out abstract renders
Tutorial:
When using a abstract render and need to cut it out of its black bg, click on channels in the layers pallette and then cntrl+click (or select> load selection> ok for CS2) on the bottom layer. go back to layers and hit cntrl+shift+I and hit delete. your render is now perfectly cut out.
Name: Psionic
Works in: Photoshop 7 - I'd assume in CS(2) as well.
What it does: When using the Extract tool, it makes for closer, neater extractions.
How to do it: When you have your image, go to Filter > Extract. When you have the highlighting tool selected, look to the top right of the screen. Check the box to the left of Smart Highlighting. This will ensure that when you highlight what is to be extracted that it follows the edge neatly without blurry pixels hanging around with it as well. So if you were extracting an apple, it'd outline the apple if you were highlighting that. You musty manually highlight it though. Great for silhouettes.
Name: Assassinator
Works in: Photoshop 7+
What it does: Smooth edges
Take the object you want to smoothen the edges of and ctrl+click the layer it is on. This will make a selection round the object. Then in the layers pallete click the chanels tab. You must then click the 'save selection as channel' button. This will creat a new channel called Alpha 1. Click on it, then do a gaussian blur on the channel. The bigger the object the bigger the gaussian blur, just so the edges are smooth. Then ctrl+click the channel, this will make a selection of it. Go back to the layers and make a new layer. Fill the selection with whatever colour you want. Delete the old layer.
Good for smoothing vectors
To install a font:
Check what the file extension is. If it's .zip, you'll have to extract it before you can install the font. If it's .ttf (what you should have after extracting the .zip) then you're good to go. Assuming you're using Windows, copy it into C:\WINDOWS\Fonts. The new font will be available for use. You may have to restart Photoshop for it to appear in the list though.
To install a brush:
Save everything you're working on and close down Photoshop. Now check what the file extension of the brush is. If it's .zip, you'll have to extract it before you can install the brush. If it's .abr (what you should have after extracting the .zip) then you're good to go. Open up the Photoshop folder (usually C:\Adobe\Photoshop\Presets\Brushes) and copy + paste the .abr file into this folder. Then restart Photoshop, and it will be added to the list of brushes in the brush menu that you can use.
By: Technical, Jaw, W/e.
Compatible Versions: PS 7 +
Hint, Tip, or Trick: Using the pen tool and clicking:reclicking around the edges of an image in white or black can actualy create somewhat a vector image.
By: Chantry
Compatible Versions: Don't know...
Hint, Tip, or Trick: To make a simple border make a new layer on top of everything > Control A > Edit Stroke > inner Stroke > Make it 4 px black > than again fo 3, but make it white, than again for 1 but make it black. This also works with other colors. Fool around with it to change simple border styles.... be creative
By: Visigoth
Compatible Versions: At least 7+, possibly further back
Hint, Tip, or Trick: Known as the "Render shine", this can add a hazy effect to your images, enhancing their lustre or adding a dreamy quality. Once you've finished your image and have it all on a single layer (use ctrl+alt+shift+e to stamp visible), duplicate the layer, and depending on the size, give it a Gaussian Blur of between 3 and 15 px. Set this layer to either Overlay, Soft Light or Hard Light and adjust to opacity as necessary.
By:Edd
Compatible Versions:Photoshop 7+
Hint, Tip, or Trick: This hint is primarily for stock images, so you can overlay different images without having rigid white bits surrounding the images.
So.. you have a stock image, say a load of plants or some shrubbery and there is a white background.... to get rid of this press CTRL + A to select the whole image, then go to Select > Color Range and click on the white parts of your image. This should make an automatic selection of everything that is white on the image. After you have the selection just press delete and voila ! you have the image just without the white background... now just reduce the size of it slightly to reduce aliasing and your done.
This is a really helpful method for removing coloured backgrounds, its so much quicker than using the pen tool or magic eraser...and much more cleaner..
Enjoy
By: Beam
Compatible Versions: 7+
Hint, Tip, or Trick: It's really simple but to make a border on your image create a new layer on top of all the layers press ctrl-a to select aroudn the image go to edit>stroke (inside, and choose how many pixels thick you want it to be. The common trendy 3 pixel border involves first going through those steps. Then doing a 3 px. black border. Then doing a 2 px border of any color. Then a 1 px border of black.
By: Beam
Compatible Versions: 7+
Hint, Tip, or Trick: A fast way to move a layer is to have the layer selected and just ctrl-click and it will give u the option to move it
By: Ovi
Compatible Versions: Any version of Photoshop
Hint, Tip, or Trick: Always make a duplicate layer when you are editing a layer in Photoshop. Because, you can undo only once at PS. Always creating a backup layer prevents you from ending up crying like a diaper baby.
By: Oliver
Compatible Versions: All windows versions of Photoshop
Fonts:- Fonts come in a variety of file types, when you download them the actual font will be in a zip file.
- Using a utility such as winzip (www.winzip.com) extract them to WINDOW/FONTS
- Then open this folder via windows explorer or something.
- Your fonts will be in photoshop
- Fonts are not specific to certain programs, a font you use in MS word will work in Photoshop.
) is called 04b_09. This can be downloaded 
