Operating systems and software are set up in a very generic way when they are first installed. Here are some minor tweaks that I make when I first start using MacOS and Photoshop. You do not have to make these changes, but I think you’ll find they make editing images easier.

The Main Changes 

These are the adjustments I find most helpful.

Turn on right-click

By default, the mouse in OSX only uses the primary button, no matter which side of the mouse you click. This can be frustrating when you are editing pictures, because it forces you to hold down the control key on your keyboard to access the secondary button. If you want right-clicking to do something on your mouse:

• Select the apple in the upper left corner of your screen.
• Select System Preferences.
• Scroll down the left side of the System Preferences Panel and select Mouse.
• On the left side of the window, find Secondary Click.
• Shange the setting to “click right side.”
• Close System Preferences.

Make folders for your work

Sometimes you’ll put files on your desktop. Don’t leave them there. Make folders for your projects, and put your work there. And give your files real names so you can find them later! It’s a lot easier to find your magazine cover when it’s called “magazine cover.psd” instead of “untitled (25).psd”.

Other Adjustments

These are adjustments I personally prefer. They are not as significant, but I find them useful.

Clean up your Dock

The Dock is a place where currently running programs are shown. It also has some apps pinned to it for easy access. You can pin or unpin programs. I suggest unpinning programs you won’t be using (in this class, that would be things like Messenger and Mail), and pinning the programs you might be using (like Photoshop, Word, PowerPoint, Premiere Pro, Scratch, and After Effects).

To unpin a program: drag the icon to the trash can.

To pin a program:

• If the program is running, right-click (or control-click) the icon and select Options, then Keep in Dock.
• If the program is not running, you can drag the icon from Finder or Launchpad onto the dock.

You can also hide the dock if you’d like, which can give you a little more space to work.

One way to hide the dock:

• Right click on an open space on the dock.
• Select Dock Preferences.
• Select Automatically hide and show the dock.

There are other ways to customize the dock, like moving it and changing its size. I don’t change those, but you might find that a different size or location works better for you.

Remember: these are suggested changes, not requirements. Every user gets their own configuration settings, so you can make your software work however you like. If you like to set up your machine in a different way, do it! But remember that the tutorials on this site are written by me, and they often are written to match my preferred settings.