I've decided to hone in on some of my cool creative-style tips. I know that everyone loves the creative stuff, but there are also some great timesaving tips thrown in for good measure. As much as we love the creative stuff, we need to get through the boring stuff quicker so that we can get back to what we love. I hope you like what I've cooked up for you and I can assure you that you'll find these tips are very useful.

1. Is that layer really empty?

When working in a multilayered document, it's easy for lots of layers to stack up very quickly. Perhaps you got a little carried away and didn't bother naming your layers. Now it's time to clean up your layer stack and start deleting all the unneeded layers. Have you ever wondered if a layer is empty or not? Here's a little time-saving tip: Hold down Ctrl key and click on the layer thumbnail. If you get a message that says, "Warning: No pixels were selected," then you can safely delete the layer because it is indeed empty. If you just wanted to get rid of all empty layers, choose File>Scripts>Delete All Empty Layers.

2. Clean Samples

If you're working on a very high-resolution image that has some grain, it can be hard to sample the exact color that you want. You might find that you're getting the colors from the grain instead. The best way to get a good average color is to change the Sample Size. When you choose the Eyedropper tool (I), you'll see the Sample Size in the Options Bar. Choose a higher sample size for higher resolution and noisier images.

3. Lock your brush settings

Not too many people are aware of this powerful setting. Whenever you choose a different brush preset, all the dynamics will be updated to reflect the settings of the chosen brush. If you click the Lock icon next to a setting, it will stick no matter which brush is chosen. This is really useful if you're mixing brushes while working on a technique. When you turn off the Lock icon (by clicking again), the brush will immediately revert to its original setting. To put everything back to the factory settings as far as locking, choose Reset All Locked Settings from the flyout menu in the Brush panel.