Modificator manual

Modificator is a panel for Adobe Photoshop (CC2015 to the newest) for a quick access to your favourite tool settings on one compact panel. On these examples the panel have different configurations of modules:

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Every setting comes as a customizable module that can be freely positioned, resized, and set up to be more compact or more descriptive. Here’s an example of how several same modules can be differently set up to show more information or to be more compact:

_images/compact.png

Learn more about different modules settings in the Modules Types section.

The panel can be assinged to a keyboard shortcut, in conjuction with a Close on Click option enabled, the panel can be hidden most of the times, called when needed and then automatically closed after an adjustment to the active tool has been made:

_images/close.gif

There’re currently 67 settings aross 25 tools supported on the panel and with the updates I plan to add more: just let me know if you’re missing something. Note that while in theory it’s possible to add almost every possible setting Photoshop has on the panel, the main idea is to have only the things that are used the most and that require fast access but usually are hidden in different parts of Photoshop interface. To learn more about supported tools, modules and some limitations, please see the Modules List section.

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Interface and Settings

The panel is accessible from Window > Extensions > Modificator Photoshop menu. Modificator consists of different modules with specific functions and settings. Each module can be repositioned, resized, and hidden from the panel if not used. Different settings can be set via Flyout or Right-Mouse-Button (RMB) menus.

Flyout menu

A number of settings and functions can be set from Flyout menu that is located in the top-right corner of the panel.

  • Close On Click: The panel will close after using any function. Works great together with assigning a hotkey to toggle the panel;
  • Always Show: The panel will be opened even when other Photoshop windows are closed: when Tab key is used or Fullscreen Mode is entered;
  • Edit Mode: turn it on to reposition and resize modules on the panel. Read mode below. Shortcut: Alt+Click on an empty space inside the panel;
  • Modules Settings...: opens a Modules Settings window where different settings and options can be set for modules;
  • Select Modules to Show...: opens a list of modules for an active Photoshop tool where it’s possible to toggle visibility of any available module and edit its settings;
  • Assign Panel Shortcuts...: opens a window to assign a keyboard shortcut to toggle the panel show/hidden state and Always SHow option;
  • Open Data Folder: opens a folder where all Modificator settings are stored: use for backups and syncing;
  • Ask Pigs for Help: shows an overlay with some basic help info;
  • Open the Panel Manual: opens this page;
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Edit Mode

Use Flyout Edit Mode command to enter edit mode in which modules can be repositioned and resized.

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Most modules react to their size, hiding some of the information to remain as compact as possible

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It’s possible to select several modules at once drawing a selection rectangle and adding to/removing from selection with Ctrl/Cmd+Click on modules. While several modules are selected it’s possible to move them together or use a context RMB-menu to resize or pack stacked modules.

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RMB context menu

If you RMB-click on an any module, a context menu will open from which you can:

  • Lock the selected setting(s) for this tool;
  • Edit module settings;
  • Hide the module from the panel;
  • Copy size and position of the selected module(s) between all its tools;
  • Pack seleted modules together (in Edit Mode);
  • Match width and height to a reference module (in Edit Mode);
  • Match background color to a reference module (in Edit Mode);
  • Open this manual;
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Modules Types and Their Settings

There’re 4 different modules types Modificator:

  • Sliders (for numeric values: Opacity, Diameter, etc)
  • Checkboxes (on and off switches)
  • Radio Buttons (one of mutually exclusive options: Blending Mode, Opacity Controller, etc)
  • Angular (used for brush rotation only)

Modules that are shared between different tools (like a tool Diameter for instance) also share settings but can be positiones and sized separately.

Common Module Settings

Modules Settings window allows to change settings of a modules. To open this window use a Flyout or RMB menu.

_images/settings.png

Some of settings are the same for all the modules types:

  • Show Module Name: toggle this off to hide a module name from the module. This works best for checkboxes or other modules in specific places to have a more compact layout. Here’s an example of a checkbox that turns Color Dynamics and 3 sliders for Dynamic Hue/Sat/Brightness as a very compact group. Since I know exactly what this checkbox and sliders are I din’t really need any name labels for them:
_images/nonames.png
  • Visible for tools:: toggle this on/off to display/hide this model for a specific tool on a panel. These settings are also toggled from Select Modules to Show... window of a Flyout.
  • Background Color: set a background color for a module. Background color can be used to group specific settings: here I have a violet Diameter controller and a slider, an orange Opacity controller and a slider and some Color Dynamics modules: a checkbox and sliders. Without the names for the Controllers I still understand where they belong from the assigned color:
_images/colors.png

Sliders

  • Click or Drag on sliders to change a value;
  • Shift+Click or Shift+Drag to snap to Snap Values;
  • Alt+Drag to nudge values — the value changes relatively to the marker position;

There are three sliders that are a little particular: three color sliders: Hue, Saturation and Lightness. Both Hue and Saturation keep the lightness of the color locked so that relative lightness of the color stays the same.

Slider specific settings:

  • 0% disabled the entire category: this setting is available only for Texture and Scatter sliders. When the setting is on, using the lowest value of the slider disables the catory;
  • Always Snap: with this option turned on the slider will always snap to every Snap Value. This can be useful when only particular slider values are used, say 0% and 100% of Wetness for a Mixer Brush;
  • Always Nudge: makes the slider always behave as if the Alt key was used to change the value: the value will change relatively to the marker position. it’s also possible to set custom Nudge Multiplier: 5 is the default number, the value will move slower than the cursor; 1 will move slider with the speed of the cursor; less than 1 — faster than cursor;
  • Min and Max: minimum and maximum values for a slider: sometimes it makes sense to limit a slider: for example to set a maximum Diameter or minimum Opacity;
  • Snap every: this value is used for snapping with Shift+Click;
  • Show Colors on Background (color sliders only): when this option is turned on color sliders will show active color on their background;
_images/sliders.png

Checkboxes

Checkboxes don’t have any particular settings. Oh man thanks for that.

Radio Buttons

There are several particular Radio Button modules

  • Eye Dropper module. It allows to change Eyedropper tool sample mode directly from the active tool. Here I’m changing sampling to Current Layer to paint with a color from a layer with Multiply blending mode and then quickly change sampling to All Layers:
  • Lasso module. Allows to quickly switch between lasso and polygonal lasso
  • Shape tool mode module. Allows to switch between Shape/Path/Pixels tool mode of vector tools (Rectangle, Ellipse, Line, etc)

Radio Buttons Settings:

  • Off disabled the entire category: when the setting is on, using the Off option of the radio module disables the catory: for example setting Opacity off disables the whole Transfer category;
  • Horizontal or Vertical: the way radio buttons are oriented;
  • Select Options to Show: it’s possible to limit the amount of options to only the ones that are needed: for example rarely you’ll want to show all 29 brush blending modes;
_images/radio.png

Angular

Angular module has almost the same settings as a Slider module with the exception of an absence of the minimum and maximum setting.

Modules Lists

There’re currently 63 settings and 25 tools supported on the panel and with the updates I plan to add more: just let me know if you’re missing something.

Known Limitations

  • if a Mixer Brush option Load Solid Colors Only is turned Off, using any controls on the panel will reset its loaded sample to a solid color. In most situations this is not an issue because it’s easy to load the sample again in one click but might impact some very particular workflows — like duplicating;

Supported Modules (by alphabet)

  • Aligned: Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool;
  • Angle Control: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Angle: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Anti-Alias: Magic Wand Tool;
  • Apply per Tip: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool;
  • Auto Select: Group: Move Tool;
  • Auto-Select: Move Tool;
  • Blend Mode: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool;
  • Clean After Stroke: Mixer Brush Tool;
  • Clone Stamp Sample: Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool;
  • Color Dynamics: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool;
  • Contiguous: Magic Wand Tool;
  • Diameter Control: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Diameter: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Dual Blend Mode: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Dual Both Axis: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Dual Count: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Dual Flip: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Dual Scatter: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Dual Size: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Dual Spacing: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Dyn. Brightness: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool;
  • Dyn. FG/BG Jitter: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool;
  • Dyn. Hue: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool;
  • Dyn. Jitter Control: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool;
  • Dyn. Saturation: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool;
  • Eye Dropper: Brush Tool, Eyedropper Tool, Pencil Tool;
  • Finger Paint: Smudge Tool;
  • Flip X: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Flip Y: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Flow Control: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Flow: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Gradient Type: Gradient Tool;
  • Hardness: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Pencil Tool;
  • Hue (Locked): Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Mixer Brush Tool;
  • Lasso Type: Lasso Tool, Polygonal Lasso Tool;
  • Lightness: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Mixer Brush Tool;
  • Load After Stroke: Mixer Brush Tool;
  • Load: Mixer Brush Tool;
  • Min Diameter: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Min Flow: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Min Opacity: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Mix: Mixer Brush Tool;
  • Noise: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool;
  • Opacity Control: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Opacity: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool, Gradient Tool;
  • Roundness: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Pencil Tool;
  • Sample All: Mixer Brush Tool, Spot Healing Brush Tool, Smudge Tool, Magic Wand Tool;
  • Sample Size: Eyedropper Tool;
  • Saturation (Locked): Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Mixer Brush Tool;
  • Scatter Both Axis: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Scatter Control: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Scatter Count Control: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Scatter Count Jitter: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Scatter Count: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Scatter Jitter: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Selection Type: Rectangular Marquee Tool, Elliptical Marquee Tool, Single Row Marquee Tool, Single Column Marquee Tool;
  • Show Transform Controls: Move Tool;
  • Smooth: Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool, Mixer Brush Tool;
  • Spacing: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Tool;
  • Strength: Smudge Tool;
  • Texture Depth: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Texture Scale: Brush Tool, Mixer Brush Tool, Pencil Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool, Eraser Tool;
  • Tolerance: Magic Wand Tool;
  • Tool Mode: Rectangle Tool, Rounded Rectangle Tool, Ellipse Tool, Polygon Tool, Line Tool, Custom Shape Tool;
  • Wet Edges: Brush Tool, Pattern Stamp Tool, Clone Stamp Tool;
  • Wetness: Mixer Brush Tool;

Supported Tools

  • Brush Tool
  • Clone Stamp Tool
  • Custom Shape Tool
  • Ellipse Tool
  • Elliptical Marquee Tool
  • Eraser Tool
  • Eyedropper Tool
  • Gradient Tool
  • Healing Brush Tool
  • Lasso Tool
  • Line Tool
  • Magic Wand Tool
  • Mixer Brush Tool
  • Move Tool
  • Pattern Stamp Tool
  • Pencil Tool
  • Polygon Tool
  • Polygonal Lasso Tool
  • Rectangle Tool
  • Rounded Rectangle Tool
  • Rectangular Marquee Tool
  • Single Column Marquee Tool
  • Single Row Marquee Tool
  • Smudge Tool
  • Spot Healing Brush Tool

Assigning Hotkeys

To assign a hotkey you can use Assign Hotkeys... option in flyout menu. Simply select the Toggle Modificator hotkey button and assign a hotkey. Using this window you can assing any keys that Photoshop allows;

In conjuction with a Close on Click option enabled, the panel can be hidden most of the times, called when needed and then automatically closed after an adjustment has been made.

Release Log

05 Dec 2022: Modificator 1.2

  • Installer updated for the latest PSs;
  • Color Sliders and Blending Mode modules were added for the Gradient Tool;
  • New Modules: Minimum Diameter;

07 Apr 2021: Modificator 1.1

  • Lock Module will lock the current module value between the presets of the same tool;
  • Copy Size/Position to All Tools to copy the module size and position between several tools;
  • An option to disable entiry categories when turning off a Controller or specific Sliders;
  • An option to turn on Always Nudge with a specific multiplier for Slider modules;
  • 5 New tools supported (Healing Brush, Rectangular and Elliptical marque tools, 1-pixel selection tools);
  • 20+ New modules supported (Flow, Scatter, Dual Brush, Finger Paint of the Smudge Tool, Load/Clean after each stroke of the Mixer Brush);
  • Bug Fixes;

09 Jul 2020: Modificator 1.0

  • Initial release