1 - MARQUEE TOOL - 

At the top left is the "marquee" tool, which can be used to select a certain section of an image or even to create the image itself by defining an area you want to fill with color, such as a square or a circle. The default setting is the square, but underneath lies a surprise. If you click on this tool while holding down the ALT key the square changes to a circle. 

NOTE: Any button on the tools palette that contains a tiny dot in the right-hand bottom corner means there is another tool beneath. Click that tool while holding down the ALT key to find out what it is.

If you use this tool to create shapes and then fill them with color, you have to remember to use the DESELECT option found under the SELECT button on the main toolbar. Otherwise, your newly created circle or square will continuously have a line of marching dots and dashes around it, preventing you from going much further. 

2 - SELECTION/MOVE TOOL - 

To the right of the marquee tool is the "selection" tool. This simple tool will allow you to move objects and text around in your image, placing them wherever you like. To access an object you want to move, make sure the layer that contains the object is selected, click on the SELECTION/MOVE tool, then go ahead and move the object in question. (We will get to "layers" later on!)

3 - LASSO TOOL - 

On the next row of tools, to the left, is the LASSO TOOL. This is used when you want to define or select a specific area of the image where a simple circle or square won't do the job. The LASSO tool makes freehand, polygonal (straight-edged), and magnetic (snap-to) selections. 

4 - MAGIC WAND TOOL - 

Found to the right of the lasso, the MAGIC WAND tool selects similarly colored areas of an image, allowing you to adjust different color settings such as saturation, hue, color, etc.

6 - SLICE TOOL - 

To me this tool has always been very confusing. I have never used it, or found the need to do so. All I can tell you is that slices are used to divide a source image into functional areas. When you save the image as a Web page, each slice is saved as an independent file that contains its own settings, color palette, links, rollover effects, and animation effects. You can use slices to achieve faster download speeds. Slices are also advantageous when working with images that contain different types of data. For example, if one area of an image needs to be optimized in GIF format to support an animation, but the rest of the image is better optimized in JPEG format, you can isolate the animation using a slice.

Like I said, confusing.

7 - AIRBRUSH TOOL - 

This next tool is one of my favorites among many. Using it allows for some great painting effects. Simply click the tool then decide on a color to use. When you apply the tool to your image, a magical spray-painted effect comes into play. Very cool.

8 - BRUSH TOOL - 

Next to the airbrush tool is the brush tool. This speaks for itself. Where the airbrush tool allows for a softer effect, the brush tool applies color to an image as would a paint brush to a wall; lots of color, very intense. 

In addition to this tool comes the ability to actually "change" brush types and sizes. PhotoShop comes bundled with a lot of its own plugins, and there are free ones you can d/load from the Net, that allow you to change the tip size of your brush as well as the shape. Using this ability is how you apply specific shapes such as stars to an image. 

NOTE: When using any of the painting or drawing tools, if you think the color is a tad too intense and would like a more transparent effect, on the "layers palette" is a small slide that will let you either increase or decrease the color or image's opacity. The higher the number the more opaque.

Using the ALT key while clicking the brush tool displays the PENCIL TOOL. This draws firm lines as would a sharp pencil on paper. You can also change the size and shape of the pencil tip as you would the brush, by clicking on the "brush" option beneath the main toolbar. This option shows up whenever the brush/pencil tool is selected. Click the small "arrow" to the right to see the choices drop down listing.

9 - CLONE TOOL -

This is another of my favorite tools, and I use it all the time. The CLONE TOOL allows you to actually "clone", or repeat, a specific part of an image. The clone stamp, and the pattern stamp tool beneath, let you sample part of an image and then paint with the sample.

For example, say you d/loaded a photo from the Net but wanted to substitute your own face for someone else's. What you would do is cut yourself out of the first photo, then paste it into the one you d/loaded. But something doesn't look right. The edges of the pasted image do not mix well with the other photo.

At this point, you would select the CLONE TOOL, click the part of the photo you wanted to "clone", then apply the tool to the edges of the image you pasted, in this case your face. What happens is this: the part of the photo you clone is repeated over top of the image. From here you can use the blur tool to soften the edges and blend everything in.

Using the ALT key while clicking the clone tool reveals the PATTERN STAMP TOOL beneath. This tool paints with part of an image as a pattern. Very tricky.