Today’s Question: Perhaps this is petty, but is there a way to turn off the little text popups that appear in Photoshop when I hover my mouse over the various controls and buttons? I find them to be quite distracting.
Tim’s Quick Answer: You can disable these “Tool Tips” text banners by turning off the “Show Tool Tips” checkbox on the Tools tab of the Preferences dialog.
More Detail: I too find the tool tips text banners to be a bit annoying, though admittedly they can be quite helpful when you’re first getting to know Photoshop. I recommend that new users keep this feature turned on (or turn it on if they have it turned off) to help them get more familiar with the many features within Photoshop. But once you know your way around, it is time to disable this distraction in my view.
This option can be found on the Tools tab of the Preferences dialog. To get to the Preferences dialog go to the Edit menu on Windows or the Photoshop menu on Macintosh, and then choose Preferences followed by Tools.
This will bring up the Preferences dialog with the Tools tab active. You can then turn off (or on if you prefer) the Show Tool Tips checkbox in the Options section at the top of the Tools tab in the Preferences dialog. Then click the OK button to apply the change and close the Preferences dialog.