How to Change Adobe Photoshop Splash Screen

   Information

This tutorial will help you to change the splash screen of Adobe Photoshop CS4 or CS5.

It should take about a minute to replace the image (once you've made your own).

As far as I am aware it works on both x64 and x86

Please note that this technique can also be applied for use on Photoshop CS5.

Like every Photoshop user, I see the splash screen every time I load Photoshop. I thought it could be nice to write a tutorial on creating a new one to make your Photoshop unique, so here goes.

Part 1 – Creating the Splash Screen

Open up Photoshop and create a new file, File > New with Width: 624px and Height: 354px . It is essential that you use these dimensions, as this is what's currently in use.



Firstly, we need a nice background for our image, so go to Edit > Fill > White to make a white background layer. Name this layer background

Press Ctrl + T to launch the Free Transform Tool and in the toolbar at the top, set the following options. H: 95% W: 96%. This is so that we can work with the edges of our image.



Let's add some shadow to our image. Go to Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options. Add some Drop Shadow and Gradient Overlay Layer Styles to the Background
layer.





Now this is what you should have:



Now we need to add some text. Or whatever you want to fill up the space. For the text, I used the Harabara font, but you can use whatever you want. Make sure this text is black

Now, in the top left hand corner, type the letters Ps (in black) then make a selection of this by Ctrl + Left Click on the layer preview (the small image to the left of the layer name). A dashed white line should appear around the selection, like so:



After doing this, press Ctrl + Shift + I to invert the selection. Select the background layer and then press the Add Layer Mask icon, as shown in the image:



Now you will need to delete the text layer. Right Click > Delete.

This should delete the part of the background where the Ps text was. This means that there will be a transparent bit in our splash screen, and underneath windows will be able to be seen through this.

Here's the final outcome:



Now we've made the image, we'll need to save it. File > Save As...

File Name: SPLASHARTBACKGROUND.PNG
Format: PNG (*.PNG)

Save this somewhere easily accessible, we'll need it for part 2!

Part 2 – Incorporate the Splash Screen in Photoshop

   Warning

Make sure Photoshop is closed before doing this!

Step 1 – Download ResHacker
Download ResHacker, you can download it here: Resource Hacker


Step 2 – PSArt.dll
Before launching or using ResHacker, make sure you make a back up of the original PSArt.dll file. You should find it in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS4 (or CS5), copy the file and paste it where you can find it easily. This is so we have a readily available backup, in the off chance something goes wrong.


Step 3 – ResHacker
Open ResHacker and click on Open, a window should open, go to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS4 (or CS5) and select PSArt.dll


Step 4 – Replacing File
You should see three expandable directories on the left (PNGF, Version Info and 24). Expand the PNGF folder and scroll down to:
(For CS4) - SPLASHARTBACKGROUND.PNG
(For CS5) - SPLASHBACKGROUND.PNG
Expand the folder and you should see a binary file called 1033. Right click on it and select "Replace Resource...". Then you should see a dialog box prompting you to "Open file with new resource". Locate it (ensure that it is in the .PNG format and has the same dimensions). Then type in the following (exactly) into the boxes:
Resource Type= PNGF
Resource Name= SPLASHARTBACKGROUND.PNG if its photoshop CS4
SPLASHBACKGROUND.PNG if its photoshop CS5
Resource Language= 1033


Step 5 – Saving
Navigate to File>Save As and then call it PSArt.dll and move it to the Photoshop directory.

If this doesn't work, then try again, if it still doesn't work then let me know and I'll do my best to help you.

Enjoy!



Tom

   Note

Photoshop CS6 tutorial coming soon!