TIP: Smarter Resizing

If you've got an image on a layer, and you're thinking of scaling that image down in size, before you just open Free Transform and shrink it down, make it a Smart Object first. That's right, even though the image is already on its own layer, you can still make it a Smart Object. In the Layers palette, just Control-click (PC: Right-click) on the layer, and from the pop-up menu that appears, choose "Group into Smart Object" (as shown). Now, if you have to scale that layer back up, you'll maintain the original quality. Sounds like cheatin', don't it? ;-)