Have you ever accidentally wasted a whole day in Photoshop?
I have. It’s not that you start aimlessly. You have a simple goal in mind; E.g. crop a photo, improve the resolution or resize the canvas. But then you look at how many options there are – and when you figure out which buttons to press to perform a single task, it suddenly turns into an attempt to solve the riddle of the Sphinx.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just push a button and magically do what you wanted to do? Well, we have good news for you: it turns out that there are a plethora of Photoshop shortcuts that work just like that.
By pressing a few keys on your computer keyboard at the same time, you can select tools, edit images and layers, and even customize the canvas of your project. But if we’re honest, if you’re just starting out with the software, there may be way too many Photoshop shortcuts to remember all of them. That’s why we created this guide so you can bookmark it and come back the next time your design project leaves you stumped.
Note: All of these shortcuts are accessible on PC and Mac, but sometimes they are different on each operating system. We have listed both types below. In cases where they may be different, Mac instructions are shown in italic brackets. In these formulas, the plus sign (+) is only present to represent the combination of key commands. Occasionally it can be part of the command itself, e.g. For example, when you press the plus sign to zoom in on part of an image. Otherwise, don’t press the plus sign between commands.
Set up
You would think setting up your content in Photoshop would be a given. But sometimes the shortcuts for changing the background size or making your project bigger are not what you think they are. Here are some of the most important basic shortcuts you should know:
1) control + Old + i (command + possibility + I ) = Change the image size.
2) control + Old + c (command + possibility + c ) = Change canvas size.
3) control + + ((command + + ) = Enlarge.
4) control + – ((command + – – ) = Zoom out.
control + ‘((command + ‘ ) = Show or hide the Grid, the automatically generated horizontal and vertical lines that align objects on the canvas.
Choosing the right tools
These shortcuts activate different groups of tools, e.g. B. “Lasso”, “Brush” or “Spot Healing Brush”. However, there are various functions within these tools. Under the “Magic Wand” tool group, for example, you have the option of making a new selection or adding a current one and subtracting it from it.
Each of these tools has a keyboard shortcut, some of which we’ve described below.
5) v = Pointer, also known as Move Tool
6) w = Magic wand
7) m = Rectangular selection rectangle, also known as the selection tool
8) l = Lasso
9) i = Pipette
10) c = Harvest
11) e = Eraser
12) u = Rectangle
13) t = Horizontal type
14) b = Brush
15) y = Gradient brush
16) j = Spot Healing Brush
17) g = Slope
18) a = Path selection
19) h = Hand
20) r = Rotate view
21) p = Pen
22) s = Clone stamp
23) o = Evade
24) e.g. = Zoom tool
25) d = Standard colors for foreground and background
26) x = Change foreground and background colors
27) q = Edit in quick mask mode
28) x = Change screen mode
Use the brush tool
The brush settings allow you to change the size, shape, and transparency of your brush strokes for a variety of visual effects. To use these keyboard shortcuts, first select the Brush Tool by pressing b.
29), or . = Select previous or next brush style.
30) postponement + , or . = Select the first or last brush style used.
31) Caps Lock or Shift Key + Caps Lock (Caps Lock) = Show precise crosshairs for brushes.
32) shift + Old + p (Shift + possibility + p) = Toggle airbrush option.
Using the Selection Tool (to cut / select)
If used correctly, you can use the selection rectangle to select individual elements and entire graphics and determine what is copied, cut and pasted into your graphics.
To use these keyboard shortcuts, first select the selection rectangle by pressing m.
33) control (Command) = Toggle between slice tool and slice selection tool.
34) postponement + pull = Draw a square disc.
35) Alt + pull (Possibility + pull) = Draw from the center outwards.
36) postponement + old + pull (Shift + possibility + pull) = Draw a square disc from the center outwards.
37) Spacebar + pull = Reposition the slice while creating the slice.
Use different blending options
The blending options include a number of features to enhance the look of your artwork. You can always select a shuffle option by going to the top menu bar under layer > Layer style > Fill options. You can also double-click any layer to see the options for that particular layer.
Once you’ve opened the Blend Options, you can use keyboard shortcuts to select them without moving the mouse. To use the shortcuts, select the move tool (“v“), and then select the layer you want to use the blend options on. Below are some of the most popular modes.
38) Shift + + or – – = Cycle through blending modes.
39) shift + Old + n (Shift + possibility + n) = Normal mode
40) displacement + Old + I (Shift + possibility + I) = Dissolve
41) displacement + Old + k (Shift + possibility + k) = Darken
42) displacement + Old + G (Shift + possibility + G) = Lighten
43) displacement + Old + m (Shift + possibility + m) = Multiply
44) displacement + Old + Ö (Shift + possibility + Ö) = Overlay
45) Shift + Alt + u (Shift + Option + u) = Hue
46) Shift + Alt + t (Shift + Option + t) = Saturation
47) Shift + Alt + y (Shift + Option + y) = Luminosity
For more shortcuts for mixing niches, check out these tips from Adobe.
Edit layers and objects
If you want to modify an object or get complex with multiple layers, here are some shortcuts you might want to know:
48) control + one (command + one ) = Select all objects
49) control + d (command + d ) = Deselect all objects
50) postponement + control + I (shift + command + I ) = Select the reverse of the selected objects
51) control + Old + one (Command + possibility + one) = Select all levels
52) control + shift + E. (Command + shift + e) = Merge all levels
53) Alt + . (Possibility + .) = Select the top level
54) Alt + , (Possibility + ,) = Select lower level
Note: In links 55-57 the brackets ([ ]) are the keystrokes in the command, and “OR” refers to the actual word – as in parentheses, press OR the other, not the letters “o” and “r”.
55) Alt + [ OR ] (Possibility + [ OR ]) = Select the next level down or up
56) control + [ OR ] (Command + [ OR ]) = Move target level up or down
57) control + shift + [ OR ] (Command + shift + [ OR ]) = Move level up or down
58) Shift + control + n (Shift + command + n) = Create a new level
59) control + G (Command + G) = Group selected layers
60) control + shift + G (Command + shift + G) = Ungroup selected levels
61) control + e (Command + e) = Merge and reduce selected levels
62) control + shift + Old + e (command + shift + possibility + e) = Combine all levels into a new level on the other layers. Note: In this step you will get a combined layer with all the elements of that layer in separate layers below. This is different from a traditional merge and collapse command.
63) control + t (Command + t) = Transform your object, including resizing and rotating
And finally – save your work for later
Congratulations – you have finished working on your project and you want to share it with the world. Save time and save your project using these simple shortcuts:
64) control + shift + s (Command + shift + s) = Save your work as …
65) control + shift + Old + s (Command + shift + possibility + s) = Save for web and devices