Simple Guide through Photoshop Tools and Options

Working with Adobe Photoshop requires one to work with expertise and dexterity. It has been proven that people work effectively and efficiently when they can utilize simple shortcuts to achieve their specific projects. Photoshop options and toolbar shortcuts further helps you to achieve more outcomes within lesser time.

 

Selecting

Draw marquee selection from center Alt–drag selection
Add to a selection Shift
Subtract from a selection Alt
Intersect with a selection Shift–Alt
Make copy of selection w/Move tool Alt–drag selection
Make copy of selection when not in Move tool Ctrl–Alt–drag selection
Move selection (in 1-pixel increments) Arrow keys
Move selection (in 10-pixel increments) Shift–Arrow keys
Select all opaque pixels on layer Ctrl–click on layer thumbnail (in Layers panel)
Reselect last selection Ctrl–Shift–D
Feather selection Shift–F6
Move marquee while drawing selection Hold Spacebar while drawing marquee
Viewing
Fit on Screen Double–click on Hand tool or Ctrl–0
100% View Level (Actual Pixels) Double–click on Zoom tool or Ctrl–1
Zoom in Ctrl–Spacebar–click or Ctrl–Plus(+)
Zoom out Alt–Spacebar–click or Ctrl–Minus(–)
Hide/Show all tools and panels Tab
Hide/Show all panels except Tools panel and Options bar Shift–Tab
Cycle through full screen modes F
Scroll image left or right in window Ctrl–Shift–Page Up/Down
Jump/Zoom to part of Image Ctrl–drag in Navigator panel
Toggle layer mask on/off as \
Layers
Create new layer Ctrl–Shift–N
Select non-contiguous layers Ctrl–click layers
Select contiguous layers Click one layer, then Shift–click another layer
Delete Layer Delete key (while in the Move tool)
View contents of layer mask Alt–click layer mask icon
Temporarily turn off layer mask Shift–click layer mask icon
Clone layer as you move it Alt–drag
Find/Select layer containing object Right–click on the object w/Move tool
Change layer opacity Number pad keys (w/Move tool selected)
Cycle down or up through blending modes Shift–Plus(+) or Minus(–)
Change to a specific blending mode (w/Move tool) Shift–Alt–letter (i.e.: N=Normal, M=Multiply. etc.)
Switch to layer below/above current layer Alt–[ or Alt–]
Move layer below/above current layer Ctrl–[ or Ctrl–]
Type
Select all text on layer Double–click on T thumbnail in Layers panel
Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 1 pt Ctrl–Shift–> or <
Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 5 pts Ctrl–Shift–Alt–> or <
Increase/Decrease kerning/tracking Alt–Right/Left Arrow
Align text left/center/right Ctrl–Shift–L/C/R
Painting
Fill selection with Background color Ctrl–Backspace
Fill selection with Foreground color Alt–Backspace
Fill selection with Foreground color using Lock Transparent Pixels Shift–Alt–Backspace
Fill selection with source state in History panel Ctrl–Alt–Backspace
Display Fill dialog box Shift–Backspace
Sample as background color Alt–click w/Eyedropper tool
To get Move tool While in any painting/editing tool, hold Ctrl
To get Eyedropper with painting tools Alt
Change paint opacity (with Airbrush OFF) Number keys
Change paint opacity (with Airbrush ON) Shift–Number keys
Change Airbrush flow (with Airbrush ON) Number keys
Change Airbrush flow (with Airbrush OFF) Shift–Number keys
To get Crosshair Cursor While in any painting/editing tool, turn Caps Lock on
Decrease/Increase brush size [ or ]
Decrease/Increase hardness of brush Shift–[ or Shift–]
Switch between preset brushes < or >
Open Brushes pop-up panel Right–click in image window
Erase to History panel’s source state Alt–Eraser
Cycle down or up through blend modes Shift–Plus(+) or Minus(–)
Change to a specific blend mode Shift–Alt–letter (i.e.: N=Normal, M=Multiply, etc.)
Create fixed color target from within a dialog box Shift–click in image window
Delete fixed color target Alt–click on target with Color Sampler tool
Create new Spot Color channel from current selection Ctrl–click on New Channel button in Channels panel
Pen Tool & Paths
To get Direct Selection tool while using Pen tool Ctrl
Switch between Add Anchor and Delete Anchor Point tools Alt
Switch from Path Selection tool to Convert Point tool when pointer is over anchor point Ctrl–Alt
To select a whole path w/Direct Selection tool Alt–click
Convert path to a selection Ctrl–click on path name (in Paths panel)
Panels
Show/Hide Brushes panel F5
Show/Hide Color panel F6
Show/Hide Layers panel F7
Show/Hide Info panel F8
Show/Hide Actions panel Alt–F9
Open Adobe Bridge Ctrl–Alt–O
Miscellaneous Good Stuff
Switch between open documents Ctrl–Tab
Undo or Redo operations beyond last one Ctrl–Alt–Z/Ctrl–Shift–Z
Reapply last filter used Ctrl–F
Reapply last filter used, but display dialog box to alter settings Ctrl–Alt–F
Temporarily switch to Hand tool Spacebar
Reset dialog box Hold Alt, Cancel turns into Reset button, click it
Increase/Decrease value (in any option field) by 1 unit Up/Down Arrow
Increase/Decrease value (in any option field) by 10 units Shift–Up/Down Arrow
Reapply last transformation Ctrl–Shift–T
Measure angle between lines (Protractor function) After ruler is drawn, Alt–drag end of line with Ruler tool
Move Crop/Selection marquee while creating Hold Spacebar while drawing
Snap Guide to Ruler ticks Hold Shift while dragging
Highlight fields in Options bar (n/a for all tools) Enter
Don’t snap object edge while moving Hold Control while dragging
Learn and Earn More-   How to Create Clipping Mask in Photoshop

 

Tools
V Move and Artboard tools
M Marquee tools
L Lasso tools
W Quick Selection, Magic Wand
C Crop and Slice Tools
I Eyedropper, 3D Material Eyedropper, Color Sampler, Ruler, Note, Count
J Spot Healing Brush, Healing Brush, Patch, Content-Aware Move, Red Eye
B Brush, Pencil, Color Replacement, Mixer Brush
S Clone Stamp, Pattern Stamp
Y History Brush, Art History Brush
E Eraser tools
G Gradient, Paint Bucket, 3D Material Drop
O Dodge, Burn, Sponge
P Pen tools
T Type tools
A Path Selection, Direct Selection
U Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Line, Custom Shape
H Hand
R Rotate View
Z Zoom
D Default colors
X Switch Foreground and Background colors
Q Quick Mask Mode

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