I’ve been using Photoshop a lot more since I started my new job. My boss just happens to be a Photoshop wizard and knows all the shortcuts by heart. Heres a few tips I picked up recently that have really sped up my workflow.
For some reason I never really knew the crop tool existed. I know I know, I must be living in a cave. I always used the rectangular marquee tool and then went to image>crop. With the crop tool (c) you can select the area that you want the image to be resized to and then double click in that the selected area! WOW!
So you want the default white black color scheme? Type (d). Thats it! Simple!!! Want to switch your foreground and background colors? Type (x)! Also - super simple but i just did not know! This speeds up my working time immensely!
This isnt a photoshop shortcut but rather a mac based screenshot shortcut that I use ALL THE FREAKING TIME. Again hat tip to my boss - this shortcut takes a screenshot of a selection and puts it in your clipboard Shift + Control + ⌘ + 4 - No more messy desktop!
What Are Your Favorite Time Saving Shortcuts?
Leave a comment and let me know!
Share This Article
Ginger says:
I did not know about the d and the x. Thanks! I somehow missed until recently that option+shift plus click and drag will copy and paste and move something exactly where you want it in just about any Adobe program. Option+click and drag will copy/paste and keep it unrestrained. Talk about speeding up the process! A OS trick I like is when you are in thumbnail or any other view of your files and want to get back to the list, just do command+2.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:06 am
Jesse Vlasveld says:
I didn’t know about the screengrab to clipboard yet. My desktop is always awfully cluttered, thanks for that.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:24 am
Darren Jones says:
Shift + Control + ⌘ + 4 + Space allows you to screenshot one selected window to your clipboard, saves selecting a window with the cross hairs.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Mat 'Wilto' Marquis says:
Shift to move.
Shift + Command to zoom in.
Shift + Command + Option to zoom out.
Shift + Command + Option + Control for the zoom menu.
That’s my favorite set of commands, ’cause you can just drum your fingers on the keyboard to do it.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Melissa M says:
I use that screenshot to clipboard one constantly! I was so happy to discover it because it comes in seriously handy. I don’t think I use any that are out of the ordinary. Just the usual Command+0, Command+Shift+[ …stuff like that. Every year I have to format this huge book full of text tables. So I always set a special keyboard shortcut (Command+Shift+0) in InDesign for “convert text to table.”
October 14th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Renee says:
My favorite shortcut is when selecting the eye dropper tool.
If you select the eyedropper tool, click on your stage (work area) as if you are trying to select a color and do not let go (keep holding down!) you can then drag your dropper ANYWHERE and sample ANY color inside or outside of Photoshop.
This means that by doing this you can sample colors in your dock, in your dual monitor, your wallpaper background of your MAC/PC — endless possibilities!
October 14th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Eric Roberts says:
I use the lettered tool shortcuts in Photoshop - similar to your (d) and (x) - CONSTANTLY. I’m very short on monitor real estate at the moment, so I’ll often find myself hiding all of my windows (history, layers, tools usually) by hitting (tab). I’ll then use any number of letters to pull up a corresponding tool that I need:
z: zoom
v: move
m: marquee
l: lasso
i: eye dropper
e: eraser
t: text
You can also press (f) to switch the way your canvas is displayed (allows you to add space and view away from the edges of the canvas - helpful if zoomed way in and need a few extra pixels).
Basically there’s a ton of handy Photoshop utilities like that. And I’m only using CS - can’t imagine how much other stuff is crammed in the new versions.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Chad says:
On a PC, I often hit Control + U for Hue and Saturation.
Or Control + Tab to switch between open PS documents, as opposed to going to window > file name.
I also make my own shortcuts for things I do often by going to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.
October 14th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
kelly says:
I feel really excited right now to have learned that I knew design shortcuts that you did not. The crop tool and I are pretty much BFFs.
You got me on the screenshot/clipboard one though… eeeeenteresting…
October 14th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
kelly says:
(not to sound like a smug asshole… but well… i thought you knew EVERYTHING)
October 14th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
kelly says:
that still didn’t come out right. i quit. no more commenting for kelly.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Grant says:
Haha, shortbut.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
shortee says:
Shortcuts are so important because the time I safe in PS I can spend in reading blogs
Shift + ⌘ + D to get back the last marquee form
October 15th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Justin Leaf-Wright says:
Awesome….I will never forget!
Thanks
October 15th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Carrie S. says:
Awesome post! I just discovered that when you’re “transforming” an object, you can right click and change your transforming function. Light shined down from the heavens!
October 15th, 2008 at 6:15 am
dana says:
I like:
shift > command > j to cut a selection on to a new layer.
command > spacebar for the zoom tool (works in other Adobe apps too)
Also- not a shortcut, but I am obsessed with the Quick Selection Tool, which hides in with the Magic Wand, but is superior in that it offers more control and more options.
OH, and I love the bracket keys for increasing/decreasing brush sizes. I think that’s it!
October 15th, 2008 at 10:29 am
sporky says:
Hehe, I live photoshop by using shortcuts. After getting used to all of them, you could find your mouse pointer hardly leaving the document window.
I dunno if this tip is well-known already but to quickly fill selections:
alt+del = foreground color
ctrl+del = background color
hold spacebar to pan around your document
October 15th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
dinsky says:
I’ve known about this shortcut for a while, BUT I’ve only recently started using it. I had always thought that holding down four keys wasn’t much of a shortcut at all… but boy was I wrong!
Shift + Option + Command + S –> Save For Web
SOOO HANDY …even if it does use my whole hand
October 16th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
f00bar says:
I’m surprised no-one has mentioned this yet, but I think it’s one of Photoshop’s most useful features: Quick Masks. It basically lets you paint in what you want selected. (like paint-on amberlith if anyone remembers that)
I do a lot of product photography against a white background, so I hit Q to go into Quick Mask mode, then B for my brush, [ or ] to make the brush bigger or smaller, and start painting. You can set the masking color in the preferences — I’ve got mine set to magenta so there’s a good contrast.
All the regular tools are available: gradients, blurs, selections, etc. Just hit Q when you’re done and it will switch back to a regular selection.
Oh, and shift-clicking with your brush does a connect-the-dots thing.
October 29th, 2008 at 10:18 am
David Leininger says:
I’ve set some of my own for things I use frequently:
Rotate canvas 90 degrees:
Clockwise: Command + Option + ,
Counter Clockwise: Command + Option + .
Flip Canvas:
Horizontal: Command + Option + Shift + [
Vertical: Command + Option + Shift + ]
October 30th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Hal says:
I stumbled upon this book for about £2 about 5 years ago. A weighty tome with nothing but shortcuts in.
http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Power-Shortcuts-Michael-Ninness/dp/0789721724
I have barely used my mouse since. Epic win.
Plus, it’s a similar system across the creative suite so with a little logic, you can apply most of it to indesign and illustrator.
November 25th, 2008 at 6:39 am