Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts enable you to carry out an action more quickly than using a mouse, especially if you have a keyboard (PC and laptops). If you use them frequently, you can use them almost without thinking. They allow you to work more efficiently and increase productivity. There are many actions you will use again and again whilst editing images and the following keyboard shortcuts will make your life easier and your work quicker.
Some shortcuts also promote more accurate, higher quality work. An example is changing brush size. When working in different areas of an image it’s often beneficial to change brush size, sometimes frequently, to work more accurately. If you only click on buttons and drag sliders, it can be tedious and you won’t bother as often as you should. If something is quick and easy, we are more likely to do it. I've seen that not doing this is one mistake so many beginners make and it reduces the quality of their work.
The following shortcuts work with most versions of Photoshop and Elements. For Mac users, use Cmd instead of Ctrl and use Option instead of Alt.
To remember shortcuts, you must use them frequently, so if there are some actions you don’t use much, you probably won’t remember the shortcut, but if you don’t use them much, it won’t matter.
Recommended Keyboard Shortcuts
Scroll wheel
Use mouse scroll wheel to zoom in and out (set in Preferences) Technically, not a keyboard shortcut, but extremely useful.
[ (left square bracket)
Decrease brush size
] (right square bracket)
Increase brush size
Space Bar + mouse
Press and hold to turn cursor into Hand tool to navigate around image
Ctrl + D
Deselect – cancels a selection. If something isn’t working, it may be because you have a very small area selected that you can’t see. Deselecting will often solve this problem, but if not, at least is eliminates the possibility of an active selection
Ctrl + 0
Fits entire image on screen immediately (useful when you are zoomed in)
X
Switch foreground and background colours – very useful with layer masks
Note that when using the Crop tool and you have an active crop (gridlines visible), X switches orientation, i.e. it swaps width and height, which is a good shortcut when cropping images. If you don't have an active crop, even if the Crop tool is selected, X will still swap Foreground and Background Colours.
D
Selects default foreground and background colours – useful with layer masks
X
Switch foreground and background colours – very useful with layer masks
Note that when using the Crop tool and you have an active crop (gridlines visible), X switches orientation, i.e. it swaps width and height, which is a good shortcut when cropping images. If you don't have an active crop, even if the Crop tool is selected, X will still swap Foreground and Background Colours.
X |
|
D |
|
Arrow Keys |
When Move Tool is selected, the arrow keys nudge the layer by one pixel |
Ctrl + Z |
Undo / Redo last action (works in all programs). |
Ctrl + S |
Save (works in all programs). |
Alt+Quick Selection tool |
automatically selects Subtract from Selection |
Alt + click Layer Mask |
View the layer mask in black and white. Essential for checking mask quality. |
Shift + click Layer Mask |
Disable/Enable the layer mask. You can also right click and select each option. |
Ctrl + click Layer Mask |
Loads the mask as a selection. Very useful to apply on a different layer or mask. |
Alt + Backspace |
Fills the layer with the Foreground Colour. |
Ctrl + Backspace |
Fills the layer with the Background Colour. |
Ctrl + mouse |
Press and hold Ctrl to turn cursor into Move tool to move layer or selection. |
Ctrl + Alt + Z |
Undo by stepping back through History States |
S |
Clone Stamp tool |
C |
Crop tool |
B |
Brush tool |
Alt+Eye icon |
Turns visibility off of all layers except the layer where you clicked the eye icon. When you have a lot of layers, this is extremely useful to quickly see a before & after. Also see Layer Comps for an easy alternative. |
Tab |
Shows / hides all palettes (useful on small screens to clear the screen while editing) |
Ctrl+J |
Duplicate the selected layer or layers. If a selection is active, copies selection to new layer, instead of having to copy and paste. |
Ctrl+1 |
Zooms to 100% so each screen pixel = 1 image pixel. This gives an accurate preview, which is useful for adjusting some filters, e.g. sharpening |
Type Double Click |
Double Click a Type layer Thumbnail to select the text on that layer. |
Ctrl+I |
Inverts layer, or layer mask, whichever is selected |
Shift+Layer Mask |
Enables & disables the layer mask (turns it on and off) |
Other Suggested Shortcuts
Alt+Backspace |
Fill with Foreground Colour |
Ctrl+Backspace |
Fill with Background Colour |
Shift+Backspace |
Opens the Fill panel (menu alternative: Edit > Fill |
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E |
Creates a new composite layer of everything visible (just like saving as a jpeg). Sometimes you must add a new empty layer first. |
R |
Rotate tool. Then click and drag to rotate the image. Useful when hand painting. |
B |
To return to the Brush tool from the Rotate tool. And to select the Brush tool. |
Esc |
Reset the Rotate tool to regular view. |
Alt+Cancel |
When there is a cancel button, press and hold Alt and click on Cancel to reset. |
Keys 0-9 |
When pressed on their own, these automatically adjust layer opacity. 0=100% opacity, 1=10%, 2=20%, 3=30% etc. If you press two keys quickly in succession you will enter that percentage, e.g. 1 and 2 pressed quickly = 12%. Note: this does not work with some tools, e.g. Brush, Clone, etc. |
Alt+Click |
With the Brush tool, to select the Foreground Colour. |
