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Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts - Magic at your Fingertips!

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The Power of Photoshop

Photoshop is a powerful tool. One of my favorite things about the program is that you can use your mouse in conjunction with your keyboard to save time and really get down to business. I've complied a few lists of my favorite commands and keys that I use everyday. I thought it would be nice to share... so I've made a lens all about it. Enjoy!

Note: I use CS2, so there may be some changes for CS3 that I don't know about. If so, feel free to leave me a comment about that. Thanks!

A Little Fairy Tale Dream Come True

Once upon a time there was a girl who always wanted to be an artist but she thought she should go to law school instead. Then she discovered the internet, met a cute guy and got married. Looks like law school wasn't the desire of her heart anyway...

So one day, this girl realized that she'd missed her calling. If only she were ten years younger, she would have known what to do for a career--be a graphic designer! But alas, she went to college in the era when e-mail was brand new and she didn't know that computers could do such marvelous things so easily.

What could she do? She could teach herself, that's what she could do! Or didn't you know that we're living in the era of "A Million Possibilities" where stay-at-home moms can start their own businesses from home? Enter [web]Seitler Design. And there's even more where that came from... but you'll just have to wait for the official announcement on that.

What made all this possible? A little program called Photoshop and the power it gave to all those ideas I've been dreaming of for years. But this isn't a lens about my love for Photoshop... it's a lens on how to use Photoshop! So let's get to it!

The Magical Keys

Here is a list of a few Magical Keyboard Shortcuts that I use everyday. The sweet thing about these shortcuts is that they are only one little keystroke.
  • M: The Marquee tool.
  • W: The Magic Wand selection tool.
  • V: The Move tool.
  • U: The Vector Shape tool.
  • B: The Brush tool.
  • F: The Paint Bucket (a/k/a Fill).
  • E: The Eraser tool.
  • [ or ]: Increase or decrease Brush or Eraser size by ten.
  • I: The Eyedroper tool.
  • D: Set your Pallet back to Black and White (default).
  • X: Switch foreground and background colors.
  • H: The Hand tool.
  • Space Bar: Whatever tool you're using, if you hold the Space Bar, the Hand tool will appear.

Find the Best Free Brushes

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Find the "Secret" Shortcuts

Photoshop Secret Shortcuts
Here are 30 secret Photoshop shortcuts (shortcuts are not documented in the menus) that can speed up your productivity. Bet you don't know all of them!

What the "Shift" Key Can Do

The Shift key is another magical tool in Photoshop. It effects several different tools in different ways. For example:
  • Shift and the Marquee tool (M): Holding Shift while dragging the Marquee tool will turn your rectangle or sphere into a perfect square, circle or oval.
  • Shift and the Shape tool (U): Like the Marquee tool, this will make a perfect shape, either a square, circle or one of the custom shapes you select from the drop down menu.
  • Shift and a Guide Line: Holding Shift while moving a Guide Line will make the line snap to your ruler (so that you can line up your Guide at 1", 1 1/2" or 2", etc.).
  • Shift and the Brush tool (B): You can paint from point to point! Click once to paint and move cursor to where you would like to end your line. Hold Shift and click to paint. A line will magically appear in between Point A to Point B.
  • Shift and a Shortcut Key: This will cycle you through any hidden tools. For example holding Shift and tapping "B" will cycle through the Paint Brush, the Pencil and the Color Replacement tools. You can also edit your preferences (CTRL + K) and deselect " Use Shift Key for Tool Switch" so that simple tapping a key like "B" will cycle through your hidden tools.

Anything Else?

I'm sure that there are even more magical things the Shift key can do. If you know of any, feel free to leave a comment and let us know what it is and why you think it's so fabulous!

  • christopherlee Jul 6, 2011 @ 6:15 pm | delete
    I learned some thing from you today.
  • Chinajoy Dec 26, 2010 @ 8:06 am | delete
    This is fun...thanks.
  • Jul 30, 2010 @ 11:36 am | delete
    i learned everything i know about photoshop by following online tutorials so keep up the good work. people like me owe you guys alot. good work.

    Elliott Walsh - Photo Restoration Expert
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Gain Control... with CTRL

Here is a list of my most frequently used CTRL Commands in Photoshop.
  • CTRL + N: Create a new document.
  • CTRL + O: Open a document.
  • CTRL + W: Close a document.
  • CTRL + S: Save a document.
  • CTRL + SHIFT + S: "Save as" (give document a new name or save in a different format).
  • CTRL + K: Edit your preferences.
  • CTRL + Z: Undo the last function.
  • CTRL + A: Select All (something you must do to cut or copy anything).
  • CTRL + D: Deselect All.
  • CTRL + X: Cut.
  • CTRL + C: Copy.
  • CTRL + SHIFT + C: Copy all the layers as a merge whole.
  • CTRL + V: Paste.
  • CTRL + T: The Transform tool.
  • CTRL + L: Adjust Levels (the magic photo saver!).
  • CTRL + U: Adjust Hue, Saturation and Lightness.
  • CTRL + SHIFT + U: Desaturate.
  • CTRL + I: Invert colors.
  • CTRL + J: Move selection to new layer via a Copy.
  • CTRL + SHIFT + J: Move selection to new layer via a Cut.
  • CTRL + ALT + G: Create Clipping Mask (make layer conform to the shape of the layer below it).
  • CTRL + E: Merge layer down.
  • CTRL + SHIFT + E: Merge every visible layer.
  • CTRL + ALT + R: Crop.
  • CTRL + F: Repeat the last Filter (ex: Sharpen).
  • CTRL + New Layer Button: Creates a new layer under your current layer.

What Do you CTRL?

I'm sure there are many other CTRL commands I overlooked here. This is just a listing of my favorites. Do you have one that I left off the list? Let us know what it is and why you like it!

  • shubhammalhothra Apr 12, 2009 @ 11:33 pm | delete
    most of commands i know because i am using this software . but overall this is nice information.
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  • Rockett May 21, 2011 @ 1:12 am | delete
    My copy of Photoshop died... and it is too expensive to purchase new copy for TWO computers. I'll have to find out if these great shortcuts work on Elements. If anyone wants to send me a free copy of photoshop, I'll gladly say yes! LOL!
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webseitler

I'm a wife and mother of three who loves digital scrapbooking, rubber stamping, homey goodness, blogging oh--and Jesus, too! I'm married to lensmaster... more »

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