It is proven that by using software shortcuts can boost up productivity. Here are 30 secret Photoshop shortcuts that I've learned from years of experience. Well, what I mean by "secret" is that these shortcuts are not documented in the menus. Keep reading and you will find how these shortcuts can speed up your productivity. I bet you don't know all of them.
Note: this article is written in Mac Photoshop format. If you are using PC, Cmd = Ctrl and Opt = Alt.
-
Drag selection
With the Marquee tool, drag on the document (do not release the mouse yet), now hold down Spacebar, it will let you drag the undefined selection.
-
Navigate the document left or right
Hold down the Cmd key and scroll up or down allows you to navigate the document left or right. For example, hold down Cmd + scroll up will navigate to right.
-
Browse the font list
Put your cursor in the font list dropdown, you can browse the font list by pressing arrow Up or Down key.
-
Scale font size
Select the text that you want to scale the font size, press Cmd + Shift + > or < to increase / decrease font size.
-
Zoom with the scroll wheel
You can zoom in / out by Cmd + Opt + scroll up or down.
-
Drag to adjust numberic value
Mouseover the input box, hold down Cmd + drag left or right to increase / decrease. Hold down Cmd + Opt or Shift key and drag can change the value in decimal or 10 interval. This shortcut works in all dialog palettes.
-
Scroll to adjust numeric value
Put the cursor in the input box, scroll up or down to increase / decrease value. This shortcut works in all dialog palettes.
-
Arrow up / down to adjust numeric value
Put the cursor in the input box, press arrow Up or Down to increase / decrease. Hold down Shift and press arrow Up or Down will change value in 10 interval.
-
Zoom to 100%
Double click on the Zoom tool will zoom document to 100%.
-
Collapse or expand all layer groups
You can collapse or expand all root-level layer groups by holding down Cmd + click on the triangle icon. Hold down Cmd + Opt + click on the triangle icon will collapse or expand all level layer groups.
-
Show / hide in a row
If you need to show / hide more than one layers, instead of clicking one by one, you can click on the visibility icon and drag in a row.
-
Hide other layers
Hold down Opt + click on the visibility icon will hide all other layers.
-
Navigate layer blending mode
Opt + Shift + "-" or "+" key allows you to navigate through the blending mode dropdown.
-
Set specific blending mode
Opt + Shift + C, N, M, S, D... allows to set layer to specific blending mode.
For examples:
Normal = Opt + Shift + N
Screen = Opt + Shift + S
Multiply = Opt + Shift + M
Color = Opt + Shift + C
-
Lock layer transparency
Press forward slash ("/") to lock layer transparency.
-
Load Channel selection
You probably know that Cmd + number keys (1, 2, 3) will activate the channels in sequent. Press Cmd + Opt + number keys will load the selection. For example, press Cmd + Opt + 4 will load Alpha channel 1.
-
Tool panels
Press Tab to toggle tool panels.
-
Precise cursor
Caps lock will display tool cursor in precise mode.
-
Navigate the tool list
You can navigate through the tool list by pressing Shift + tool shorcut. For example: B = Brush tool, if you press Shift + B again, you will switch to Pencil tool.
-
Increase / decrease brush size
With the Brush tool selected, you can increase / decrease the brush size by pressing [ or ] key (square bracket key). Press Shift + [ or ] will increase / decrease brush hardness.
-
Opacity
You can set the layer opacity by pressing the number keys (ie. 1 = 10%, 2 = 20%...). When you have the brush tool selected, pressing the number keys will adjust the brush opacity.
-
Duplicate layer
There are several shortcuts to duplicate layers.
1. You can hold down Cmd + Opt + drag to duplicate the active layer.
2. Cmd + Opt + arrow keys (Up, Down, Left, Right).
3. Cmd + J will duplicate the active layer in exact position.
4. Hold down Opt + drag within the Layers palette can also duplicate layers.
-
Copy visible and paste in a new layer
Press Cmd + Opt + Shift + E will copy the visible layers and paste in a new layer.
-
Change workspace background
By default Photoshop use grey for the workspace background color. You can change that by:
1. select your favorite color
2. choose the Paint Bucket tool
3. Hold down Shift + click on the working area (outside the document area)
Update: right-click on the workspace area to get a dropdown menu - allows you to set the background to black, grey, or a custom color (commented by Todd Patrick).
-
Fill background or foreground color
Opt + Delete (Backspace) = fill the layer with foreground color.
Cmd + Delete (Backspace) = fill the layer with background color
Update:
Cmd + Shift + Delete (Backspace) = Fill non-transparent pixels with background color Opt + Shift + Delete (Backspace) = Fill non-transparent pixels with foreground color
(commented by André Dion) -
Switch between document windows
Ctrl + Tab will switch between document windows.
-
Load layer transparent
Cmd + click on the layer thumbnail will load its transparency.
-
Scale proportionally from center
When you are using the Marquee tools or Free Transform, hold down Opt + Shift + drag will scale proportionally from the center.
-
Shortcut to Eyedropper
If you have the Brush tool selected, hold down Opt key will quickly activate the Eyedropper tool. Hold down Opt + Shift will activate the Color Sampler Tool.
-
Finally...
Finally, if you want to check or set your own custom shortcuts, press Cmd + Opt + Shift + K will bring up the Keyboard Shortcuts panel.
Additional from the comments
- In some dialog boxes, holding the Opt key will turn the “Cancel” button into a most useful “Reset”. (by Miguel Tavares)
- To stroke a path, first select the path, then change to the brush tool, select a brush, and type Enter or Return. This works with all of the brush-like tools (eraser, clone, blur, etc.). (by buddhistMonkey)
- To turn a path into a selection, type Command-Enter or Command-Return (doesn’t matter what tool is selected). If there is already a selection, then Command-Shift-Return will add your path’s shape to the selection, Command-Option-Return will subtract it, and Command-Option-Shift-Return will select the intersection. (by buddhistMonkey)
- If you are adding a “Drop Shadow” layer effect, and you have the Layer Style dialog open to the Drop Shadow settings, you can move the shadow around by clicking and dragging in the image. This also works with the “Inner Shadow” effect. If you hold down the Option key, you can also adjust the Gradient Overlay, Pattern Overlay, and Satin effects by clicking and dragging. (by buddhistMonkey)
Do you know more shortcuts?
Do you know more Photoshop shortcuts that are not listed in this article? Please post them in the comment form. Make sure they are "secret" (not documented in the Photoshop menus).
Thanks a lot for those tips!
Those are useful tips. I knew around 6 of those but the one people ask me about which I didn’t see up there is holding down shift to get an equally proportioned shape. But thank you for those tips I didn’t know many of those. I’ll use those now and hopefully I can get better at photoshop.
Very useful tips. thanks nick
Just noticed that clicking canvas with type tool when holding ALT (in win) gives option to give measures of paragraph text size; width/height. Don’t know if ever need that..
you gonna find these and many many more tricks and tips on my blog pixelmind.org/blog
Useful, shamefully useful – I didn’t know there was all this stuff. Or maybe I ignored it, but this is a very useful set of shortcuts; not some arcane stuff to use once in a blue moon, but good everyday stuff. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve dugg it :)
sou cara comul e sofro
sou um cara comul
One thing that would speed up my PS usage would be being able to scroll through the layer styles, I can do it on PC but not mac!
Thanks for the tips. Handy shortcuts for making photoshop easier to use.
Awesome! Some of these are really going to help me out. I’m especially psyched to discover the shortcuts to increase / decrease brush size and drag selections –big pet peeves of mine gone! And the one to change the bg color of the workspace is just neat. :)
Thanks for these!
• In some dialog boxes, holding the Opt key will turn the “Cancel” button into a most useful “Reset”.
• Cmd+Shift+L (for instance) will do the auto-levels.
• Cmd+Opt+L (for instance) will instantly load the last used settings.
Here are a few more:
• To select the layer above the current layer, use Option-right bracket ( ] ); to select the layer below, use Option-left bracket.
• With the move tool selected, Control-delete will delete a layer or group.
• To stroke a path, first select the path, then change to the brush tool, select a brush, and type Enter or Return. This works with all of the brush-like tools (eraser, clone, blur, etc.).
• To turn a path into a selection, type Command-Enter or Command-Return (doesn’t matter what tool is selected). If there is already a selection, then Command-Shift-Return will add your path’s shape to the selection, Command-Option-Return will subtract it, and Command-Option-Shift-Return will select the intersection.
• To expand on hint #21 (Opacity) above: first, since it’s not obvious, 0 = 100%. You can also set a specific opacity by quickly typing the percent with the move tool selected. For example, if you want your layer’s opacity to be 27%, select the move tool and quickly type the number 27. If you are too slow, you’ll get 20% opacity, then 70% opacity instead. This also works with brush opacity, if you have a brush-like tool selected.
• If you are adding a “Drop Shadow” layer effect, and you have the Layer Style dialog open to the Drop Shadow settings, you can move the shadow around by clicking and dragging in the image. This also works with the “Inner Shadow” effect. If you hold down the Option key, you can also adjust the Gradient Overlay, Pattern Overlay, and Satin effects by clicking and dragging.
• If you have two documents open that are the same dimensions, Shift-dragging a layer (or group) from one image to the other will duplicate that layer in the same spot as in the original image.
• Easter eggs: hold down Command-Shift when selecting “About Photoshop…” and you’ll get a different splash screen. Hold down Option when selecting “Palette Options…” from either the Paths or Channels palette to summon the Photoshop wizard.
Good stuff here. Sent it around the office and the Photoshop geeks were stoked.
I may have missed it, but one I use ALL THE TIME is a direct area select. If you’re using the Move Tool (V) hold down the Apple key and click on the element you want. No matter what layer you were on, you will now be on the layer of the element you clicked. No more jumping over to your layers palette and sifting through it trying to find the right layer to tweak.
When you’re using another tool, you don’t have to choose the Move Tool to do this. Simply hold down Control + Option + Apple key (the tool will change to the Move Tool until you release the keys) and click on whatever element you want to select.
Hope that’s clear, I might revisit my comment in the morning, but right now… I’m going home! :D
I love your site!! And the blog post is fantastic.
I loved these shortcuts!
Thanks you!
Great tips! – I’ll use these as quick references.
–
Max … Out!
http://www.cmyos.com free online operating system.
one i hoped to be there, select a bunch of layers, hold down shift and click the new folder icon in the layer palette. and all of those layers will be grouped. Throw an alt/opt + shift + Click and name that layer group all in one.
Something that took me a while to figure out, and let me hate Photoshop a lot more before I figured it out was CTRL + ALT/OPT + Z to undo more than once.
grerat, thanks mate
Thanks for putting these together – a lot of new, really helpful ones to me.