Save Time with Photoshop Shortcuts
Article ID: KB101734
Become a Photoshop power-user by getting to know the many keyboard shortcuts available within the Photoshop program! Here are a few examples of how you can immediately start saving precious seconds while working within Photoshop.
Learn the tool shortcuts. Most of the tools in the Photoshop toolbar have a keyboard shortcut -- a letter that you can type on the keyboard -- to allow you to quickly switch tools. You can learn the keyboard shortcut by hovering over the tool in the toolbox until a tool tip shows up. For example, if you hover over the Move tool, a tool tip shows both the name of the tool and the keyboard shortcut: Move tool (V). If you have a different tool selected, just press "v" on your keyboard and Photoshop will switch immediately to the Move tool! Some related tools all use the same keyboard shortcut -- to switch between the multiple tools, hold the Shift key while typing the keyboard shortcut. For example, to switch between the Rectangle tool, Rounded Rectangle tool, Ellipse tool, Line tool, and Custom Shape tool, hold down the Shift key and type the letter "u" until your desired tool is selected.
Pick a color anytime. To quickly set your foreground color to a color found within your document, hold down the Alt key to quickly switch your cursor to the Eyedropper tool. When you release the Alt key, your formerly selected tool will come back. For example, if you are using the Brush tool to paint an area and want to quickly change the foreground color, hold down the Alt key, move your cursor to an area in the document that has your desired color, and click with the (temporary) eyedropper to select that tool. Release the Alt key and you'll be back to the Brush tool.
Shift makes perfect. The Shift key helps you to "constrain" tools to perfect squares and circles or straight lines, depending on which tool you are using. When you use a shape tool or marquee tool, hold the Shift key to "snap" the shape to a perfect square, circle, or polygon. When you use the Pencil or Brush tool, or are moving something with the Move or Selection tool, hold the Shift key to constrain the cursor to a straight line. For example, holding Shift will allow you to move something over to the right on a perfect horizontal axis, or to allow you to draw a perfectly vertical line with the Pencil tool. With the Brush or Pencil tool, you can also click once as a starting point, hold Shift, and click at an ending point, and a straight line will be created between those two points.
Authors and Contributors:
Corrie Haffly
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