Knowing my shortcuts in Photoshop is probably the most important thing to me and probably to any professional artist! It definitely has increased my work output rate a lot by cutting down on my time looking for these tools. Most of these tools are used in 90% of the artworks that I do on a daily basis.
I know it might look like a lot… but trust me… if you give it a try and learn one shortcut at a time as you go, you will have all of them in a matter of days! Start working like a pro!
Most of these are default Photoshop Shortcuts. For some, CTRL+Q … the most annoying default shortcut purpose of photoshop quit…! I changed that to Add Reveal Mask which helps me add masks to layers.
Certain tools or operations I haven’t set any shortcuts at all. Shortcuts like Flip Horizontal (ALT+E A H) looks like a lot at first, but its basically explained this way. Whenever you hold down ALT in any windows Application, the tools in the tool bar shows an ‘_’ underline below one of the letters.
For Example: File would show File meaning if you hold down ALT and F, you can get the File menu to open and any tool under that can be followed by just pressing the letter that shows the underline.
Similarly, “ALT E A H” can be explained by , ALT+E to get the Edit menu open, then A to get Transform and then Flip Horizontal. Simple 🙂
Tool Shortcuts
1. V = Move Tool
2. B or SHIFT B = Brush/ Pencil
3. P = Pen
4. ALT+P = Convert Anchor Point
5. A = Anchor Selection
6. Shift + A = Point Selection
7. T = Text Tool
8. U = Automatic Shapes
9. Z = Zoom in
10. O = Burn/ Dodge Tool
11. D = Reset color palette to Black and White
Tool Options
12. Numbers 0 to 9 -> Control Brush Opacity. ( 1 would stand for 10%, and 1 1 would stand for 11% )
13. Numbers 0 to 9 on Number Pad = Control Layer Opacity
14. [ = Increase Brush Size
15. ] = Decrease Brush Size
16. < = Previous Brush
17. > = Next Brush
Layer and Document Shortcuts
18. CTRL + = Zoom Document
19. CTRL – = Zoom Out Document
20. CRTL ] = Move layer or set upwards
21. CRTL [ = Move layer or set Downwards
22. ALT [ = Go to Previous Layer
23. ALT ] = Go to Next Layer
24. CTRL+E = Merge Current Layer
25. CTRL + SHIFT + E = Merge Visible
26. CTRL+ X = Cut
27. CTRL + C = Copy
28. CTRL + V = Paste
29. CTRL + SHIFT+ C = Copy Visible
Custom Shortcuts (CTRL ALT SHIFT K)
30. CTRL G = Group Layers (works in Photoshop CS3)
31. CTRL+Q = Add Reveal Mask (Default shortcut of Quit is not needed most of the time… more of a hassle! )
32. CTRL+SHIFT+N = New Set from Linked Layers (shortcut used in CS versions and below)
33. CTRL+SHIFT+H = Delete Hidden Layers and Sets (Very helpful to get those unwanted layers out of your PSD file)
Image Adjustments
34. ALT+I + I = Image Size
35. ALT+I + S = Canvas Size
36. ALT+E A H = Flip Horizontal
37. ALT+E A V = Flip Vertical
38. CTRL+ T = Transform
39. CTRL + T + SHIFT = Uniform Transform
40. CTRL + T + ALT = Transform from Center
41. CTRL + L = Level
42. CTRL + U = Hue and Adjustments
43. CTRL + SHIFT + U = Desaturate
44. CTRL + M = Curves
45. CTRL + I = Invert Colors
Selection Shortcuts
46. CTRL ALT D = Feather
47. CTRL A = Select All
48. CTRL D = Select None / Deselect
49. CTRL SHIFT I = Inverse Selection
50. CTRL + ‘ = Show Grid
51. CTRL + ; = Show Guides
52. CTRL + R = Show Rulers
53. CTRL+ H = Show Extras
54. F7 = Layer Panel
55. F9 = Actions Panel
Posted Originally at ArtistsValley
Filed under: Photoshop Tips | Tagged: photoshop, Photoshop CS3, photoshop shortcuts, Photoshop Tips, PS shortcuts, tips and tricks, tutorials |
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[…] dragging that mouse all over the screen can drain you of your creative juices. Learning these Photoshop shortcuts will help you be more productive and more focused on your designs not the tools. Knowing my […]
Hi,
I guess you missed ‘X’ that switch between background & foreground color.
Cheers!
@Stef : Yep I sure did. There are a lot more shortcuts that could be added..so feel free to comment some additional helpful ones!
there are these many shortcuts in Photoshop? Thats a new one! I hope I can remember 10 atleast! But yes, it is an effecient way to do your artwork.
this is a good one and definitely very helpful. It sure increases your ‘go around’ time in any application. Though, I’ve been working for a few days to compile the shortcuts for most such applications (including MSWord, Excel, etc).
Good job. Will definitely Digg this.
hi artist valley! ur layer opacity using the number pad doesn’t work!!!! ive tried holding control,alt, shift and turning off and on the number lock….
never mind, found the answer, u didn’t specify that u had to chose the move icon first V+numbers
@kim: Yes most of the shortcuts work if you are in Move “V” mode… or you can just hit ESC a couple of times just in case you are in middle of something else.
Other ways to troubleshoot when you find nothing every happens is, to check if Quickmask Mode is accidently turned on, you can turn it off by “Q” shortcut. Or sometimes you may have CTRL+T Transform activated and may find that nothing else works… again if you hit ESC a couple of times, you can get back to normal mode.
[…] 65 Photoshop Shortcuts I Cannot Live Without […]
This topic is quite trendy in the net right now. What do you pay attention to while choosing what to write ?
@Random T. : Thanks. But not really sure what you mean.
[..] A little unrelated, but I really liked this blog post [..]
I love the smiley face in the background!!!
this is PS CS5?
i like PS 7
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