Save loads of time in Photoshop with these shortcuts..
CT Member Kacy here, this time with some time-saving shortcuts in Photoshop! The four shortcuts I use most often are:
- File, Scripts, Load Files into Stack – this allows you to select all the pieces you want to use in a kit, and have Photoshop open and put all the files into one layered document for you, instead of opening and duplicating all the layers into one document yourself.
- Mouse right-click to select a layer – this saves me tons of time to find the layer I’m looking for instead of scrolling through the layers palette. Just right-click with your mouse over the item you want to work with and select the appropriate layer from the box that pops up.
- Ctrl + J (Cmd + J on a Mac) to duplicate the currently selected layer.
- While the layer you want to duplicate is selected, Alt + left-click on the mouse, then drag the item (while still holding down the Alt key) to create a new layer quickly.
Some other great timesavers:
- Fill a layer with a solid color:
-Windows: Alt + Delete [foreground color] or Ctrl + Delete [background color]
-Mac: Alt + Backspace, Cmd + Backspace
- Fill a selection with the current foreground color:
-Windows/Mac: Shift + F5
- Bring the currently selected layer to the top of the stack in the Layers palette:
-Windows: Ctrl + Shift + ]
-Mac: Cmd + Shift + ]
- Send the currently selected layer to the bottom of stack:
-Windows: Ctrl + Shift + [
-Mac: Cmd + Shift + [
- Undo (I use this a lot):
-Windows: Ctrl + Z
-Mac: Cmd + Z
- Step backward (keep undoing the changes you made, in order of how you made them):
-Windows: Ctrl + Alt + Z
-Mac: Cmd + Alt + Z
- Select bottom layer:
-Windows/Mac: Alt + Comma(,)
- Select the top layer:
-Windows/Mac: Alt + Period(.)
- This is a new one I’ve just learned about – have you ever pasted something into your Photoshop document and it’s bigger than the window? The re-sizing handles may be difficult or even impossible to find. To size the image inside the window:
-Windows: Ctrl + T, then Ctrl + 0 (zero)
-Mac: Cmd + T, then Cmd + 0 (zero)
- Fit everything onto the screen:
-Windows: Ctrl + 0 (zero)
-Mac: Cmd +0 (zero)
- Zoom In:
-Windows: Ctrl + plus sign (+)
-Mac: Cmd + plus sign (+)
- Zoom Out:
-Windows: Ctrl + minus sign (-)
-Mac: Cmd + minus sign (-)
I hope that was helpful – happy scrapping!
Leave a Reply