My 21 Favorite Photoshop Tips

I remember the first time I opened Photoshop on my computer (it was version 5) and I had to gasp - it was like looking at Mission Control. It took me a while to become comfortable enough with the program before I delved any deeper into its functions. Thousands of hours and hundreds of tutorials later I have discovered a handful of shortcuts along the way and I hope these will help you as well.

Blank Set

1. I like to make my own sets (Brushes, Swatches, Patterns, etc.) and to do this it's usually best to start off with a blank set. One way is to place your cursor over the first item in a palette (like Swatches, for instance), hold down your Alt key which will turn your cursor into a Scissors, and then start clicking away until every item is deleted. An easier and far quicker method (in my opinion) is to go to Edit > Preset Manager and from the drop down list choose any set you want (Brushes, Swatches, Patterns, etc.). Next click on the very last item in the list and, while holding down the Shift Key, click on the very first item (see image above). While they are all selected press the Delete button and then the Done button. Viola - a new blank set.

Layers

2. Have you ever had a layer style applied to an object only to loose the effects once you merged your document? To prevent this from happening double-click on the layer with the style to bring up the Layer Style dialogue box. On the Blending Options screen put a check mark in the box for Blend Interior Effects as Group (see image above). This will blend effects like Inner Glow, Satin, and Overlay with the layer before blending it with the rest of the document.

3. If you'd like to see what your file looks like merged but don't want to merge the entire document create a new blank layer above everything and use Shift+Alt+Ctrl+E. This will merge all visible layers into your new layer without merging the entire file. If you're using Photoshop CS (like me) you have to create a new layer for this to work. In the newer versions of Photoshop using Shift+Alt+Ctrl+E creates a new layer for you.

4. If you hold down the Crtl key when clicking the create new layer button (at the bottom of the Layers palette) Photoshop will create a new layer below the active one.

5. A quick way to change the color of an object is to pick the color you want and make it your foreground color, then select the layer of the object whose color you want to change and hit Shift+Alt+Backspace. To make the object the background color just use Shift+Ctrl+Backspace.

Selections
6. If you want to easily feather a selection (instead of going through the Selection menu) use the Marque Tool to draw your selection then press Ctrl+Alt+D. This will bring up the Feather Selection dialogue box where you can easily enter the amount you want and then click OK.

7. Want to fill a selection but don't want those nasty anti-aliased edges? Begin by grabbing the Rectangle Tool in the Photoshop tool bar and drawing out the shape you want. Using the Direct Selection Tool (black arrow) select the shape, right-click on it and choose Make Selection. In the dialogue box that appears make sure Feather Radius is set to "0" and the Anti-aliased box is unchecked (see image above). Click OK. You can now fill your selection with whatever color you want and there will not be any anti-aliased edges. Note: This only works for square or rectangular selections.

Documents

8. If you need to get in really close to do some fine detail work on a design it can be a real pain zooming in and out constantly. Well, zoom no more. Next time you need to do this simply zoom in to where you are working on your document and then go to Window > Arrange > New Window (see image above). This will open a second instance of your document at 100% so you can continue working and see at a glance how you're doing in the other window.

9. If you have a document window open but it is larger than your canvas just hold down the Ctrl key and the plus (+) or minus (-) sign and the document window will resize to your actual canvas.

Filters
10. If you've applied a filter to an object you can reapply the filter again using Ctrl+F, but if you hold down Ctrl-Alt-F it will bring up the dialogue box for that filter so you can adjust the settings. Note: this only works for filters that have a settings dialogue box.

11. Now if you use the Clouds filter, and then hold down Ctrl-Alt-F, instead of bringing up a dialogue box the filter will simply reapply itself, but this time there will be more contrast between your clouds.

Tools
12. Have you ever been doing delicate work with a tool like the Brush or Pen and you needed to move on the canvas but didn't want to go all the way to the toolbar to select the Hand Tool? Then simply hold down the space bar and you get the Hand automatically. Move where you need to and then let go off the space bar and you get your original tool back.

13. When you're using the Move tool to drag something from one canvas to the another hold down the Shift key and it will drop the object in the center of the new canvas. If your documents are the same size then it will drop the object in the exact same spot as it was in the original.

14. You can make copies of what's on a layer by simply holding down the Alt key and dragging the object with the Move tool.

15. Say you have a photo open in Photoshop and the picture isn't exactly straight. Use the Measure Tool (its in with the Eyedropper Tool) and then click and drag a line along something that is straight in your photo. Then go to Image > Rotate Canvas > Arbitrary and a dialogue box will pop up. Photoshop will have already calculated the angle needed to straighten the photo so leave the settings as they are and click OK and it will automatically rotate your image to straighten it.

16. Ever wanted to get that guide in just the right place on the ruler? Next time you drag out a guide hold down the Alt Key. This will make the guide stop at each tick on the ruler. While still holding Shift press the Alt key to have the guide change from vertical to horizontal (or vice versa).

Masks
17. If you want to turn off the mask on a layer without deleting it just hold down the Shift key and click on the mask. This will basically turn the mask off. To turn it back on just hold down the Shift key and click the mask again.

18. If you hold down the Alt key when creating a mask it will fill the mask with black (hide all) instead of white (show all).

19. If you want to put the same mask effect on another layer simply hold down the Ctrl key and click on the mask. This will make a selection of the mask, then select the layer you want to apply the mask to and press the 'Add Layer Mask' button at the bottom of the Layers palette.

20. Ever have a layer style applied to an object and then you make a mask on that layer and the mask effects the edges of the style? To stop this from happening after adding your mask double-click the layer to bring up the Layer Style dialogue box. On the Blending Options screen put a check mark in the box for Layer Mask Hides Effects (see image above). This will prevent the style from being effected by the edges of the mask.

21. Working on a mask can be delicate work, but it also helps if you can see the mask itself. To do this hold down the Alt key and click on the mask. I do this sometimes just to see what I'm painting on a mask in relation to what I'm masking out.

So there you have it - twenty one shortcuts and tricks that I've learned to help speed up my work in Adobe Photoshop. Did you know them all? Probably not, and if you did then you need to get a life. Seriously.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.