10 Photoshop Hotkeys Every Graphic Artist Should Know
Did you know by using hotkeys you’re actually going to get better at design? There is no doubt that using hotkeys can greatly increase your productivity, and by using hotkeys, you will actually improve your design skills. Getting quicker at Photoshop means there is less time wasted looking for tools and more time creating beautiful artwork. Less time wasted means more time spent learning.
When I work in Photoshop I always have one hand on the keyboard ready to go for hotkeys and one hand on the mouse. You should already know the really common hotkeys, Ctrl + S (save), Ctrl + C (copy) and Ctrl + V (paste). Below is a Top 10 list of hotkeys that I use almost every time I work in Photoshop.
1. V
Selects your Move Tool
I use this hotkey the most. A lot of times I end up moving objects on my layers around until I get a composition I like. If I had to click the move tool every time I wanted to adjust something, it would take me forever.
2. Alt + Backspace / Ctrl + Backspace
Fills your layer with the current foreground color / Fills your layer with the current background color.
By using this hotkey, I can quickly fill blank layers with color in my palette. Using this tool saves me a ton of time by not having to use the paint bucket tool.
3. Ctrl + Click
Holding Ctrl and clicking on an object in your scene will usually select the layer you are clicking on. This may not work well with a file with tons of layers, and in that case, you can right click and select your layer. This saves a ton of time because I don’t have to go to my layers panel every time to select a different layer.
4. M
Marquee Selection Tool
The marquee selection tool is a very useful tool for me. It is a quick way to delete off edges, fill areas, and to (obviously) select areas.
5. C + N
New image
Creating a new file has never been easier than this. You can literally pull an image from online and be ready for editing in Photoshop in seconds by using these simple steps. Right click copy image, in Photoshop hit Ctrl + N, then hit Enter, then hit Ctrl + V. Of course, use only Creative Commons licensed photos, no stealing images.
6. Ctrl + J
Duplicates a layer.
Anytime you are afraid of messing up an image, just hit Ctrl + J and duplicate your layer. If you mess it up you always have a backup. It beats hitting Ctrl + Alt + Z a ton of times to undo and, you may not even get back to your original image
7. E
Eraser
Everyone needs to erase! I use this tool every now and then went I want to kick something back a little bit. Using a soft edge brush and turning the opacity down usually gives a little more control.
8. Ctrl + T
Free Transform
Scale down, rotate, and skew using free transform. This is the quick way to scale and rotate layers in Photoshop. Hit enter once you have a transformation you like.
Side Note: If you are using a raster image, then never scale up unless you like pixilated images or if you’re going to blur or filter that image somehow.
9. Ctrl + Z, Ctrl + Alt + Z
Undo, Step Backward
Mess something up? Hit Ctrl + Z. Need to go back two or more steps? Then hit Ctrl + Alt + Z. These hotkeys are a very useful combo.
10. Ctrl + (Plus Key ) , Ctrl – (Minus Key)
Zoom In, Zoom Out
Using this hotkey zooms in and out. Easily to 50%, 66%, 100% etc.. I like to use this if I am working with large image files.
I find these helpful to know when using Photoshop, mainly because I use these tools a quite bit. If you notice yourself using the same tools in Photoshop, do yourself the favor and learn the hotkeys. You will be surprised how much time you can actually save.
For those 3D artists out there, I also have a list of 3D hotkeys for 3D Studio Max.
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Comments
Hear hear, David. And what about
Ctrl + Shift + N: Creates New layer.
T: Text tool. While a text layer is active, and this tool is selected, hold shift and click elsewhere to create a new text layer.
“Enter” (on the number pad): applies changes to an active text layer, and exits the layer.
“Esc”: Will exit an active type layer without applying your changes. I used to manually select another tool, then select the text tool again.
X: Swaps your foreground color for the background color, and vice versa.
D: Resets your foreground and background colors to black and white, respectively.
actually, in the preferences you can set ANY command to whatever you please…this includes anything that is in a menu…filters, edits, preferences, tools…whatever. then you can save your shortcuts. I have all of my adobe softwares set to the same exact set of keys…it takes a little time, but in the end, knowing that whether I’m using Flash, Illustrator or Photoshop, my V key will always give me the move/arrow, M is the marquee tool, etc…makes everything smooth…
J.
ps. in photoshop, I set my scroll wheel to zoom…simple and quick!
Nice list.
Holding down alt and scrolling with the wheel zooms to all kinds of percentages (like 143,44%, etc), but if you also hold down shift (ie. shift + alt + scroll), you get “normal” percentages. Like 25, 50, 66, 100, 125, 150 etc. Lovely.
And also, spacebar. We all love thee. (h is for losers)
Another also: command (or ctrl on pc). (v is almost for losers, but not to the same extent)
shift + apple + (plus sign) - text bigger
shift + apple + (mins sign) - text bigger
] - bigger brush
[ - smaller brush
1 thru 0 - opacity
apple + “[” - move layer one below
apple + “]” - move layer one above
shift + apple + “[” - move layer to bottom
shift + apple + “[” - move layer to top
You forgot the best one! Spacebar, Oh how I love thee