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25 Useful Photoshop Shortcuts

Maximize Your Workflow Productivity with 25 Essential Photoshop Shortcuts

Working with Photoshop can be time-consuming, but if you learn to use shortcuts, it can be a lot faster. Adobe thoughtfully added custom shortcuts for most functions so that users can save time when editing. Some of these will be more frequently used than others and keeping track of them all can become tedious. However, taking the time to master some of the more important Photoshop shortcuts can save you precious minutes as you work. Even better referred to as “time is gold”.

Check out a list of commonly used shortcuts and start using them right away.

 

 

Windows Shortcut
Mac OS Shortcut
Tool / Feature

V

V

Move tool

(Move objects, shapes, text, and anything else in your canvas.)

C

C

Crop tool, Slice tool, Select tool

(Crop images, slice objects, and select objects.)

B

B

Brush tool, Pencil tool, Color Replacement tool, Mixer Brush tool(A basic tool that you can use almost everywhere)

E

E

Eraser tool, Magic Eraser tool

(Delete pixels you don’t need)

G

G

Gradient tool, Paint Bucket tool

(Draw gradients with this basic tool)

T

T

Text Tool

(Write text with this basic tool)

Spacebar

Spacebar 

Hand Tool

(Move your canvas)

Esc

Esc

Cancel Tool

(Cancel your action)

Alt + Ctrl + Z

Option + Command + Z

Backward

(One step Backward)

Shift + Ctrl + Z

Shift + Command + Z

Forward

(One Step Forward)

Ctrl + A

Command + A

Select All

(Select all your active pixels)

Ctrl + D

Command + D

Deselect All

(Deselect all your active pixels)

Z

Z

Zool Tool

(Zoom or zoom out)

P

P

Pen Tool

(Draw lines, shapes, selections, etc.)

O

O

Dodge / Burn Tool

(Increase or decrease the exposure in selected areas)

W

W

Magnetic Wand / Quick Selection Tool

(Select pixels fast with this simple tool)

Ctrl + S

Command + S

Save

(Save your already existing work)

Shift + Ctrl + S

Shift + Command + S

Save as

(Save your newly created work)

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + S

Option + Shift + Command + S

 Save for Web

(Optimize your file and save it for the web)

Ctrl + E

Command + E

Merge Down

(Merge your selected or previews layer)

Ctrl + T

Command + T

Free Transform

(Transform your work in all directions)

Enter

Return

Apply

(Confirm your changes)

Ctrl + G

Command + G

Group Layers

(Group selected layers to folder)

] or [

] or [

Brush Size

(Increase or decrease brush size)

I

I

Eyedropper Tool

(Take a color sample)

Conclusion

Out of all of the shortcuts you can use in Photoshop, it is important to only focus on remembering the ones you will use the most. This will help you save time and work faster in Photoshop. If there are particular tools or features you use frequently, try to find a shortcut for them specifically. There are many websites and forums that list out Photoshop shortcuts so do some research if you get stuck.

With a little bit of practice, using keyboard shortcuts can help speed up your workflow significantly.

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