ADOBE PHOTOSHOP HOTKEYS

This blog comprises of some of the most used hotkeys (shortcut keys) in Adobe Photoshop.

Note: I use Adobe Photoshop CC 2020 and have used these shortcut keys there. In case any of the shortcut keys mentioned below doesn’t work or give the desired result as expected then consider it is because of the version of Photoshop you use.

Hotkeys

1. *V = To activate Pointer/ Move Tool
2. *M = To activate Marquee Tool/ Select Tool
3. L = To activate Lasso Tool
4. W = To activate Quick Selection Tool
5. C = To activate Crop Tool
6. *K = To activate Frame Tool
7. *I = To activate Eyedropper Tool
8. J = To activate Spot Healing Brush Tool
9. *B = To activate Brush Tool
10. S = To activate Clone Stamp Tool
11. Y = To activate History Brush Tool
12. E = To activate Eraser Tool
13. G = To activate Gradient Tool/ Paint Bucket Tool
14. O = To activate Dodge Tool
15. *P = To activate Pen Tool
16. *T = To activate Text Tool/ Type Tool
17. *A = To activate Path Selection Tool/ Direct Selection Tool
18. *U = To activate Rectangle Tool
19. R = To activate Rotate View Tool
20. *Z = To activate Zoom Tool
21. Q = To activate Edit in Quick Mask Mode
22. F = To activate Change Screen Mode
23. *X = To switch between foreground and background color
24. *Ctrl + Z = To undo
25. *Ctrl + Shift + Z = To redo
26. *Ctrl +0 = To zoom (to fit screen)
27. *Ctrl + 1 = To zoom (to 100%)
28. Ctrl + A = To select a whole layer
29. Ctrl + E = To merge different layers
30. Ctrl +N = For new project
31. Ctrl + Shift + N= To create new layer
32. *Ctrl + D = To deselect a selected portion (selected by any selection tool)
33. *Ctrl + T = To select Free Transform Mode
34. Ctrl + Alt + I = To open image resize options dialog box
35. *Ctrl + G = To create a new group of selected layers
36. Ctrl + R = To view the Guide Rulers.
37. Select a layer in layer’s panel and press ctrl and select another layer in layer’s panel in this way multiple layers can be selected. (Clicking on a selected layer again will deselect the layer, clicking on other layers without pressing ctrl will deselect all other selected layers and only the current layer will be selected, make sure to press ctrl before selecting other layers, useful in editing/deleting multiple layers simultaneously)
38. Select a layer in layer’s panel and press shift and select another layer in layer’s panel by this way multiple layers can be selected including the layers in between the first selected layer and the next selected layer. (clicking on other layers without pressing shift will deselect all other selected layers and only the current layer will be selected, make sure to press shift before selecting other layers, useful in editing/deleting multiple layers simultaneously)
39. Ctrl + J (makes a copy of the selected layer) or Select any object (shape/ text/ image) using Move Tool (V) then press alt and click and drag the selected object to make its copy. (wait until the mouse pointer changes to a double arrow after that click and drag by pressing alt to make a new copy of the existing object)
40. Shift + press a shortcut key for a Tool in toolbar having dropdown (list of other tools inside a tool) to move in between all the other tools inside it. (For Eg.: Rectangle Tool has Rounded Rectangle Tool, Ellipse Tool, Polygon Tool, Line Tool, Custom Shape Tool inside in the form of dropdown so if one wants to select the Ellipse Tool and if his Rectangle Tool gets selected by pressing U then the person will press Shift + U 2 times to select the Ellipse Tool)

All the shortcut keys are very important but I personally recommend to use as much shortcut keys as possible in order to speed up your working speed in photoshop. I personally use mostly the star marked shortcut keys infrequently during my projects try to learn them if you are a beginner with photoshop.

Priyanka Das