Tips & Tricks - 10 Tricks every Photoshop User Should Know

The whole idea behind this article is to cover the bits that are not demanding or detailed enough for their own tutorial but still something every Photoshop user should know about. Whether they save you time, make it easier to get the job done, or offer alternative ways of working – I’m quite confident that every Photoshop user should know they exist, and that each and every workflow will be stronger and more proficient in their use. How many do you know?

 

To open a blank new document measuring the same dimensions as one you already have open, go to File > New and click the Preset dropdown menu, find the name of your existing document and select it. Click OK and Photoshop will open up a new empty document that exactly measures the same as the one you chose!

 

 

Photoshop users frequently want to compare their modified image to what it looked like several steps ago, and here's a quick and simple trick for doing just that. Whilst the undo and redo commands under the edit menu are great for viewing how one modification looks, they're a little too fiddly for viewing the original image and the edited one (especially if you've made lots of small changes, added layers, effects, etc).

 

Here's the best approach - go to the Edit menu and choose Revert, there's the original image! Now go to the edit menu and choose undo, there's the edited one. Press F12 to revert, press CTRL Z (CMD Z) to undo - simple, and as quick, as that!

 

One word of warning though, be careful not to save the image whilst you have it reverted. If you revert, save and close you'll lose all your modifications - so consider yourself warned!

 

To draw a line as straight as a ruler simply grab the brush of your choice, click once to set the start point, and then SHIFT click again where ever you want the endpoint to be. A click followed by a SHIFT click when using the brush tool will connect the two clicked regions with a perfectly straight brush stroke.

 

The rulers measure your document from the top-left pixel to bottom right, starting at 0,0 - otherwise known as the origin point. If you want to change it you can click and drag in the top-left area of the rulers (where they interlock) and drag your new origin point to another location in the image window.

 

To switch it back simply double click the same area you dragged from to move it in the first instance.

 

Many of Photoshop's tools come with cursors that are graphically pleasing to the eye. You can change those defaults in preferences but you don't have to. To activate a precise cursor simply press the caps lock key. Press it again to switch back.

 

When you're working with lots of layers it's sometimes useful to switch off all of them with the exception of the one you're inspecting. Rather than click the visibility (eyeball) icon of each layer, just ALT (OPTION) click the one layer you wish to remain visible and all the others will be automatically (and perhaps magically) turned off. Click it again to turn them all back on again.

 

All the tools come with a keyboard shortcut, and every time you press the shortcut you'll rotate the tools available in that particular set. If you can't remember the keyboard shortcuts, you can always click and hold on the tool to invoke a fly-out menu listing the alternatives. However, did you know there's another way? Go ahead and ALT (OPTION) click on a tool - see that? It switched out to the next one available in the set. Click again and it will continue to rotate. Smart huh?

 

Ever use a command such as levels and completely mess things up? You hit cancel to not save the changes, and then go searching for the same command to try again? If that's you, then try this trick first. Instead of hitting cancel, hold down the ALT (OPTION) key and the cancel button will probably switch to a Reset one. Click it and the dialogue box will be reset to when you first opened it. Oh, and I said 'probably' because that isn't always so. Some dialogue boxes don't support this feature but the good news is - most do!

 

By default, Photoshop has the foreground swatch set to black, and the background set to white. Quite often you'll find the need to change them to other colours, and just as often find the need to reset them to black and white - well that's easy enough! All you need to do it press the letter 'D' on the keyboard and Photoshop will return the swatches to their default selves. Now there's a time saver.

 

If you ever find the need to move a layer with the Move Tool but dragging it isn't giving you enough control, try nudging it from the keyboard.

 

First off, ensure you have the Move Tool active and the layer you wish to move selected. Now use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move the layer in any direction one pixel at a time. Hold the SHIFT key down while using the arrow keys to move in increments of 10 pixels at a time.