Must Know Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts

When I first started this blog, my goal is to compile everything I've discovered about photoshop and share them with all photoshop newbies out there. So today, I'm writing about Photoshop keyboard shortcuts. There are really huge amount of keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop and I admit, even I don't remember them all. So, here's the plan..pick some shortcuts for the tasks you often use. Memorize it, then next time you want to perform the task just use the shortcut instead of taking the long way. The main target is saving time and maybe electricity too. Just do whatever you gotta do during this economic recession.

P/S:
1. For Mac users, Ctrl is Cmd and Alt is Opt in Mac.
2. Shortcuts highlighted in yellow are the one I often use and plan to memorize in the future.


TOOLS

m : Marquee Tool
l : Lasso Tool
j : Airbrush Tool
b : Paintbrush Tool
s : Rubber Stamp Tool
y : History Brush Tool
e : Eraser Tool
n : Pencil Tool
r : Blur Tool
o : Dodge Tool
p : Pen Tool
t : Type Tool
u : Measure Tool
g : Linear Gradient Tool
k : Paint Bucket Tool
i : Eyedropper Tool
h : Hand Tool
z : Zoom Tool. Double click on the Zoom tool will zoom document to 100%.
d : Set Default foreground (white) and background (black) colors.
x : Switches between foreground and background colors.
q : Switches between standard mode or quick mask mode.


FILE MENU

CTRL + N : New
CTRL + O : Open
CTRL + ALT + O : Open As
CTRL + W : Close
CTRL + S : Save
CTRL + SHIFT + S : Save As
CTRL + Shift + Alt + S : Save for web
CTRL + ALT + S : Save a Copy
CTRL + SHIFT + P : Page Setup
CTRL + P : Print


EDIT MENU

CTRL + Z: Undo
Ctrl + Alt + Z : keeps undoing right up the history list
CTRL + X: Cut
CTRL + C: Copy
CTRL + SHIFT + C: Copy Merged
CTRL + V: Paste
CTRL + SHIFT + V: Paste Into
CTRL + T: Free Transform
CTRL + SHIFT + T: Transform > Again


IMAGE MENU

CTRL + L : Adjust > Levels
CTRL + SHIFT + L : Adjust > Auto Levels
CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + L : Adjust > Auto Contrast
CTRL + M : Adjust > Curves
CTRL + B : Adjust > Color Balance
CTRL + U : Adjust > Hue/Saturation
CTRL + SHIFT + U : Adjust > Desaturate
CTRL + I : Adjust > Invert
CTRL + ALT + X : Extract


LAYER MENU

CTRL + SHIFT + N : New > Layer
CTRL + J : Duplicate current selected layer
CTRL + SHIFT + J : New > Layer Via Cut
CTRL + G : group a layer with the one below it
CTRL + SHIFT + G : Ungroup
CTRL + SHIFT + ] : Arrange > Bring to Front
CTRL + ] : Arrange > Bring Forward
CTRL + [ : Arrange > Send Backward
CTRL + SHIFT + [ : Arrange > Send to Back
CTRL + E : Merge Down
CTRL + SHIFT + E : Merge Visible Layers into one


SELECT MENU

CTRL + A : All
CTRL + D : Deselect
CTRL + SHIFT + D : Reselect
CTRL + I : Inverse Selection
CTRL + ALT + D : Feather


FILTER MENU

CTRL + F : Apply Previous Filter
CTRL + SHIFT + F : Fade


VIEW MENU

CTRL + Y : Preview > CMYK
CTRL + SHIFT + Y : Gamut Warning
CTRL + + : Zoom In
CTRL + - : Zoom Out
CTRL + 0 : Fit on Screen
CTRL + SHIFT + 0 : Actual Pixels
CTRL + H : Hide Edges
CTRL + SHIFT + H : Hide Path
CTRL + R : Show Rulers
CTRL + ; : Hide Guides
CTRL + SHIFT + ; : Snap To Guides
CTRL + ALT + ; : Lock Guides
CTRL + " : Show Grid
CTRL + SHIFT + " : Snap To Grid


OTHERS

F : Set your canvas to fullscreen

SPACEBAR : for moving the canvas around once you go fullscreen. Hold down the spacebar to temporarily brings up the hand tool, and release the spacebar key, to go back to the last tool you were using.

Double-click the background within Photoshop : bring up the Open dialog box to open new document. (For Windows only)

CAPS LOCK KEY: When using the paint brush, press the caps lock key for toggling between the crosshairs and brush outline. Real handy for making precise touch ups.

CTRL + ALT + D : brings up the feather dialog when you have a selection.

CTRL + ENTER : exit the text-editing mode

Drag selection : After selecting some area using the marquee tool (don't release the mouse yet), now press down Spacebar, it will let you drag the undefined selection.

CTRL + SHIFT + > or < : Select the text that you want to scale the font size and use this shortcut to scale the font size.

[ : When using paint brush,use this shortcut to quickly decrease your brush size to get into those tighter spots.

] : When using paint brush,use this shortcut to quickly increase your brush size for the larger areas.

Shift + [ : Decrease the softness of the brush by 25%.

Shift + ] : Increase the softness of the brush by 25%.

Show/hide layers in a row : If you need to show/hide more than one layers, instead of clicking visibility icon one by one, you can click on the visibility icon and drag in a row.

Set layer to specific blending mode :
Normal = Alt + Shift + N
Screen = Alt + Shift + S
Multiply = Alt + Shift + M
Color = Alt + Shift + C
Color Dodge = Alt + Shift + D
Color Burn = Alt + Shift + B
Hard Mix = Alt + Shift + L
Overlay = Alt + Shift + O
Linear Burn = Alt + Shift + A
Difference = Alt + Shift + E
Soft Light = Alt + Shift + F
Lighten = Alt + Shift + G

To draw precise, symmetrical circle or square or straight line press and hold SHIFT, while drawing it.

So, the list of photoshop shortcuts is neverending. There might be some not listed here. If you have anything to add, feel free to comment. Meanwhile, if you want to read in more details about Photoshop keyboard shortcuts, I highly recommended this comprehensive article I found on www.allgraphicdesign.com.