Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts

It’s good to know the shortcuts for the functions that you use the most. It makes working faster and easier. Shortcuts also come very handy when creating Photoshop actions, with shortcuts you can avoid using commands that are layer specific and there for you avoid getting errors like ‘Layer 13 doesn’t exist’.

For those who are using Mac:
Use OPTION instead of ALT, and use CMD instead of CTRL.

Shortkeys on non english keyboard

If you have a non english keyboard, what you need to do it to add a language preference on your Windows/Mac and select US Keyboard. You’ll also need an image of US keyboard to know the location of the key you need. What particularly gave me problems were the bracket keys [ and ], which are located elsewhere on US keyboard.

change-lang

How to create your own shortcuts

You can create your own shortcuts by going to Edit -> Keyboard Shortcuts. Here you can also see all the existing shortcuts.

General

Group Layers: CTRL + G
Default Colors: D (black and white)
Flip Foreground and Background colors: X
Fill with Foreground: Alt + Delete
Fill with Background Color: CTRL + Delete
Fullscreen: F
Zoom In: CTRL + –
Zoom Out: CTRL + +
Zoom In and Out: ALT + Mouse Scroll
Zoom in 100%: CTRL + 1
Undo Previous Steps: CTRL + ALT + Z
Redo Previous Steps: CTRL + Shift + Z
Show/Hide Guides: CTRL + ;
Cut: CTRL + Z
Copy: CTRL + C
Paste: CTRL + V
Move around image: Hold Spacebar and drag with your mouse.
Rotate The Art Board: R + Move Your Mouse Around The Art Board

Layers

New Layer: CTRL + Shift + Alt + N
Move Layer Up: CTRL + ]
Move Layer Down: CTRL + [
Move Layer to Top: CTRL + Shift + ]
Move Layer to Bottom: CTRL + Shift + [
Move to Previous Layer: ALT + [
Move to Next Layer: ALT + ]
Move to Previous/Next and keep the layers selected: ALT + Shift [ or ]
Delete Layer: Delete
Duplicate Layer/Layer via copy: CTRL + J
Layer Via Cut: CTRL + Shift + J
Transform: CTRL + T
Transform and Repeat: CTRL + Alt + T(first step), CTRL + Alt + Shift + T (second step)
Merge Layers: CTRL + E
Merge to a New Layer: CTRL + ALT + Shift + E
Clipping Mask: ALT + CTRL + G

Tool Commands

Brush Opacity: 1-0
Brush Flow: Shift + 1-0
Brush Larger: ]
Brush Smaller: [
Brush Harder: Shift + ]
Brush Softer: Shift + [

All the same shortkeys work for Eraser, Clone Stamp etc. Just have the right tool selected when using them.

Adjustments

Levels: CTRL + L
Hue/Saturation: CTRL + U
Desaturate: CTRL + Shift + U
Curves: CTRL + M
Color Balance: CTRL + B
Invert: CTRL + I
Black and White: CTRL + Shift + ALT + B

Selections

Select All: CTRL + A
Deselect: CTRL + D
Select Layer: CTRL + Click on Thumb
Inverse Selections: Shift + CTRL + I

Layer Masks

Select: CTRL + Click on thumb
Temporarily disable: Shift + Click on Thumb
Show black and white: Alt + Click on Thumb
Show quick mask display: Q

Blending Modes

Normal: Shift + Alt + N
Dissolve: Shift + Alt + I
Darken: Shift + Alt + K
Multiply: Shift + Alt + M
Color Burn: Shift + Alt + B
Linear Burn: Shift + Alt + A
Lighten: Shift + Alt + G
Screen: Shift + Alt + S
Color Dodge: Shift + Alt + D
Linear Dodge: Shift + Alt + W
Overlay: Shift + Alt + O
Soft Light: Shift + Alt + F
Hard Light: Shift + Alt + H
Vivid Light: Shift + Alt + V
Linear Light: Shift + Alt + J
Pin Light: Shift + Alt + Z
Hard Mix: Shift + Alt + L
Difference: Shift + Alt + E
Exclusion: Shift + Alt + X
Hue: Shift + Alt + U
Saturation: Shift + Alt + T
Color: Shift + Alt + C
Luminosity: Shift + Alt + Y

Graphicadi