Adobe Photoshop for Beginners

Adobe Photoshop for Beginners

IMPORTANCE OF QUICK KEYS:

To increase your overall efficiency while using Adobe Photoshop, it is critical to apply some effort in learning 'quick-keys'.

A quick-key is in effect a keyboard short-cut. When pressed in combination with another key, a quick key will send a command to Adobe Photoshop to perform a certain action. A good example of this can be found when holding down the 'CTRL' key and pressing the 'N'. This will cause the 'New' dialogue box to appear.

There are 100's of quick-keys to learn about in Adobe Photoshop. Most of them can be found next to commands within the menu system.

It would be an unrealistic objective to try and learn all quick-keys at this point. Indeed, you might not need to know all of them, just the ones that prove to be most useful to you. If you are applying a certain action or command on a regular basis in your work flow, rather than depending upon the menu system, take time in trying to learn its related quick-key.

Do I really need to use quick keys?

If you were to measure the time it takes to perform a certain command or action or change your current tool, and strike a comparison to how long it takes to summon that same procedure while using a quick-key, you would definitely opt for the later.

Experiment

Try the following experiment for yourself to help demonstrate the importance of using quick-keys.

1. Create a new canvas (CTRL + N) and set the size at 1000 by 1000 pixels (you may need to change the unit of measurement by clicking on the small drop-down boxes next to the Height and Width boxes).
   
   
   
   
2. Zoom %1600 in to your canvas.
3. Starting from the far left hand-side, using the brush tool 'B' (with a small brush, i.e. size '1') start to draw a line across your canvas.
   
   
   
   
4. Now change tool. Use the hand tool 'H' to move your canvas along a little to the to reveal more canvas on the right. If you wish you might want to repeat this experiment later and use the scroll-bars instead of the hand tool.
5. Now change tool again. Choose the brush tool and continue repeat from step 3 until you reach the far right of your canvas. If you zoom out, you should now see a line stretching from left to right.
   
   
   
   

Now repeat the same experiment, this time using the 'spacebar' to move you from left to right across your canvas. Notice how you don't even have to change tools, you can keep on using the brush tool - the spacebar (for as long as the key is pressed) will momentary become the hand tool.

If you were to time this experiment, this first method should take about 45 seconds to complete. The second method - 5 seconds.

Using a well rehearsed quick-key will take a fraction of a second to apply, saving you time and giving you more time to spend perfecting your artwork. Such a simple philosophy - and it works!

Quick Key Map

The Following table is a useful listing of commonly used quick keys.
Note: You will need to hold the 'Shift' key to cycle though obscured tools with the tool palette.

Tool selection
	M		M		M		M		V		L
	L		L		W		C		K		K
	J		J		B		B		S		S
	Y		Y		E		E		E		G
	G		R		R		R		O		O
	O		A		A		T		T		T
	T		P		P		P		P		P
	U		U		U		U		U		U
	N		N		I		I		I		H
	Z

Viewing and Navigation
100% Magnify	Alt+CTRL+0 (zero)
Zoom in/out	CTRL + or CTRL -
Fit image in window	CTRL+0 (zero)
Actual Pixels	CTRL+Alt+0 (zero)
Move around canvas	Spacebar
Scroll up/down	Page Up or Page Down
Go to top left hand corner	Home
Go to Bottom right hand corner	End
Painting
Fill Dialogue box	Shft+Backspace
Fill layer or select with foreground colour	Alt+Backspace
Fill layer or select with background colour	CTRL+Backspace
Paint in straight lines	Shft+left click
Set flow	Shft+Numeric key (0=100%, 1=10%, 2=20%, etc)
Set Opacity	Numeric key (0=100%, 1=10%, 2=20%, etc)
Select colour from image	Alt+left click
Select Background colour from image	Shft+Alt+left click
Selecting and Moving
Move Layer	CTRL
Constrain Marquee Proportions	Shft
Draw new Marquee from Centre	Alt+left click and drag
Moves selection 1 pixel	Arrow keys
Moves selection 10 pixels	Shft+Arrow keys
Move non-selected layer	CTRL+Arrow keys
Accept changes to Transform	Enter or double left click on object
Accept Crop	Enter or double left click on object
Selections
Select All	CTRL+A
Deselect	CTRL+D
Reselect	CTRL+Shift+D
Hide/Show Selection	CTRL+H
Close Polygonal Selection	Enter
Discontinue Polygonal Selection	Escape (Esc)
Invert Selection	Shift+CTRL+Alt+I
Feathering	CTRL+Alt+D
Colouring and Correcting Colour
Levels	CTRL+L
Auto Levels	CTRL+Shift+L
Auto Contrast	CTRL+Shift+Alt+L
Auto Colour	CTRL+Shift+B
Desaturate	CTRL+Shift+U
Curves	CTRL+M
Hue & Saturation	CTRL+U
Colour Balance	CTRL+B
Cut	CTRL+X
Paste	CTRL+V
Inverse Image	CTRL+Alt+I
Various
Undo	CTRL+Z
Redo	CTRL+Shift+Z
Undo Multiple	CTRL+Alt+Z
Redo Multiple	CTRL+Shift+Z
Copy	CTRL+C
Cut	CTRL+X
Paste	CTRL+V
Apply Last Filter	CTRL+F
Extract	CTRL+Alt+X
Liquify	CTRL+Shift+X
Pattern Maker	CTRL+Shift+Alt+X
Free Transform	CTRL+T
Transform Again	Crtl+Shift+T
Photoshop Preferences	CTRL+K
Colour Setup	CTRL+Shift+K
Show Grid	CTRL+@
Show Ruler	CTRL+R
Snap	CTRL+Shift+;
Lock Guides	CTRL+Alt+;
Help	f1
File Management
Open Image	CTRL+O
Close Image	CTRL+W
Close All Images	CTRL+Shift+W
Browse	CTRL+Shift+O
New Image	CTRL+N
Save Image	CTRL+S
Save As	CTRL+Shift+S
Save For Web	CTRL+Shift+Alt+S
Page Setup	CTRL+Shift+P
Print with Preview	CTRL+P
Print	CTRL+Alt+P
Print one Copy	CTRL+Alt+P
Exit Photoshop	CTRL+Q
Layer Management
New Layer	CTRL+Shift+N
Layer Via Copy	CTRL+J
Layer Via Cut	CTRL+Shift+J
Group with Previous	CTRL+G
Ungroup	CTRL+Shift+G
Merge Down	CTRL+E
Merge Linked	CTRL+Shift+E

EnjOy..=))
MamoOn..