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Keyboard Shortcuts 

Photoshop has hundreds of keyboard shortcuts, which will make your experience easier and more efficient, as time goes by.  Not all of them will be relevant to you at first, and some of them you may never use at all, so here are a few of the most useful, commonly used ones.

Note - Ctrl represents the Control key on most Windows operating systems.

If you are using an Apple Mac operating system, replace the Ctrl with Cmd

Open a New Photoshop Document

Ctrl and N

Open an existing Photoshop Document

Ctrl and O

Save your currently open Photoshop Document

Ctrl and S

Cut

Ctrl and X

Copy

Ctrl and C

Paste

Ctrl and V

To select more than one layer at a time

Hold Shift while clicking each additional layer

Move an Element one pixel at a time

Use the arrow keys ^ v > <

Free Transform the selected element

Ctrl and T

Undo, Multiple Times

Ctrl + Alt + Z

Most programs allow you to press Ctrl + Z multiple times to perform multiple Undo’s

Photoshop requires Alt otherwise you’ll just keep undoing then re-doing then undoing then re-doing.

Switch Document Windows

Ctrl + Tab

Your Photoshop workspace can become quite busy when working on multiple files, especially if you are pasting multiple images and logos from different files into one main project, so being able to switch windows quickly will help.

Create a New Empty Layer

Ctrl + Shift + N

Duplicate the currently selected Layer

Ctrl + J

Layers are a fantastic way of organising and combining several elements into various different compositions.  They are also great for experimenting.  If you are not sure how a particular effect will look, you can Duplicate the layer and try it out.  If the effect doesn’t look as good as you liked, simply delete the layer, and your original layer will be untouched.

Zoom in

Ctrl + =

Zoom out

Ctrl + -

Fit to window

Ctrl + ]

Further Photoshop Resources

About Adobe Photoshop
Background Information and Getting Started
Photoshop Interface
Keyboard Shortcuts
Toot by Tool
Adding Effects and Filters

Download

Download the full Photoshop Help File as a PDF

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