You'd think setting up your content in Photoshop would be second nature; but oftentimes, the shortcuts to change the background size or zoom in to your project aren't what you think.
Here are some of the most crucial shortcuts to know:
| Selecting | |
| Draw Marquee from Center | Alt-Marquee | 
| Add to a Selection | Shift | 
| Subtract from a Selection | Alt | 
| Intersection with a Selection | Shift-Alt | 
| Make Copy of Selection w/Move tool | Alt-Drag Selection | 
| Make Copy of Selection when not in Move tool | Ctrl-Alt-Drag Selection | 
| Move Selection (in 1-pixel Increments) | Arrow Keys | 
| Move Selection (in 10-pixel Increments) | Shift-Arrow Keys | 
| Select all Opaque Pixels on Layer | Ctrl-click on Layer Thumbnail (in Layers panel) | 
| Restore Last Selection | Ctrl-Shift-D | 
| Feather Selection | Shift-F6 | 
| Move Marquee while drawing selection | Hold Space while drawing marquee | 
| Viewing | |
| Fit on Screen | Double-click on Hand tool or Ctrl-0 | 
| 100% View Level (Actual Pixels) | Double-Click on Zoom Tool or Ctrl-Alt-0 | 
| Zoom in | Ctrl-Space-Click or Ctrl-Plus(+) | 
| Zoom out | Alt-Space-Click or Ctrl-Minus(–) | 
| Hide all tools and panels | Tab | 
| Hide all panels except Toolbox and Options bar | Shift-Tab | 
| Rotate through full screen modes | F | 
| Scroll image left or right in window | Ctrl-Shift-Page Up/Down | 
| Jump/Zoom to part of Image | Ctrl-drag in Navigator panel | 
| Toggles layer mask on/off as rubylith | \ | 
| Layer Shortcuts | |
| Create new layer | Ctrl-Shift-N | 
| Select non-contiguous layers | Ctrl-Click layers | 
| Select contiguous layers | Click one layer, then Shift-Click another layer | 
| Delete Layer | Delete key (while in the Move tool) | 
| View contents of layer mask | Alt-Click layer mask icon | 
| Temporarily turn off layer mask | Shift-Click layer mask icon | 
| Clone layer as you move it | Alt-Drag | 
| Find/Select layer containing object | Right-Click on the object w/Move tool | 
| Change layer opacity | Number pad keys (w/Move tool selected) | 
| Cycle down or up through blend modes | Shift-Plus(+) or Minus(–) | 
| Change to a specific blend mode | (w/Move tool) Shift-Alt-letter (ie: N=Normal, M=Multiply. etc.) | 
| Switch to layer below/above current layer | Alt-[ or Alt-] | 
| Type Shortcuts | |
| Select all text on layer | Double-Click on T thumbnail in Layers panel | 
| Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 2 pts | Ctrl-Shift->/< | 
| Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 10 pts | Ctrl-Shift-Alt->/< | 
| Increase/Decrease kerning/tracking | Alt-Right/Left Arrow | 
| Align text left/center/right | Ctrl-Shift-L/C/R | 
| Painting | |
| Fill selection with background color | Ctrl-Backspace | 
| Fill selection with foreground color | Alt-Backspace | 
| Fill selection with foreground color using Lock Transparent Pixels | Shift-Alt-Backspace | 
| Fill selection with source state in History panel | Ctrl-Alt-Backspace | 
| Display Fill dialog box | Shift-Backspace | 
| Sample as background color | Alt-Click w/Eyedropper tool | 
| To get Move tool | While in any painting/editing tool-hold Ctrl | 
| To get Eyedropper with Paint tools | Alt | 
| Change paint opacity (with Airbrush OFF) | Number keys | 
| Change paint opacity (with Airbrush ON) | Shift-Number keys | 
| Change Airbrush flow (with Airbrush ON) | Number keys | 
| Change Airbrush flow (with Airbrush OFF) | Shift-Number keys | 
| Cross-Hair Cursor | Any painting/editing tool-turn Caps Lock on | 
| Decrease/Increase Brush Size | [ or ] | 
| Decrease/Increase Hardness of Brush | Shift-[ or Shift-] | 
| Switch between preset Brushes | < or > | 
| Open Brushes pop-up panel | Right-Click in Image window | 
| Erase to History panel's source state | Alt-Eraser | 
| Cycle down or up through blend modes | Shift-Plus(+) or Minus(–) | 
| Change to a specific blend mode | Shift-Alt-letter (ie: N=Normal, M=Multiply, etc.) | 
| Create fixed color target from within a dialog box | Shift-Click in image window | 
| Delete fixed color target | Alt-Click on target with Color Sampler tool | 
| Create new spot-color channel from current selection | Ctrl-Click on New Channel button in Channels panel | 
| Pen Tool Shortcuts | |
| To get Direct Selection tool while using Pen | Ctrl | 
| Switch between Add-Anchor and Delete-Anchor Point tools | Alt | 
| Switch from Path Selection tool to Convert Point tool when pointer is over anchor point | Ctrl-Alt | 
| To Select a whole path w/Direct Selection tool | Alt-click | 
| Convert path to a selection | Ctrl-click on path name (in Paths panel) | 
| Panel Shortcuts | |
| Show/Hide Brushes panel | F5 | 
| Show/Hide Color panel | F6 | 
| Show/Hide Layers panel | F7 | 
| Show/Hide Info panel | F8 | 
| Show/Hide Actions panel | Alt-F9 | 
| Open Adobe Bridge | Ctrl-Alt-O | 
| Other Shortcuts | |
| Switch between open documents | Ctrl-Tab | 
| Undo or Redo operations beyond last one | Ctrl-Alt-Z/Ctrl-Shift-Z | 
| Apply Last Filter | Ctrl-F | 
| Opens Last Filter Dialog Box | Ctrl-Alt-F | 
| Hand Tool | Spacebar | 
| Reset Dialog Box | Hold Alt, Cancel turns into Reset Button, Click it | 
| Increase/Decrease value (in any option field) by 1 unit | Up/Down Arrow | 
| Increase/Decrease value (in any option field) by 10 units | Shift-Up/Down Arrow | 
| Replay last Transformation | Ctrl-Shift-T | 
| Measure Angle between Lines (Protractor Function) | After ruler is drawn, Alt-Drag end of line with Ruler Tool | 
| Move Crop Marquee while creating | Hold Space while drawing | 
| Snap Guide to Ruler ticks | Hold Shift while dragging | 
| Highlight Fields in Options bar (n/a for all tools) | Enter | 
| Don't Snap object edge while moving | Hold Control while dragging | 
| Tools | |
| V | Move | 
| M | Marquee tools | 
| L | Lasso tools | 
| W | Quick Selection, Magic Wand | 
| C | Crop and Slice Tools | 
| I | Eyedropper, Color Sampler, Ruler, Note, Count | 
| J | Spot Healing Brush, Healing Brush, Patch, Red Eye | 
| B | Brush, Pencil, Color Replacement, Mixer Brush | 
| S | Clone Stamp, Pattern Stamp | 
| Y | History Brush, Art History Brush | 
| E | Eraser tools | 
| G | Gradient, Paint Bucket | 
| O | Dodge, Burn, Sponge | 
| P | Pen tools | 
| T | Type tools | 
| A | Path Selection, Direct Selection | 
| U | Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Line, Custom Shape | 
| K | 3D Tools | 
| N | 3D Camera Tools | 
| H | Hand | 
| R | Rotate View | 
| Z | Zoom | 
| D | Default colors | 
| X | Switch Foreground and Background colors | 
| Q | Quick Mask Mode | 
| To switch between all tools within groups, add the Shift key to the letters above | |
| For example, to switch between rectangular and elliptical marquee hit Shift-M | |

 








 
 
 
 
 
 
 
