Adobe Photoshop CS3 Tool Palette Shortcuts
laptop and I’m always looking for ways to maximize my screen space. If you prefer the legacy 2-column Tools palette, click the double triangles
at the top of the toolbox. Click again to toggle back and forth. The Tools palette is anchored to the left of the screen, but if you wish to move
it click and drag in the grey area right above the blue Ps product identifier (below the double triangles). You can release it anywhere however
many people like to dock it to the other palettes on the right of the screen. To do this, drag the Tools palette next to the destination palette -
when a vertical blue line appears next to the destination palettes, release the palette.
Any tool in the Tools palette can be selected with a single letter shortcut key. Type that letter, get that tool. Some tool slots in the toolbox have
more than one tool in them. These “nested tools” are identified with a small triangle at the bottom-right of the active tool. If you want to cycle
through nested tools hold the Shift key and type the shortcut for the tool. If you prefer to cycle through the tools in a group without using
the Shift key, this option can be turned off by selecting Photoshop (mac)/Edit (Win) > Preferences > General and unchecking “Use Shift Key
for Tool Switch”. Each tool listed below has its keyboard shortcut in parenthesis next to the tool.
Keep in mind that there are several shortcuts listed throughout this document which work for similar tools. For example, many of the shortcuts
for one selection tool (such as the Marquee) will work the same for the Lasso or the Magic Wand tool. Of course you don’t have to learn
them all, just the ones that you use. And remember, if a tool isn’t behaving the way that you want it to, it never hurts to try adding a keyboard
modifier to it and see if it changes behavior!
The Move Tool (v)
• While another tools is selected, holding the Cmd (Mac) / Ctrl (Win) temporarily accesses the Move tool. Releasing the key returns you to
the previous tool. Note: the Slice, Slice Select, Pen, Path and Direct Selection, Shape and Hand tools are excluded from this shortcut.
• If the Move tool is selected, holding the Command (Mac) / Control (Win) temporarily turns on the “Auto Select Layer” feature. To use the
“Auto Select Layer” feature, simply click in the image area over the desired layer to select it in the Layers palette. Note: if you prefer, you
can check the Auto Select Feature (available in the Options bar when the Move tool is selected) to eliminate the need for the modifier
key. To select additional layers, add the Shift key while clicking.
• Selecting multiple layers (or selecting linked layers) allows them be aligned and distributed by clicking the icons in the Options bar.
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) makes a copy of a layer while moving it in the image area with the Move tool.
• To select a layer via the context sensitive list, Control (Mac) / right mouse (Win) -click in the image area over the desired layer.
• To quickly find the center of a layer, select the Move tool and turn on the “Show Transform Controls” option in the Options bar.
Common Shortcuts for Selection Tools (Marquee, Lasso, Quick Selection & Magic Wand)
Several of the selection tools share the same options (icons) in the Options bar. Obviously you can use the icons, but these shortcuts will replace
the need while speeding your workflow.
• Holding the Shift key and dragging with the tool will add to an existing selection.
• Holding the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) and dragging with the tool will subtract from the original selection.
• Holding the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + Shift and dragging with the tool will produce the intersection of selections (This does not apply
to the quick selection tool).
Other common selection tool shortcuts are:
• After creating a selection, you can move a it by 1 pixel with the arrow keys. Add the Shift key to move in increments of 10 pixels.
• Holding the Shift key after beginning to move a selection or layer will constrain the movement to multiples of 45° (0°, 45°, 90° etc.).
The Rectangular and Elliptical Marquee Tools (m)
• Holding the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) key while dragging with the Marquee tools creates a selection from the center.
• Holding the Shift key will constrain the Marquee to a square or circle.
• After starting to draw a selection, holding the spacebar (while still holding the mouse down) allows the repositioning of the origin of the
selection. Releasing the spacebar (while still holding the mouse down) allows continuation of drawing of the selection.
The Lasso Tools (l)
• Holding the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) key while using the Lasso tool will toggle it to the Polygonal lasso tool and vice versa. Holding the
Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) key while using the Magnetic lasso will toggle to the regular Lasso if you drag with the cursor and the Polygonal
Lasso if you click with the cursor.
• While using the Lasso tool, hitting the return/enter key will automatically highlight the Feather option for the tool in the Options bar
and allow you to enter a feather amount.
• While selecting with the Lasso tool, holding the Spacebar will temporarily give you the Hand tool to reposition your image on screen.
• The Magnetic Lasso and Magnetic Pen tools:
‘[‘ decreases the lasso width ‘]’ increases the lasso width
‘[‘ + Shift goes to the minimum lasso width ‘]‘ + Shift goes to the maximum lasso width
‘,’ decreases the edge contrast ‘.’ increases the edge contrast
‘,’ + Shift goes to the minimum edge contrast ‘.’ + Shift goes to the maximum edge contrast
‘;’ decreases the frequency ‘’’ increases the frequency
‘;’ + Shift goes to the minimum frequency ‘’’ + Shift goes to the maximum frequency
Quick Selection & Magic Wand Tools (w)
The following shortcuts (tips) apply to the Quick Selection tool only:
• When creating a selection, press the right bracket (]) to increase the Quick Selection tool brush tip size; press the left bracket ([) to
decrease the brush tip size.
• Sample All Layers creates a selection based on all layers instead of just the currently selected layer (as if the image was flat).
• Auto-Enhance tries to reduce roughness in the selection boundary. HOwever, you have more control using the Refine edge command.
The following shortcuts (tips) apply to the Magic Wand tool only:
• To select similar colors throughout the image (as opposed to being restricted to those similar pixels that are touching) uncheck the
“Contiguous” option in the Options bar.
• To select similar colors on multiple layers check the “Use All Layers” feature in the Options bar.
• While using the Magic Wand tool, hitting the return/enter key will automatically highlight the Tolerance option for the tool in the Options
bar and allow you to enter an amount.
Crop Tool (c)
• To cancel a crop, hit the escape key. To apply the crop, hit the enter key, double click inside of the crop bounding box, or choose another
tool from the tool bar.
• To use the Crop tool to add canvas to your image, drag out a crop and release the mouse. Then, drag the crop handles outside of the
image area and apply the crop. The area outside of the image will be added to the canvas. Note: to add transparency around the image
(instead of filling the added space with the background color) convert the Background into a layer by selecting Layer > New > Layer From
Background (or by double clicking on the word Background in the Layers palette).
• To eliminate information outside or beyond the visible image area (possibly decreasing file size), choose Select All > Image > Crop.
• To use the dimensions of one image to crop another, select the document with the desired crop (width, height, and resolution) and click
the “front image” button in the Options bar. This will enter the height, width and resolution for the document in the Options bar. Then,
switch to the document that needs to be cropped and use the Crop tool. The aspect ration will be constrained while dragging the crop
and, when applied, the image will be resized to the desired width, height and resolution. Note: if you only want the aspect ratio from the
first image, delete the resolution. Photoshop will change the width and height to match the values, but will not add or subtract pixels
from within the area cropped.
• After starting to draw a crop, holding the spacebar (while still holding the mouse down) allows the repositioning of the origin of the
crop. Releasing the spacebar (while still holding the mouse down) allows continuation of drawing of the crop.
• The forward slash key (/) toggles on and off the shields while using the Crop tool.
• While using the Crop tool, you can change a layer’s opacity by dragging the slider on the Layers palette.
• The crop tool will default to the same values that you set in your Preferences > Units & Rulers. However, you can type in any unit of measurement
in the width, height or resolution (mm, cm, in, px etc.).
• An alternative way to crop would be to make a selection using any selection tool and then choosing Image >Crop.
Slice & Slice Select Tools (k)
• To temporarily access (toggle between) the Slice and Slice Select tool (and vice versa) hold the Command (Mac) / Control (Win) key.
• If you accidently select the slice tool and the icon for slices appears in your image (the slice number and type), you can hide it by choosing
View > Show > Slices (this toggles off the check next to Slices).
• Shift-drag to constrain the slice to a square. Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) to draw from the center.
• Use View > Snap To to align a new slice to a guide or another slice in the image.
Common Shortcuts for Painting Tools
The painting tools include the Spot Healing and Healing Brush, Patch, Red Eye, Brush, Pencil, Color Replacement, Clone and Pattern Stamp,
History and Art History Brush, Eraser, Background Eraser, Magic Eraser, Gradient, Paint Bucket, Blur, Sharpen, Smudge, Dodge, Burn, Sponge.
Note: because there are so many painting tools, not all of the following “common” shortcuts work for all of the tools, but they do work for the
majority of them.
• You can fade the opacity and change the blend mode of the painting tools by immediately selecting Edit > Fade (xxx) tool after painting
with them. This shortcut also works for a variety of menu commands including adjustments, strokes, fills and filters.
• To change the opacity of a painting tool, use the number keys on the keyboard. Tapping one number assigns the percentage of the hit
number (1 = 10%, 2= 20% etc.- and 0 = 100%). Hitting two numbers quickly will give you that exact amount (5 + 4 = 54%). Note: If you
have a tool selected that is not a painting tool, these shortcuts will affect the opacity on the Layers palette.
• To change the focus from Opacity to Flow (on the options bar) add the Shift key. Note, when the Airbrush attribute is assigned to a tool,
then the tapping a number changes the Flow by default (adding the Shift key changes the Opacity).
• To cycle through the tool’s blend modes, hold the Shift key and hit the “+” or “-” to move forward or backwards through the modes. Note:
If you have a tool selected that is not a painting tool, these shortcuts will affect the blend modes on the Layers palette.
• Holding the Shift key will constrain the painting tools to a straight line.
• To display the painting tools with a Full Size Brush Tip and/or with Cross hairs in the center of the tool, select Edit > Preferences > Display
and Cursors and select the desired options.
• To Display the painting tools as crosshairs, use the Caps Lock key.
• When a tool that uses the Brushes palette is selected:
‘[‘ or ‘]’ decreases or increases the brush radius.
‘[‘ or ‘]’ + Shift decreases or increases the brush hardness in 25% increments .
And as long as the current brush is a preset:
‘<’ or ‘>’ goes to previous or next brush in list.
‘<’ or ‘>’ + Shift goes to the first or last brush in list.
• To have a painting tool connect (draw a line) between two points, click once to start a line, hold down the Shift key and click again to
set the end point.
• Holding the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) samples a color with the eyedropper while using the painting tools.
Spot Healing Brush, Healing Brush, Patch & Red Eye Tools (j)
• Using the Healing brush with the blending mode set to Replace makes it behave more like the Clone Stamp tool (in that it doesn’t
automatically try to blend the source and destination), and blends noise more effectively while cloning.
• You can use the Healing Brush and Patch tool between two open documents. Simply Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) -click in the source document
and then clone in the destination document.
• To save on file size and increase speed and flexibility, instead of duplicating a layer, try using the Spot Healing Brush and Healing Brush
tool on blank layers (simply check “Sample All Layers” in the Options bar).
• To modify a selection while using the Patch tool, hold down the Shift key to add to the selection and/or the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) key
to subtract - just like the other selection tools.
Brush, Pencil & Color Replacement Tools (b)
• The Pencil tool always paints with hard edges, if you want a soft edged brush, use the Brush tool.
• The Pencil Too’s Auto Erase feature is a an odd one, but here’s how it works: if the center of the cursor is over the foreground color (in the
Tools palette) when you begin dragging (in the image area), the area is erased to the background color. However, if the center of the cursor
is over an area that doesn’t contain the foreground color when you begin dragging, the area is painted with the foreground color.
Clone & Pattern Stamp Tools (s)
• Option (Mac) /Alt (Win) -click in the source document, then clone in the same document, or even in any open document.
• Because it can be difficult to align area containing a repeating pattern (such as a picket fence or a brick wall), adding an empty layer and
checking the option “Use All Layers” on the Options bar enables you to reposition the cloned area if needed (by repositioning the layer).
• Option (Mac) /Alt (Win) + Shift to temporarily show the clone source overlay.
• Option (Mac) /Alt (Win)-drag to move the source overlay to the desired offset/position.
History & Art History Brush Tools (y)
• Try experimenting with a very small brush size to maintain detail when using the Art History Brush. You can also play around with the
spacing of the brush (found on the Brushes palette in the Brush Tip Shape area) to produce more interesting effects.
• Both the History and Art History brushes sample information from the currently targeted state in the History palette.
Eraser, Background Eraser, & Magic Eraser Tools (e)
• Holding the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) with the Eraser tool will erase with history.
• The Eraser tool has a “Block” option which gives you a eraser in the shape of a square. What’s unique is that when you zoom in and out
on the image and use the tool, it erases a certain portion of the screen - regardless of the zoom. Give it a try and you’ll see what I mean.
Gradient & Paint Bucket Tools (g)
• Be sure to check “dither” on in the options bar if you want to minimize banding over long gradients.
• The Paint Bucket has two additional blend modes: “behind” for filling transparent images, and “clear” for erasing based on the color clicked
on (similar to the Magic Wand tool).
• With the Paint Bucket, you can choose to fill with the Foreground color or with a Pattern using the Fill options in the Options bar (although
for more flexibility, you might want to try filling using a Layer Effect).
• While using the Gradient tool:
‘,’ (comma) or ‘.’ (period) goes to previous or next gradient in the gradient presets
‘,’ (comma) or ‘.’ (period) + Shift goes to first or last gradient in list
‘[‘ (right bracket) or ‘]’ (left bracket) goes to previous or next gradient style (linear, radial, etc.)
Blur, Sharpen, & Smudge Tools (r)
• Holding the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) with the Sharpen tool swaps it to the Blur tool and vice versa.
• To smudge with the foreground color instead of the colors in the image, hold the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) key.
Dodge, Burn, & Sponge Tools (o)
• In my experience, I’ve found that these tools work much better if you set them to a low opacity (like 3%) and then make multiple strokes
to build up the effect.
• Holding the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) with the Dodge tool swaps it to the Burn tool and vice versa.
Common Shortcuts for Vector Tools
One of the most important things to realize when you’re using the Pen and Shape tools is that they can all work in one of three modes. Use
the first three icons in the Options bar to determine if you’re going to create a shape layer, path or filled pixel region. The Pen and Shape tools
can also have a style applied so if you’re not getting what you think you should be, make sure that the Style icon (in the Options Bar) is set to
“No Style”.
Path Selection & Direct Selection Tools (a)
• Holding down the Shift key with the Path Selection tool adds additional paths to the selection or deletes them from the selection if they
are already selected.
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + -click on a path/anchor point with the direct selection tool selects the entire path.
• To quickly find the center of a path or shape layer, select the path with the Path selection tool and turn on the “show bounding box”
option in the options bar.
Horizontal, Vertical Type & Type Mask Tools (t)
• To set the type tool to other defaults, close all documents, then set up the options, and start editing.
• To commit the text, Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + return or enter.
• Clicking the cursor within a type block will auto select the type layer on the Layers palette.
• Shift-click with the Type tool to create a new type layer (in case you’re close to another type block).
• Double clicking on the “T” icon on Layers palette will select all of the type on the layer.
• While the type in the image is selected, Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + H will hide the selected “reversed out” type enabling a more
accurate preview of the type (especially when looking at color!).
• Click in the text entry field on the Options bar to highlight the font name and use the up/down arrow keys on the keyboard to select
the next/previous typeface.
• Set the Font Preview Size to either Small, Medium, or Large (for WYSIWYG font feature).
• Using the fill shortcuts such as Option-Delete (Mac) / Alt-Backspace (Win) will fill type with the foreground color.
• Use the context-sensitive menu to render a type layer to pixels (Control (Mac) / right mouse (Win).
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) -click in the image area with the Type tool to display the Paragraph Text size dialog box to numerically enter
the height and width of the bounding area.
• Formatting Shortcuts:
Increase point size Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + Shift + <
Decrease point size Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + Shift + >
Increase baseline Shift Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + Shift + up arrow
Decrease baseline Shift Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + Shift + down arrow
Increase kerning/tracking Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + left arrow
Decrease kerning/tracking Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + right arrow
Align paragraph left, center, or right Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + Shift + L, C, R
Pen, Freeform, Add Anchor, Subtract Anchor & Convert Point Tools (p)
• Paths created outside of the image area will be retained.
• With the Pen tool selected, in the Options bar click the downward facing triangle to the right of the Custom shape tool icon, and select
Rubber Band. This feature can help preview the shape the path will take.
• The Magnetic Pen tool option is available in the Options bar when the Freeform Pen is selected.
• Command-Return (Mac) / Control-Enter (Win) turns a selected path into a selection.
Shape Tools (u)
• With the Line tool selected, click on the downward facing triangle to the right of the Custom Shape tool icon the Options bar to access
arrowhead options.
• In all vector/shape tools:
‘,’ (comma) or ‘.’ (period) goes to previous or next style in list.
‘<’ (Shift-comma) or ‘>’ (Shift-period) goes to first or last style in list.
• For the rounded rectangle tool:
‘[‘ or ‘]’ decreases or increases the corner radius.
‘{‘ (Shift-[) or ‘}’ (Shift-]) decreases or increases the corner radius by 10.
• For the polygon tool:
‘[‘ or ]’ decreases or increases the number of sides.
‘{‘ (Shift-[) or ‘}’ (Shift-]) decreases or increases the number of sides by 10.
• For the line tool:
‘[‘ or ‘]’ decreases or increases the line width.
‘{‘ (Shift-[) or ‘}’ (Shift-]) decreases or increases the line width by 10.
• For the custom shape tool:
‘[‘ or ‘]’ goes to previous or next shape in list.
‘{‘ (Shift-[) or ‘}’ (Shift-]) goes to first or last shape in list.
Notes & Audio Annotation Tools (n)
• You can drag the icons for the annotations tools off of the visible image area and they will still be saved with the file.
• If you save an image as a PDF file with annotation and/or notes, you can then send the PDF document to be reviewed and if the person
downloads the free Acrobat Reader 7.0, they can make comments and send them back making collaboration easy and efficient even if
they don’t have Photoshop!
Eyedropper, Color Sampler, Measure & Count Tools (i)
• The eyedropper sampling settings chosen in the options bar, affect the Magic Wand, Magic Eraser and the Background Eraser.
• Hold down the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) key to select the background color swatch (instead of the foreground) in the tool palette.
• With the Eyedropper tool selected, Shift-click in the image area to set Color Samplers.
• With the Eyedropper tool or the Color Sampler tool selected, Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) Shift-click on the Color Sampler to delete.
• While inside of a dialog box (such as curves) Shift-clicking with the Eyedropper tool in the image area will set a Color Sampler.
• The eyedropper can now sample colors from outside of Photoshop. Make the color visible (on the desktop, in another application etc.).
Then click with the eyedropper on the image and then drag to sample the desired color.
• Taking a measurement with the Measure tool and then selecting Image > Rotate Canvas > Arbitrary will automatically enter the measurement
in the Rotate Canvas dialog box.
• The Measure tool can be used to measure an angle like a protractor. Drag the first line and then Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) -click on the
either endpoint and drag out the second line. The angle can be viewed in either the Options bar or the Info palette.
• The Count tool adds a count number which acts like a guide - the numbers are visible in the image area, but they don’t print.
• To change the color of the count numbers, choose Preferences > Guides, Grids, Slices & Count
Hand Tool (h)
• Double clicking on the Hand tool is the same as selecting View > Fit on Screen.
• Checking the Scroll All Windows option will scroll (or pan) all open documents at once.
• Holding the spacebar, with the hand tool selected, will temporarily turn on the Scroll all Windows option.
• Holding down the spacebar (while most other tools are selected) will temporarily give you the Hand tool.
Zoom Tool (z)
• Double clicking the Zoom tool will display the image at 100%.
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + spacebar will temporarily give you the Zoom out tool while another tool is selected.
• Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + spacebar will temporarily give you the Zoom in tool while another tool is selected.
• Checking the Zoom All Windows option will zoom all open documents at one time.
• Holding the spacebar, with the Zoom tool selected, will temporarily turn on the Zoom all Windows option.
• Command (Mac) / Control (Win) “+” (plus) will zoom in, Command (Mac) / Control (Win) “-” (minus) will zoom out. Adding the Option
(Mac) / Alt (Win) key will toggles the resizing of the windows.
Color Swatches
• “X” exchanges the foreground and background colors.
• “D” sets the background/foreground colors to black/white.
Quick Mask (q)
• Double click on the quick mask icon to access the Quick Mask Options dialog box to change color and transparency options.
• Option (Mac)/ Alt (Win) -click on the Quick Mask icon to invert the selection when entering Quick Mask mode.
Screen Modes (f)
• “F” cycles down through the list of Screen Modes. Shift + F cycles in reverse.
• Shift-click on the icons in the tool bar for “Full Screen Mode with Menu bar” or “Full Screen Mode” to force all open documents into
whichever “Mode” icon is clicked on.
• To change the color of the background that is displayed in “Full Screen Mode with Menu Bar,” or “Full Screen Mode” select the desired
color as the foreground color (in the tool bar) and Shift-click with the Paint Bucket tool in the gray area.
Adobe Photoshop CS3 Tool Palette Shortcuts
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