> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ MARCH 2020[ 54 ]
at least the initial work is done for you. This is only one exam-
ple (we’ll read how to record an action later). Let’s explore
some other ways of automating our work.SHORTCUTS
I’m a big fan of using keyboard shortcuts, mostly because
I’m lazy (some might say efficient). Some people have a hard
time remembering keyboard shortcuts, so they don’t use
them. A great place to start are the shortcuts for activating
tools: Rather than clicking on a tool in the Toolbar, you can
activate that tool by simply tapping one letter on your key-
board. You don’t have to remember any crazy combination
of keys; it’s just a single letter. Many of them are very logical,
such as M for marquee, C for crop, T for type, and B for the
brush, while others are a bit more of a stretch, such as W for
the Object Selection tool or V for the Move tool.
Generally speaking, you can implement these fairly
quickly because again, you’re not memorizing combinations
of keys, just a single letter. When you think about how much
time you could save by not having to move your mouse
back-and-forth from the Toolbar to your image, you’ll soonrealize that this is a great place to start when it comes to
automating through keyboard shortcuts.- Hint #1: Hover over a tool in the Toolbar to see its
single-letter shortcut.
• (^) Hint #2: Press Shift plus a tool’s shortcut letter to
toggle through tools that share the same slot in the
Toolbar.
One reason people have a hard time remembering key-
board shortcuts is that sometimes they don’t make logical
sense. Also, there may be functions in Photoshop that you
wish had a shortcut but don’t. In both of these cases, you
have the option to create your own custom keyboard short-
cuts. It’s a lot easier to remember a keyboard shortcut if you
(rather than some at Adobe) created it.
For example, there’s no keyboard shortcut to add a layer
mask, which is something many of us do often. If you think
there should be a keyboard shortcut for that command,
go to the Edit menu and choose Keyboard Shortcuts. Make
sure the Shortcuts For drop-down menu is set to Appli-
cation Menus, and then expand Layer in the Application
Menu Command section. Scroll down until you find Add
Layer Mask, click on Reveal All, and then press the shortcut
you want to use.
Chances are that the shortcut you choose is already in
use by some other function, so you’ll have to decide if you
want to reassign this shortcut. So, in this example, I want
the keyboard shortcut for Add Layer Mask to be Command-
Shift-M (PC: Ctrl-Shift-M); but, Photoshop warns me that
this shortcut is already in use by something called Record
Measurements. Now, I know I’m never going to use this
command, so I’m perfectly fine with reallocating this short-
cut for Add Layer Mask. From now on, if I want to add a
layer mask, all I need to do is press this shortcut, and I’m
off to the races. And, like many things in Photoshop, once
you create a shortcut, it will stay active until you reset to the
MORE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
Although these aren’t for tools, here are more
single-tap shortcuts that are great timesavers:
- Tap D to reset the Foreground and Back-
ground colors to their defaults of black
and white, respectively. - Tap X to swap the Foreground and Back-
ground colors. - Tap Q to enter Quick Mask mode (tap Q
again to return to regular view). - With the Brush tool active, tap the Right
Bracket key (]) to make the brush size bigger
and the Left Bracket key ( [ ) to make it smaller. - In Photoshop 2020, press the Left and Right
Arrow keys to rotate the current brush. - With the Move tool active, tap a number to
change the Opacity of the current layer; for
example, 5 for 50%, 2 for 20%, etc. Tap 0
for 100%. - With a painting tool active, tap a number to
change the Opacity of the current tool in the
Options Bar.