Get the Goods: Essential Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts

I got so much great information out of just my first three-hour class with Nat Coalson, a certified Adobe Photoshop expert, that I couldn't wait to share it. Here is a list of his essential PhotoShop keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts are listed for Windows. For a Mac, substitute the Command (Apple) key for the Control (CTRL) key. Most of these commands also work in Photoshop Elements for those who have yet to upgrade.

Nat assures me that if I take the time to learn these shortcuts, my editing process will be more streamlined. EEK!!!!That's going to be tough, I think since I have both a Mac and a PC. For more tips or to take a class with Nat Coalson check out his website (see link above) or Illuminate Photography Workshops.

There are two main kinds of shortcuts in Photoshop -- those that switch between tools and those that execute a command.

TOOL Shortcuts: press the letter on the keyboard to switch to that tool. Though the letters are shown in caps, you don't need to hold the shift key. Hold the shift key along with the letter key to switch to the other versions of the tool.

Move..................................................................V
Marquee selection (rectangular and elliptical)........................M
Lasso tools (freehand and polygon)....................................L
Quick Select and Magic Wand...........................................W
Crop tool.............................................................C
Healing brushes.......................................................J
Clone stamp...........................................................S
Paintbrush............................................................B
Gradient..............................................................G
Type..................................................................T
Increase Brush Size...................................................]
Decrease Brush Size...................................................[

NAVIGATION Shortcuts
Zoom in...............................................................CTRL +
Zoom out..............................................................CTRL -
Pan image.........................................Hold Spacebar & drag image

MENU COMMAND Shortcuts
New...................................................................CTRL N
Open..................................................................CTRL O
Close.................................................................CTRL W
Save..................................................................CTRL S
Save As.........................................................Shift CTRL S
Print.................................................................CTRL P
Fill............................................................... Shift F5
Free Transform........................................................CTRL T
Levels................................................................CTRL L
Hue and Saturation....................................................CTRL U
Curves................................................................CTRL M
Invert................................................................CTRL I
New Layer.......................................................Shift CTRL N
Merge Visible onto New Layer.............................Shift Option CTRL E
Select All............................................................CTRL A
Deselect..............................................................CTRL D
Invert Selection................................................Shift CTRL I
Feather Selection..............................................Option CTRL D
Show/Hide Selection Borders...........................................CTRL H
Show/Hide Rulers......................................................CTRL R