COMMAND TIPS

by Trevor Morris

1. To reapply the last filter, use Filter » Last Filter [Ctrl+F]. To reapply a filter with new settings, add the Alt key (Ctrl+Alt+F or Alt + Filter » Last Filter). Tip: Fade the effects (and change the blending mode) of the last filter (or adjustment), by pressing Ctrl+Shift+F (Filter » Fade Filter…).
2. If you have recently copied an image to the Clipboard, Photoshop will automatically insert the dimensions of the Clipboard image when you create a New Document [Ctrl+N] (File » New...). To bypass this feature and recall the last settings, hold down the Alt key [Ctrl+Alt+N] (Alt + File » New...). Tip: To insert the dimensions of any open document into the New Document window [Ctrl+N] (File » New...), choose its name from the bottom of the Window menu.
3. Use Ctrl+Alt+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z to step backward and forward though the history states (or use the History palette menu to access the step commands); use these keys in conjunction with Undo [Ctrl+Z] (Edit » Undo) to cycle between a specific history state and the current state.
4. Use Alt+Backspace and Ctrl+Backspace to Fill (Edit » Fill...) with the foreground and background colors, respectively; also, use Shift+Backspace to open the Fill dialog box. Very useful! Tip: Use Alt+Shift+Backspace and Ctrl+Shift+Backspace to fill only existing pixels (Preserve Transparency) with the foreground and background colors, respectively.
5. Perform a Free Transform [Ctrl+T] (Edit » Free Transform) on a duplicate (of the current selection) by holding down the Alt key (Ctrl+Alt+T or Alt + Edit » Free Transform). Tip: Repeat the last Transformation by pressing Ctrl+Shift+T (Edit » Transform » Again). Repeat the last Transformation on a duplicate by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T (Alt + Edit » Transform » Again).
6. To stop the Crop tool [C] from snapping to the image borders, hold down the Ctrl key while you are dragging the crop handles.
7. To straighten a crooked image, use the Measure tool [U] to draw a line along what should be a horizontal or vertical line (the edge of the image, a doorframe, across the eyes of a person in a portrait, etc.), and then choose Image » Rotate Canvas » Arbitrary...; the correct Angle and Direction will appear, just hit OK. Note: You can also use the Crop tool [C] to rotate and crop an image in one step. Select the Crop tool [C] and draw a rectangular region. Use the crop handle to scale the marquee, and drag outside the marquee to rotate it; hit Enter to crop the image. Tip: The angle of the Measure tool [U] is also entered automatically into the Transform Numeric dialog box (Edit » Transform » Numeric).
8. To perform a Copy & Paste or Cut & Paste in one step, use the Layer Via Copy [Ctrl+J] (Layer » New » Layer Via Copy) or Layer Via Cut [Ctrl+Shift+J] (Layer » New » Layer Via Cut) commands. Note: The Layer Via Copy (or Cut) commands also paste into the same location from which they were copied (or cut), whereas the Copy (or Cut) & Paste method pastes into the center of the canvas (or selection if one exists).
9. If you Crop your image (using the Crop tool [C] or Edit » Crop), you will lose all pixels outside the crop boundaries. To crop your image without losing any data, use Canvas Size (Image » Canvas Size) instead. Photoshop will warn you that some clipping will occur, but for some reason it does not: all "cropped" data will be preserved outside the canvas boundaries! Tip: ImageReady's Crop command (Image » Crop) will ask if you want cropped areas to be hidden or deleted. Note: This does not work in Indexed mode (i.e. you will lose any pixels outside the canvas boundaries when using Canvas Size in Indexed mode).
10. Merge a copy of all visible layers into the current layer by holding down the Alt key while selecting Merge Visible [Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E] (Alt + Layer » Merge Visible). Tip: You may also merge a copy of the current layer into the previous layer by selecting Alt + Layer » Merge Down. There is no equivalent hotkey associated with this command – Ctrl+Alt+E does not work.
11. An alternative to deleting unwanted plugin folders is to prefix the folder name with a tilde (~). Photoshop will ignore any folders beginning with a tilde (~). Example: To disable the “Digimarc” plugins, rename the folder to “~Digimarc”.
12. Holding the Ctrl and Alt keys while launching Photoshop will allow you to change Photoshop's Scratch Disk Preferences before it loads.
13. To reset all preferences to their defaults, press and hold Ctrl+Alt+Shift immediately after launching Photoshop (or ImageReady).
14. You may customize the "Jump to..." and "Preview in..." menus with Photoshop / ImageReady by creating shortcuts to your favorite applications within the Helpers folder: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 6.0\Helpers\ Note: The above path assumes a default installation (for Windows). To add your own HTML editor to ImageReady's "Jump to..." menu, create a shortcut to the desired application within the "Jump To HTML Editor" folder. To include your preferred browser(s) in ImageReady's "Preview in..." menu, create a shortcut within the "Preview In" folder. To assign the default graphics application for ImageReady's “Jump To” button [Ctrl+Shift+M], create a shortcut in the "Jump To Graphics Editor" folder. Place brackets “[ ]” around the name of the application - the brackets will not be displayed. To assign the default graphics application for Photoshop's “Jump To” button [Ctrl+Shift+M], create a shortcut in the "Jump To Graphics Editor" folder. Place braces “{ }” around the name of the application - the braces will not be displayed.
15. To free up memory you may choose choosing Edit » Purge » Histories, but be warned that this will clears the history states of ALL open documents. Note: To purge the history states of the active document (only), hold the Alt key and choose Clear History from the History palette menu to purge all history states without changing the image. Warning! This above commands cannot be undone.
16. (Photoshop 6) In the Liquify dialog box [Ctrl+Shift+X] (Image » Liquify…), hold the Shift key while clicking the OK button to temporarily save the current mesh (to a file called C:\Temp\Liquify.tmp). To (re)load the mesh file (with your image), hold the Shift while launching the Liquify command. Note: The C:\Temp\ folder must already exist on your system to take advantage of this feature.
17. Press Ctrl+Alt and choose Save Actions... from the Action palette menu to save all actions to a text file. This is very useful for reviewing or printing the contents of an action. Note: The text file cannot be reloaded into Photoshop.
18. To improve the performance of batch processes (File » Automate » Batch…), reduce the number of saved history states (in the General Preferences [Ctrl+K] (Edit » Preferences » General...)) and deselect the Automatically Create First Snapshot option in the History Options (History palette menu » History Options...).
19. To batch-process multiple folders in a single batch, enable the Include All Subfolders option, and create shortcuts within the source folder to all folders you would like to have processed.
20. To batch-process multiple actions, create a new action and record the batch for each action that you would like to process. Then run a batch-process using the newly created action. Tip: You may also use this technique in conjunction with Command Tip 19 (above).
21. One really powerful aspect of actions is the ability to have them play other actions (even from different action sets). This feature is ideal for actions that contain repetitive command segments that could be segregated into action “subroutines” (thereby making the action easier to edit and maintain). While recording an action, choose another action and press the play button: the play command is recorded as an action step (Play action “Name” of Set “Name”) in the current action.