Photoshop is an easy tool to use and a difficult one to master, but help is at hand with
our comprehensive list of tips, tricks and fixes for Adobe's showpiece software. Whether
you're looking for tips on using layers, advice on mastering the pen tool, a guide to
using RAW, or ways to improve your brush work, it's all here!
Most of these tips were originally published in Practical Photoshop magazine now part
of Digital Camera World. If you're a photographer, we recommend making DCW a
rest stop on your travels around the web!
Here are the best Photoshop tips, whether you are using an older CS version or the
very latest Creative Cloud software. We've grouped them by category to make it
easier for you to find the stuff that's the most relevant to your work right now, but be
sure to check them all!
You can make amazing kaleidoscopic patterns with the help of a keyboard
shortcut. Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+T lets you duplicate a layer and repeat a
transformation in one go. To demonstrate, we've made a narrow glowing shape by
squeezing a lens flare effect, but you can use any shape, image or effect you like. First,
make an initial rotation by pressing Cmd/Ctrl+T and turning slightly, then hit Enter to
apply. Next, press Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Trepeatedly to create a pattern.
There's a really easy way to overlay an image on top of text. Drop an image layer over a
type layer then hold down Alt and click the line between the two layers in the Layers
Panel to clip the image to the text.
Want to change the default grey background to something more funky? Shift
click over the background area with the Paint Bucket tool to fill it with your foreground
colour. Right-click it to go back to grey.
The Diffuse Glow filter can give highlights a soft ethereal feel, especially when you
combine the effect with desaturation. Hit D to reset colours then go
to Filter>Distort> Diffuse Glow. Keep the effect fairly subtle, then go
to Image>Adjustments>Hue/ Saturation and drop the saturation down to
complete the dreamlike effect.
Go to Window Channel then drag the Blue Channel to the New Channel icon to
duplicate it. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+L to access Levels, then drag the white and black point
sliders in dramatically to make the sky totally white and the land black. Now use the
Brush tool and paint with black to tidy any bits in the land.
B: Load a selection
Hold Cmd/Ctrl and click the Blue Copy Channel to load a selection of the white areas.
Click back on the RGB Channel then go to the Layers Panel and add a Curves
Adjustment Layer. The selection is automatically turned into a mask. Drag down on the
curve to darken the sky.
Next page: Essential Photoshop shortcuts
49. Adjustments
Always use Adjustment Layers rather than directly editing a layer. This gives you three
advantages: you can edit it at any time, control the strength with Opacity, and use a
mask to make it work selectively.
To apply a change of font or size to multiple type layers at once, hold down Cmd/ Ctrl
and click the layers in the Layers Panel to highlight them, then simply select the Type
tool and change the settings in the Options Bar.
Hold down Alt and click a Layer Mask thumbnail to toggle between a view of the mask
and the image. Hold down Shift and click to turn the mask on or off.
Open a portrait image and a generic fire image, then grab the Move tool and
check Auto-Select Layer and Show Transform Controls. Drag the fire image
into the girl image to copy it in, then change the Blend Mode of the layer toScreen.
B: Position and warp
Click the bounding box to transform the fire layer, then resize, rotate and position the
layer. Right-click while in Transform mode and choose Warp to wrap the fire around
the body. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+J to copy the fire layer and transform again to build up the
effect.
Next page: Tips for mastering Photoshop's tools
Tool tips
65. Right-click for contextual menus
Almost all tools have a contextual menu that's accessed with a simple right-click. This
usually gives you the tool's major controls and a few handy shortcuts. As well as the tool
you have active, where you right-click affects the menu, too. For example, a right-click
over a layer thumbnail or mask thumbnail gives different options.
A little-known feature of the Crop tool allows you to hide, rather than delete cropped
areas. To do this, you'll need to make the Background Layer editable first, so doubleclick it then hit OK. Next, grab the Crop tool and drag a crop window, then instead of
applying the crop, check Hide in the Options. Now you can re-crop at any time by
dragging outside the window to reveal the previously cropped areas.
Next page: Tips to help you master the Pen tool
Photoshop tips don't just come in the form of shortcuts. When painting, it's often easier
to rotate the canvas rather than try to bend your wrist into an uncomfortable position.
Just as a sketcher would angle a piece of paper, you can angle your canvas by holding
down R then dragging it around. Release Rand you'll flip back to your original tool. To
revert back to normal, hold down Rand click Reset View in the options.
As a finishing touch, you can make your paintings look much more authentic by adding
a paper texture. Copy a texture on top of your image, then experiment with Blend
Modes and Opacity until you get the right effect. The Darken or Multiply modes will
usually provide you with good results.
If you want to turn a photo into a painting, adding sketch lines can make the effect look
more realistic. To do so, duplicate your layer then go to Filter>Stylise>Glowing
Edges, then invert the colours, desaturate and use the Darken or Multiply Blend Mode.
93. Experiment
The Brush Panel is the control centre for hundreds, if not thousands, of different brush
effects and settings. The best way to find out how it works is to grab the Brush tool,
choose a colour, open a new document and start painting. You can take this further by
trying painting on different layers and using different Blend Modes, or adding Layer
Style effects to your painted layer.
Load up a generic portrait image and then load the Square Brushes from the Brush
Picker drop-down menu.
Select a square brush, then open the Brush Panel and use these settings: Brush tip
shape: Spacing 631%. Shape Dynamics: Size, Angle, Roundness Jitter all 100%.
Scattering: Scatter 638%, Count Jitter 50%. Colour Dynamics: Foreground/ Background
Jitter 20%, Saturation Jitter 20%. Brightness 30%.
B: Paint mask and colours
Use the Lasso tool to select the girl then hit Shift+Backspace and choose Fill:
Content-Aware. Hold down Alt and click the Add Layer Mask icon then set Foreground
colour to white and paint on the mask over the girl to hide parts of the body. Next, add a
new empty layer and hold down Alt to sample colours from the girl, then paint to add
coloured fragments. Add a second new layer, paint larger strokes, then blur slightly
with Filter>Gaussian Blur.
Next page: Get precise with colour and lines
The following Photoshops tips focus on Camera Raw. To quickly batch process a group
of images, open them all in ACR (the easiest way to do this is through Adobe Bridge)
and then click Select All. Now, any changes you make to one image will be applied to
all the open files.
The Masking slider in the Detail Panel lets you control which areas of an image are
sharpened, but it's impossible to judge unless you hold down Alt as you drag. This
displays a greyscale view, in which black areas are protected from sharpening, enabling
you to isolate the sharpening to edge areas.
Double-click any slider to reset it to 0. If you click once, then the slider jumps to the
point you're over. So if you keep the mouse still, you can single-click, then doubleclick over a point for a quick 'before and after' view of any adjustment you've made.
Square crops can help to make your images stand out from the crowd. For a list of
different crop ratios, hold down the mouse button over the Crop tool. Remember, like
everything else in ACR, cropping is non- destructive, so you can try out different ratios
and adjust the crop at any time.
The Adjustment Brush is perfect for selective toning in ACR. The brush works by setting
pins, each linked to a painted mask that specifies the area you want to tweak. You'll
need to view the mask when painting, and hide it when using the sliders to adjust the
area. Hit Y to switch the view of the mask on or off.
Looking for Photoshop tips to view images in interesting ways? Look no further. All you
need to do is hit Cmd/Ctrl+B to see your images in a snazzy 3D carousel. Scroll
through the images with the left and right arrow keys and hit down to remove an image
from the view.
You can copy ACR treatments from one file to another in Bridge. Right-clickany file
with the circular ACR icon, then go to Develop Settings>Copy
Settings. Right-click another file (or hold down Cmd/Ctrl and click to select more
than one) then choose Paste settings.
Stacks can help you keep your workspace tidy and easier to navigate by grouping
similar images together. Select a group of files (hold down Shift and click the first and
last) then go to Stacks>Group as Stack.
Raw files open automatically into ACR, but you can open JPEGs and TIFFs, too, by
right-clicking them and choosing 'Open in Camera Raw', or simply hit Cmd/Ctrl+R.
You can load a group of images into layers of a single document by going to Tools>
Photoshop>Load Files into Photoshop Layers.
Open an image in ACR, then click the Tone Curve Panel. Drag all the points off the
curve to delete them, then make one single point in the middle. Drag this down, then
drag the bottom left of the curve to line up to the top, making an inverted cone shape.
B: Convert to mono
Click the HSL/Greyscale Panel and check 'Convert to Black and White'. Use
the sliders to tweak the black and white conversion. If you want to add some colour, go
to Split Toning and adjust the sliders to add colour to the shadows and highlights. One
of the top mono Photoshop tips!