Hey everyone! Today’s blog post idea actually came to me via a nice little spam email I got late last night. No, it wasn’t a special offer for the magic “Blue Pill For Men” or ”Where to get cheap flights to anywhere I DON’T want to go”…. it was actually entitled: ”How well do you know Photoshop?” …..I have to give them an “E” for Effort, at least these guys are doing SOME research as to who they are emailing lol! It got me thinking….how well DO I know Photoshop? How well do ANY of us know Photoshop? I have used Photoshop extensively for almost 11 years, I have taught private lessons, I have even assisted in instructing a few larger classes, but I still learn new things almost every day. OF course (and I don’t mean this in a bad way), many photographers know how to use “Actions” (usually made by other photographers and then bought by millions worldwide), which are essentially several individual editing ‘steps’ or ’tweaks’ done to your image all rolled into a shortcut so you may execute it and look like every other photographer at the click of a button. :) I have to admit, I am guilty of doing this at times, so I don’t condone ‘Actions’ as being wrong, however they should be used as a stepping stone towards a final product of YOUR style, not someone elses… They are great, I just think as photographers we are using other people’s ideas more-so than our own. We won’t get into this, this is a blog post in itself :). But what about all the other stuff? The day-to-day Photoshop tasks such as zooming, opacity, merging layers? Did you know that you can press ‘command+alt+M’ on the keyboard to open up the Curves Dialog Box? Sure it only takes a second or two to click on the Image menu, roll over to the Adjustments menu, and click on ‘Curves’… but what if you have 1000+ images to sort through? (well, first off, you’d probably use Lightroom and save about 8 hours! That too, is a post in itself!). Forming a habit with hotkeys and shortcuts will shred MINUTES off your editing, so you can spend time with your family and friends…away from your office! Time isn’t money. Time is more valuable than money, therefore you should be spending it how you want.
I have done a bit of research and have found some great links that I would love to share with all of you.
Photoshop Hotkeys for Mac and PC – www.spoono.com
Photoshop Tool Hotkeys and More – www.associatedcontent.com
Top 10 Hotkeys Every Graphic Artist Should Know – www.hyperninja.com
Go through them and find out what you use the most. Whether you are a seasoned Photoshop Wiz or a beginner willing to learn by experience, these tidbits are certainly worth a look and will save you more time so you can get out into the sun!
My personal favorites that I use all the time (and aren’t even mentioned on the links) are:
Dodging/Burning Toggle: shift+o
Brush Size Increase: ]
Brush Size Decrease: [
Brush - 1 step Softer Edge: shift+[
Brush - 1 step Harder Edge: shift+]
Opacity: press 1-0 (where 1=10%, 2=20%…0=100&)
Flatten All Visible Layers: mac: command+shift+E pc : ctrl+alt+shift+E
Dragging an image around (in fullpage mode): hold spacebar + click and drag the mouse to move the image
I hope this was informative! I’d love to hear feedback from all of you!
Have a great weekend!
Michael
p.s. I thought I’d add a photo as well, just in case the text was a little TOO on the ‘blah’ side. :) This abstract shot of Canadian Geese in flight was shot outside my house in Calgary in 2004. Processed in Lightroom and prepared for web in Photoshop. Hope you like it! :)
