Creating and Managing Keyboard Shortcuts

by Phyllis Davis

Using keyboard shortcuts that are easy to remember can increase your productivity, helping you work faster and more efficiently. If you like the keyboard shortcuts you use in other programs, you can customize Photoshop CS to do it your way.

Depending upon the type of work you do, you might like to define several shortcut sets. For instance, if you are using several filters over and over, you can assign custom shortcuts that give quick, easy access to those filters. These filter shortcuts could be saved in a shortcut set named “Filters.” A second shortcut set that you might create, suppose it’s named “Color Modes,” could include custom shortcuts that quickly convert images from one color mode to another (for instance, from RGB color mode to CMYK color mode). Any time you needed one of these shortcut sets, you could quickly load it.

This barticle covers how to create custom shortcuts, save them in a shortcut set, and load the shortcut set when you need it. In addition, you’ll find out how to view a complete list of shortcuts available to you in a shortcut set. Finally, you’ll learn how to revert to the standard shortcuts that come with Photoshop, and delete unwanted shortcut sets.

Making Custom Shortcuts
Creating your own shortcuts is easy. There are things you have to keep in mind, though, when creating shortcuts. Photoshop will let you come up with almost any keystroke combination that you can think of, but there are a few rules. They include:

• Single letter keystrokes such as M or B can only be assigned to tools in the Toolbox.

• Single numbers, such as 1 or 9, cannot be used for shortcuts.

• You can use any combination of the Shift, Ctrl/@@cmd, Alt/Option keys with a letter or number. For instance, you could use Shift+8 or Ctrl+Shift+K/@@cmd+Shift+K for shortcuts.

• Any of the function keys can be used on their own or in combination with the Shift, Ctrl/@@cmd, Alt/Option keys.

• Any shortcuts assigned by Photoshop to permanent features such as palettes cannot be used. For instance, Ctrl+1/@@cmd+1 is assigned as a shortcut to access the first channel in the Channels palette. You cannot reassign this shortcut.

That said, there are plenty if combinations that you can come up with. If there’s any kind of shortcut conflict (a shortcut is in use somewhere else or you’ve create an impossible combination), don’t worry! Photoshop will tell you what’s wrong.

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