Photoshop on a Mac: learning the tool shortcuts
Almost every tool in Photoshop’s toolbar has a one-letter shortcut: V for Move, M for Marquee, L for Lasso, B for Brush, E for Eraser, T for Type, G for Gradient and Paint Bucket. Press the letter to pick the tool; press Shift with the letter to cycle through the other tools grouped under it. The full list, which you can also change, is in Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts (Option-Shift-Command-K, or ⌥⇧⌘K) under Shortcuts For: Tools.
The letters are the same on a Mac as on Windows, because they use no modifier. On a Mac, the difference is in the modifiers of Photoshop’s other shortcuts: where Adobe lists Ctrl, you press Command, and where it lists Alt, you press Option.
The tool letters
These are Photoshop’s defaults. Where several tools share a letter, they share a slot in the toolbar:
| Key | Tools |
|---|---|
| V | Move |
| M | Rectangular and Elliptical Marquee |
| L | Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, Magnetic Lasso |
| W | Object Selection, Quick Selection, Magic Wand |
| C | Crop |
| K | Frame |
| I | Eyedropper |
| J | Spot Healing Brush and the other healing tools |
| B | Brush, Pencil, Color Replacement, Mixer Brush |
| S | Clone Stamp |
| E | Eraser, Background Eraser, Magic Eraser |
| G | Gradient, Paint Bucket |
| O | Dodge, Burn, Sponge |
| P | Pen |
| T | Type |
| A | Path Selection, Direct Selection |
| U | Rectangle and the other shape tools |
| H | Hand |
| Z | Zoom |
Do not try to learn the whole table at once. Start with the five tools you use most, which for most photo work is V, M or L or W for selections, B, E and C. Add the rest as you catch yourself clicking in the toolbar.
To check a letter without looking it up, hold the pointer over a tool in the toolbar. The tooltip shows the tool’s name with its shortcut letter.
Shift cycles the group
Pressing a letter picks whichever tool in that slot you used last. To get another tool in the same slot, press Shift with the letter. Shift-L (⇧L) steps from Lasso to Polygonal Lasso to Magnetic Lasso and back round; Shift-G (⇧G) switches between Gradient and Paint Bucket.
That behavior comes from a preference called Use Shift Key for Tool Switch, which is on by default. With it off, pressing the letter on its own cycles the group instead. If a letter seems to jump between tools every time you press it, that preference is the reason.
Hold the key to borrow a tool
Photoshop’s tool keys are spring-loaded. Tap a letter and the tool changes. Hold the letter, use the tool, and let go: Photoshop switches back to the tool you had before.
This is how retouchers work without a trip to the toolbar. Painting with the Brush, hold E, erase a stray stroke, release, and you are painting again. Holding Space does the same for the Hand tool: hold it, drag to move around the image, let go and carry on with whatever tool you had.
A few single keys go with the painting tools and are worth learning alongside them:
- [ and ] make the brush smaller and larger. Add Shift for softer and harder.
- D sets the default colors, black and white. X swaps the foreground and background colors, which is the quickest way to flip a mask brush between hiding and revealing.
- Number keys set the tool’s opacity while a painting tool is active: 1 for 10 percent, 5 for 50 percent, 0 for 100 percent.
- Q turns Quick Mask on and off.
- Tab hides the panels; press it again to bring them back. F cycles the screen modes.
Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts
Choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts, or press Option-Shift-Command-K. The Shortcuts For menu picks which shortcuts you see, including Application Menus, Panel Menus and Tools. Choose Tools and you see every tool with its letter, and you can give one a different letter if you prefer.
Two controls in that dialog are worth knowing:
- The Set menu shows which set you are using. Photoshop Defaults is the one that matches Adobe’s documentation. If you change a shortcut, save it as your own set so you can always return to the defaults.
- Summarize saves the current shortcuts as an HTML file. Open it in a browser and print it, and you have a reference that matches your copy of Photoshop, changes included.
Edit > Toolbar, a separate command, lets you move tools you never use out of the toolbar. Fewer tools in a slot means fewer presses of Shift to reach the one you want.
Mac keyboard snags
A couple of things catch Mac users out:
- Function keys. Photoshop puts panels on function keys, such as F7 for the Layers panel. On a MacBook, the top row controls brightness and volume first, so press fn with the key. Function keys on a MacBook explains the setting that flips this.
- Command-H. On a Mac, Command-H hides the app in front. The first time you press it in Photoshop, it asks whether you meant to hide Photoshop or hide extras such as guides and selection edges, and remembers your answer.
Keep the letters in view
Photoshop’s menus show their shortcuts beside each command, so you learn Command-T for Free Transform or Command-J for New Layer via Copy just by reading the menu as you use it. Tool letters are not in the menus, which is why they take longer to stick.
Typebar puts a keyboard on your screen. Hold a modifier such as Command for a moment and the keys relabel with what they do in the app in front, read from Photoshop’s own menus. For the tool letters, Typebar has a hand-made Photoshop pack: hold fn and the single-key tools show on their keys, so you can glance down instead of hunting through the toolbar. The Cheatsheet List is searchable, and you can export a sheet as a PDF to pin above the desk.
If you teach Photoshop on video, the keystroke pill shows each key as you press it, so viewers see that you held E and released, not just that the stroke vanished. How to learn Mac keyboard shortcuts and actually remember them has more on making them stick. Typebar is $9 once, with a 24-hour free trial.
Questions
How do I see every Photoshop shortcut on a Mac?
Choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts (Option-Shift-Command-K). Use Shortcuts For to pick menus, panel menus or tools, and Summarize to save the list as a web page.
Why does pressing a tool letter type text instead?
You are editing a type layer. Commit the text first, for example with the checkmark in the options bar, then press the letter.
Can I change a tool’s letter?
Yes. In Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts, choose Tools from Shortcuts For, select the tool, and type a new letter.