Photoshop can be an intimidating environment; with so many options and settings, it’s easy to lose sight of what work needs to be completed.
Luckily, this software comes equipped with several built-in shortcuts to assist with managing your work more easily. Let’s examine some of these tools below.
Undo
An essential skill every Photoshop user should ace is how to undo mistakes, which allows users to experiment freely with effects, adjustments and design choices without permanently altering an image. Furthermore, non-destructive editing plays an essential part in professional workflow.
To quickly undo a mistake, one of the easiest and quickest methods is using Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac). This command quickly reverses any action taken whether intentional or accidental and works across most software applications – you are probably already familiar with its usage!
An effective yet lesser-known way of undoing any action taken by accident is the History Panel, located within Window menu and visible by selecting Edit > History from its drop down list. This panel shows all changes made by you on an image and provides a quick way of quickly undoing edits that might have caused problems; you can access this feature by going into Edit menu > History and clicking.
This panel provides an alternative to the more traditional Undo and Redo commands by providing an easier visual way of exploring history. While Undo only reverses recent actions, Step Backward and Forward allow you to access chronological editing history – up to six steps back depending on the number of steps your History States setting allows you.
While Photoshop’s Undo and Redo functions are the go-to solutions for most, other methods may come in handy depending on the situation. For instance, if you are concerned about making drastic changes and want the security of being able to undo them if necessary, duplicating layers or documents before beginning can provide added peace of mind that ensures their original version will not be changed should your changes need reversing later on.
Redo
Photoshop is an invaluable resource used for image editing, graphic design, digital art and other creative tasks. However, as with any complex software program, Photoshop requires understanding and practice for its effective use. One key skill every Photoshop user must hone is understanding undo and redo functionality – especially since mistakes will inevitably happen while using this powerful program!
Undoing mistakes in Photoshop is made straightforward thanks to its built-in functionality and keyboard shortcuts. Simply using (Command + Shift) keys together in reverse in the History Panel is all it takes to undo any error such as accidental layer deletions and other major miscalculations.
Photoshop also provides various ways for undoing changes you have undone, namely Edit > Redo or Shift + Ctrl Z, or simply by dragging out of history panel the change you want undone and selecting it in menu.
Redo/undo functionality is invaluable, enabling you to explore various effects and adjustments without fear of making irreversible errors. This feature supports non-destructive editing techniques which are an integral component of professional photo-editing workflow. Furthermore, instant redo/undo functionality enables quick project management as previous states of an image can instantly be restored instantly.
Undo and redo features are central components of Photoshop for both professionals and novice users, alike. Learning to effectively utilize these features will undoubtedly enhance your designing process and make you an efficient Photoshop user.
If you want to speed up undo and redo functions, clearing the list of changed states from the History panel by either clicking the Trash icon or choosing Edit > Clear History from the panel menu can help speed them up significantly. While this won’t delete anything from your image itself, but will free up memory in its Undo history buffer.
History
As you work on an image in Photoshop, the program keeps track of every change you make – this is known as its history and can be viewed in the History panel (Window > History). By default, 50 history steps are stored. While that might seem like a lot, when using tools like the brush and healing brush each click or stroke counts as one change to your photo which adds up over time in its history.
The History panel allows you to go back through these changes, step-by-step or all at once, making it an invaluable resource if ever needing to restore a photo from an earlier point in time.
If you wish to revert to an earlier image state, simply choose it from the list in the History panel. This will restore your photo back to its state at that moment in time, without losing any changes that were made subsequent to that change. This feature is particularly important if you applied effects sequentially – for instance if using Burn tools to darken images prior to adding tint. If later you decide that too much darkness exists within an image using History brushing you could remove some of that darkness with its paint stripper tool in order to reveal lighter versions of images underneath.
Photoshop makes it possible to generate a “History Log,” which records changes to an image but only as text. This feature can be especially helpful if you need to document editing steps for client records or legal reasons, and to access this option on a Mac: Edit-Preferences-Performance then Performance Dialog Box then Performance Log and choose Create A History Log From Current Document.
Select the History Brush from the Tools panel, or press CTRL Shift T, to selectively undo any recent change made to an image – useful if only intending on changing specific parts like in this instance’s sky area. It provides an alternative to undoing all edits with Undo command.
Curves
Curves is one of the most powerful tools in Photoshop, yet also one of the most enigmatic. As a graph-based tool that enables users to control relationships among shadows, highlights, midtones and shadows within an image’s pixels, Curves can allow you to manipulate these relationships visually and interactively – providing an easy way to adjust colors and tones; but be careful as an untrained hand may alter or even destroy an entire photograph!
Simply, the horizontal axis of a curve represents your pixels’ value scale (from 0 to 255) while its vertical axis represents what they’re transformed into — or output. Black and white points on the curve represent available tones; any point placed anywhere else on it will select certain tones based on how far it moves to either left or right of center on its own curve point axis: darker tones move left while lighter ones shift rightward.
One of the primary uses for curves is increasing contrast, making your photos appear more vibrant and alive. You can do this easily by dragging both points up or down along their respective curves; by pulling one down to darken shadows while pulling another up for highlights, creating dramatic contrast that gives your picture extra depth and dimension.
Curves provide another effective means of altering brightness and contrast relationships by selecting specific tones – like mid-tones – and then adjusting the “center” point on your graph. This will decrease brightness within those mid-tones while increasing contrast, which is particularly effective when dealing with overexposed or flat images.
One approach for working with curves is creating an adjustment layer and then using the “point-to-line” tool to draw a line across your graph. While this takes more time and precision editing capabilities than using just Up/Down/Left/Right arrow keys to make adjustments, this way gives more control of where exactly your adjustments take effect.
