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Shangara Singh is well-known
in the graphics world for the depth of his Photoshop knowledge. He
is an Adobe certified Photoshop Expert, which is not easy to achieve,
but do know what really counts? You can tell in every word that he
loves this program. Make sure that you visit his site. Filled with
Photoshop tips, tricks and ideas, I guarantee you will bookmark it.
Many thanks for sharing your experience and wisdom with us, Shangara!
http://www.oxyopia.co.uk/
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Please note: The key after the "/ " character is the
Windows equivalent of the Mac shortcut key.
- To move a layer up the stack, key Opt/Alt+]
- To move a layer down the stack, key Opt/Alt+[
- To move a layer to the top of the stack, key Opt/Alt+Shift+]
- To move a layer to the bottom of the stack, key Opt/Alt+Shift+[
- To see them animated turn off layer visibility of all but one
and use the above keys to go up and down the layers stack
- To copy a layer, key Cmd/Ctrl+J
- To make a new layer, key Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift+N
- To then make it move below the selected layer just lift all fingers
off except Opt/Alt and hit the [ key
- To Merge all *visible* layers and still retain them as individual
layers hold down Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift+N and once the new layer
has been created just hit E
- To whiz through the layer's Blend modes hold down Shift and then
+ or - (plus or minus keys)
- To group the top layer with the one beneath, key Cmd/Ctrl+G
- To Ungroup, key Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+G
- To turn visibility off for all layers bar one hold Opt/Alt and
click on the eye icon in the layers palette of the layer you want
to stay visible
- To turn all of them on hold Opt/Alt and click the eye icon again
(no such shortcut for linking layers that I know of - pity)
- To go to a layer's Options just double click on it
- To turn a Background layer's transparency on, double click on
it and then say OK. If you've ever tried to erase parts of a layer
and found you couldn't it's more than likely you were working on
a Background layer
- Shift clicking on the layer mask's thumbnail will turn the mask
off. Shift clicking again will turn it back on
- Opt/Alt clicking on the layer mask's thumbnail will turn the visibility
of all layers off and leave the mask visible
- Opt/Alt clicking again will restore the visibility to how it was
before
- To view the mask in Quickmask mode hold down Shift+Opt/Alt and
click the mask thumbnail. It's a toggle, so clicking again will
turn off Quickmask
- To drag more than one layer from one open file to another select
one of them in the Layer's palette. Link the layers you want to
drag over. Either make sure the Move tool is active or hold down
Cmd/Ctrl and simply drag into the window you want to add the layers
to. When the move tool is over the second window you will see a
little plus sign appear. Drop the layers and they will be copied
over. If you want to register them (keep them in the same place
on the page) as per the file you're moving them from hold down the
Shift key whilst dragging. Tip: you can't move layers to
or from Index mode.
- To add an Effect quickly to a layer, Ctrl+click/Right click on
the layer and select Effects from the pop up menu.
- To quickly change an applied Effect, double click on the "F"
icon in the layer.
- To change the text from horizontal to vertical, Ctrl+click/Right
click on the "T" icon in the layer and choose vertical
- To render text quickly, Ctrl+click/Right click on the "T"
in the layer and choose Render Layer
- To create a new Adjustment layer, Cmd/Ctrl+click on the Create
new layer icon at the bottom of the Layer's palette
- To apply the Adjustment layer to only part of the image group
it with the layer you want to work on: Cmd/Ctrl+G. Now paint with
Black to hide and White to reveal the Adjustment; you can also use
any shade from Black to White.
- The layer mask tips 17, 18 and 19 are also applicable to the Adjustment
layer
- To change the color of text on a layer without going into the
dialog box, hold down Shift+Opt/Alt+Backslash to fill with foreground
color or Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+Backslash (you can also use the Delete key
in place of the Backslash)
- To copy the applied effects from one layer to another, Ctrl+click/Right
click on the "F" in the layer, select Copy, select the
layer you want to apply the effect to, Ctrl+click/Right click on
the layer and then simply choose Paste.
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:
30 Super Power Tips for Layers
