Julieanne Kost’s Top 10 Layer Shortcuts - Photoshop World 2012

01. Shortcuts for Changing Opacity

• In previous versions of Photoshop, we could select the Move tool (or the Marquee, Lasso, Quick Select etc. – basically any tool that didn’t
have an Opacity setting), and use the numeric keys on the keyboard to change the opacity of a layer. Tapping one number assigns the
percentage of the tapped number (1 = 10%, 2= 20% etc. and 0 = 100%). Tapping two numbers quickly will give you that exact amount (5
+ 4 = 54%). In Photoshop CS6, tapping 0 + 0 quickly will set the Layer’s opacity to 0 (zero). This works with either a single layer or multiple
layers selected. This is a great way to hide and show multiple layers!

02. Blend Modes

• Shortcuts for changing blend modes - if you want to quickly cycle through the painting tool’s blend modes, hold the Shift key and hit
the “+” (plus) or “-” (minus) to move forward or backwards. Note: If you have a tool selected that is not a painting tool, these shortcuts will
affect the blend modes on the Layers panel.
• Changing multiple layers at once - with multiple layers selected, you can now change the Blend Mode, lock and set color labels of multiple
layers at once (PSCS6). You can also set layer Opacity for all selected layers (in PSCS6 and previous versions).
• Blending multiple layers as one -if you have multiple layers in a Layer Group, instead of setting each layer’s blend mode individually,
try setting the blend mode for the Layer Group. This will treat all of the layers in the Group as if they were “merged” together, then blend
them as one. (you have an illustration for this from your blog

03. Duplicating Layers and Layer Groups

• In PSCS6, with multiple layers selected, Command + J (Mac) | Control + J (Win) will duplicate the selected layers and/or Layer Groups.
• In previous versions, to duplicate a layer(s) in the Layers panel, select the layer(s) and Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) -drag until yo see a heavy
black line between the layers – then release the cursor. You can also use the shortcut Command + J (Mac) | Control + J (Win) in previous
versions to duplicate a single layer.
• To cut a selection (or an entire layer) to a new layer, Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + Shift + J works like a charm.
• In earlier versions of Photoshop, with a Group targeted in the layers panel, Select Layer > Duplicate Group or Option (Mac) / Alt (Win)
-drag the Group in the Layers panel (until you see a heavy black line between the layers) and release. Note this shortcut will not work if
the Group is at the top of the Layers panel – in this case, I use the context sensitive menu (Control -click (Mac) or right mouse click) on
the Group and select Duplicate Group.

04. Layer Masks

• Create a custom keyboard shortcut to quickly add a mask.
• Drag a layer mask thumbnail in the Layers panel to move it from one layer to another.
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) -drag a layer or vector mask thumbnail in the Layers panel to create a copy of the mask.
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + Shift -drag to create copy of a layer mask while simultaneously inverting the mask.
• Temporarily turn off a layer mask by Shift clicking on it. Click again to enable it.
• To view a layer mask, Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) -click on the mask thumbnail in the Layers panel. Tapping the “\”(backslash) toggles the
display of a layer mask on and off (as a red rubylith overlay). (Looking at the Channels panel, you can see that this shortcut toggles the
channels visibility.) This is also very useful when working on intricately composited, multi layered documents: show the mask to see if
there are any unwanted awkward transitional areas that might not have been visible in the complex composite (a sharp edge from a
selection or gradient for example).
• To paste content (from the clipboard) into a Layer mask, Option (Mac)/ Alt (Win) -click the Layer mask icon on the Layers panel and then
select Edit > Paste.

05. The Layer Comps Panel

• Use the Layer Comps panel to hide and show your document in different states. Shift -click to select multiple layer comps, then cycle
through them using the Apply Previous/Apply Next icon.
• Several of the icons and panel fly-out menu items on the Layer Comps Panel can be assigned custom keyboard shortcuts. Choose Edit
> Keyboard Shortcuts and select Shortcuts For: Panel Menus. For example, you can assign a shortcut to Apply Previous and Apply Next
Layer Comp commands, Update Layer Comp, New Layer Comp and more.

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06. Clipping Masks
• Clipping masks are most commonly used when an adjustment needs to be applied to a single layer in a multi-layer document. For
example, if you have a triptych of images (each on their own layer) within a single document and need to brighten only one of the images,
you can add an adjustment layer and “clip” it so that it only effects that single layer.
• The easiest way to “clip” an adjustment layer to the layer below it is to target the layer that needs the adjustment in the Layers panel,
then click the clipping icon at the bottom of the Adjustment panel before adding the adjustment, (or, if you forget, you can click the clip-
ping the icon after adding the adjustment at the bottom of the Adjustment panel). As you make the adjustment, you will notice that the
modification is only effecting the layer that the adjustment is “clipped” to.
• Another use of clipping masks is to clip content suce as a photo to a shape such as type. In order to do this, put the type layer under the
photo layer on the Layer’s panel, target the type layer (by clicking in it in the Layer’s panel) and select Command-Opt (Mac) / Control-Alt
(Win) + G to create a Clipping Mask.
• Or, on the Layers panel, hold the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) key and position the cursor over the line that separates the two layers in the
Layer’s panel. When you see the icon switch to a triangle with two overlapping circles -click to create a Clipping Mask.
• You can have multiple layers clipped to a base layer. Visually, you will know that the layers are clipped because the bottom most layer’s
name will be underlined in the Layers panel, and the clipped layer(s) will be indented with an arrow pointing downwards towards the
base layer.

07. Layer Groups

• Layer Groups have a unique blend mode called Pass Through which is only visible when a Layer Group is targeted in the Layers panel. It
allows any adjustment layers, blend modes, advanced blending options, opacity and fill values applied to layers within a Group, to affect
layers below the Group in the layers panel. To restrict the blending of layers to only happen within a Group, change the Layer Group’s
blend mode to Normal.
• In Photoshop CS6, not only can you use a Layer Group as the bottom of a Clipping Mask (so that you can clip the contents of a layer(s)
to the contents of an entire group) but you can also add Layer Effects/Styles to a Layer Group to have the style applied to all of the layers
in the Group (as a single unit).
• You can mask a layer group - and nest it to add an additional mask

08. Layer Search (Filters) in Photoshop CS6

• The ability to search (filter) layers based on a variety of criteria has been added to the Layers panel in Photoshop CS6 which should make
working with multi-layered documents much easier. Choose a “Filter Type” by clicking the drop down menu at the top left of the Layers
panel and choose from Kind, Name, Effect, Mode, Attribute and/or Color. Then, use the corresponding options that appear to the right of
the Filter Type to narrow down the search. The “light switch” to the right of the Filter options toggles the filtering on and off. Note: when
filtering by Kind, you can click on more than one icon at a time in order to narrow down the search. Click an icon again to toggle if off.

09. Layer Effects/Styles

• The menu order of the Layer Effects/Styles has changed in PSCS6. Although it might not be obvious at first, they are now in the order in
which they are applied to the content in the layer. For example, the Drop Shadow effect is applied (or will be rendered) below all other
Effects, the Bevel and Emboss will rendered on top of any other Effects. This should help when visualizing how several effects are going
to be applied to the contents of a layer or group.
• Layer Effects/Styles can be applied to Groups. Applying the Layer Effect/Style to the Group has a different result because the layers are
all treated as one (as if they are flattened) before the Layer Effect/Style is applied to the Group.
• Option -click (Mac) | Alt (Win) -click the disclosure triangle on the Layers panel to the right of the “fx” icon to hide/reveal all Layer Effect/
Styles in the document.
• Customize the Layer Style’s Defaults - In order to customize the default Layer Style settings, select Layer > Layer Style (or click the “fx” icon
at the bottom of the Layers panel). In the Layer Style dialog, make the desired changes, and click the Make Default button. If you make
changes to the style and want to reset the changes to your custom default, click the Reset to Default button.
• There is a new command in PSCS6 (Layer > Rasterize > Layer Style) which renders the layer effect into the layer (think of it as merging or
flattening the Layer Effect/Style with the content of the layer).
• If any changes have been made in the Layer Style dialog under the Advanced Blending area, a new Blending Effects icon is displayed
on the layer in the Layers panel in PSCS6.

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10. Properties Panel
• To add a non-destructive feather, select the desired layer mask on the Layers panel. Then, on the Properties panel, adjust the Feather slider
as needed. Although this feature was in Photoshop CS5 (via the Masks panel), in Photoshop CS6 the Feather values support decimal places.
• While you’re in the Properties panel, and the focus is on the mask, be sure to check out the non-destructive Density slider to reduce the
opacity (density) of the mask.

11. Open Several Photographs into a Single Photoshop Document

There are several ways to open multiple photographs into a single Photoshop document:
• From Bridge – select multiple photographs and choose Tools > Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop Layers.
• From Photoshop – select File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack. Note: you can also choose to create a Smart Object out of the Stack – but
this converts all layers into a single Smart Object, not each one individually.
• From Lightroom – select multiple photographs and choose Photo > Edit In > Open As Layers in Photoshop.

12. Restricting the Effects of Adjustment Layers

A great way to ensure that a change you make to an image is only affecting the tonal (not color) values is to set the blend mode to
Luminosity. For example, if you have an area in an image that is too dark and you want to lighten it without changing the colors, add a
Curves Adjustment Layer and set the blend mode to Luminosity. Then raise or lower the curve as necessary – without affecting the color
values. This can be especially helpful when dodging or burning skin-tones. If you want to affect the colors and not the tonal values, simply
change the blend mode to color.

13. Targeting Layers via the Keyboard

• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + “[“ or “]” targets the layer above or below the currently targeted layer.
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) +Shift + “] “or + “[“ adds the next layer up or down to the targeted layer(s) (note when you get to the top or
bottom of the layer stack, Photoshop will “wrap around” to continue adding/subtracting layers).
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + “,“ or “.” targets the bottom/top -most layer.
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + Shift + “,“ or “.” targets all layers that fall between the currently targeted layer to the top or bottom of the layer stack.
Note: these shortcuts are essential when recording actions as they help to select layers, but do not record the specific “name” of the layer
in the action.