Working with Text

Photoshop supports not only some standard keyboard shortcuts for selecting characters , words, and lines, but also shortcuts for quickly aligning text, working with fonts, and adjusting kerning, tracking, and leading.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Selecting Text

Windows [Shift]-[], Mac [Shift]-[]

Select one character to the left

Windows [Shift]-[], Mac [Shift]-[]

Select one character to the right

Windows [Shift]-[], Mac [Shift]-[]

Select one line up

If the cursor is at the end of the line, this shortcut selects the current line.

Windows [Shift]-[], Mac [Shift]-[]

Select one line down

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[]

Select one word to the left

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[]

Select one word to the right

Windows [Ctrl]-[H], Mac [ z ]-[H]

Show or hide the selection on selected text

Keyboard Shortcuts for Aligning Text

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[L] and Horizontal Type tool, Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[L] and Horizontal Type tool

Left-align the text

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[R] and Horizontal Type tool, Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[R] and Horizontal Type tool

Right-align the text

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[C] and Horizontal Type tool, Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[C] and Horizontal Type tool

Center the text

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[L] and Vertical Type tool, Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[L] and Vertical Type tool

Top-align the text

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[R] and Vertical Type tool, Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[R] and Vertical Type tool

Bottom-align the text

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[C] and Vertical Type tool, Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[C] and Vertical Type tool

Center the text vertically

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[J], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[J]

Justify the paragraph

Standard justification leaves the last line of the paragraph aligned left.

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[F], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[F]

Justify the paragraph, including the last line

Press this shortcut to force justification on the last line of the paragraph, making it justified rather than aligned left.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Working with Fonts

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[Y], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[Y]

Restore the default font style

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[>], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[>]

Increase the font size by two points

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[>], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[>]

Increase the font size by ten points

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[<], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[<]

Decrease the font size by two points

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[<], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[<]

Decrease the font size by ten points

Windows [Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [Option]-[Shift]-[]

Decrease the baseline shift by two points

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[]

Decrease the baseline shift by ten points

Windows [Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [Option]-[Shift]-[]

Increase the baseline shift by two points

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[]

Increase the baseline shift by ten points

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[X], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[X]

Apply 100 percent horizontal scale

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[X], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[X]

Apply 100 percent vertical scale

Keyboard Shortcuts for Kerning, Tracking, Leading, and Hyphenation

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[A], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[A]

Apply auto leading

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Increase the leading by two points

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[]

Increase the leading by ten points

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Decrease the leading by two points

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[]

Decrease the leading by ten points

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[Q], Mac [ z ]-[Ctrl]-[Shift]-[Q]

Apply zero tracking

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Decrease kerning or tracking by 20/1000 em

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Increase kerning or tracking by 20/1000 em

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[Alt]-[H], Mac [ z ]-[Ctrl]-[Option]-[Shift]-[H]

Toggle paragraph hyphenation on or off

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[T], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[T]

Toggle between single composer and every-line composer