LAYERS PALETTE NAVIGATION SPEED TIPS

The less you need to be in the Layers palette, the better (at least when it comes to speed), so here are some shortcuts you'll want to know: When you want to select multiple layers, press Option-Shift-Left Bracket ([) (PC: Alt-Shift-Left Bracket) to select layers beneath your current layer. To select layers above your current layer, press Option-Shift-Right Bracket (]) (PC: Alt-Shift-Right Bracket). To move your current layer down one layer at a time, press Command-Left Bracket (PC: Control-Left Bracket). To move it up one layer at a time, press Command-Right Bracket (PC: Control-Right Bracket). To switch to the layer beneath your current layer, press Option-Left Bracket (PC: Alt-Left Bracket). To switch to the Layer above your current layer, press Option-Right Bracket (PC: Alt-Right Bracket). To move your layer to the top of the layer stack, press Command-Shift-Right Bracket (PC: Control-Shift-Right Bracket). To move your layer to the bottom of the layer stack (above your Background layer), press Command-Shift-Left Bracket (PC: Control-Shift-Left Bracket). Trust us, it's worth memorizing this stuff.

©ISTOCKPHOTO/AMANDA ARMSTRONG

Here we selected the next layer down.

Here we moved our layer to the bottom of the layer stack.