Working with Tools

This section discusses keyboard shortcuts for displaying and hiding tools, for activating tools, and for working with them.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Displaying and Hiding Tools

Windows [F5], Mac [F5]

Toggle the display of the Brushes palette

Windows [F6], Mac [F6]

Toggle the display of the Color palette

Windows [F7], Mac [F7]

Toggle the display of the Layers palette

Windows [F8], Mac [F8]

Toggle the display of the Info palette

Windows [F9], [Alt]-[F9], Mac [Option]-[F9]

Toggle the display of the Actions palette

Keyboard Shortcuts for Working with Tools

Windows [M], Mac [M]

Activate the Marquee tool

Press [Shift]-[M] to toggle between the Rectangular Marquee tool and the Elliptical Marquee tool.

Windows [V], Mac [V]

Activate the Move tool

Windows [L], Mac [L]

Activate the Lasso tool

Press [Shift]-[L] to switch among the Lasso tool, the Polygonal Lasso tool, and the Magnetic Lasso tool.

Windows [W], Mac [W]

Activate the Magic Wand tool

Windows [C], Mac [C]

Activate the Crop tool

Windows [K], Mac [K]

Activate the Slice tool

Press [Shift]-[K] to toggle between the Slice tool and the Slice Select tool.

Windows [J], Mac [J]

Activate the Healing Brush tool

Press [Shift]-[J] to switch among the Healing Brush tool, the Patch tool, and the Color Replacement tool.

Windows [B], Mac [B]

Activate the Brush tool

Press [Shift]-[B] to toggle between the Brush tool and the Pencil tool.

Windows [S], Mac [S]

Activate the Clone Stamp tool

Press [Shift]-[S] to toggle between the Clone Stamp tool and the Pattern Stamp tool.

Windows [Y], Mac [Y]

Activate the History Brush tool

Press [Shift]-[Y] to toggle between the History Brush tool and the Art History Brush tool.

Windows [E], Mac [E]

Activate the Eraser tool

Press [Shift]-[E] to switch among the Eraser tool, the Background Eraser tool, and the Magic Eraser tool.

Windows [G], Mac [G]

Activate the Gradient tool

Press [Shift]-[G] to toggle between the Gradient tool and the Paint Bucket tool.

Windows [R], Mac [R]

Activate the Blur tool

Press [Shift]-[R] to switch among the Blur tool, the Sharpen tool, and the Smudge tool.

Windows [O], Mac [O]

Activate the Dodge tool

Press [Shift]-[O] to switch among the Dodge tool, the Burn tool, and the Sponge tool.

Windows [A], Mac [A]

Activate the Path Selection tool

Press [Shift]-[A] to toggle between the Path Selection tool and the Direct Selection tool.

Windows [T], Mac [T]

Activate the Horizontal Type tool

Press [Shift]-[T] to switch among the Horizontal Type tool, the Vertical Type tool, the Horizontal Type Mask tool, and the Vertical Type Mask tool.

Windows [P], Mac [P]

Activate the Pen tool

Press [Shift]-[P] to toggle between the Pen tool and the Freeform Pen tool.

Windows [U], Mac [U]

Activate the Rectangle tool

Press [Shift]-[U] to switch among the Rectangle tool, the Rounded Rectangle tool, the Ellipse tool, the Polygon tool, the Line tool, and the Custom Shape tool.

Windows [N], Mac [N]

Activate the Notes tool

Press [Shift]-[N] to toggle between the Notes tool and the Audio Annotation tool.

Windows [I], Mac [I]

Activate the Eyedropper tool

Press [Shift]-[I] to switch among the Eyedropper tool, the Color Sampler tool, and the Measure tool.

Windows [H], Mac [H]

Activate the Hand tool

Windows [Z], Mac [Z]

Activate the Zoom tool

Press [Alt] (on Windows) or [Option] (on the Mac) to toggle from the Zoom In tool to the Zoom Out tool.