Even though you may know how to get things done on Photoshop, a bit of inefficiency is likely built into your process, given its sophisticated nature.
Photoshop is renowned for its vast capabilities and features and has established itself as the top choice for professional designers and artists, as well as being popular among amateurs. The use of the term “Photoshopped” as a verb in modern times speaks volumes for the software’s popularity and impact. To add to that, its cross-platform availability on Windows, macOS, iPadOS, and now even on the web makes it a tool accessible by anyone, anywhere.
The program is rich in photo editing and manipulation features like layering, masking, and a wide array of color correction tools. Yet, it also harbors a multitude of sophisticated tools catering to digital painting and 3D design that are often overlooked by many. Photoshop has a plethora of hidden gems in the form of options and tools that a good percentage of its user base is unaware of, and even those that use these features may not leverage them to their full potential.
Just because it’s used by many — a staggering 37% market share in the graphic design industry — doesn’t mean everyone knows how to make the most of it. From not utilizing all input devices at your disposal to suboptimal levels of workflow, here are five ways you might be incorrectly using Photoshop and what you can do to improve your productivity while designing.Not harnessing the power of keyboard shortcuts
One way to check your familiarity with any software is to see if you’ve mastered the art of using keyboard shortcuts to your advantage. Photoshop is one such tool that can be made tenfold easier by learning shortcuts to the most basic of operations, such as undoing, redoing, creating a new layer, or selecting a specific tool. It may get a little overwhelming to start using multiple input devices at once, especially for beginners. However, Adobe’s default keyboard shortcuts for Photoshop are good enough to jump-start your productivity.
Moreover, the beauty of Photoshop’s shortcuts is in their ability to be tweaked for highly intricate and specific actions. This can be done by navigating to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts and experimenting with the powerful customization options available to align specific key presses with your personal workflow preferences.
Certain actions like zoom, pan, and multi-select can be performed by using regular mouse inputs in conjunction with the modifier keys on your keyboard.
