Keyboard Shortcuts

I have a lot of keyboard shortcuts that I use when I'm digi-scrapping. Here are a few of my favorites. Remember, I'm using PSCS3.

I always press Ctrl + 0 (zero) after opening a file, so I can see it as large as it will show on screen with no scroll bars. I think of it as the same as a 'maximize' button. If I want it even bigger, I zoom in by hitting Ctrl and the +/= key. I don't have to shift to get the plus sign, but I think of it as the +. To zoom out, I hit Ctrl and the _/- key. It's the 'minus' key. Again, don't hit the shift key.

I press Ctrl + T to start to transform an object I have put on a layout. The object will have a box with handles around it and I can rotate it or scale it to size. When I like what I see, I press the enter key.

Ctrl + Shift + S will let me save a file as.

If I've got marching ants and I want them to go away, without doing anything, or if they are still hanging around after I've used them, I press Ctrl +D and the ants go away. It's a controlled delete, you are only deleting the ants.

If I want to select an object that is in my layout and get marching ants around that object, I just Ctrl + click on the icon of the object in the layers panel. I'll get marching ants around the object that is on that layer.

If I have several files open in Photoshop (or in any application that lets you open several files, like Word) I can switch the active file by pressing Ctrl + Tab to go to the next open file inside the application. I can hold down Ctrl and press the tab key repeatedly, if there are lots of files open.

Does anyone else see the critical key that lets me control my keyboard shortcuts?

This one would be the exception that proves the rule. When dragging things onto a new file that I want centered (that first piece of paper, for example) I press the shift key at the end of my drag, so the file lands in the middle. It goes like this. I start to drag. I press and hold the shift key. I end my drag. I release the shift key.

What is that advantage of using the keyboard shortcuts? If I have moved my cursor to a specific location, I don't have to move it away from there, set up an action by clicking on choices, and then move my cursor back to just that spot all over again.