Adobe Photoshop is one of the most popular graphic design software. It can be said that as long as you contact graphic design, then sooner or later, you have to deal with it. There's so much to say about Photoshop, but whether you want it to be your go-to tool or just use it to do some basic image processing, here are 10 things you should know, whether you're a beginner or already familiar with it.

1. The use of shortcut keys: This is the foundation of Photoshop, but it is also the best way to improve work efficiency. The use of shortcut keys allows you to better focus on your work rather than the tool panel. Once you are comfortable with the shortcuts, you can use the full-screen work mode, eliminating unnecessary panel positions, making the field of view wider, and maximizing the use of screen space; Some simple commands can be done with the keyboard, without distraction in the choice of tools, even if it takes only a small amount of time, but we prefer to work without interruptions.

Ctrl+J: Copy the current layer to a new layer;



Shift+BackSpace: Brings up the Fill dialog.

2. Seamless mapping: Whether it is for 3D images or web pages, seamless mapping is very important and can be easily done in Photoshop. Once you've customized your image, run the filters. Other; Displacement, displacement in the horizontal and vertical directions, generally set the displacement amount to half the size of the image, and the most important is to set the undefined area as a fold back. After the displacement is completed, the rubber stamp tool is applied to the split of the image, eliminating the seam, and then the image is defined as a pattern. Fill in with this pattern and you get a seamless background image.

3. Customize actions for common composition commands: When processing images, we will use composition commands in many cases. For example, you need to move a document with multiple layers of images into another document. The quickest and safest way is to create a new layer: Shift+CTRL+N; Combine all of the following visible layers Shift+Alt+CTRL+E; Select all images Ctrl+ A; Copy CTRL+C; Deselect Ctrl+D; Delete the current layer. This set of commands is to create an image of the image, which contains all the visible layer images below the current layer. At this time, you have left the contents of the image on your clipboard, just paste it in the required document. This is a typical example, although you can use a series of shortcut keys to complete this set of commands, it is recommended to save it as an action, in the action options panel, you can set a convenient function key for this action, such as Shift+F2, so that you can call it at any time, very convenient. Especially when importing images from Photoshop into other applications, the time savings can be considerable! The different combinations of Shift, Control, and F2 to F12 can define many actions and greatly improve efficiency.

4. Automatic selection of layers: quite a small action, but very useful, especially in some large multi-layer files, even if the rules for each layer command, in order to stack layers, in the selection is more troublesome - you may not remember which layers they belong to, and the consequences of wrong operation are sometimes terrible. At this time, you can first select the Move tool, tick "Automatic layer selection" in the tool options, so that, in addition to the slice tool, path component selection tool, pen tool and gripper tool, other tools in the toolbox are currently selected, hold down the Ctrl key at the same time, the current tool will temporarily become the move tool, click any object on the canvas. Photoshop will automatically go to the layer on which it is located so that it can be manipulated. In the current Move tool, even if you do not select the automatic selection layer, just hold down the Ctrl key, you can also freely select the image content belonging to different layers.

5. Create Custom brushes: One of the most useful but underutilized resources in Photoshop is creating custom brushes. Create a new document, the size of the brush you want to make, and draw your brush image in black (it can also be colored or different shades of gray, but this will make the brush color lighter), such as a small flower, several small trees, etc. Then select it with a rectangular marquee box and define it as a new brush. If no selection is made, Photoshop defines the entire image on the canvas as a brush. This way, you can use these custom brushes to create a variety of unique images, especially some decorative patterns such as borders.

6. Lens halo effect: In primary image processing, lens halo can be said to be one of the most commonly used retouching effects. In general, you can use filters directly in the image. Render > Lens flare, to add atmosphere to the image. So, if you're really happy with a shot flare and want to save it, we can take advantage of the layer blending feature. Create a new layer on top of the image, fill it with black, apply the lens halo filter, and set the layer blend mode for this layer to "Screen" so that the black is hidden and you get a separate halo effect layer. However, the only disadvantage of this method is that it cannot be displayed on white images.

7. Light effect filter: The biggest surprise of this filter is that it can create a variety of realistic texture effects. The simplest way to use it is to place a simple texture in a channel and then apply a filter to a certain layer. Render > Light effect, in the texture channel select the channel that just stored the texture, adjust various corresponding lighting Settings, so that you can get a three-dimensional texture effect.

8. Use Adjustment layers: No one can be sure that you can adjust an image perfectly in one go, so in addition to practicing good backup habits, it is best to use adjustment layers whenever possible. You may find this a hassle, but it is small compared to the cost of image damage. And more importantly, you can make new adjustments as you go along without having to worry about damage to the image.

9. Quick copy technique: In the same document, determine the current mobile tool (or temporarily for the mobile tool), press the Alt key at the same time, drag the object, you can copy, hold down the Shift key, you can ensure that the multiple of 45 degree Angle move; Between different documents, hold down the Shift key while moving, and if the two documents are the same size, the object is copied to the same location in the new document, and if the document is different size, the object is copied to the middle of the new document. Copying in this way is not only convenient, but also reduces the use of clipboard and further saves system resources.

10. Accumulation of results: When you use Photoshop for a while, you are bound to save a lot of good things. Such as your painstaking modulation of gradients, contours, styles, etc., but also include some convenient work of the color palette. These are only temporarily saved in Photoshop, once reinstalled, Photoshop will revert to its default state, become clean, and these self-defined things will disappear without a trace. This is not only a pity, but also affects your work (such as the loss of a defined palette). Therefore, it is best to save every time you have a favorite project with the preset manager, stored in a special folder. The Default manager can save brushes, swatches, gradients, styles, patterns, contours, and custom shapes so that none of your work is lost. After reinstallation, overwrite with the appropriate files and return to the familiar working environment.