Resources for Students
LiveSurface is a resource for ad/packaging/product designers. Each high-quality photo comes with pre-built layer masks, vanishing-point planes, shadows, highlights… all organized layer-by-layer. They are expensive singly but if you did a lot of product design you would do well to buy some of their packages.
We’ve got 18 Exceptionally Useful Photoshop Shortcuts over here [via LifeHacker], and a smorgasbord of Photoshop shortcuts in PDF form, for every version from 5 up to CS3, over here.
Personally, I use CTRL+T to Transform (scale, rotate, skew); CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+S to save for web; CTRL+W to Close Document and CTRL+ALT+W to Close All, and the Spacebar for a temporary Hand tool.
I also use D to get to the Default black and white colours in the toolbar, and X will switch them (so the background becomes the foreground), plus B gives you a brush and the [ and ] keys will make the brush smaller and bigger.
CTRL+R gives you rulers, which gives you quick access to guides. CTRL+; shows and hides the guides and CTRL+’ shows and hides the grid.
And of course, the basics: CTRL+C for copy, CTRL+V for paste, CTRL+Z for undo, CTRL+S for save, CTRL+N for new, CTRL+H to hide or show display (like selection marquees). Oh, and CTRL+E will merge down the current or selected layers, plus I create an action set to F2 every time I install Photoshop that will flatten a layer.
I am stopping there although I know there are more that I use daily. What keyboard shortcuts do you use often?
Excellent article discussing the pen tool and its uses. Definitely worth the run-through.