Last Updated: November 21, 2025
Essential Shortcuts
V
Move Tool - Reposition layers
B
Brush Tool - Paint and retouch
J
Healing Brush Tool - Remove blemishes
S
Clone Brush Tool - Duplicate areas
O
Dodge/Burn Tool - Lighten/darken areas
E
Erase Brush Tool - Remove pixels
W
Selection Brush Tool
L
Freehand Selection Tool
Cmd/Ctrl + J
Duplicate layer
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + N
New layer
Adjustments
Layer → New Adjustment → Levels
Adjust tonal range and contrast
Layer → New Adjustment → Curves
Precise tonal adjustments via curve
Layer → New Adjustment → HSL
Hue, Saturation, Luminosity adjustment
Layer → New Adjustment → White Balance
Correct color temperature
Layer → New Adjustment → Vibrance
Smart saturation boost
Layer → New Adjustment → Black & White
Convert to monochrome with channel mixing
Layer → New Adjustment → Shadows/Highlights
Recover shadow and highlight detail
Layer → New Adjustment → Exposure
Adjust overall brightness
Layer → New Adjustment → Brightness/Contrast
Simple brightness and contrast control
Filters
Filters → Blur → Gaussian Blur
Soft blur effect
Filters → Blur → Motion Blur
Directional motion effect
Filters → Sharpen → Unsharp Mask
Enhance edge detail
Filters → Sharpen → High Pass
Advanced sharpening technique
Filters → Noise → Add Noise
Add grain texture
Filters → Noise → Denoise
Reduce noise/grain
Filters → Distort → Liquify Persona
Warp and reshape areas
Filters → Lighting → Lighting
Add artificial lighting effects
Filters → Artistic → Oil Paint
Convert photo to painting style
Layer Management
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + N
Create new pixel layer
Cmd/Ctrl + J
Duplicate current layer
Cmd/Ctrl + E
Merge down selected layer
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + E
Merge visible layers
Alt + click layer mask
View layer mask in isolation
Shift + click layer mask
Disable/enable layer mask
Layer → Rasterize
Convert adjustment/text to pixels
Cmd/Ctrl + G
Group selected layers
Selection Tools
W
Selection Brush - Paint to select
M
Rectangular Marquee Tool
L
Freehand Selection - Draw selection
Y
Flood Select Tool - Click to select color
Cmd/Ctrl + A
Select all
Cmd/Ctrl + D
Deselect
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I
Invert selection
Select → Refine Edges
Refine complex selections (hair, fur)
Select → Grow
Expand selection outward
Retouching Tools
J - Healing Brush
Blend imperfections seamlessly
S - Clone Brush
Duplicate texture from source point
O - Dodge Tool
Lighten specific areas
O - Burn Tool
Darken specific areas
O - Sponge Tool
Saturate or desaturate areas
Alt + click (Clone/Heal)
Set source point for cloning
[ / ]
Decrease/increase brush size
Shift + [ / ]
Decrease/increase brush hardness
Personas (Workspaces)
Photo Persona
Main editing workspace with layers and adjustments
Liquify Persona
Warp, twist, pinch, and reshape images
Develop Persona
RAW processing with non-destructive controls
Tone Mapping Persona
HDR and tonemapping for high dynamic range
Export Persona
Batch export with slices and presets
Color & Tone
Eyedropper Tool (I)
Sample colors from image
X
Swap foreground/background colors
D
Reset to default colors (black/white)
HSL Adjustment
Shift specific color ranges precisely
Curves Adjustment
Master tonal control with RGB curves
Split Toning
Color grade highlights and shadows separately
💡 Pro Tip:
Use
Frequency Separation
technique (separate texture from tone on two layers) for advanced skin retouching. Access via
Filters → Frequency Separation
macro.