Cropping Images

Use Photoshop Custom Shape Tool, select the grid option.
Resize the grid overtop the photo to dimensions of final product (using the Info Panel to see the width and height).
Subject should appear at one of the four places the grid lines intersect (in the middle).
 
Photoshop Shortcuts
Press Alt key while dragging to duplicate a layer.
Press V to access MoveTool.
Press T to access TextTool.

Selecting and Changing All Text Layers at Once in Photoshop and PSE

When you are working on a project with a number of text layers, there is a quick way to select all of the text layers at once. This is handy to know in case you want to change the font for your project, but you don't want to have to hunt for each text layer and change them manually.

Here's how: Select one of the text layers in the Layers panel. These layers will have a T icon on the left side of the layer. From the Menu bar, choose Select > Similar layers. The software will search for all layers similar to the one you have selected, so in this case all of the text layers will be highlighted. To change the font, get the Type tool while leaving all of the text layers selected. Choose a new font in the Options bar across the top of the editing window. Your font choice will replace the current font type in each text layer automatically. You can change the font size, style and orientation this way, too.

Tips

You can take a snapshot from the history panel.

Between Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, there are hundreds of keyboard shortcuts you could memorize (and later forget). But there are a select few that apply across all three programs. These common shortcuts give you the biggest bang for your buck, and are well worth adding to your repertoire. Here’s a sample of the shortcuts that work across the Big 3 Creative Cloud desktop apps.

  • Tool Shortcuts
    Selection/Move: V
    Direct Selection: A
    Zoom: Z Pen: P Eyedropper: I
    Type: T
    Hand: H
    Rectangle/Rectangular Marquee: M

Viewing Shortcuts

  • View actual size: Command/Ctrl+1
  • Fit on screen/page: Command/Ctrl+0
  • Fit on screen/page: Double-click Hand tool
  • Zoom in: Command/Ctrl+=
  • Zoom out: Command/Ctrl+-
  • Temporary zoom in: Command/Ctrl+Spacebar
  • Temporary zoom out: Option+Command/Alt+Ctrl+Spacebar
  • Show/hide rulers: Command/Ctrl+R
  • Show/hide guides: Command/Ctrl+;
  • Lock guides: Opt+ Command/Ctrl+;
  • Temporary hand tool: Spacebar
  • Hide Tools and Panels: Tab
  • Hide Panels: Shift+Tab

Decoding Illustrator’s Target Icons

You can tell a lot about an item in Illustrator from its target icon in the Layers panel. The target icon is the circular icon that appears to the right of an item in the panel.

 A single empty circle means the item is not targeted and has no appearance attributes beyond a single fill and a single stroke.
• A double empty circle means the item is targeted and has no appearance attributes beyond a single fill and a single stroke.
• A single shaded circle means the item is not targeted and has appearance attributes
• A double shaded circle means the item is targeted and has appearance attributes

Also note that you can shift-click target icons to select multiple items, which can be easier than selecting them on the artboard in some cases

This page contains information I gathered and thought were very useful. See more notes on design.

Just to let you know, this page was last updated Monday, Dec 02 24