10 Photoshop Techniques You Can't Work Without:

Once in a blue moon there comes along a Photoshop technique that's so simple yet effective that it makes you gasp, "OMFG! Why didn't anyone tell me about that!" The following 10 techniques every Photoshopper should know:

 

1. One-Click Selection:

Summary: CTRL+Click a layer's thumbnail to select all contents on that layer. This one's going to speed up your workflow several fold, and you won't worry about deselecting because its so easy to reselect.

 

 

 

Shown: Here we have a non-empty layer containing the black leaf graphic.

 

 

Step 1: CTRL+Click the "Layer 2" thumbnail icon. Notice the selection outside that appears around the leaf. Everything contained in "Layer 2" has been selected.

 

 

Shown: The selection is clearly visible now with "Layer 2's" visibility turned off.

Tip: CTRL+Click also works on Path layers. Quickly generate selections by CTRL+Clicking a path's thumbnail.

Tip: Store selections you don't immediately need by creating a new layer and filling the selection with black. When you want to recall the selection, just CTRL+Click the layer's thumbnail.