In this lesson you’ll learn a few of the most time saving shortcuts you'll ever use in Photoshop Elements. In fact, if you’ve ever watched an expert doing something in Photoshop Elements, they appear to be zooming around in the program and working so quickly that it looks like magic. Well, it isn’t magic. They’re using the shortcuts I’m about to show you.

These shortcuts change the visual size of your photos on your computer desktop—not the actual size—but how large or small the photo appears to you on your computer screen. By quickly changing the visual size of your photo you can zoom in to a specific area, move your document around, and zoom out to get the big picture again without skipping a beat.

The shortcuts are found in the View menu. Here’s zoom in, zoom out, and fit on screen, and each of these commands has a shortcut listed over on the right. To zoom in use Ctrl = in Windows (Mac: Cmd =). The = key is also the plus key, so I prefer to use the word plus. To zoom out use Ctrl - (Mac: Cmd -).

And to make your image resize to fit the available desktop use Ctrl 0 (Mac: Cmd 0). Let me show you an easy way to remember these shortcuts.

Look at your keyboard at the row of numbers. The three keys to the right of the number 9 are the shortcut keys. Here’s a closer view. Notice there’s a 0 key, and then a - key, and then a + key. The key with the plus will zoom you in to the photo making the photo larger. The - key zooms you out, making the photo smaller, and we’re going to think of the 0 key as ground zero. This key takes you back to ground 0 where your photo fits the available desktop. You’ll use these shortcuts in conjunction with the Ctrl key (Mac: Cmd).

Before we practice this, though, I want to be sure you have the correct setting on your Zoom tool, so select the Zoom tool, and open Tool Options, and make sure “Resize Windows To Fit” is checked. Then close Tool Options so you can see more of the desktop. Let’s try the shortcuts on this photo of a vintage airplane. You’ll find this photo in your class practice folder for lesson 13.

Now let's try the shortcuts. Press and hold the Ctrl key (Mac: Cmd key) and then press the + key a few times to zoom in. Each time you press Ctrl + (Cmd +) you zoom in a step. Now press Ctrl - (Mac: Cmd -) a few times, to zoom out. Each time you press Ctrl - (Cmd -) you zoom out a step.

To fit your photo to the available desktop, press Ctrl 0 (Mac: Cmd 0) to get back to ground 0 where your photo fits the available desktop. Zoom in…zoom out…then go to ground 0 to fit the available space on your desktop.

One thing I should mention is that if your keyboard is based on a language other than English, you may not be able to use these shortcuts. Next I’ll show you two valuable shortcuts for viewing and using the Zoom and Hand tools. I never select the Zoom or Hand tools in the Tool Bin—not ever, because it’s not necessary.

When you’re in the productive mode, it’s takes way too much time to mouse all the way over to the Tool Bar to click on the Zoom or Hand tools. I use the shortcuts instead, and I want YOU to learn them, too, because you’ll get things done so much faster!

Let’s say I have my Move tool selected, so my cursor shows a Move tool icon. If I want to zoom in to a particular spot in my photo, all I have to do is press the Ctrl key and Space Bar at the same time in Windows or the Cmd key and the Space Bar at the same time on a Mac, and my cursor temporarily turns into a Zoom tool icon. Now I can click on my document to zoom in, or I can click and drag an outline, which is what I tend to do most. When I’m done, I let go of the keyboard keys, and my cursor will turn back into a Move tool icon, or whatever tool I’m currently using.

When I’m zoomed in this close, I can press just the Spacebar, without any other keys, to temporarily turn my cursor into a Hand tool so I can click and drag to move my photo around. When I let go of the Spacebar, my cursor turns back into the Move tool, or whatever tool I’m currently using. To zoom out, it’s easiest just to use the keyboard shortcut to go back to ground 0: Ctrl 0 (Mac: Cmd 0), and that would instantly resizes the photo to fit my desktop. But let’s try one other possibility, and that is to double click on the Hand tool to fit your image to the available desktop. And that works with any language. And finally, some people prefer to use the scroll wheel on a mouse to zoom in and out. I personally don’t use this method because I use the scroll wheel

to move my photo up or down when I’m zoomed in—like this, but I know people who love to use the scroll wheel to zoom. If you want to try this method press Ctrl K to get Preferences, and under the General category, check Zoom with Scroll Wheel. Then click OK. On your document hover your cursor over the area you want to zoom in. Let’s say I want to zoom in to the propeller, so I would hover my mouse over the propeller without clicking. You don’t need to click—you just need to place the cursor there. Then move the scroll wheel toward yourself to zoom in or move it away from you to zoom out. This works with any tool. If I get the Rectangular Marquee tool, I can still use the scroll wheel to zoom in or out.

When zoomed in you would still need to press the Spacebar to temporarily access the Hand tool and click and drag to move your image around. Let go of the Spacebar when you’re finished moving.

Be aware that if you zoom in past 100%, which is very easy to do when using the scroll wheel, your photo will look pixelated. So here I’m going to zoom way in, and let’s get over to where there are some pixels. You can see I’m over 800% and you can see how pixelated that looks. I’ll press Ctrl 0 (Mac: Cmd 0) to get back to ground 0 where my photo fits the desktop. Or, remember, you can double click on the Hand tool to get back to ground 0.

Also, if you ever need to zoom in to 100% size, you can double click on the Zoom tool. As you can see, there are several ways to change the viewing size of your photo.

I would encourage you to spend a few minutes practicing these keyboard shortcuts. Figure out which method you prefer for zooming in or out and for getting back to ground 0. Once you figure out which shortcuts you prefer, use them consistently, and you'll be amazed at how much faster and easier it is to work in Photoshop Elements!