4 Photoshop Tricks to Make Design Process Faster

A designer’s job is a very creative and personalized process. When you create a beautiful image in Photoshop, you try to use all the ideas you have. The large functionality of modern image editors allows you to make all your dreams come true. But, this takes time. And when the deadline is tight, designers start sacrificing new concepts in order to save time. To avoid such an annoying situation, you need to learn how to optimize the workflow in the image editor. This article will teach you 4 Photoshop tricks to make your design process faster.

There are several different approaches to speeding up your work in Photoshop.

Guidelines, Smart Guides, and Align / Distribute Tools

Good design should look professional. In most cases, that means that you need to symmetrically arrange all the elements and layers. In the pursuit of perfection, people spend a lot of time on symmetry. If you are a student and you have to spend time on homework instead – try the essay service online to save some. With professional help, you will get both good grades and have time to create beautiful designs. Anyway, you need to use all available tools to make everything look nice.

First, all professionals recommend enabling Smart guides in the settings. It can be found under the View> Show> Smart guides tab. This technology will show you the boundaries of objects. It will also be easier for you to place objects on the same line and at an even distance from each other.

Second, take a look at guidelines. Create virtual horizontal or vertical lines. They will serve you as rulers. You will divide the image into equal sections. You can create a New Guide in the View tab.

Thirdly, Align and Distribute tools can save you a lot of time. You’ve seen them a thousand times when you start a new project or use the Move tool. They are located at the top of the interface. Select the desired layer or several layers and press these wonderful buttons. Your objects will stand mathematically correctly.

Shortcuts

As with most professional technical applications, there are keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop. They are cutting down on the work speed in this program. If you are involved in projects of medium complexity, then you need to learn the basic shortcuts.

Here are some of the most common keyboard shortcuts:

• Zoom tool: alt + mouse wheel or ctrl + “+/- signs”
• Hand tool: space + right mouse button + drag
• Create new layer: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Clone layer as you move: Alt + drag
• Quick adjustments of the brush / the clone stamp / the eraser tool: Alt + left mouse button + drag

Photoshop has a lot of hotkeys. Every tool and every function has a quick call. So learn new combinations as you go to maximize your efficiency.

Macros

If you didn’t know, macros are a set of macroinstruction that you write as a single command to automatically perform the task. In other words, you create algorithms of actions for the computer. In Photoshop they are called Actions and will help you do simple routines much faster.

For example, you want to make a black border for 10 similar images. You create an Action and demonstrate once how you want to add a border. Then, you issue an Action command to the next 9 images. This way, you will get the finished result in a few seconds without any extra effort. Keep in mind that correctly created macros can perform complex tasks. With experience, you will be able to program all the work and get the finished result with one button.

The Actions window can be added with the Alt + F9 keyboard shortcut. This window is a place where you can create, save and run macros. There will be ready-made examples in it. Also, you can find ready-made macros created by other users on the internet.

Finally, it should be mentioned that Actions can be run through the Batch window. It can be found in File > Automate > Batch. It can be used to make advanced combinations. Try other tools from Automate as well. These are the best tools if you want to speed up your design process.

Artboard Tool

You can find this tool in the toolbar in the Move tool tab. It will be especially useful for designers of apps or social media posts. With it, you can create an endless number of mini-projects in one PSD file. It is much easier to create and edit images on the same topic. Moreover, each such window can be saved as a separate image.

Few people know and use this tool. This is mainly due to its novelty and its incomprehensible purpose. Try it in action. You will understand that this technique is very simple and effective. It will help you work faster.

Final Words

Photoshop is a highly technical program. It allows each person to use it differently. You can create a unique interface that will make your work more convenient. Almost any problem can be solved in several ways. This personalization creates an infinite number of options. Unfortunately, not all of them are intuitive. As a result, to learn how to work in Photoshop quickly, you need to know the basics, constantly learn new tricks, and experiment.