{"id":78412,"date":"2023-01-12T20:14:45","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T01:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/?p=78412"},"modified":"2023-01-12T20:14:45","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T01:14:45","slug":"streamline-your-scrapbooking-with-custom-keyboard-shortcuts-1-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/streamline-your-scrapbooking-with-custom-keyboard-shortcuts-1-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Streamline Your Scrapbooking with Custom Keyboard Shortcuts – 1\/12"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am not the fastest scrapbooker. At times, I can agonize over a single layout for hours and hours before I finally decide it’s complete. But that has everything to do with my design indecision, not my speed at working in Photoshop.<\/p>\n

I’ve been using Photoshop since 1994, back when it was version 2.0 and you installed it by “plugging and chugging” your way through 3.5″ floppy discs. Over the years, I’ve learned many, many keyboard shortcuts, to the point they’ve become almost instinctive. I might not be able to tell you the specific shortcut to copy a selection with all visible layers merged, but put my hands on a keyboard and I can do it. (Incidentally, it’s CTRL + SHIFT + C.)<\/p>\n

But not every function in Photoshop is assigned a keyboard shortcut. In fact, some of the functions I use most often are buried under multiple levels of drop-down menus, and I can’t always remember exactly where they are. (“Do I find this under the top-level pull-down menu, or is it in the panel’s drop-down menu, or do I access it from a right-click on the layer?”)<\/em> I can spend a lot of wasted time searching through menus that would be much better spent on designing my layout.<\/p>\n

One day, in a moment of abject frustration, I turned to my favorite search engine to see if there was a way I could solve my “can’t remember where that dang tool is” problem. And surprisingly, wonderfully, happily, I stumbled across the answer:<\/p>\n

Create my own custom keyboard shortcuts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s not hard to do, and only takes a minute, but what it’s saved me in both time and frustration has been absolutely invaluable!<\/p>\n

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Before we continue: A note about software<\/h1>\n

It’s easy for me to forget sometimes that not everyone scraps in the full version of Photoshop. But I know that our community of scrapbookers make use of several different tools to create their layouts, including Photoshop Elements (the “lite” version of Photoshop), Paint Shop Pro, and GIMP. I did some research, and it turns out all of these tools have a way to create your own customized keyboard shortcuts. And while the rest of this post will demonstrate how I do this in Photoshop, here are some links to help you learn how to follow along in your software of choice.<\/p>\n

Photoshop CC:<\/strong> Adobe’s Help entry to Customize keyboard shortcuts<\/a><\/p>\n

Photoshop Elements:<\/strong> PSE does not natively support custom keyboard shortcuts. However, there is a plug-in available to purchase called Shortcuts+<\/em><\/a> that was recommended in the Adobe Forum.<\/p>\n

Paint Shop Pro:<\/strong> Corel’s Help entry on Custom keyboard shortcuts in Corel PaintShop Pro<\/a><\/p>\n

GIMP:<\/strong>\u00a0GIMP Docs instructions on Creating shortcuts to Menu Commands<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, let me show you the three steps to streamlining your scrapbooking with custom keyboard shortcuts!<\/p>\n

Step 1: Scrap a page and make a list<\/h1>\n

Before you start configuring your software, the best thing to do is grab a sheet of scrap paper and something to write with, open your software, and start scrapbooking. As you work on your layout, make a list of the commands you use over and over again. What tools do you use regularly that take you through a menu path? What functions do you struggle to find?<\/p>\n

For me, these were the commands I found myself reaching for over and over that weren’t quick and easy to execute:<\/p>\n