5. USE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS TO ZOOM IN AND OUT

THERE ARE A couple of things that I think you absolutely need to know how to do when you’re learning Photoshop, and zooming in and out of a document is one of them. Sure, it sounds pretty straightforward: zoom in, zoom out, next lesson. However, this is one of those instances in which a lot of people don’t spend enough time looking at the proper technique or learning how to efficiently move around a document. When you don’t use the proper technique, a job that would normally take you five minutes can turn into a 35-minute ordeal.

Think about it; zooming in and out is the cornerstone of everything you do in Photoshop. If you’re retouching eyes, you need to get right into the eyeball. If you’re trying to clone out a tree from a background, you need to get into the individual components of the tree. If you need to retouch skin, you’re going to have to zoom in to a pore level. All of these things will require you to zoom in to a portion of the document, and then move further away from it.

The technique I’m going to share is incredibly simple, but you need to do it right the first time and you need to exercise really good habits right from the very start. If you take an hour to practice this technique, and then go in and do it for five minutes at the start of a project, you’ll be surprised by how fast you can assimilate this information into muscle memory.

Before we start any of this, it’s important for you to have proper Photoshop keyboard technique. Think about the keyboard that’s in front of you. If I were to make a guess, I’d say your keyboard is directly in front of you, and the space bar is lined up with your belly button. You position your keyboard this way because it’s the most comfortable position for typing. Half of the keyboard is covered by your left hand and half by your right hand, making it easier for you to access all of the buttons. This is how we learned to type.

However, in Photoshop you don’t use the keyboard for typing. The keyboard is really just an extension of tools and shortcuts—a physical representation of your toolbar, if you will—so you don’t need to have it directly in front of you. In fact, it works to a disadvantage if you do. I recommend moving it all the way over to one side, opposite your mouse. When it is over on one side, you can cover the span of the keyboard with one hand, and operate your mouse with your other hand. If you need to press Command+C (PC: Control+C), for example, you can use your ring finger and middle finger. To press Command+P (PC: Control+P), you can press the Command key (PC: Control) on the right side of the keyboard with your thumb and the letter P with your index finger. Moving around like this is a lot more comfortable and you will be more likely to remember keyboard shortcuts and commit them to muscle memory.

Now that your keyboard is set up, let’s talk about zooming in. Press Z on your keyboard to trigger the Zoom tool at the bottom of the toolbar. Once the Zoom tool is selected, click and drag to the right to zoom in to your document. Click and drag to the left to zoom back out. Once you are zoomed in to a portion of the document, you’re going to want to move around in the document. Select the Hand tool by pressing H on your keyboard, and then you can click and drag on the document window to move it around. So this is pretty straightforward—use the Z and H keys to toggle between the Zoom and Hand tools.

The problem with this method, though, is that more often than not, you don’t want to be constantly switching back and forth between these tools. You could be in the middle of brushing in a sky or retouching some pores and you don’t want to switch from the brush, to the zoom, to the hand, and keep clicking on keyboard shortcuts. Let’s look at another keyboard shortcut for zooming in and out and moving around.

Press the V on your keyboard to select the Move tool. Now hold down the Command key (PC: Control) and the space bar, and you’ll notice that the cursor turns into a Zoom tool and you can click and drag to zoom in and out. Once you zoom into a specific area, release the Command key (PC: Control) and space bar, and you’ll be brought right back to the Move tool. If you want to move around in the document, you can hold down the space bar to access the Hand tool. Continue holding down the space bar and add in the Command key (PC: Control) to access the Zoom tool again.

Practicing this keyboard shortcut is supremely important—hold down the space bar and Command key (PC: Control), zoom in, zoom out, release the Command key (PC: Control) to switch to the Hand tool temporarily, move to another portion of the document, and so on. Yes, I know, it feels very basic, but because you will be doing this over and over again when you’re working on your projects, knowing these basics is very helpful.

When you’re working with the Zoom tool, keep in mind that it is relative. That is to say, when you select the Zoom tool and click-and-drag on a portion of a document, you will Zoom in on that general area. For example, in my picture of New York City, if I hold down the Command key (PC: Control) and space bar and click-and-drag on the Empire State Building, it brings me right into the Empire State Building area (Figure 5.1). If I zoom in to the blue reflection on the water, it brings me into that portion of the picture (Figure 5.2).

You have to be very particular about where in the document you’re zooming in and out. If you want to see the entire document in the workspace, you can select View > Fit on Screen, or use the keyboard shortcut Command+0 (PC: Control+0). If you want to see the document at 100%, press Command+1 (PC: Control+1). This will get you to the print size, or 100% of the Photoshop document. These are absolutely essential keyboard shortcuts for you to practice using, and the more you do, the faster and easier your work in Photoshop will be. Sounds simple, but it’s worth it.

Figure 5.1 Zooming in on the Empire State Building.

Figure 5.2 Zooming in on the reflection on the water.