Alt is the abbreviation of the word "Alter", which means "change" in Chinese. Under the WINDOWS operating platform, the Alt key can be said to be the king of the keyboard. Proficient use of this key can greatly improve the efficiency of our computer operation. In PHOTOSHOP, its functions are fully utilized.
Most of the related skills provided on the Internet are listed in separate items, which are not easy to remember because they are not related to each other. This article attempts to roughly classify them according to their working principles. Some functions are rarely used. To keep the article complete, it is easy to just try it briefly and do not memorize it by rote. In addition, you need to hold down the mouse when using Alt to cooperate with the menu, and then release it when you reach the required command.
1. Execute the copy function
1. When using the move tool to drag a layer, press Alt to copy the layer and generate a new layer named layer × copy; if the object in the selection is moved, it will be copied within this layer, not Generate a new layer; this function is applicable to both the movement tool and the small keyboard arrow keys;
2. Hold down the Alt key (Ctrl+Alt+T) when performing free transformation (Ctrl+Alt+T), that is, first copy the original layer and then perform the transformation on the copied layer; similarly, if the object in the selected area is transformed, it will be in this image. Copy transformation is performed inside the layer without creating a new layer; it should be noted that this is not immediately visible when only the free transformation box is activated and no subsequent operations are performed. The copy can only be discovered when the transformation starts;
In addition, Ctrl+Shift+T is to execute the last transformation again, and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T is to copy the original image and then execute the last transformation. This command is widely used when making combined shapes with regular changes;
3. It is known that merging layers downward (Ctrl+E) is to merge the current layer with the next visible layer, and use the latter as the layer name (if the layer below it is not visible, this command is not available); then Ctrl The result of +Alt+E is to copy the contents of the current layer to the next layer; when merging visible layers (Ctrl+Shift+E), hold down the Alt key (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E) to merge all visible layers. Make a copy and merge it into the current layer (such as an empty layer at the top).
2. Perform another option when there is a possibility of choosing one of the two.
1. When holding down the Alt key, what you use with the eyedropper tool will be the background color instead of the foreground color;
2. When holding down the Alt key, the magnifying glass tool changes to the zoom out tool; similarly, you can also use the lasso and polygonal lasso (L), blur and sharpen (R), dodge and burn (O), eraser and history eraser. Switch between wipe (E);
3. When adding a layer mask, the default mask is all white, that is, the opacity is 100%. If you click with Alt to add a mask, an all black mask will be added, that is, the layer is completely transparent;
4. When editing the layer mask, click the mask part in the layer panel with Alt to allow the image window to display the mask view. Click again to return to the layer view (hold down SHIFT to switch between closing and opening the mask) );
5. Hold down the Alt key while dragging the auxiliary line to switch between horizontal auxiliary lines and vertical auxiliary lines. Hold down Alt and click on an existing vertical guide line to convert it to a horizontal guide line, and vice versa.
3. Call the parameters of the last dialog box operation
1. To repeat the filter you just used, you can use the key combination (Ctrl+F) to call it. If you want to modify the parameters of the previous filter (if the filter has parameters), use The key combination (Ctrl+Alt+F) brings up the filter dialog box; if the filter has no parameters to adjust, Alt is generally invalid (see below for special cases);
2. The usage of tools for adjusting color levels, hue, color balance, curves, etc. is the same as above. To repeat the last parameters unchanged, you need to use Alt to bring up the panel that retains the parameters, and add a press Enter to confirm.
4. When dialog operations are involved, forcefully avoid or add a dialog box
1. When creating a new layer in the layer panel, hold down the Alt key to force the new layer property setting dialog box to pop up;
2. When deleting a layer in the layer panel, hold down the Alt key to bypass the confirmation dialog box and delete the layer directly;
3. The above two are also valid for channels, paths, actions, and history record panels;
4. To achieve the effect described in Article 1, you can use Ctrl+Shift+N, so Ctrl+Shift+Alt+N is equivalent to directly clicking the Create New Layer button in the Layers Panel;
5. When converting the background layer to a normal layer, the method is generally to double-click on the background layer of the layer panel to pop up a dialog box that defaults to layer 0; double-click with Alt to skip the dialog box and directly convert the background layer to Layer 0;
5. Special usage
1. When grouping layers, hold down Alt and move the cursor to the boundary line between the two layers. The cursor changes number and click Group;
2. When the current tools are brush (B) and gradient (G), press Alt to temporarily activate the eyedropper tool to absorb the foreground color; this method is often used to replace the real eyedropper tool (I), because the hot keys for the first two are in the left hand Area, background color can be quickly switched and absorbed through the hotkey X;
3. In any dialog box with adjustable parameters, when you are not satisfied with the adjusted parameters, press Alt. At this time, the button "Cancel" changes to "Reset". Click to return to the initial state of the dialog box;
4. In text editing, Alt can be used with the left and right arrow keys of the small keyboard to fine-tune the character spacing;
5. Transfer channels: Taking RGB mode as an example, the hotkeys Ctrl+~, Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, and Ctrl+3 respectively correspond to displaying all channels and displaying red, green, and blue channels. Ctrl+4 corresponds to the following. Display the created Alpha channel 1 and so on; use the Alt key (Ctrl+Alt+4) to directly transfer these channels into the selection;
6. Press the Alt key in the color palette panel and the cursor changes to scissors to delete the color palette unit.
6. Other uses
1. The fastest way to open a file in PHOTOSHOP is to double-click the desktop. Alt+double-click the desktop to open it (Shift+double-click the desktop to bring up PHOTOSHOP's image browser);
2. Range centering: When using cropping, rectangular or elliptical masks to delineate the range, the first point clicked by the mouse by default is a corner point of the rectangle or ellipse circumscribed rectangle; if used with Alt, the first point It is the center of the rectangle or ellipse (when combined with Shift, it will force a square or circle); it is also applicable to free transformation (when combined with Shift, it will be proportional scaling);
3. Perform subtraction: When using a mask or lasso, first draw a selection, and then press the Alt key to subtract the new selection from the original selection (Shift is to add a selection), and press Shift and Alt at the same time to find. The intersection of the old and new selections; this function is also used to call the layer selection with the Ctrl key;
4. When repeatedly executing the cloud filter, use Alt to obtain clouds with the strongest contrast. The effect is equivalent to an ordinary cloud followed by an automatic color level operation;
5. Alt+Backspace and Ctrl+Backspace key combinations are used to fill the foreground color and background color respectively. Another very useful hotkey is Shift+Backspace - activate the fill dialog box;
In addition, the Alt+Shift+Backspace and Ctrl+Shift+Backspace key combinations only fill the existing pixels (keeping the transparent area) when filling the front and background colors; Ctrl+Alt+Backspace is a filling snapshot;
6. Continuously press Alt+"[" or Alt+"]" to activate the lower or upper layers in sequence (cycle) as the current layer;
7. In the curve dialog box, hold down Alt and click on the grid of the curve background to switch between 4×4 and 10×10;
8. Call up software Easter eggs: For example, press Alt and click the small triangle in the upper right corner of the layer panel, and select the last "Panel option", and a small window of the magician will appear.