Photoshop Tip : Keyboard Shortcuts For Scaling

By Jennifer | Jun 13 2007 |

When you are resizing an object in Photoshop with the Free Transform tool (Ctrl + T or Cmd + T), you probably already know that holding down the Shift key when dragging a handle will let you resize proportionately and avoid distortion. In the illustration below, I’m holding down Shift while dragging the bottom right corner.

But you probably already knew that, didn’t you?

However, did you know that if you hold down Shift AND Alt (Windows) or Shift AND Option (Mac), all handles will be affected at once?

In the illustration below, I have once again held down the Shift key while dragging from the same bottom right corner, but by also holding down the Alt or Option key, the object is resized on all sides.

Try it out!

Comments

4 Responses to “Photoshop Tip : Keyboard Shortcuts For Scaling”

Randa Clay on June 13th, 2007 12:06 pm

Good tip - I need to get better at these shortcuts in Photoshop. They save lots of time! I’m a little better at the ones in Illustrator because I’ve been using it longer. It’s amazing the depth of these programs- always something new to learn!
jennyrusks on June 13th, 2007 2:59 pm

Thanks Randa. Yes, it’s very simple but it’s amazing how a couple of shortcuts can speed up your workflow enormously. I try to get my trainees to the point where they are working with one hand on the mouse and the other on the keyboard pressing buttons simultaneously.
artsake on June 13th, 2007 6:44 pm

I was just trying to figure that shortcut out the other day. I knew there was a way to do it and I must have used every key combination but that one.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll file that one away in my jumbled brain so I can remember it the next time I need it.
jennyrusks on June 14th, 2007 7:12 am

Great stuff artsake! There’s so many shortcuts, it’s hard to remember them all, isn’t it?