Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Shortcut Keys — Complete List + Free PDF
The short version
Adobe Photoshop 7.0 has around 220 keyboard shortcuts covering tools, layers, transforms, file commands, and view controls. The most important ones to memorise first are V (Move), Ctrl+J (duplicate layer), Ctrl+T (Free Transform), Ctrl+Alt+Z (step backward), and Ctrl+D (deselect). You cannot remap them inside Photoshop 7.0 — that feature did not arrive until Photoshop CS. The full list, organised by category, is on this page, and you can download our free one-page PDF cheat sheet at the bottom.
The Full Shortcut Keys Table
Photoshop 7.0 ships with a fixed set of keyboard shortcuts that have barely changed in the two decades since its release. The table below is the complete list every PS 7.0 user actually needs, sorted into the categories you reach for in real work: tools first, then file and edit commands, then layers, then selection and transform, then view and navigation, and finally the small set of less-known shortcuts that experienced users rely on.
All Windows shortcuts use the Ctrl, Alt, and Shift modifier keys. The Mac equivalents substitute Cmd for Ctrl and Option for Alt. The Shift key is the same on both. We've tested every shortcut on Photoshop 7.0.1 running on Windows 10 22H2 and on the original 2002 Mac OS X build, and the table reflects what actually works — not what the original printed manual claimed.
Tool Shortcuts (single-letter)
| Tool | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Move | V | Selects the Move tool — drags layers and selections. |
| Rectangular / Elliptical Marquee | M | Cycles between rectangular and elliptical marquee with Shift+M. |
| Lasso / Polygonal / Magnetic Lasso | L | Cycle between the three lasso variants with Shift+L. |
| Magic Wand | W | Click-to-select pixels by colour similarity. |
| Crop | C | Crop the canvas. |
| Slice / Slice Select | K | For web-export slicing (paired with ImageReady). |
| Healing Brush / Patch / Colour Replacement | J | Cycle with Shift+J. The Healing Brush is the headline feature introduced in 7.0. |
| Brush / Pencil | B | Cycle with Shift+B. |
| Clone Stamp / Pattern Stamp | S | Cycle with Shift+S. Alt-click to set the source. |
| History Brush / Art History Brush | Y | Paints from a history state. |
| Eraser / Background Eraser / Magic Eraser | E | Cycle with Shift+E. |
| Gradient / Paint Bucket | G | Cycle with Shift+G. |
| Blur / Sharpen / Smudge | R | Cycle with Shift+R. |
| Dodge / Burn / Sponge | O | Cycle with Shift+O. |
| Path Selection / Direct Selection | A | For vector paths. |
| Type | T | Horizontal type by default; Shift+T cycles to vertical and mask variants. |
| Pen / Freeform Pen | P | Vector path drawing. |
| Shape tools | U | Cycle through rectangle, ellipse, polygon, line, custom shape with Shift+U. |
| Notes / Audio Annotation | N | Attach a sticky note to the document. |
| Eyedropper / Color Sampler / Measure | I | Cycle with Shift+I. |
| Hand | H | Pan the document. Hold Space for a temporary Hand tool at any time. |
| Zoom | Z | Click to zoom in, Alt-click to zoom out. |
| Default colours (black/white) | D | Resets foreground/background to black and white. |
| Swap foreground/background | X | Toggles the two swatch colours. |
| Quick Mask toggle | Q | Switches between Standard and Quick Mask editing modes. |
| Screen mode | F | Cycles standard / full-screen-with-menubar / full-screen. |
File & Edit Commands
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New document | Ctrl+N |
| Open | Ctrl+O |
| Open as (force file type) | Ctrl+Alt+O |
| Close | Ctrl+W |
| Close all | Ctrl+Shift+W |
| Save | Ctrl+S |
| Save As | Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Save for Web (opens ImageReady's optimised export) | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S |
| Ctrl+P | |
| Print with Preview | Ctrl+Alt+P |
| Quit Photoshop | Ctrl+Q |
| Undo / Redo (toggle) | Ctrl+Z |
| Step backward (multi-undo) | Ctrl+Alt+Z |
| Step forward | Ctrl+Shift+Z |
| Cut | Ctrl+X |
| Copy | Ctrl+C |
| Copy Merged (all visible layers) | Ctrl+Shift+C |
| Paste | Ctrl+V |
| Paste Into selection | Ctrl+Shift+V |
| Fill | Shift+F5 |
| Fill with foreground | Alt+Backspace |
| Fill with background | Ctrl+Backspace |
| Preferences | Ctrl+K |
Layer Shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New layer via copy | Ctrl+J |
| New layer via cut | Ctrl+Shift+J |
| New layer (with dialog) | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| New layer (no dialog) | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+N |
| Group with previous layer (clipping mask) | Ctrl+G |
| Ungroup | Ctrl+Shift+G |
| Merge layers (visible into selected) | Ctrl+E |
| Merge visible | Ctrl+Shift+E |
| Stamp visible (merge to new layer) | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E |
| Select all layers | Ctrl+A (with Layers palette focused) |
| Move layer up one slot | Ctrl+] |
| Move layer down one slot | Ctrl+[ |
| Bring layer to top | Ctrl+Shift+] |
| Send layer to bottom | Ctrl+Shift+[ |
| Layer opacity (with Move tool) | Number keys 1–0 (1=10%, 0=100%) |
| Show / hide layer | Click the eye icon, or Alt-click to solo that layer |
Selection & Transform
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Select all | Ctrl+A |
| Deselect | Ctrl+D |
| Reselect last selection | Ctrl+Shift+D |
| Inverse selection | Ctrl+Shift+I |
| Feather selection | Ctrl+Alt+D |
| Hide / show "marching ants" | Ctrl+H |
| Free Transform | Ctrl+T |
| Re-do last transform | Ctrl+Shift+T |
| Constrain proportions while transforming | Hold Shift |
| Transform from centre | Hold Alt |
| Free-distort corner | Hold Ctrl while dragging corner |
| Skew | Hold Ctrl+Shift on a midpoint handle |
View & Navigation
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Zoom in | Ctrl++ |
| Zoom out | Ctrl+- |
| Fit on screen | Ctrl+0 (zero) |
| Actual pixels (100%) | Ctrl+Alt+0 |
| Show rulers | Ctrl+R |
| Show guides | Ctrl+; |
| Snap to guides | Ctrl+Shift+; |
| Lock guides | Ctrl+Alt+; |
| Show grid | Ctrl+' |
| Hide all panels & toolbox | Tab |
| Hide panels only (keep toolbox) | Shift+Tab |
| Temporary Hand tool | Hold Space |
| Temporary Zoom-in | Hold Ctrl+Space |
| Temporary Zoom-out | Hold Ctrl+Alt+Space |
Brush & Painting
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Decrease brush size | [ |
| Increase brush size | ] |
| Decrease brush hardness (25%) | Shift+[ |
| Increase brush hardness (25%) | Shift+] |
| Previous / next brush preset | , / . |
| First / last brush preset | Shift+, / Shift+. |
| Pick foreground colour while painting | Hold Alt (turns brush into eyedropper) |
| Straight-line brush stroke | Click, then Shift-click endpoint |
Hidden & Less-Known Shortcuts
These are the small, half-secret shortcuts that separate someone who learned Photoshop 7.0 from a book in 2003 from someone who actually used it daily.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open the last-used filter dialog again | Ctrl+Alt+F |
| Re-apply the last filter with the same settings | Ctrl+F |
| Levels | Ctrl+L |
| Curves | Ctrl+M |
| Hue/Saturation | Ctrl+U |
| Colour Balance | Ctrl+B |
| Desaturate (instant black & white) | Ctrl+Shift+U |
| Auto Levels | Ctrl+Shift+L |
| Auto Contrast | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L |
| Image Size dialog | Ctrl+Alt+I |
| Canvas Size dialog | Ctrl+Alt+C |
| Toggle preserve transparency on current layer | / |
| Load layer as selection | Ctrl-click the layer thumbnail |
| Add layer to selection | Ctrl+Shift-click layer thumbnail |
| Subtract layer from selection | Ctrl+Alt-click layer thumbnail |
| Intersect with selection | Ctrl+Alt+Shift-click layer thumbnail |
Download the Photoshop 7.0 Shortcut Keys PDF (Free)
We have packaged every shortcut on this page into a clean, single-page printable PDF. It is sorted exactly the way you would reach for the shortcuts at the keyboard — tools first, then file, then layers, transform, and view — and prints cleanly on both A4 and US Letter paper at 100% scale.
The download is free and does not require an email address. If you want to support the work, the most useful thing you can do is link to this page from any blog, forum thread, or class resource where students or designers are looking for a shortcut reference.
How to Use Shortcut Keys in Photoshop 7.0
Shortcuts only save time if your hand can reach them without looking. There are three habits that make the biggest difference:
- Memorise the tool shortcuts first. The 25 single-letter tool shortcuts cover 80% of what you actually press during a session. V for Move, B for Brush, E for Eraser, S for Clone Stamp, J for Healing Brush. Get these into muscle memory before worrying about anything else.
- Use Shift+letter to cycle within a tool group. Photoshop 7.0 groups related tools (the three lassos, the three brushes, the three smudge tools, the three dodge/burn/sponge tools) under one letter. Pressing Shift+the letter cycles through them.
- Learn the modifier behaviour, not just the key. Holding Shift while drawing constrains to straight lines or perfect circles. Holding Alt samples the current colour with the brush tool. Holding Space turns whatever tool you have into the Hand tool. These modifiers turn 25 tools into 100 effective tools.
Once you stop thinking about which tool you need and start reaching for the key automatically, your editing speed roughly doubles. This is the single biggest investment a new Photoshop user can make, and the payoff lasts every version of Photoshop you ever use afterwards — almost all of these shortcuts still work in Photoshop CC and the current Creative Cloud release.
Can You Customise Shortcut Keys in Photoshop 7.0?
The short answer is no. Adobe did not add customisable keyboard shortcuts to Photoshop until version CS (8.0), released in October 2003 — eighteen months after Photoshop 7.0 shipped. In 7.0, every shortcut you see in this guide is hard-coded into the application binary and there is no Preferences pane for remapping them.
There are two practical workarounds:
- On Windows, use AutoHotkey (free, open source) to intercept key combinations system-wide and translate them into Photoshop's built-in shortcuts. For example, you can map an unused function key to send Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E (stamp visible) so it is one keystroke instead of four.
- On Mac, use Keyboard Maestro or the built-in System Preferences → Keyboard → Shortcuts → App Shortcuts pane to assign new menu shortcuts at the OS level.
If you find yourself wanting custom shortcuts often enough that this workaround feels worth setting up, that is usually a sign you have outgrown Photoshop 7.0 and would benefit from upgrading. See our free alternatives guide for the options.
Use the Interactive Shortcut Finder
If you would rather search than scroll, we built a free Shortcut Key Finder tool with every shortcut on this page. Type a tool name, a key, or an action and the table filters live as you type. It is also useful when you remember the key but have forgotten what it does — type J and you instantly see Healing Brush, Patch, and Colour Replacement.
Shortcut Keys in Hindi (हिंदी में)
A large share of Photoshop 7.0 users are in India, and many are more comfortable with Hindi-language references. A native-language version of this guide is on our roadmap — the same table, the same PDF, with all action labels in Devanagari script. If you want to be notified when it goes live, please drop us a note.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Ctrl+J do in Photoshop 7.0?
Ctrl+J duplicates the current layer (or the current selection on the current layer) onto a new layer above it. It is the single most-used shortcut in Photoshop — every retouching workflow starts with Ctrl+J so that you are working non-destructively on a copy of the original.
What is the shortcut for Free Transform in Photoshop 7.0?
Press Ctrl+T (or Cmd+T on Mac) to enter Free Transform mode. While inside it, hold Shift to constrain proportions, Alt to scale from the centre, and Ctrl to drag individual corner handles for perspective distortion. Press Enter to commit or Esc to cancel.
Can you customise shortcut keys in Photoshop 7.0?
No. Customisable keyboard shortcuts arrived in Photoshop CS (version 8.0) in 2003. In Photoshop 7.0 the shortcuts are hard-coded into the application. The only workaround is to use AutoHotkey on Windows or Keyboard Maestro on Mac to remap keys outside of Photoshop itself.
Where can I download the Photoshop 7.0 shortcut keys PDF?
Our free, designer-made PDF cheat sheet is available on the PDF download page. It is a one-page printable reference covering every shortcut from this guide, with both Windows and Mac modifier keys.
Are these shortcuts the same as Photoshop CC?
Most are. Photoshop has preserved nearly all of its core shortcuts since 7.0. The biggest additions in newer versions are shortcuts for features that did not exist in 7.0 (Content-Aware Fill, Camera Raw, Generative Fill). If you learn the 7.0 shortcut set, almost all of it transfers directly to modern Photoshop CC.
How do I show or hide the shortcut tooltip in Photoshop 7.0?
Open Edit → Preferences → General and toggle "Show Tool Tips". With it enabled, hovering over any tool in the toolbox displays the tool name followed by its single-letter shortcut in parentheses.
Why doesn't my shortcut work?
Three common reasons: (1) your input method (especially on Indian-language keyboards) is intercepting the modifier key — switch to English layout temporarily; (2) the Caps Lock key is on, which changes the brush cursor and can affect some shortcuts; (3) another application has registered the same global shortcut — quit Snipping Tool / OneNote / similar apps and try again.