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Tools

Last updated on 1 October 2024

Photoshop Elements provides a toolbox in Quick and Advanced modes to help you work on your photos. You can use the tools in the toolbox to select, enhance, draw, and view images.

Toolbox in the Quick mode

The toolbox in the Quick mode contains a small set of easy-to-use tools. The tools available in this mode are Zoom, Hand, Selection Brush, Eye, Whiten Teeth, Straighten, Horizontal Type, Remove Tool, Crop, and Move.

Zoom tool (Z)

Zooms in or zooms out your image. The related tools shown in the Tool Options bar are Zoom In and Zoom Out. For more information about the Zoom tool, see Zoom in or out.

Hand tool (H)

Moves your photo in the Photoshop Elements workspace. You can drag your image using this tool. For more information, see Viewing images in Advanced or Quick modes.

Eye tool (Y)

Removes the red eye effect, pet eye effect, and corrects closed eyes in your photos. For more information about the tool, see Precisely remove red eye, Remove the Pet Eye effect, and Correct closed eyes.

Whiten Teeth tool (Z)

Enhances the portraits by making teeth appear whiter and brighter.

Straighten tool (P)

Realigns an image vertically or horizontally. For more information about the tool, see Straighten an image.

Type tool (T)

Creates and edits text on your image.

Remove tool (J)

This tool uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to streamline the removal of unwanted objects from your photos. You can select the object you wish to remove with a simple swipe. For more information about the tool, see Remove Tool.

Crop tool (C)

Trims the part of an image according to the selection. For more information about the tool, see Crop an image.

Move tool (V)

Moves selections or layers. For more information, see Move a selection.

Toolbox in the Advanced mode

In the Advanced mode, the toolbox is richer than the toolbox in the Quick mode. The tools are organized in the following logical groups:

View
Select
Enhance
Draw
Modify
Color

Tools Advanced mode — Advanced mode toolbox

A. View tools B. Select tools C. Enhance tools D. Draw tools E. Modify tools F. Color

Tools in the View group of the Advanced mode toolbox

Zoom tool (Z)

Zooms in or zooms out your image. The related tools shown in the Tool Options bar are Zoom In and Zoom Out. For more information about the Zoom tool, see Zoom in or out.

Hand tool (H)

Moves your photo in the Photoshop Elements workspace. You can drag your image using this tool. For more information, see Viewing images in Advanced or Quick modes.

Tools in the Select group of the Advanced mode toolbox

Move tool (V)

Moves selections or layers. For more information, see Move a selection.

Rectangular Marquee tool (M)

Selects an area in your image in a rectangular box. Hold the Shift key to make the selection a square.

Lasso tool (L)

Selects an area in your image in a free-form shape.

Auto Selection tool (A)

Automatically makes a selection when you draw a shape around the object you want to select.

For more information on selection, see Use tools to make selections.

Tools in the Enhance group of the Advanced mode toolbox

Eye tool (Y)

Spot Healing Brush tool (J)

Removes spots from your photos. For more information about this tool, see Remove spots and unwanted objects.

Smart Brush tool (F)

Applies tonal and color adjustments to specific areas of a photo.

Clone Stamp tool (S)

Paints with an image sample, which you can use to duplicate objects, remove image imperfections, or paint over objects in your photo. You can also clone part of an image to another image. For more information, see Clone images or areas in an image.

Blur tool (R)

Softens hard edges or areas in an image by reducing details. For more information, see Blur or soften edges.

Sponge tool (O)

Changes the color saturation of an area. For more information on how to use the tool, see Adjust saturation in isolated areas.

Tools in the Draw group of the Advanced mode toolbox

Brush tool (B)

Creates soft or hard strokes of color. You can use it to simulate airbrush techniques. For more information about the tool, see Use the Brush tool.

Eraser tool (E)

Erases the pixels in the image as you drag through them. For more information about the tool, see Use the Eraser Tool.

Paint Bucket tool (K)

Fills an area that is similar in color value to the pixels you click. For more information about the tool, see Use the Paint Bucket tool.

Gradient tool (G)

Fills in an area of image by a gradient. For more information, see Apply a gradient.

Color Picker tool (I)

Copies or samples the color of an area in your photo to set a new foreground or background color. For more information about the tool, see Choose a color with the Eyedropper tool.

Custom Shape tool (U)

Provides different shape options for you to draw. When you select the Custom Shape tool, you can access these shapes in the Tool Options bar.

Type tool (T)

Creates and edits text on your image.

The other type-related tools available in the Tool Options bar are:

Vertical Type
Horizontal Type Mask
Vertical Type Mask
Text on Selection
Text on Shape
Text on Custom Path

For more information about adding and editing text on your image, see Add text.

Pencil tool (N)

Creates hard-edged freehand lines. For more information, see Use the Pencil tool.

Tools in the Modify group of the Advanced mode toolbox

Crop tool (C)

Trims the part of an image according to the selection. For more information about the tool, see Crop an image.

Recompose tool (W)

Intelligently resizes photos without changing important visual content, such as people, building, animals, and more. For more information, see Recompose a photo in Advanced mode. For a step-by-step, guided method to recompose, see Recompose a photo in Guided mode.

Content-Aware Move tool (Q)

Selects an object in your photo and moves the selection to a different location, or extends it. For more information about the tool, see Move and reposition objects.

Straighten tool (P)

Realigns an image vertically or horizontally. For more information about the tool, see Straighten an image.

Use a tool

To use a tool in the Quick or Advanced mode, first select the tool from the toolbox. Next, use the various options in the Tool Options bar to accomplish your task.

Select a tool

Do one of the following:

Click a tool in the toolbox.
Press the keyboard shortcut for the tool. For example, press B to select the Brush tool. The keyboard shortcut for a tool is displayed in the tool tip. You can also find a list of helpful keyboard shortcuts in Keys for selecting tools.

Note:

You cannot deselect a tool—once you select a tool, it remains selected until you select a different tool. For example, if you’ve selected the Lasso tool, and you want to click your image without selecting anything, select the Hand tool.

Select options from the Tool Options bar

The Tool Options bar appears at the bottom in the Photoshop Elements window. It displays the options for a selected tool. For example, if you select the Crop tool from the toolbox, you find related tools (Cookie Cutter tool and Perspective Crop tool), and other options in the Tool Options bar.

Note:

If the Tool Options bar is not visible, click the tool icon in the toolbox or click Tool Options in the Taskbar.

A. Active tool icon B. Related tools C. Additional options

Edit tool preferences

You can modify the default preferences for tools. For example, you can hide the tool tips or change the appearance of a tool pointer.

Edit General preferences

Do one of the following:
- In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences > General.
- In Mac, choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > General.
Set one or more of the following options:
- Select Show Tool Tips to show tool tips.
- Select Use Shift Key for Tool Switch to cycle through a set of hidden tools by holding down the Shift key. When this option is deselected, you can cycle through a set of tool options by pressing the keyboard shortcut (without holding down Shift). For example, pressing B on your keyboard repeatedly cycles through all the Brush tool options (Brush, Impressionist Brush, and Color Replacement tools).
- Select Select Move tool After Committing Text to select the Move tool after you use the Type tool to add text to your photo.
Click OK.

Set the appearance of a pointer

Do one of the following:
- In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences > Display & Cursors.
- In Mac, choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > Display & Cursors.
Select a setting for the painting cursors:
- Standard Displays pointers as tool icons
- Precise Displays pointers as cross-hairs
- Normal Brush Tip Displays pointers as circles at 50% of the size you specify for the brush
- Full Size Brush Tip Displays pointers as circles at the full size you specify for the brush
- Show Crosshair In Brush Tip Displays cross-hairs in the circles when you choose either Normal Brush Tip or Full Size Brush Tip
Select a setting for other cursors:
- Standard Displays pointers as tool icons
- Precise Displays pointers as cross-hairs
Click OK.

Resize or change the hardness of painting cursors by dragging (Windows only)

You can resize or change the hardness of a painting cursor by dragging in the image. As you drag, you preview both the size and hardness of the painting tool.

To resize a cursor, right-click + press Alt, and drag to the left or right.
To change the hardness of a cursor, right-click + press Alt, and drag up or down.

Reset tool settings to default

You can restore the default settings of a selected tool or all tools.

Select a tool from the toolbox.

Alternatively, press keyboard shortcut for the tool.
Click to open the pop-up menu in the Tool Options bar and do one of the following:
- To reset the selected tool, click Reset Tool.
- To reset all the tools, click Rest All Tools.

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