Do one of the following:
Last updated on
Jul 18, 2024
- Photoshop User Guide
- Introduction to Photoshop
- Photoshop and other Adobe products and services
- Photoshop on the iPad (not available in mainland China)
- Photoshop on the iPad | Common questions
- Get to know the workspace
- System requirements | Photoshop on the iPad
- Create, open, and export documents
- Add photos
- Work with layers
- Draw and paint with brushes
- Make selections and add masks
- Retouch your composites
- Work with adjustment layers
- Adjust the tonality of your composite with Curves
- Apply transform operations
- Crop and rotate your composites
- Rotate, pan, zoom, and reset the canvas
- Work with Type layers
- Work with Photoshop and Lightroom
- Get missing fonts in Photoshop on the iPad
- Japanese Text in Photoshop on the iPad
- Manage app settings
- Touch shortcuts and gestures
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Edit your image size
- Livestream as you create in Photoshop on the iPad
- Correct imperfections with the Healing Brush
- Create brushes in Capture and use them in Photoshop on the iPad
- Work with Camera Raw files
- Create and work with Smart Objects
- Adjust exposure in your images with Dodge and Burn
- Auto adjustment commands in Photoshop on the iPad
- Smudge areas in your images with Photoshop on the iPad
- Saturate or desaturate your images using Sponge tool
- Content aware fill for iPad
- Photoshop on the web (not available in mainland China)
- Common questions
- System requirements
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Supported file types
- Introduction to the workspace
- Open and work with cloud documents
- Generative AI features
- Basic concepts of editing
- Quick Actions
- Work with layers
- Retouch images and remove imperfections
- Make quick selections
- Image improvements with Adjustment Layers
- Add a fill layer
- Move, transform, and crop images
- Draw and paint
- Draw and edit Shapes
- Work with Type layers
- Work with anyone on the web
- Manage app settings
- Generate Image
- Generate Background
- Reference Image
- Photoshop (beta) (not available in mainland China)
- Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
- Common questions on generative AI in Photoshop
- Generative Fill in Photoshop on the desktop
- Generate Image with descriptive text prompts
- Generative Expand in Photoshop on the desktop
- Replace background with Generate background
- Get new variations with Generate Similar
- Generative Fill in Photoshop on the iPad
- Generative Expand in Photoshop on the iPad
- Generative AI features in Photoshop on the web
- Content authenticity (not available in mainland China)
- Cloud documents (not available in mainland China)
- Photoshop cloud documents | Common questions
- Photoshop cloud documents | Workflow questions
- Manage and work with cloud documents in Photoshop
- Upgrade cloud storage for Photoshop
- Unable to create or save a cloud document
- Solve Photoshop cloud document errors
- Collect cloud document sync logs
- Invite others to edit your cloud documents
- Share files and comment in-app
- Workspace
- Workspace basics
- Preferences
- Learn faster with the Photoshop Discover Panel
- Create documents
- Place files
- Default keyboard shortcuts
- Customize keyboard shortcuts
- Tool galleries
- Performance preferences
- Use tools
- Presets
- Grid and guides
- Touch gestures
- Use the Touch Bar with Photoshop
- Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
- Technology previews
- Metadata and notes
- Place Photoshop images in other applications
- Rulers
- Show or hide non-printing Extras
- Specify columns for an image
- Undo and history
- Panels and menus
- Position elements with snapping
- Position with the Ruler tool
- Web, screen, and app design
- Image and color basics
- How to resize images
- Work with raster and vector images
- Image size and resolution
- Acquire images from cameras and scanners
- Create, open, and import images
- View images
- Invalid JPEG Marker error | Opening images
- Viewing multiple images
- Customize color pickers and swatches
- High dynamic range images
- Match colors in your image
- Convert between color modes
- Color modes
- Erase parts of an image
- Blending modes
- Choose colors
- Customize indexed color tables
- Image information
- Distort filters are unavailable
- About color
- Color and monochrome adjustments using channels
- Choose colors in the Color and Swatches panels
- Sample
- Color mode or Image mode
- Color cast
- Add a conditional mode change to an action
- Add swatches from HTML CSS and SVG
- Bit depth and preferences
- Layers
- Layer basics
- Nondestructive editing
- Create and manage layers and groups
- Select, group, and link layers
- Place images into frames
- Layer opacity and blending
- Mask layers
- Apply Smart Filters
- Layer comps
- Move, stack, and lock layers
- Mask layers with vector masks
- Manage layers and groups
- Layer effects and styles
- Edit layer masks
- Extract assets
- Reveal layers with clipping masks
- Generate image assets from layers
- Work with Smart Objects
- Blending modes
- Combine multiple images into a group portrait
- Combine images with Auto-Blend Layers
- Align and distribute layers
- Copy CSS from layers
- Load selections from a layer or layer mask's boundaries
- Knockout to reveal content from other layers
- Selections
- Get started with selections
- Make selections in your composite
- Select and Mask workspace
- Select with the marquee tools
- Select with the lasso tools
- Adjust pixel selections
- Move, copy, and delete selected pixels
- Create a temporary quick mask
- Select a color range in an image
- Convert between paths and selection borders
- Channel basics
- Save selections and alpha channel masks
- Select the image areas in focus
- Duplicate, split, and merge channels
- Channel calculations
- Get started with selections
- Image adjustments
- Replace object colors
- Perspective warp
- Reduce camera shake blurring
- Healing brush examples
- Export color lookup tables
- Adjust image sharpness and blur
- Understand color adjustments
- Apply a Brightness/Contrast adjustment
- Adjust shadow and highlight detail
- Levels adjustment
- Adjust hue and saturation
- Adjust vibrance
- Adjust color saturation in image areas
- Make quick tonal adjustments
- Apply special color effects to images
- Enhance your image with color balance adjustments
- High dynamic range images
- View histograms and pixel values
- Match colors in your image
- Crop and straighten photos
- Convert a color image to black and white
- Adjustment and fill layers
- Curves adjustment
- Blending modes
- Target images for press
- Adjust color and tone with Levels and Curves eyedroppers
- Adjust HDR exposure and toning
- Dodge or burn image areas
- Make selective color adjustments
- Adobe Camera Raw
- Camera Raw system requirements
- What's new in Camera Raw
- Introduction to Camera Raw
- Create panoramas
- Supported lenses
- Vignette, grain, and dehaze effects in Camera Raw
- Default keyboard shortcuts
- Automatic perspective correction in Camera Raw
- Radial Filter in Camera Raw
- Manage Camera Raw settings
- Open, process, and save images in Camera Raw
- Repair images with the Enhanced Spot Removal tool in Camera Raw
- Rotate, crop, and adjust images
- Adjust color rendering in Camera Raw
- Process versions in Camera Raw
- Make local adjustments in Camera Raw
- Image repair and restoration
- Image enhancement and transformation
- Drawing and painting
- Paint symmetrical patterns
- Draw rectangles and modify stroke options
- About drawing
- Draw and edit shapes
- Painting tools
- Create and modify brushes
- Blending modes
- Add color to paths
- Edit paths
- Paint with the Mixer Brush
- Brush presets
- Gradients
- Gradient interpolation
- Fill and stroke selections, layers, and paths
- Draw with the Pen tools
- Create patterns
- Generate a pattern using the Pattern Maker
- Manage paths
- Manage pattern libraries and presets
- Draw or paint with a graphics tablet
- Create textured brushes
- Add dynamic elements to brushes
- Gradient
- Paint stylized strokes with the Art History Brush
- Paint with a pattern
- Sync presets on multiple devices
- Migrate presets, actions, and settings
- Text
- Filters and effects
- Saving and exporting
- Color Management
- Web, screen, and app design
- Video and animation
- Printing
- Automation
- Troubleshooting
Position with guides and the grid
Guides and the grid help in positioning images or elements precisely.
Guides appear as nonprinting lines that float over the image that can be moved or removed. You can also lock them so that you don’t move them by accident.
Smart Guides help you align shapes, slices, and selections. They appear automatically when you create a shape, selection, or slide. You can hide Smart Guides if necessary.
The grid is useful for laying out elements symmetrically. The grid appears by default as nonprinting lines but can also be displayed as dots.
Guides and grids behave in similar ways:
Selections, selection borders, and tools snap to a guide or the grid when dragged within 8 screen (not image) pixels. Guides also snap to the grid when moved. You can turn this feature on and off.
Guide spacing, along with guide and grid visibility and snapping, is specific to an image.
Grid spacing, along with guide style, is the same for all images. The guide color is now specific to images.
Show or hide a grid, guides, or Smart Guides
-
Choose View > Show > Grid.
Choose View > Show > Guides.
Choose View > Show > Smart Guides.
Choose View > Extras. This command also shows or hides layer edges, selection edges, target paths, and slices.
View a guide
-
If the rulers are not visible, choose View > Rulers.
Note:For the most accurate readings, view the image at 100% magnification or use the Info panel.
-
Do one of the following to create a guide:
In the View > Guides > New Guide submenu, select Horizontal or Vertical orientation in the dialog box, enter a position and color, and click OK.
Drag from the horizontal ruler to create a horizontal guide.
Dragging to create a horizontal guide
Dragging to create a horizontal guide Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and drag from the vertical ruler to create a horizontal guide.
Drag from the vertical ruler to create a vertical guide.
Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and drag from the horizontal ruler to create a vertical guide.
Hold down Shift and drag from the horizontal or vertical ruler to create a guide that snaps to the ruler ticks. The pointer changes to a double-headed arrow when you drag a guide.
-
(Optional) If you want to lock all guides, choose View > Guides > Lock Guides submenu.
-
Select the Move tool
, or hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) to activate the Move tool and select or move multiple guides. -
Position the pointer over the guide (the pointer turns into a double-headed arrow).
-
Move the guide in any of the following ways:
Drag the guide to move it.
Change the guide from horizontal to vertical, or vice versa, by holding down Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) as you click or drag the guide.
Align the guide with the ruler ticks by holding down Shift as you drag the guide. The guide snaps to the grid if the grid is visible and View > Snap To > Grid is selected.
-
You can now select guides (single or multiple) to edit them. Click on the guide to select, and the double-headed arrow will appear.
- To select a single guide, click it until the double-headed arrow appears. Edit it by going to View > Guides > Edit Selected Guides. You can also right-click on your selection to view the context-sensitive menu.
- To select multiple guides, click one guide and hit Shift + Alt (Win) and Shift + Option (Mac) to make more selections. After selecting multiple guides, you can perform other actions, including move, right-click, double-click, and view options. The keyboard shortcut to multi-select guides is Shift + Alt-click.
- To move a single guide, select and drag it across your canvas to move.
- To move multiple guides, select your guides that need to be moved and press Shift + Alt (Win) or Shift + Option (Mac) until the double-headed arrow appears. Now you click the guides and drag them across the canvas.
- Release the keys and continue to drag the guides across the canvas.
- Press the Shift key and move the guide to let it snap to the ruler ticks. With shapes or selections, multi-select guides (vertical and horizontal) and snap them to the edge of the shape. To know more about snapping, read about rulers in Photoshop.
- To select a single guide, click it until the double-headed arrow appears. Edit it by going to View > Guides > Edit Selected Guides. You can also right-click on your selection to view the context-sensitive menu.
Place a guide
You can also add a specific location to place your guide. Once placed on the canvas, this can be moved or adjusted for color and orientation.
Remove guides from the image
-
Do one of the following:
- To remove a single guide, drag the guide outside the image window.
- To remove all guides, choose View > Guides > Clear Guides.
- To remove selected guides, choose View > Guides > Clear selected guides.
Set guide and grid preferences
-
Do one of the following:
(Windows) Choose Edit > Preferences > Guides, Grid, & Slices.
(macOS) Choose Photoshop > Preferences > Guides, Grid, & Slices.
-
For Color, choose a color for the guides, the grid, or both. If you choose Custom, click the color box, choose a color, and click OK.
-
For Style, choose a display option for guides or the grid, or both.
-
For Gridline Every, enter a value for the grid spacing. For Subdivisions, enter a value by which to subdivide the grid.
If desired, change the units for this option. The Percent option creates a grid that divides the image into even sections. For example, choosing 25 for the Percent option creates an evenly divided 4‑by‑4 grid.
-
Click OK.
The latest enhancements to the Guides feature let you customize the functionality of your guides at the document level to improve your creative work.
This includes the ability to colorize and edit guides via new keyboard shortcuts and a new context menu.
You can also delete guides with the Delete key and multi-select guides to edit and move them.
Get the latest version of Photoshop to try out this cool enhancement!
Colorize guides
New dialog boxes (as shown below) include the option to colorize individual or multi-selected guides, making identification and visual isolation of guides much easier.
-
Choose from the default color options or create your custom colors. You can always go back and change the colors after creating the guide layout.
Choose from default color options in New guide layout dialog box
Choose from default color options in New guide layout dialog box 
Create custom colors in Color picker (guides color)
Create custom colors in Color picker (guides color) Note:You can also create different guide layout colors per artboard.
Edit guides
-
Note:
Select the Move tool and use the mouse pointer to point to the guide. Then use the keyboard shortcuts option + shift double click on your Mac or Alt + Shift double click on your Windows system to open the Edit selected guides dialog box.
Delete guides
-
Select your guides (single or multiple) as mentioned in Move a guide.
-
To delete guides, go to View > Guides and select Clear selected guides. You can also select guides and hit right-click to delete them from the context-sensitive menu that appears.
Alternatively, you can multi-select guides by clicking option + shift (Mac) or Alt + Shift (Win) and hitting the Delete key.
Work efficiently with Smart Guides
Smart Guides come in handy in several scenarios, such as the following:
- Option (Mac) / Alt (Windows) + drag a layer: When you drag a layer while keeping the Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) key pressed, Photoshop displays reference measurement guides showing the distance between the original layer and the duplicate layer. This feature works with both the Move and Path Selection tools.
- Path measurements: Photoshop displays measurement guides while you're working with paths. Measurement guides are also displayed when you select the Path Selection tool and then drag a path within the same layer.
- Matched spacing: When you duplicate or move an object, Photoshop displays measurement guides to visually indicate spacing between other objects that match the spacing between the selected object and its immediate neighbors.
- Cmd (Mac) / Ctrl (Windows) + hover over a layer: You can view measurement guides while working with layers. With one layer selected, hover over another layer with the Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) key pressed. You can use arrow keys in conjunction with this feature to nudge the selected layer.
- Distances from the canvas: When you hold down the Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) key while hovering outside a shape, Photoshop displays distances from the canvas.
