- 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
Learn how to use the Undo/Redo commands and the History panel to control the state of your images in Adobe Photoshop.
By using the Undo/Redo commands and the History panel, you can easily control the state(s) of your images.
Use the Undo or Redo commands
Updated in Photoshop CC 20.0 (October 2018 release)
Beginning with the October 2018 release of Photoshop CC (20.0), you can undo multiple steps in your Photoshop document using Control + Z (Win) / Command + Z (Mac). This new multiple undo mode is enabled by default.
To perform undo or redo operation, do the following:
- Undo: Moves one step back in the undo chain. Choose Edit > Undo or use the keyboard shortcut Control + Z (Win) / Command + Z (Mac).
- Redo: Moves one step forward. Choose Edit > Redo or use the keyboard shortcut Shift + Control + Z (Win) / Shift + Command + Z (Mac).
The Edit menu also displays the name of the step that will be undone next to the Undo and Redo commands. For example, Edit > Undo Edit Type.
(Photoshop)
To switch back to the legacy undo mode in Photoshop, do the following:
- From the menu bar, choose Edit > Keyboards Shortcuts.
- In the Keyboard Shortcuts And Menus dialog, select Use Legacy Undo Shortcuts and click OK.
- Restart Photoshop.
(Adobe Camera Raw)
To switch back to the legacy undo mode in Adobe Camera Raw, do the following:
- From the menu bar in Photoshop, choose Edit > Preferences > File Handling.
- In the File Compatibility section, click Camera Raw Preferences.
- In the Camera Raw Preferences dialog, select Use Legacy Undo Shortcuts and click OK.
- Restart Photoshop.
Revert to the last saved version
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Choose File > Revert.Märkus.
Revert is added as a history state in the History panel and can be undone.
Restore part of an image to its previously saved version
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Do one of the following:
Use the History Brush tool to paint with the selected state or snapshot on the History panel.
Use the Eraser tool with the Erase To History option selected.
Select the area you want to restore, and choose Edit > Fill. For Use, choose History, and click OK.
Märkus.To restore the image with a snapshot of the initial state of the document, choose History Options from the Panel menu and make sure that the Automatically Create First Snapshot option is selected.
Cancel an operation
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Hold down Esc until the operation in progress has stopped. In Mac OS, you can also press Command+period.
Receive notification when an operation is completed
A progress bar indicates that an operation is being performed. You can interrupt the operation or have the program notify you when it has finished the operation.
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Do one of the following: Choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > General (Mac OS).
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Select Beep When Done.
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Click OK.
Using the History panel
You can use the History panel to jump to any recent state of the image created during the current working session. Each time you apply a change to an image, the new state of that image is added to the panel.
For example, if you select, paint, and rotate part of an image, each of those states is listed separately in the panel. When you select one of the states, the image reverts to how it looked when that change was first applied. You can then work from that state.
You can also use the History panel to delete image states and, in Photoshop, to create a document from a state or snapshot.
To display the History panel, choose Window > History, or click the History panel tab.
A. Sets the source for the history brush B. Thumbnail of a snapshot C. History state D. History state slider
Keep the following in mind when using the History panel:
Program-wide changes, such as changes to panels, color settings, actions, and preferences, are not reflected in the History panel, because they are not changes to a particular image.
By default, the History panel lists the previous 20 states. You can change the number of remembered states by setting a preference under Preferences > Performance. Older states are automatically deleted to free more memory for Photoshop. To keep a particular state throughout your work session, make a snapshot of the state (see Make a snapshot of an image).
Once you close and reopen the document, all states and snapshots from the last working session are cleared from the panel.
By default, a snapshot of the initial state of the document is displayed at the top of the panel.
States are added to the bottom of the list. That is, the oldest state is at the top of the list, the most recent one at the bottom.
Each state is listed with the name of the tool or command used to change the image.
By default, when you select a state, the states below it are dimmed. This way you can easily see which changes will be discarded if you continue working from the selected state.
By default, selecting a state and then changing the image eliminates all states that come after it.
If you select a state and then change the image, eliminating the states that came after, you can use the Undo command to undo the last change and restore the eliminated states.
By default, deleting a state deletes that state and those that came after it. If you choose the Allow Non-Linear History option, deleting a state deletes only that state.
Revert to a previous image state
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Do any of the following:
Click the name of the state.
Choose Step Forward or Step Backward from the History panel menu or the Edit menu to move to the next or previous state.
Delete one or more image states
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Do one of the following:
Click the name of the state, and choose Delete from the History panel menu to delete that change and those that came after it.
Drag the state to the Delete icon to delete that change and those that came after it.
Choose Clear History from the panel menu to delete the list of states from the History panel, without changing the image. This option doesn’t reduce the amount of memory used by Photoshop.
Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and choose Clear History from the panel menu to purge the list of states without changing the image. If you get a message that Photoshop is low on memory, purging states is useful, because the command deletes the states from the Undo buffer and frees up memory. You can’t undo the Clear History command.
Choose Edit > Purge > Histories to purge the list of states for all open documents. You can’t undo this action.
Create or replace a document with an image state
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Do one of the following:
Drag a state or snapshot onto the Create A New Document From Current State button in the History panel. The history list for the newly created document contains only the Duplicate State entry.
Select a state or snapshot, and click the Create A New Document From Current State button . The history list for the newly created document contains only the Duplicate State entry.
Select a state or snapshot, and choose New Document from the History panel menu. The history list for the newly created document contains only the Duplicate State entry.
Drag a state onto an existing document.
Märkus.To save one or more snapshots or image states for use in a later editing session, create a new file for each state you save, and save each in a separate file. When you reopen your original file, plan to open the other saved files also. You can drag each file’s initial snapshot to the original image to access the snapshots again from the original image’s History panel.
Set history options
You can specify the maximum number of items to include in the History panel and set other options to customize the panel.
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Choose History Options from the History panel menu.
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Select an option:
Automatically Create First Snapshot
Automatically creates a snapshot of the initial state of the image when the document is opened.
Automatically Create New Snapshot When Saving
Generates a snapshot every time you save.
Allow Non-Linear History
Makes changes to a selected state without deleting the states that come after. Normally, when you select a state and change the image, all states that come after the selected one are deleted. In this way, the History panel can display a list of the editing steps in the order that they were made. By recording states in a nonlinear way, you can select a state, make a change to the image, and delete just that state. The change is appended at the end of the list.
Show New Snapshot Dialog By Default
Forces Photoshop to prompt you for snapshot names even when you use the buttons on the panel.
Make Layer Visibility Changes Undoable
This option is selected by default. Turning layer visibility on or off is recorded as a history step. Deselect this option to exclude layer visibility changes in history steps.
Set Edit History Log options
You may need to keep careful track of what’s been done to a file in Photoshop, either for your own records, client records, or legal purposes. The Edit History Log helps you keep a textual history of changes made to an image. You can view the Edit History Log metadata using Adobe Bridge or the File Info dialog box.
You can choose to export the text to an external log file, or you can store the information in the metadata of edited files. Storing many editing operations as file metadata increases file size; such files may take longer than usual to open and save.
If you need to prove that the log file hasn’t been tampered with, keep the edit log in the file’s metadata, and then use Adobe Acrobat to digitally sign the log file.
By default, history log data about each session is saved as metadata embedded in the image file. You can specify where the history log data is saved and the level of detail contained in the history log.
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Choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > General (Mac OS).
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Click the History Log preference to toggle from on to off or vice versa.
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For the Save Log Items To option, choose one of the following:
Metadata
Saves the history log as metadata embedded in each file.
Text File
Exports the history log to a text file. You are prompted to name the text file and choose a location in which to store it.
Both
Stores metadata in the file and creates a text file.
Märkus.If you want to save the text file in a different location or save another text file, click the Choose button, specify where to save the text file, name the file if necessary, and click Save.
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From the Edit Log Items menu, choose one of the following options:
Sessions Only
Keeps a record of each time you start or quit Photoshop and each time you open and close files (each image’s filename is included). Does not include any information about edits made to the file.
Concise
Includes the text that appears in the History panel in addition to the Sessions information.
Detailed
Includes the text that appears in the Actions panel in addition to the Concise information. If you need a complete history of all changes made to files, choose Detailed.
Make a snapshot of an image
The Snapshot command lets you make a temporary copy (or snapshot) of any state of the image. The new snapshot is added to the list of snapshots at the top of the History panel. Selecting a snapshot lets you work from that version of the image.
Snapshots are similar to the states listed in the History panel, but they offer additional advantages:
You can name a snapshot to make it easy to identify.
Snapshots can be stored for an entire work session.
You can compare effects easily. For example, you can take a snapshot before and after applying a filter. Then select the first snapshot, and try the same filter with different settings. Switch between the snapshots to find the settings you like best.
With snapshots, you can recover your work easily. When you experiment with a complex technique or apply an action, take a snapshot first. If you’re not satisfied with the results, you can select the snapshot to undo all the steps.
Snapshots are not saved with the image—closing an image deletes its snapshots. Also, unless you select the Allow Non-Linear History option, selecting a snapshot and changing the image deletes all of the states currently listed in the History panel.
Create a snapshot
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Select a state and do one of the following:
To automatically create a snapshot, click the Create New Snapshot button on the History panel, or if Automatically Create New Snapshot When Saving is selected in the history options, choose New Snapshot from the History panel menu.
To set options when creating a snapshot, choose New Snapshot from the History panel menu, or Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the Create New Snapshot button.
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Enter the name of the snapshot in the Name text box.
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Choose the snapshot contents from the From menu:
Full Document
Makes a snapshot of all layers in the image at that state
Merged Layers
Makes a snapshot that merges all layers in the image at that state
Current Layer
Makes a snapshot of only the currently selected layer at that state
Work with snapshots
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Do one of the following:
To select a snapshot, click the name of the snapshot or drag the slider at the left of the snapshot up or down to a different snapshot.
To rename a snapshot, double-click the snapshot and enter a name.
To delete a snapshot, select the snapshot and either choose Delete from the panel menu, click the Delete icon , or drag the snapshot to the Delete icon.
Paint with a state or snapshot of an image
The History Brush tool lets you paint a copy of one image state or snapshot into the current image window. This tool makes a copy, or sample, of the image and then paints with it.
For example, you might make a snapshot of a change you made with a painting tool or filter (with the Full Document option selected when you create the snapshot). After undoing the change to the image, you could use the History Brush tool to apply the change selectively to areas of the image. Unless you select a merged snapshot, the History Brush tool paints from a layer in the selected state to the same layer in another state.
The History Brush tool copies from one state or snapshot to another, but only at the same location. In Photoshop, you can also paint with the Art History Brush tool to create special effects.
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Select the History Brush tool .
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Do one of the following in the options bar:
Specify the opacity and blending mode.
Choose a brush and set brush options.
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In the History panel, click the left column of the state or snapshot to be used as the source for the History Brush tool.
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Drag to paint with the History Brush tool.