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  1. Photoshop User Guide
  2. Introduction to Photoshop
    1. Dream it. Make it.
    2. What's new in Photoshop
    3. Edit your first photo
    4. Create documents
    5. Photoshop | Common Questions
    6. Photoshop system requirements
    7. Migrate presets, actions, and settings
    8. Get to know Photoshop
  3. Photoshop and other Adobe products and services
    1. Work with Illustrator artwork in Photoshop
    2. Work with Photoshop files in InDesign
    3. Substance 3D Materials for Photoshop
    4. Photoshop and Adobe Stock
    5. Use the Capture in-app extension in Photoshop
    6. Creative Cloud Libraries
    7. Creative Cloud Libraries in Photoshop
    8. Use the Touch Bar with Photoshop
    9. Grid and guides
    10. Creating actions
    11. Undo and history
  4. Photoshop on the iPad
    1. Photoshop on the iPad | Common questions
    2. Get to know the workspace
    3. System requirements | Photoshop on the iPad
    4. Create, open, and export documents
    5. Add photos
    6. Work with layers
    7. Draw and paint with brushes
    8. Make selections and add masks
    9. Retouch your composites
    10. Work with adjustment layers
    11. Adjust the tonality of your composite with Curves
    12. Apply transform operations
    13. Crop and rotate your composites
    14. Rotate, pan, zoom, and reset the canvas
    15. Work with Type layers
    16. Work with Photoshop and Lightroom
    17. Get missing fonts in Photoshop on the iPad
    18. Japanese Text in Photoshop on the iPad
    19. Manage app settings
    20. Touch shortcuts and gestures
    21. Keyboard shortcuts
    22. Edit your image size
    23. Livestream as you create in Photoshop on the iPad
    24. Correct imperfections with the Healing Brush
    25. Create brushes in Capture and use them in Photoshop
    26. Work with Camera Raw files
    27. Create and work with Smart Objects
    28. Adjust exposure in your images with Dodge and Burn
  5. Photoshop on the web beta
    1. Common questions | Photoshop on the web beta 
    2. Introduction to the workspace
    3. System requirements | Photoshop on the web beta
    4. Keyboard shortcuts | Photoshop on the web beta
    5. Supported file types | Photoshop on the web beta
    6. Open and work with cloud documents
    7. Collaborate with stakeholders
    8. Apply limited edits to your cloud documents
  6. Cloud documents
    1. Photoshop cloud documents | Common questions
    2. Photoshop cloud documents | Workflow questions
    3. Manage and work with cloud documents in Photoshop
    4. Upgrade cloud storage for Photoshop
    5. Unable to create or save a cloud document
    6. Solve Photoshop cloud document errors
    7. Collect cloud document sync logs
    8. Share access and edit your cloud documents
    9. Share files and comment in-app
  7. Workspace
    1. Workspace basics
    2. Learn faster with the Photoshop Discover Panel
    3. Create documents
    4. Use the Touch Bar with Photoshop
    5. Tool galleries
    6. Performance preferences
    7. Use tools
    8. Touch gestures
    9. Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
    10. Technology previews
    11. Metadata and notes
    12. Default keyboard shortcuts
    13. Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
    14. Place Photoshop images in other applications
    15. Preferences
    16. Default keyboard shortcuts
    17. Rulers
    18. Show or hide non-printing Extras
    19. Specify columns for an image
    20. Undo and history
    21. Panels and menus
    22. Place files
    23. Position elements with snapping
    24. Position with the Ruler tool
    25. Presets
    26. Customize keyboard shortcuts
    27. Grid and guides
  8. Web, screen, and app design
    1. Photoshop for design
    2. Artboards
    3. Device Preview
    4. Copy CSS from layers
    5. Slice web pages
    6. HTML options for slices
    7. Modify slice layout
    8. Work with web graphics
    9. Create web photo galleries
  9. Image and color basics
    1. How to resize images
    2. Work with raster and vector images
    3. Image size and resolution
    4. Acquire images from cameras and scanners
    5. Create, open, and import images
    6. View images
    7. Invalid JPEG Marker error | Opening images
    8. Viewing multiple images
    9. Customize color pickers and swatches
    10. High dynamic range images
    11. Match colors in your image
    12. Convert between color modes
    13. Color modes
    14. Erase parts of an image
    15. Blending modes
    16. Choose colors
    17. Customize indexed color tables
    18. Image information
    19. Distort filters are unavailable
    20. About color
    21. Color and monochrome adjustments using channels
    22. Choose colors in the Color and Swatches panels
    23. Sample
    24. Color mode or Image mode
    25. Color cast
    26. Add a conditional mode change to an action
    27. Add swatches from HTML CSS and SVG
    28. Bit depth and preferences
  10. Layers
    1. Layer basics
    2. Nondestructive editing
    3. Create and manage layers and groups
    4. Select, group, and link layers
    5. Place images into frames
    6. Layer opacity and blending
    7. Mask layers
    8. Apply Smart Filters
    9. Layer comps
    10. Move, stack, and lock layers
    11. Mask layers with vector masks
    12. Manage layers and groups
    13. Layer effects and styles
    14. Edit layer masks
    15. Extract assets
    16. Reveal layers with clipping masks
    17. Generate image assets from layers
    18. Work with Smart Objects
    19. Blending modes
    20. Combine multiple images into a group portrait
    21. Combine images with Auto-Blend Layers
    22. Align and distribute layers
    23. Copy CSS from layers
    24. Load selections from a layer or layer mask's boundaries
    25. Knockout to reveal content from other layers
    26. Layer
    27. Flattening
    28. Composite
    29. Background
  11. Selections
    1. Select and Mask workspace
    2. Make quick selections
    3. Get started with selections
    4. Select with the marquee tools
    5. Select with the lasso tools
    6. Select a color range in an image
    7. Adjust pixel selections
    8. Convert between paths and selection borders
    9. Channel basics
    10. Move, copy, and delete selected pixels
    11. Create a temporary quick mask
    12. Save selections and alpha channel masks
    13. Select the image areas in focus
    14. Duplicate, split, and merge channels
    15. Channel calculations
    16. Selection
    17. Bounding box
  12. Image adjustments
    1. Perspective warp
    2. Reduce camera shake blurring
    3. Healing brush examples
    4. Export color lookup tables
    5. Adjust image sharpness and blur
    6. Understand color adjustments
    7. Apply a Brightness/Contrast adjustment
    8. Adjust shadow and highlight detail
    9. Levels adjustment
    10. Adjust hue and saturation
    11. Adjust vibrance
    12. Adjust color saturation in image areas
    13. Make quick tonal adjustments
    14. Apply special color effects to images
    15. Enhance your image with color balance adjustments
    16. High dynamic range images
    17. View histograms and pixel values
    18. Match colors in your image
    19. How to crop and straighten photos
    20. Convert a color image to black and white
    21. Adjustment and fill layers
    22. Curves adjustment
    23. Blending modes
    24. Target images for press
    25. Adjust color and tone with Levels and Curves eyedroppers
    26. Adjust HDR exposure and toning
    27. Filter
    28. Blur
    29. Dodge or burn image areas
    30. Make selective color adjustments
    31. Replace object colors
  13. Adobe Camera Raw
    1. Camera Raw system requirements
    2. What's new in Camera Raw
    3. Introduction to Camera Raw
    4. Create panoramas
    5. Supported lenses
    6. Vignette, grain, and dehaze effects in Camera Raw
    7. Default keyboard shortcuts
    8. Automatic perspective correction in Camera Raw
    9. How to make non-destructive edits in Camera Raw
    10. Radial Filter in Camera Raw
    11. Manage Camera Raw settings
    12. Open, process, and save images in Camera Raw
    13. Repair images with the Enhanced Spot Removal tool in Camera Raw
    14. Rotate, crop, and adjust images
    15. Adjust color rendering in Camera Raw
    16. Feature summary | Adobe Camera Raw | 2018 releases
    17. New features summary
    18. Process versions in Camera Raw
    19. Make local adjustments in Camera Raw
  14. Image repair and restoration
    1. Remove objects from your photos with Content-Aware Fill
    2. Content-Aware Patch and Move
    3. Retouch and repair photos
    4. Correct image distortion and noise
    5. Basic troubleshooting steps to fix most issues
  15. Image transformations
    1. Transform objects
    2. Adjust crop, rotation, and canvas size
    3. How to crop and straighten photos
    4. Create and edit panoramic images
    5. Warp images, shapes, and paths
    6. Vanishing Point
    7. Use the Liquify filter
    8. Content-aware scaling
    9. Transform images, shapes, and paths
    10. Warp
    11. Transform
    12. Panorama
  16. Drawing and painting
    1. Paint symmetrical patterns
    2. Draw rectangles and modify stroke options
    3. About drawing
    4. Draw and edit shapes
    5. Painting tools
    6. Create and modify brushes
    7. Blending modes
    8. Add color to paths
    9. Edit paths
    10. Paint with the Mixer Brush
    11. Brush presets
    12. Gradients
    13. Gradient interpolation
    14. Fill and stroke selections, layers, and paths
    15. Draw with the Pen tools
    16. Create patterns
    17. Generate a pattern using the Pattern Maker
    18. Manage paths
    19. Manage pattern libraries and presets
    20. Draw or paint with a graphics tablet
    21. Create textured brushes
    22. Add dynamic elements to brushes
    23. Gradient
    24. Paint stylized strokes with the Art History Brush
    25. Paint with a pattern
    26. Sync presets on multiple devices
  17. Text
    1. Add and edit the text
    2. Unified Text Engine
    3. Work with OpenType SVG fonts
    4. Format characters
    5. Format paragraphs
    6. How to create type effects
    7. Edit text
    8. Line and character spacing
    9. Arabic and Hebrew type
    10. Fonts
    11. Troubleshoot fonts
    12. Asian type
    13. Create type
    14. Text Engine error using Type tool in Photoshop | Windows 8
  18. Video and animation
    1. Video editing in Photoshop
    2. Edit video and animation layers
    3. Video and animation overview
    4. Preview video and animations
    5. Paint frames in video layers
    6. Import video files and image sequences
    7. Create frame animations
    8. Creative Cloud 3D Animation (Preview)
    9. Create timeline animations
    10. Create images for video
  19. Filters and effects
    1. Use the Liquify filter
    2. Use the Blur Gallery
    3. Filter basics
    4. Filter effects reference
    5. Add Lighting Effects
    6. Use the Adaptive Wide Angle filter
    7. Use the Oil Paint filter
    8. Layer effects and styles
    9. Apply specific filters
    10. Smudge image areas
  20. Saving and exporting
    1. Save your files in Photoshop
    2. Export your files in Photoshop
    3. Supported file formats
    4. Save files in graphics formats
    5. Move designs between Photoshop and Illustrator
    6. Save and export video and animations
    7. Save PDF files
    8. Digimarc copyright protection
  21. Printing
    1. Print 3D objects
    2. Print from Photoshop
    3. Print with color management
    4. Contact Sheets and PDF Presentations
    5. Print photos in a picture package layout
    6. Print spot colors
    7. Duotones
    8. Print images to a commercial printing press
    9. Improve color prints from Photoshop
    10. Troubleshoot printing problems | Photoshop
  22. Automation
    1. Creating actions
    2. Create data-driven graphics
    3. Scripting
    4. Process a batch of files
    5. Play and manage actions
    6. Add conditional actions
    7. About actions and the Actions panel
    8. Record tools in actions
    9. Add a conditional mode change to an action
    10. Photoshop UI toolkit for plug-ins and scripts
  23. Color Management
    1. Understanding color management
    2. Keeping colors consistent
    3. Color settings
    4. Work with color profiles
    5. Color-managing documents for online viewing
    6. Color-managing documents when printing
    7. Color-managing imported images
    8. Proofing colors
  24. Content authenticity
    1. Learn about content credentials
    2. Identity and provenance for NFTs
    3. Connect accounts for creative attribution
  25. 3D and technical imaging
    1. Photoshop 3D | Common questions around discontinued 3D features
    2. Creative Cloud 3D Animation (Preview)
    3. Print 3D objects
    4. 3D painting
    5. 3D panel enhancements | Photoshop
    6. Essential 3D concepts and tools
    7. 3D rendering and saving
    8. Create 3D objects and animations
    9. Image stacks
    10. 3D workflow
    11. Measurement
    12. DICOM files
    13. Photoshop and MATLAB
    14. Count objects in an image
    15. Combine and convert 3D objects
    16. 3D texture editing
    17. Adjust HDR exposure and toning
    18. 3D panel settings

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

  1. Do one of the following:

    • 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

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

    Photoshop Guides and grids
    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.

  3. (Optional) If you want to lock all guides, choose View > Guides > Lock Guides submenu.

Move a guide

  1. Select the Move tool , or hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) to activate the Move tool and select or move multiple guides.

  2. Position the pointer over the guide (the pointer turns into a double-headed arrow).
  3. 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.

  4. 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. 

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. 

Add a specific location for a guide
Add a specific location for a guide

Remove guides from the image

  1. 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

  1. Do one of the following:

    • (Windows) Choose Edit > Preferences > Guides, Grid, & Slices.

    • (macOS) Choose Photoshop > Preferences > Guides, Grid, & Slices.

  2. 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.

  3. For Style, choose a display option for guides or the grid, or both.

  4. 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.

  5. Click OK.

Enhancements to Guides

Updated in Photoshop 23.4 (June 2022)

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!

Update Photoshop

Customize Guides properties at your document level

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.

View > Guides > New guide layout
View > Guides > New guide layout

View > Guides > New guide
View > Guides > New guide

Edit selected guides dialog box
Edit selected guides dialog box

  1. To choose color options for your guides, go to View > Guides > New Guide Layout.

  2. 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 

  1. To edit guides, multi-select by clicking option + shift (Mac) or Alt + Shift (Win). Right-click and select Edit Selected Guides from the context menu. 

    Edit Selected Guides context menu in Photoshop
    Edit Selected Guides context menu in Photoshop

  2. Adjust Orientation and Color settings and click OK. 

    Edit Selected Guides dialog box in Photoshop
    Edit Selected Guides dialog box in Photoshop

  3. You can also go to View > Guides to view the Edit Selected Guides dialog box.

    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

  1. Select your guides (single or multiple) as mentioned in Move a guide. 

  2. 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.
Photoshop Distance between the layers: original and duplicate
Distance between the layers: original and duplicate

  • 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.
Photoshop Path measurements
Path measurements

  • 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.
Photoshop Measurement guides while working with layers
Measurement guides while working with layers

  • 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.
Photoshop Distances of a shape from the canvas
Distances of a shape from the canvas

Photoshop Spacing between matched objects
Spacing between matched objects

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