- 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
- Move, transform, and crop images
- Draw and paint
- 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)
- 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
- Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
- 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 move, copy, and delete selected pixels in your image
Update the app
Try out the latest features and enhancements in the Photoshop app for general availability.
Move a selection
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Select the Move tool .
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Move the pointer inside the selection border, and drag the selection to a new position. If you selected multiple areas, all move as you drag.
With hover layer bounds, you can view an object's boundaries as you mouse over them on the canvas.
While the boundary outline is displayed, the corresponding layer will be highlighted in the Layers panel. Additionally, layers with pixel or vector masks will display both visible and hidden layer data.
Hover layer bounds follow the chosen Move tool selection in Auto-Select.
Layer will display the outline of individual layer objects and Group will display the outline of layer groups. They also appear on the canvas as you mouse over layers in the Layers panel.
For overlapping layers, you can view the boundaries of additional layers that share the same pixel coordinates by pressing the [ and ] keys. These keyboard shortcuts can be customized in Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts > Tools.
Once the desired group or layer boundaries are displayed, select or drag to interact with the outlined layer.
You can customize these behaviors of hover layer bounds:
- Customize the color and thickness and the Layers panel highlight color in Preferences > Guides, Grid & Slices.
- Show or hide hover layer boundaries or the Layers panel highlights in in the gear menu of the Move tool in the options bar.
- Customize whether selecting a layer from the canvas expands layer groups in the gear menu of the Move tool in the options bar.
Copy and paste selections
You can use the Move tool to copy selections as you drag them within or between images, or you can copy and move selections using the Copy, Copy Merged, Cut, and Paste commands. Dragging with the Move tool saves memory because you don't use the clipboard.
When you paste a selection or layer between images with different resolutions, the pasted data retains its pixel dimensions. This can make the pasted portion appear out of proportion to the new image. Use the Image Size command to make the source and destination images the same resolution before copying and pasting, or use the Free Transform command to resize the pasted content.
Depending on your color management settings and the color profile associated with the file (or imported data), you may be prompted to specify how to handle color information in the file (or imported data).
Understanding the Copy and Paste commands
Copy
Copies the selected area on the active layer.
Copy Merged
Makes a merged copy of all the visible layers in the selected area.
Paste
Pastes a copied selection into another part of the image or into another image as a new layer. If you have a selection, the Paste command places the copied selection over the current selection. Without an active selection, Paste places the copied selection in the middle of the view area.
Paste In Place
If the clipboard contains pixels copied from another Photoshop document, pastes the selection into the same relative location in the target document as it occupied in the source.
Paste Into or Paste Outside
Pastes a copied selection into or outside another selection in any image. The source selection is pasted onto a new layer, and the destination selection border is converted into a layer mask.
Copy a selection
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Select the area you want to copy.
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Choose Edit > Copy, or Edit > Copy Merged.
Copy a selection while dragging
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Select the Move tool , or hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) to activate the Move tool.
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Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and drag the selection you want to copy and move.
When copying between images, drag the selection from the active image window into the destination image window. If nothing is selected, the entire active layer is copied. As you drag the selection over another image window, a border highlights the window if you can drop the selection into it.
Create multiple copies of a selection within an image
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Select the Move tool , or hold down Ctrl (Win) or Command (Mac) to activate the Move tool.
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Copy the selection:
Hold down Alt (Win) or Option (Mac), and drag the selection.
To copy the selection and offset the duplicate by 1 pixel, hold down Alt or Option, and press an arrow key.
To copy the selection and offset the duplicate by 10 pixels, press Alt+Shift (Win) or Option+Shift (Mac), and press an arrow key.
As long as you hold down Alt or Option, each press of an arrow key creates a copy of the selection and offsets it by the specified distance from the last duplicate. In this case, the copy is made on the same layer.
Paste one selection into or outside another
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Cut or copy the part of the image you want to paste.
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In the same image or another, select the area you want to paste into or outside. If you’re pasting outside, select an area smaller than the copied selection.
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Do either of the following:
Choose Edit > Paste Special > Paste Into. The contents of the source selection appear within the destination selection.
Choose Edit > Paste Special > Paste Outside. The contents of the source selection appear around the destination selection.
The Paste Into or Paste Outside command adds a layer and layer mask to the image. In the Layers panel, the new layer contains a layer thumbnail for the pasted selection next to a layer mask thumbnail. The layer mask is based on the selection you pasted into: the selection is unmasked (white), the rest of the layer is masked (black). The layer and layer mask are unlinked—that is, you can move each one independently.
A. Window panes selected B. Copied image C. Paste Into command D. Layer thumbnails and layer mask in Layers panel E. Pasted image repositioned
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Select the Move tool , or hold down the Ctrl (Win) or Command (Mac) key to activate the Move tool. Then drag the source contents until the part you want appears through the mask.
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To specify how much of the underlying image shows through, click the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers panel, select a painting tool, and edit the mask:
To hide more of the image underlying the layer, paint the mask with black.
To reveal more of the underlying image, paint the mask with white.
To partially reveal the underlying image, paint the mask with gray.
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If you are satisfied with your results, you can choose Layer > Merge Down to merge the new layer and layer mask with the underlying layer and make the changes permanent.
How to copy and paste between applications
You can use the Cut, Copy, or Paste commands to copy selections from Photoshop and paste them into other applications, or to paste artwork from other applications into Photoshop. The cut or copied selection remains on the clipboard until you cut or copy another selection. You can also copy artwork between Photoshop and Illustrator by dragging and dropping.
In some cases, the contents of the clipboard are converted to a raster image. Photoshop prompts you when vector artwork will be rasterized. The image is rasterized at the resolution of the file into which you paste it. Vector Smart Objects are not rasterized.
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In the supporting application, select your artwork, and choose Edit > Copy.
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In Photoshop, select the image into which you’ll paste the selection.
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Choose Edit > Paste.
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In the Paste dialog box, select from the following Paste As options:
Smart Object: Places the artwork in a new layer as a Smart Object.
Pixels: Rasterizes the artwork as it is pasted. Rasterizing converts mathematically-defined vector artwork to pixels.
Paths: Pastes the copy as a path in the Paths panel. When copying type from Illustrator, you must first convert it to outlines.
Shape Layer: Creates a new shape layer that uses the path as a vector mask.
Note: When copying artwork from Adobe Illustrator, the default clipboard preferences in Illustrator may prevent the Paste dialog box from appearing in Photoshop. Select AICB in the File Handling and Clipboard area of the Preferences dialog box in Illustrator if you want the Paste options to appear when you paste the artwork into Photoshop.
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If you chose Paste As Pixels in the previous step, you can choose Anti-aliased in the options bar to make a smooth transition between the edges of the selection and the surrounding pixels. You can also use Matting commands if you have already merged data and are trying to re-extract the rasterized data.
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Do one of the following:
(Win) Choose Edit > Preferences > General.
(Mac) Choose Photoshop > Preferences > General.
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Select Export Clipboard to save any Photoshop contents to the clipboard when you quit Photoshop.
To copy artwork from Illustrator, do one of the following:
Drag one or more Illustrator vector objects into an open image in Photoshop. This creates a vector Smart Object layer in the image. Choose Layer > Smart Objects > Edit Content to reopen the content in Illustrator for editing.
To copy the vector object as a path in Photoshop, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) as you drag from Illustrator.
To copy the contents of the currently selected layer in Photoshop to Illustrator, use the Move tool to drag the content from the Photoshop window into an open Illustrator document.
Delete or cut selected pixels
Choose Edit > Clear, or press Backspace (Win) or Delete (Mac). To cut a selection to the clipboard, choose Edit > Cut.
Deleting a selection on a background layer replaces the original color with the background color. Deleting a selection on a standard layer replaces the original color with layer transparency.