How to Create Keyboard Shortcuts For Adobe Photoshop CS4

Typically there will be certain things you use Adobe Photoshop for on a regular basis and you can make your life much easier by assigning keyboard shortcuts to the tasks you perform the most. Follow the directions below to assign a keyboard shortcut to Adobe Photoshop CS4.

In the example below we will assign Ctrl-Alt-b to be a shortcut to add a “Lens Blur” filter to a highlighted portion of an image.

Launch Photoshop CS4:First launch Photoshop CS4 by selecting Adobe Photoshop CS4 from the start menu on your computer.
Open Keyboard Shortcuts: Click on Edit in the top navigation menu and select “Keyboard Shortcuts” from the drop down menu to open the Keyboard Shortcuts configuration window as shown below.
Expand Filter Menu: Now scroll down in the center of the Keyboard Shortcuts configuration window to expand the menu where the item that your shortcut will be assigned is located. In the example the Lens Blur is located under Filter. So in the example I expand the Filter menu as shown below.
Create Keyboard Shortcut:Now scroll down even further to Blur and click on the Lens Blur line. This will allow you to type in the keyboard combination you are assigning to the filter action. In the below image it is shown what would happen if the keyboard combination is already used by something else. You will be notified of the conflict but can assign it to the new action anyway if you prefer.
Accept Keyboard Assignment: Once you have been notified of the conflict and you decide you want to proceed anyway click the Accept button. The keyboard assignment will now show in the Keyboard Shortcut configuration window as shown below.
Verify Keyboard Shortcut:Now click the OK button to close the Keyboard Shortcut configuration window. Once closed highlight a section of an image loaded into Photoshop and click the key combination you assigned to the Lens Blur filter to see if it blurs the highlighted section.

Assigning keyboard shortcuts to the Photoshop actions you use the most will make life much easier. Once you get used to using them you will be able to edit images in much less time.