Friday, July 31st, 2015
Move to the top or bottom of a Word Document on a Mac
From a file labelled stupid commands comes this one for getting to the top or bottom of a Word document on the Mac. You see simple commands like Page Up and Page Down which work on a PC fail spectacularly on a Mac so most hapless users just use the arrow key (a lot) or scroll bars to get around a Word document.
Smart users know there is a key combination that will do it, but it uses the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys – I kid you not! How stupid is that? However, since it is useful (albeit stupid), I’ll tell you how. To get to the top of the document use Fn + Command + Left Arrow and to get to the bottom of the document use Fn + Command + Right Arrow.
So, now you know and you can move faster around your documents. Just try explaining that key combination to a friend and hold your tongue as they look at you like you’re nuts.
Labels: end of document, keyboard shortcut, mac, shortcut key, top of document, Word
Categories:Mac, office
posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:32 amNo Comments links to this post
Wednesday, December 10th, 2014
Switch between the Dodge and Burn tools with one key press
While you are making small photo edits one easy trick that could save you a lot of time is switching between pairs of editing tools like Dodge and Burn with one key press.
So to change from the Dodge to the Burn tool (or vice versa), hold down the Alt key (Option on the Mac).
While you have the Alt key (Option key) held you will be using the other tool. Let go the Alt (Option) key to return to the original tool you were using.
Now you can easily move back and forth between tools to speed up your edits.
Photo credit: © anitab0000 freeimages.com
Labels: Alt, burn, dodge, edit photos, editor, keyboard shortcut, option, Photography, photos, Photoshop, quick, quick tool, shortcut key, tools
Categories:Mackenzie Tip, photoshop
posted by mackenzieerb @ 6:00 amNo Comments links to this post
Friday, November 21st, 2014
Quickly change the brush size (without using the slider)
When you’re using any tool in Photoshop that uses a brush such as the Brush itself, Eraser, Dodge, Burn and many others, you can change the size of the brush using a keyboard shortcut rather than having to use the size slider. This fast and easy shortcut can save you a lot of messing around.
To change the size of the brush for any tool that uses it, press the opening square bracket key ([) to decrease the size of the brush and press the closing square bracket key (]) to increase the size of the brush.
Notice from the top image to this one the brush has increased in size (I pressed the keyboard shortcut ] to do this) and I can easily make my adjustments without having to mess around with the brush size slider.
Photo credit: © anitab0000 freeimages.com
Labels: [ bracket, bracket key, brush size, burn, change brush size, dodge, edit photo, keyboard shortcut, Photography, Photoshop, quick tip, shortcut key, size slider, sponge tool
Categories:Mackenzie Tip, photography, photoshop
posted by mackenzieerb @ 6:00 amNo Comments links to this post
Friday, January 18th, 2013
Learn how to cycle around the tools in the Tool panel in Photoshop using shortcuts
When you want to select tools on the Photoshop tool panel using the keyboard, you can do so using the shortcut key listed to its right in the tool panel.
If more than one tool shares the same letter, hold the Shift key as you press the character for that tool to cycle around the tools which share that letter. Stop when you get to the one you want.
Helen Bradley
Labels: cycle tools, Photoshop, shift, shortcut key, tools
Categories:photoshop
posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:00 pmNo Comments links to this post
Friday, July 20th, 2012
Here are five cool tips, tricks and keystrokes to help your day go faster in Excel:
Display cell formulas and not results
If you want to see the cell in your worksheet display formulas rather than the results of those formulas then you can do it one of two ways.
Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + ~ to toggle formula display on and off
You can also use Formulas > Show Formulas
Start a new line
When you need to add a line break to a cell to start a new line of text press Alt + Enter in the cell. If you just want to wrap a long piece of text in a cell right click the cell and choose Format > Alignment tab > Wrap Text.
Copy the contents of the cell above
To copy the contents of the cell above into the current cell press Control + ‘.
Moving around super fast and super smart
To move from one sheet in a workbook to the next (or in reverse), press Control + PgDn and Control + PgUp. To move to the next open workbook press Control + Tab or Control + Shift + Tab.
Super quick mouse free SUM formula
Skip taking the mouse to your Ribbon to add a SUM function and do it with a simple keystroke instead. Type Alt + = and Excel adds the SUM function automatically to the current cell. Doesn’t get much easier than that!
Helen Bradley
Labels: cool, copy formula, Excel 2007, Excel 2010, excell, format, Helen Bradley, keystrokes, line break, new line, shortcut key, show formulas, sum function, techniques, tips, tricks, Wrap text
Categories:office
posted by Helen Bradley @ 7:34 am9 Comments links to this post
Friday, May 6th, 2011
Ok, this has probably happened to you before and it is horribly frustrating. You draw a shape with the Pen tool or you open a file with a shape on it. You click the Direct Selection tool and you click on the shape expecting the anchors and direction handles to appear. But they don’t!
Your direction handles and anchors are gone, vanished, not there – nada – yikes!
The solution is to press Control + H (Command + H on the Mac). Quite simply it’s the shortcut for Hide Edges and that means it’s not exactly obvious that it hides or reveals anchor points and direction lines – like these are edges? Well, I for one don’t call them edges – but, swallow your frustration with the poor terminology and hit the keys – it works.
Now write it down – share it with your friends, someone you know needs this shortcut key – today!
Helen Bradley
Labels: Adobe Illustrator, anchors, direction handles, disappeared, Illustrator, shortcut key
Categories:Uncategorized
posted by Helen Bradley @ 7:45 am14 Comments links to this post
