FROM LITTLE-KNOWN TOOL TRICKS TO UNUSUAL USES FOR EVERYDAY COMMANDS, AND FROM RETOUCHING TIPS TO BLENDING MODE CHEATS: HERE ARE 15 HACKS TO HELP YOU BECOME A PHOTOSHOP MASTER

1 CREATE LIGHT SHAFTS FROM GRADIENTS

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01 OPEN THE GRADIENT EDITOR

Here’s a fun trick with the Gradient Tool that lets you create rays of light when your photo’s showing sunlight through an object. Grab the tool, then click the Angle Gradient style in the options at the top. Next, click the Gradient Preview (where it shows the colors) to open up the Gradient Editor box.

02 MAKE AN ANGLED GRADIENT

In the Gradient Editor, set Gradient Type to Noise and increase Roughness to about 90%, then click Randomize until you get an even mix of bright and dark colors. Click OK, then drag out from a center point (ideally in an image where there’s a strong light source like the sun) to make a gradient.

03 BLEND IT IN

Click Cmd/Ctrl +Shift+U to remove the color. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur to blur the lines so they look like rays of light. Set the layer ’s Blending Mode to Screen, then press Cmd/ Ctrl+M for Curves and darken or lighten the lines to suit. Add a Layer Mask and paint black to hide unwanted areas.

2 MORE THAN JUST FOR MOVING

The Move Tool isn’t just useful for moving layers: it’s also brilliant at finding them for you. If you have lots of layers, it can be tricky to target the one you need. But grab the Move Tool and check Sample All Layers in the options at the top, and now you can simply click over parts of the image to select the corresponding layer. Of course, there are times when layers overlap one another, which makes this slightly more difficult. Thankfully, the Move Tool has another trick up its sleeve. Simply right-click over any point in the image for a list of all the layers that occupy that spot, then choose the layer you need from the list. And if there’s a layer you keep selecting by accident, remember that you can always lock it with the lock icon in the Layers Panel.