Hi! This is another Tidbits post, and I wanted to share one of my favorite tools for designing–keyboard shortcuts!

What are keyboard shortcuts?

Keyboard shortcuts are a faster and easier way to access the main tools in a lot of programs like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, just to name a few. A couple of examples are the “E” key for the eraser tool, “P” for the pen tool, “B” for the brush… and so on.

Why use keyboard shortcuts?

Many and most professional designers use keyboard shortcuts to select tools in milliseconds, rather than taking the time to move the cursor, look through all the tools in the toolbar, and click on the tool they need. It takes time to learn these shortcuts, but eventually, they become second nature and save a few precious seconds so designers can push out more awesome work. We all know what they say, time is money! 

I learned these during my time at the technical center I attended in high school. My graphic design instructor taught us the importance of the keyboard shortcuts and I owe all of my beginner skills to him and his great teaching. We learned hands-on by practicing with all the tools and taking weekly quizzes until we had them down–and that’s exactly how I recommend everyone else to learn!

These shortcuts are SUPER helpful and important to learn. So, if you need a fun little takeaway, remember this about keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts save time, and time is money. And everyone likes money.

Thanks for reading this week’s Tidbit! Until my next post!