Photoshop CC 2019 - Everything You Need To Know

March 26, 2024

Photoshop CC 2019 brings some impressive and much needed updates. This update focuses more on improving the user experience. But there are some new features/tools. Read this guide to learn what's new in Photoshop CC 2019.

Changes to Hotkeys

If you already started using Photoshop CC 2019, you probably noticed that everything is weird and buggy! This is because Photoshop changed the hotkeys. Here are the 2 things you need to know:

  1. The Undo hotkey has been switched. Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+Z is now Ctrl/Cmd+Z. Photoshop's undo hotkey works like every other app now.
  2. Holding shift does the opposite. When transforming/scaling, you don't need to hold the shift key anymore. Photoshop keeps the width/height ratio the same. Instead, if you don't want Photoshop to do that, you would hold the shift key.

These changes may take some time to get used to, but it is the right direction for Photoshop.

Frame Tool

The new Frame tool lets you create placeholder boxes. The boxes let you drag & drop an image directly into it. You can draw a rectangle or a circle.

Photoshop's Frame Tool

Content-Aware Fill Workspace

Content-Aware Fill lets you remove objects in a photo. The new Content-Aware Fill workspace improves this tool. To use it, make a selection of the object that you want to remove. Go to Edit > Content-Aware Fill. Here you can "train" Photoshop on which parts of the image to sample from. You can do so by painting in the green areas to remove it from the sampling area.

Symmetry Mode

Photoshop's brush tool has a new mode called Symmetry. This mode lets you paint with repeating symmetry between 10 different paths.

Blending Mode Previews

Hovering over the blending modes will show you how it looks. No more pressing the up/down arrows!

Distribute Spacing

Photoshop's Move tool has new options for aligning multiple objects. Distribute spacing lets you evenly scale layers/objects.

  • Align evenly spreads the layers out based on the center of the layer.
  • Distribute spacing evenly spreads the layers out based on the edge of the layer. This is usually more desirable.

RGB Color Wheel

The Color panel has a new mode called the Color wheel.

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6 comments on “Photoshop CC 2019 - Everything You Need To Know”

  1. This is so backwards... why would they change the hotkey that has existed since the beginning of Photoshop? That is not an update.

    Adobe is neglecting their long-time customers for their own greed. They will regret it when everyone switches to Affinity.

    1. Hi!

      Anyone know how to make the SHIFT work the same on all the tools? It's still the old way with the shape tools.

  2. Thanks for the heads up. I have not even downloaded the update yet. I am looking forward to learning the new features.

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