All the Tools in Photoshop Toolbox and their Functions

The Toolbox in Photoshop is one of the most important part of Photoshop. An understanding of the tools will help you go through the design process with relative ease. A few of these tools are standalone while some tools have other tools grouped together with them. To see those tools, right click on the tool icon, it will bring out other tools
options.

Alternatively, you can also hold down the mouse to bring out all the tools inside an icon. To drag out any icon, hold down the mouse while clicking on the tool and drag it to any position.

The Photoshop Toolbox can be classified into these broad categories

1. Selection, Cropping and Slicing Tools

2. Painting and Retouching Tools

3. Drawing and Type Tools

4. Annotation and Measurement Tool

5. Miscellaneous

Selection, Cropping and Slicing Tools

Move Tool

Artboard Tool

The shortcut letter is V on your keyboard. The Move Tool is used to move object around in Photoshop. They are used to switch between tabs in Photoshop.

Lasso Tool

Polygonal Lasso Tool

Magnetic Lasso Tool

The shortcut letter is letter L. These tools are used for selection of objects or image.

Magic Wand Tool

Quick Selection Tool

To use this tool, press the letter W on your keyboard. Quick Selection Tool is one of the simplest way to create simple selection quicker

Rectangular Marquee Tool

Elliptical Marquee Tool

Single Column Marquee Tool

Single Row Marquee Tool

The shortcut letter for the tool is M

They are also used to create selection even though it is defined selection. The selection will appear as the name of the tool.  If you use Elliptical Marquee Tool, the selection will appear in Elliptical form.

 

Crop Tool

Perspective Crop tool

Slice Tool

Slice Select Tool

The shortcut letter is C

Painting and Retouching Tools

Spot Healing Brush Tool

Healing Brush Tool

Patch Tool

Content Aware Move Tool

Red Eye Tool

These tools are used by photographers to remove blemishes, pimples, wrinkles and distortion in the face of a person. The shortcut key is J

Brush Tool

Pencil Tool

Color Replacement Tool

Color Mixer tool

The tools are used by artists and photographers for digital painting and retouching respectively. The shortcut letter is B

Clone Stamp Tool

Pattern Stamp Tool

The shortcut key for the tool is S

With this tool, you chose a point of reference you want to use as source. Hold Alt (Option for Mac) then select the source and move to where you want to clone and apply.

History Brush Tool

Art History Brush Tool

The shortcut letter is Y

Eraser Tool

Background Eraser Tool

Magic Eraser Tool

The shortcut letter for the tool is E

The Eraser Tool is used to wipe away part of an image or selection.

 

Dodge Tool

Burn Tool

Sponge Tool

The shortcut for these tools is O. The burn and dodge options are necessary for adding shadows and highlights to images. Sponge tool is used for saturation or desaturation of part of an image.

Sharpen Tool

Smudge tool

Blur Tool

Smudge Tool is used by artists for painting and photographers for retouching.  Sharpen Tool increases the definition or sharpness in an image

Gradient Tool

Paint Bucket Tool

3D Material Drop Tool

The shortcut letter for the tool is G

The Gradient Tool is used to add gradient while Paint Bucket Tool is used to fill a selection or image with a solid color

Drawing and Type Tools

Pen tool

Freeform Pen Tool

Curvature Pen Tool

Add Anchor Point Tool

Delete Anchor Point Tool

Convert Point Tool

The shortcut for these set of tools is Letter P. The tools are used for creating selections on objects. The pen tool can also be used for drawing and illustration

Horizontal Type Tool

Vertical Type Tool

Vertical Type Mask Tool

Horizontal Type Mask Tool

The shortcut for these set of tool is Letter T on the keyboard. These tools are used for typing and formatting

Rectangle Tool

Rounded Rectangle Tool

Ellipse Tool

Polygon Tool

Line Tool

Custom Shape Tool

The shortcut is Letter U. The tools are used to create basic shapes in Photoshop.

Path Selection tool

Direct Selection tool

The shortcut is Letter A. The tools are used for selecting and editing a particular point in a shape

Annotation and Measurement Tools

Hand Tool (Letter H)

Rotate View Tool (Letter R)

Zoom Tool

 

Eyedropper Tool

3D Material Eyedropper Tool

Color Sampler Tool

Ruler Tool

Note Tool

Count Tool

The shortcut letter on keyboard for the tool is letter I

Miscellaneous Tools

These tools are categorized, nevertheless they are very useful in Photoshop application.

 

Foreground Color

Background Color

Use letter X to switch between Foreground and Background Color. If you click inside the rectangle with the color, it will bring out the color swatch for you. You can change the foreground or background color. If you change the color and wants to reset it to default, press the keyboard letter D

Edit Tool Bar

With this tool, you can switch the arrangement of the different tools and even change the shortcuts to your own preferences. A dialog box appears for you to change the tools and arrange it to your preferences

 

Edit in Quick Mask Mode

 

Change Screen Mode

You can switch between Standard Screen Mode, Full Screen Mode and Full Screen Mode with Menu Bar. This will change how your Photoshop display. Letter F is the shortcut to these options