Quick tip 26 – The hand tool

This is part 26 of the Photoshop quick tip series where you will learn how to quickly select the Hand tool. The hand tool is similar to the selection tool, but you can click and drag around the Photoshop document. The main function of this tool is basically navigation.

To use the Hand tool you need to firstly open an image in Photoshop. If you want to quickly open a document in PS, checkout quick tip 3.

On the toolbar the Hand tool can be located just above the foreground and background palettes. Another method is to hold down the spacebar which is a very useful keyboard shortcut. The great benefit of this tool is that it will activate no matter what tool is currently selected.

Now zoom into your image Ctrl + then select the Hand tool (Spacebar) and you will be able to move around the zoomed in image by clicking and dragging.