So how do you make a selection go away in GIMP? Simple. It only takes one little step.
Remove a Selection In GIMP
To get rid of the current selection without saving it first:
Go to Select > None in the Main Menu. The selection will be removed.
Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Shift Ctrl A on a Mac, or Shift Cmd A in Windows.
If you want to save the selection before you get rid of it, you can save it as a Path which you can turn back into a selection later.
To do that, first go to Select > To Path.
You can check that your selection was saved as a path by going to Windows > Dockable Dialogs > Paths in the Main Menu to open the Paths Dialog. You can dock this dialog to the Toolbox if you want to keep your saved paths handy.
Then go to Select > None to remove the active selection from the image.
Now, if you want to re-activate the selection, go to the Paths Dialog, highlight the correct path, then go to Select > From Path in the Main Menu. The path will be turned into a selection.
Conclusion
See? Making a selection go away in GIMP isn’t super obvious, but it’s not exactly hard either.
Hotkeys (or keyboard shortcuts) make working in Photoshop So. Much. Faster. But if you’re just getting started with Photoshop it can seem daunting to try to learn a whole set of hotkeys while you’re also learning the basics of the program.
But if you’re systematic about using those keyboard shortcuts, you’ll be able to learn them pretty painlessly, even if you’re a Photoshop beginner.
Here’s how I approach learning Photoshop hotkeys.
Step One: Decide Which Hotkeys To Focus On
Photoshop has a keyboard shortcut for almost everything. But if you aren’t using a feature, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to learn the hotkey for it.
What actions in Photoshop are you actually using, and which ones are really slowing you down? Those are the hotkeys you’ll want to focus on.
Fire up Photoshop, and start working on a typical project. Pay attention to how you are working right now, without hotkeys. Make note of the following:
What tools are you using frequently?
What actions are the slowest for you?
Which tools are the hardest for you to access, or the hardest to find?
The hotkeys for these tools will make the most appreciable difference to your workflow, and since you’ll have a chance to use them frequently, they’ll be the easiest to learn. If your list is more than a few tools/actions long, you might want to focus on the top two or three for now so you don’t get overwhelmed.
Now that you’ve figured out which keys to focus on, you can move on to step two.
Step Two: Grab A Hotkey Reference
Some of Photoshop’s hotkeys
Photoshop has a built-in keyboard shortcut reference buried in its preferences, and an online reference but you’ll want something handier than that as you start using these hotkeys. Photoshop’s official list can be found here. We’ll start with that, but we’re not going to use it as-is.
Here’s how I recommend using your hotkey reference:
Double check to make sure the reference is for your operating system and version of Photoshop. Mac keyboard shortcuts are often different than Windows shortcuts, and shortcuts may have changed between versions of Photoshop.
From Photoshops reference, make a list of only the hotkeys you want to learn right now. Alternatively, put those hot keys at the top of the list. You don’t want to search through a long list for the shortcut you need.
Consider printing the list and keeping it next to your computer. Otherwise, make sure it’s in a andy place that you can access quickly. Again, if it’s hard to find, it’s defeating the purpose.
My simplified keyboard shortcut reference might look like this:
Now that you’ve got a handy reference for the hotkeys you actually want to use, you can move on to using them.
Step Three: Actually Use The Shortcuts
The first two steps are designed to make using shortcuts as painless as possible. Because if it’s painful, you won’t do it. Now that you have a set of shortcuts narrowed down, and you know what they are at a glance, the last step is to actually use them. The more often you use them, the faster you’ll commit them to muscle memory, and the sooner you can move on to learning more shortcuts.
Here are a few tricks to actually make yourself use those keyboard shortcuts:
Start with a small/quick Photoshop project. Force yourself to use the shortcuts instead of the long way for the whole project. (That’s why it’s important to make it a SMALL project. Make up a quick 10 minute project if you have to!)
Use your handy reference! This is supposed to be painless. There’s no use beating yourself up over not remembering a combination of keys, so look at your reference if you need to.
Use spaced repetition. Learning a new skill, waiting a while, then reviewing it again helps cement things into your memory. Once that small Photoshop project is complete, wait a while. A few minutes to an hour should do. Now fire up Photoshop again. Make another simple micro project and practice using your shortcuts. The next day, make another project and do the same thing.
By now you should have the beginnings of muscle memory happening, and it won’t be long before you don’t have to look at your reference at all.
Congrats, Photoshop Hotkey Boss!
If you’re anything like me, learning hotkeys is something I’m grateful for after the fact, but reluctant to do in the moment. I know it will speed up my process in the long run, but when I feel like I have to learn a whole bunch of new things it feels even slower in the short term.
Thankfully, you can get a lot of benefit from shortcuts even if you only learn a few. And being systematic about your choices can help you learn those hotkeys lightning fast.
Now, go make your list of Photoshop hotkeys to learn and get cracking!
16 Amazing Fonts For Commercial Use for Your Next POD or Graphic Design Project
I love a good font. Sometimes I download them even when I don’t have a particular use in mind. But there are times I really need a font that’s free for commercial use, and that narrows down my choices substantially. There are still some great 100% OK for commercial use fonts out there if you know where to look.
As you search for fonts, you must make sure to filter for 100% Free fonts, or Commercial Use OK, as “Free for personal use”, “Donationware”, “Shareware”, and “Demo” fonts may not be OK to use commercially.
If you need a free for commercial use font for your next project (for things like print on demand, t-shirts, crafts, or anything else you’re going to sell), I’ve taken some of the work out for you and collected 16 great options that are totally OK to use commercially.
Some of them are free (as in they cost no money), some come in bundles (seriously good deals!), and they are all 100% free for commercial use.
Enjoy!
Summer Loving Hand Lettered Brush Font Collection
Get FIVE fonts in one bundle! This is seriously a great deal if you love hand lettered script fonts. The set includes Summer Loving, Summer Loving Sans, Summer Loving Regular Script, Summer Loving Brush, and Summer Loving Solid Sans.
Like all of the fonts in this roundup, these 5 are free for commercial use. So use them in your printables, t-shirt designs, and POD projects to your heart’s content!
Another font set, this duo includes a delicate script font and a nice wide classic serif to balance it out. The script can be a little hard to read in my opinion, so it’s best used sparingly. Let the serif font does the heavy lifting. Knowing that, it’s super nice that you get both in one set!
Chloe is a bold sans-serif font with the sophistication of a serif. Its contrasting strokes make it easily read, but still delicate, and appropriate for a variety of work as display and body text.
Chloe is free for personal and commercial use, and I can imagine it on high fashion shirts, and bags, retro minimalist mugs, and lots of other print on demand projects.
Apalu font is 100% free from DaFont.com – meaning it’s free to download and use, and it’s free to use for any purpose you chose including commercial work. It’s a generally compact font with extra long ascenders and descenders making it look quite elegant.
Apulo Font by Khurasan on DaFont.com
Sweet Bread Font
A cute and cheerful, easy to read script font that’s perfect for your kawaii and chibi projects.
A bold, all caps sans-serif font, slightly reminiscent of athletic style stencils but much narrower. Great for t-shirts, and anywhere you need a font that’s perfectly clean and legible.
Bebas Neue Font by Dharma Type on DaFont.com
Code Font
Another all-caps sans-serif font, this one comes in two weights, and has a wide geometric feel. It’s a really nicely made font with stylish touches that don’t overpower other elements in your work. I mean, just look at J, and those R’s. Swoon. It’s a great choice for fashion work, and it’s 100% free for commercial and personal use.
Code Font by Fontfabric on Dafont.com
NorthEast Font Collection
Four serif fonts are included in this collection including NorthEast Regular, Outline, Rough, and Additional.
This font collection is free for personal and commercial use, and I think it would be great in woodsy, outdoor, and nature themed products and prints.
That’s it! I highly recommend checking out both DaFont.com (and filtering for 100% free fonts!) and CreativeMarket for fonts that are OK for commercial use. There really are a lot of commercial use fonts available once you start looking, so make sure the fonts in your next project are OK to use for your intended purpose. Enjoy!