From the course: Photoshop 2024 Essential Training

Discover flexible editing using the History panel - Photoshop Tutorial

From the course: Photoshop 2024 Essential Training

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Discover flexible editing using the History panel

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- [Instructor] One of the most important features in Photoshop is the ability to undo whatever you just did because knowing that nothing that you do is permanent allows you to experiment and play in Photoshop. For example, if I choose the Image menu and then Image Rotation, and I flip this canvas horizontally, well, then I can choose to undo this. I can use the Edit menu and choose Undo or use the keyboard shortcut, Command + Z on Mac or Control + Z on Windows, or I can click on the Open state or the Previous state in the History panel. Now, if your History panel isn't showing, go to the Window menu and then choose Show History. Now, by default, the History panel keeps track of the last 50 commands, but you can change that in your Preferences under Performance. You can either increase or decrease the number of History States. All right, let's start by adding some filters and making some quick adjustments because I want to create several History States. I'll use the Filter menu, choose Stylize and then Solarize, then Image, Adjustments, and let's invert the photograph. I'll return to the Filters, Stylize, and add an oil paint effect, accepting the default values, and then go to Image, Adjustments, and Hue and Saturation in order to colorize the entire image. Finally, I'll use Image and then Auto Tone. Now, to go back multiple steps, we can use the History panel, the Edit menu, or keyboard shortcuts. So with the Edit menu, I can go back one state. Using Command + Z. I can toggle before and after using Command + Option + Z, and I can redo using Command + Shift + Z. So if I use Command + Z once, I go back in time one step. Command + Z, again, goes back in time again, whereas Command + Shift + Z will go forward in time, and we can actually see this happening in the History panel. Now, if you don't want to remember the keyboard shortcuts, you can always just use the History panel by clicking directly on any of the states. Just one thing to point out is that the history by default is linear. So as I go back in time, if I were to do something to my image right now, all of these future states would drop off. All right, if I want to revert the file, I can always choose File and then close this and close it without saving. Or I could select File and then Revert, in which case Photoshop would reread the original file from the hard drive, or I can click the Snapshot at the top of the History panel. The Snapshot was automatically taken when the file was first opened. One thing to note, when I close the file, the history will be discarded, so the next time you open the file, the history will start fresh. All right, let's go ahead and close this without saving any changes. Now in future videos, we'll discover additional ways to work non-destructively with smart filters and adjustment layers. But as you can see, the ability to go back in time using multiple undo in the History panel is a huge advantage because it enables you to work in a much more flexible environment, where you really shouldn't hesitate to try something new.

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