Using The Shift Keyboard Key For... Lots of Stuff! | John's Tips 2024W24
Do you use the shift key for anything in your day to day apps? You'd be surprised how many apps have pretty powerful functions tied to the shift key. Here's a list of the most popular.
I love a good efficiency tip, especially when it can make your life easier when using one of your day-to-day apps.
Using the shift key is actually quite powerful on many of the most popular apps people use for work.
You might already use it on one or two of your apps, but the next time you are editing some data, slides or images, try using the shift key and you might find some useful functionality to help you complete your task.
Some of the main functions that are common across many different apps include resizing images proportionally, drawing horizontal or vertical lines or snapping when moving items.
Here’s a list of some popular apps that you might use and the function they’ve given to the shift key:
Photoshop: Holding Shift while resizing an object keeps the proportions locked, preventing distortion.
Miro: Holding Shift while drawing lines makes them perfectly straight. Dragging items while holding shift also locks them horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
Excel: Shift while dragging a selection of cells moves them to a new location.
PowerPoint: Holding Shift while drawing shapes keeps them uniform (perfect squares, circles).
Illustrator: Shift constrains shapes (e.g., perfect circles or squares) and also aligns objects accurately.
Canva: Shift while dragging objects snaps them into alignment with other elements or the grid.
Sketch: Holding Shift while resizing elements maintains their aspect ratio.
Procreate: Holding Shift while using the line tool creates perfectly straight lines.
Unity: Shift while moving objects keeps them aligned to the axis.
Premiere Pro: Shift while scrubbing through the timeline snaps the playhead to the start or end of clips.
Mac Preview: Shift while resizing pasted images allows you to break the aspect ratio.
InDesign: Holding Shift while resizing frames keeps them proportional.
Figma: Shift while moving elements locks them to the grid or other elements.
Google Slides: Shift while dragging objects maintains alignment with other objects or grid.
Do you use any of these apps and if yes, do you use the shortcut?
Do you use the function tied to it? Let me know in the comments!
For More Tips
For my past tips check out my past posts on Substack or check out the hashtag #JohnsTipOfTheWeek on LinkedIn.
I’d love if you subscribed! I’m trying to build a bit of a following to try and help folks in the industry and make their jobs a little bit easier.