How to Use the Hand Tool in Photoshop

Document Windows, Tabs and Screen Modes

Photoshop can display open images as floating windows or as tabs. Window > Arrange > Consolidate All to Tabs groups them; Float All in Windows breaks them back out; dragging a tab downward pulls that one document free. If you prefer floating windows permanently, go to Preferences > General and uncheck Open Documents as Tabs. The screen mode button at the bottom of the toolbar cycles between Standard Screen Mode, Full Screen with Menu Bar and Full Screen – or just press F. Working full screen and zoomed in is exactly where the Hand tool earns its keep.

The Spacebar: Your Instant Hand Tool

This is the single most important thing to know: holding the spacebar temporarily switches you to the Hand tool no matter which tool you are currently using. Retouching with the Spot Healing Brush, painting with the Brush tool, moving layers – hold space, drag the image to a new area, let go, and you are back in your original tool exactly where you left off. Because of this, most people never click the Hand tool in the toolbar at all.

Hand Tool Options

Select the Hand Tool itself and a few options appear. Scroll All Windows pans every open document at once, which is occasionally useful when comparing two photos side by side but is usually best left off. There are also three zoom buttons: 100% jumps to actual pixels, Fit Screen sizes the image to the window, and Fill Screen scales it a little larger.

Hand Tool and Zoom Shortcuts Worth Knowing

Ctrl/Cmd + Plus and Ctrl/Cmd + Minus zoom in and out. Ctrl/Cmd + 0 fits the image to the screen – combine it with F for full screen and you get an instant, distraction-free view of the whole photo. Note that nothing happens when you drag with the Hand tool while the entire image already fits on screen; there is nowhere left to pan.

Hand Tool Quick Reference

• Spacebar (held) – temporary Hand tool from any other tool
• H – select the Hand tool directly
• F – cycle screen modes
• Ctrl/Cmd + 0 – fit the image to the screen
• Ctrl/Cmd + Plus / Minus – zoom in and out
• Preferences > General – turn off Open Documents as Tabs