Today’s Question: When I add text to my photos, I often like to change the color of the text to a color found within the photo. But when the text is selected so I can change it, I find it very difficult to choose a color when the text appears with the opposite color. Is there a better way to choose a color than going back and forth between choosing a color, deselecting the text, then re-selecting the text when I decide the color wasn’t quite right?
Tim’s Quick Answer: You can simply choose View > Extras from the menu to hide (or reveal) the highlighting for the text while you’re working, or press Ctrl+H on Windows or Command+H on Macintosh. This will allow you to hide the highlighting so you can see a “real” preview of the changes you make to the text attributes.
More Detail: For Macintosh users it is worth noting that the first time you use the Command+H keyboard shortcut from within Photoshop you’ll be asked if you want to use this keyboard shortcut to hide Photoshop or to hide “Extras”. This is because the Macintosh operating system uses the Command+H keyboard shortcut for hiding the current application, while Photoshop includes this keyboard shortcut for hiding extras. Once you’ve chosen an option the first time you use this keyboard shortcut, you won’t have to confirm your choice in the future. And, of course, you can always use the menu command if you prefer.