MY CARTHow to Use the Undo Command and the History Panel in Photoshop: Video Lesson
This video lesson, titled “Learn How to Use the Undo Command and History Panel in Adobe Photoshop: A Training Tutorial,” shows you how to use the Undo command and the History panel in Photoshop. This video lesson is from our complete Photoshop tutorial, titled “Mastering Photoshop Made Easy.”
How to Undo Mistakes and Reverse Steps in Photoshop:
The Undo command and the History panel in Photoshop are two tools you can use to reverse actions to fix mistakes or undo changes you make that you don’t like.
How to Use the Undo Command in Photoshop and the Redo Command:
The Undo command in Photoshop lets you reverse your previous actions, in order. To undo your last action in Photoshop, either press the “Ctrl” (“Command” for Macs) + “Z” keys on your keyboard or select “Edit| Undo” from the Menu Bar. You can continue to execute this command to continue reversing your previous actions, in order. To redo an action you have undone, select “Edit| Redo” from the Menu Bar or press “Shift” + “Ctrl” (“Command” for Macs) + “Z” on your keyboard.
The Revert Command in Photoshop:
If working with a file you have saved in Photoshop, you can also use the “Revert” command to remove all edits and revert the image back to its previous save state. To revert a saved image in Photoshop back to its last save state, select “File| Revert” from the Menu Bar or press “F12” on your keyboard.
How to Use the History Panel in Photoshop:
Photoshop tracks all editing changes you make in an editing session as actions, and shows them, step-by-step, within the History panel. Each action records the history state of the document at that point. To show or hide the History panel in Photoshop, select “Window| History” from the Menu Bar.
Your most recent action appears at the bottom of the History panel. The save state from which you started editing the Photoshop document appears as a snapshot at the top of the History panel. To revert a Photoshop document back to its state at a selected step in the editing process, click the name of the action to which to revert in the History panel.
How to Create Snapshots in the History Panel:
Photoshop can also save a selected history state as a snapshot in the History panel within an editing session. All snapshots appear at the top of the History panel. By default, Photoshop shows the Photoshop document’s open state as a snapshot at the top of the History panel when you initially open it.
To save a selected history state as a snapshot, select the desired action’s history state in the History panel. Then click the “Create new snapshot” button, which looks like a camera icon, at the bottom of the History panel. Note that unlike “Camera Raw” snapshots, History panel snapshots are removed after you close and reopen the Photoshop document.
How to Create a New Photoshop Document from the History Panel:
To create a more permanent version of a history state in Photoshop, you can create a new document from a selected state in the History panel. To create a new document from a selected state in the History panel, click to select the desired history state to save. This can be either an action or a snapshot.
Then click the “Create new document from current state” button, which has an icon that looks like a piece of paper with a plus on it, at the bottom of the History panel. The new document is immediately created in a new document window in Photoshop. Note that this new document does not contain any of the previous document’s history states. However, you can save it if you want to preserve a specific history state of a Photoshop document beyond a single editing session.
How to Delete Actions in the History Panel:
If you select a previous action’s history state in the History panel, note that any actions you stepped back over still appear in the History panel. To permanently delete an action and all following actions in the History panel in Photoshop, right-click the action to delete and then select “Delete” from the pop-up contextual menu that appears. Then click “Yes” in the confirmation window to confirm the deletion.
If needed, to delete all the actions in the History panel, other than any action currently selected, click the History panel’s “Options” button in its upper-right corner, which looks like a button made of three stacked horizontal lines. Then select the “Clear History” command from its drop-down menu.
How to Delete Snapshots in the History Panel:
Note that clearing the action history does not delete any snapshots you created in the editing session. If you want to delete a snapshot in the History panel in Photoshop, click it to select it. Then click the “Delete current state” button, which looks like a trash can icon, at the bottom of the History panel.
How to Change the Number of History States Shown in the History Panel:
By default, the History panel in Photoshop stores your last 50 steps. You can change this number to set it up to a maximum of 1,000 steps, by selecting “Edit| Preferences| Performance…” from the Menu Bar to open the “Performance” tab of the “Preferences” dialog box. Then click the “History States” drop-down. Then use the slider that appears to set the desired number of steps or type a number into the adjacent field. Finally, click the “OK” button.
Keep in mind that the more steps you store in the History panel, the more memory is required by Photoshop. It’s also important to note that once you close a Photoshop document on which you are working, all its editing history is cleared.
