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How to Use Move Tool in Photoshop

Hello guys and welcome to my new tutorial from the series Get to Know: Photoshop.

Last time I discussed Healing Brush in Photoshop which is life-saver tool especially when you want to heal your image or you want to remove any unwanted mark in your image like car’s dent, acne, blemish, dust etc.

Move tool is surely one of the most used tools in Photoshop as we all need to move objects in our image. Few of us also like to use Free Transform Tool, the sibling of Move Tool, to move the objects. But in my opinion, Move Tool is more advanced than the Free Transform tool because of its feature “Auto Select”. I am going to discuss this feature in Section 2.

As usual, this tutorial will be divided into two sections.

  • Section 1: Basics of Move Tool
  • Section 2: Advance Techniques of Move Tool

Section 1: Basic Techniques

Using a Move Tool is one of the easiest things you can do in Photoshop. It’s as easy as opening an image in Photoshop.

To activate the move tool, all you need to do is to grab it from the tool panel or press V.

The very first thing that you need to know about the Move Tool that it only works when there is something to move inside the image. If your image has one layer and it is locked, Move Tool cannot do anything to move the image. You need at least two layers to use the Move Tool. You can also use Move Tool with single layer provided the single layer is unlocked.

In the below image, you can easily figure out that it has two image layers and three adjustment layer.

In this image, suppose I want to change the girl’s position, all I need to do it activate the Move Tool and drag the girl where ever I want.

Please ignore that I had to select all the three adjustment layers. The only reason is that I masked some part of the adjustment layers. So if I have to move the masking along with the girl to keep the image perfect.

Section 2: Advance Techniques

Like all other Photoshop tools, Move Tool also comes with its own option bar.

A: Auto Select

This option can save tons of your time. Let us understand it in detail. If turned on, wherever you put your mouse cursor, Move Tool automatically activates the top layer and moves it. Look at the image below. The layer which is just below my mouse cursor is the kitchen (not the girl). So if I click on that area, Move Tool automatically moves the Kitchen layer irrespective of the previously activated layer.

Now let’s take one more example. If I click on the girl then Move Tool automatically activates the Girl layer irrespective of the previously activated layer.

B: Group/Layer

This feature helps Photoshop to decide whether Move Tool needs to move a layer or the whole group. You can create a group of several layers in Photoshop by selecting them while holding down Ctrl/Cmd and then by pressing Ctrl+G/Cmd+G.

C: Show Transformation Controls

With this option turned on, Photoshop will show drag blocks around the image. By dragging these blocks, you can adjust the size of your image.

D: Align Menu

These are some align menu which will be grayed out as long as your layers are not linked. To link two layers, hold down Ctrl/Cmd and then right-click on any of the layers. Now choose Link Layers.

I don’t remember I have used it in my 6 years Photoshop experience. It’s better to leave these buttons grayed out.

E: Distribute Menu

These are some distribute menu which will be grayed out as long as your layers are not linked. To link two layers, hold down Ctrl/Cmd and then right-click on any of the layers. Now choose Link Layers.

F: 3D Mode

This feature will not be available until you use the Extended version of Photoshop.

These options also perform similar to Align and Distribute menu but work with 3D only which is beyond the scope of your level. All those 3D techniques are for advanced users who have more than 12 months experience in Photoshop. And if you are a photographer, I don’t think that you will ever use the 3D option panel.

With this, I am going to end this tutorial. Browse my Get to Know: Photoshop series to learn more.

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