Top Adobe Hacks We Wished We'd Known Sooner

Wondering what Adobe hacks could save you time or simplify your workflow? Our instructors share their top Photoshop tips, Illustrator and InDesign hacks, and more!

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Photoshop: Create More Undo Steps
InDesign: Make Grids With the Rectangle Frame Tool
Premiere Pro: Change Captions to Graphics
Photoshop: Paint With Adjustment Layers and Masks
Illustrator: Change the Default Text Settings
InDesign: Take Advantage of Select Subject
Illustrator: Save Multiple Artboards
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1. Photoshop: Create More Undo Steps

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Jonathan Lam

Hi everyone! My name is Jonathan Lam, and I'm a digital artist on a mission to empower, educate and inspire creative students just like you to gain the creative skills you desire! My skills range from graphic design to illustration, animation, 3D modelling/sculpting, concept art, and video editing.

One Adobe Photoshop hack I wish I'd known sooner is that you can create more undo steps! Photoshop allows you to create more undo steps, which can be handy if you make frequent mistakes.

To do so, go to Select Edit > Preferences > Performance and increase the history states to any number you wish, up to a maximum of 1,000.

This is great for when you are in the zone or if you forget to save a previous version of your file. However, bear in mind that the more states you add, the more likely Photoshop is to slow down. It's a good failsafe, but it's always better to save different versions of your file frequently if possible.

Interested in more Photoshop tips? Take a look at this complete guide:

2. InDesign: Make Grids With the Rectangle Frame Tool

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Laura Keung

I'm a design writer, mentor, and entrepreneur currently based in Munich, Germany. With 12 years of experience in the design industry, I lead my own design studio and collaborate with other creatives on branding and editorial design projects.

This Adobe InDesign hack is a game-changer and takes full advantage of the Rectangle Frame Tool.

Instead of creating frames one by one and resizing them separately, now we can create multiple frames that are evenly spaced by pressing the left, right, up, and down arrows as we draw up the frame. This is great if you're working on multiple images that need to be on a grid.

We have more great resources that cover InDesign tips and hacks here:

3. Premiere Pro: Change Captions to Graphics

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Tom Graham

I'm a multi-skilled content creator with a background in commercial film-making. I've worked as a Director, Producer, Editor, and Creative Director across television commercials, feature films, and large-scale corporate video events.

I've edited exclusively in Premiere Pro for 15 years, but I recently made the switch to DaVinci Resolve. Since I switched, they've actually started giving some meaningful updates to Premiere Pro. One thing I like way better in Premiere than Resolve is the auto transcript to captions workflow.

My Premiere Pro hack that I wish I'd known way earlier is that there is now a button to turn those captions into editable text layers! It means you can get some really customised, interesting on-screen captions and text callouts that are synced perfectly with the voiceover track.

This Premiere Pro hack is great for social videos but could be even better for lyric music videos.

4. Photoshop: Paint With Adjustment Layers and Masks

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Abbey Esparza

I’m a mixed media artist and freelancer with over ten years of experience in digital art. I love to take fashion-forward modern-day photography and transform it into the unusual and macabre. But while I typically like to play with surreal themes, I'm experienced in various styles and genres.

My Photoshop hack is that I like to paint using Adjustment Layers inside a group with a mask.

This Photoshop hack is excellent for creating a number of different skin effects, and this is how I can keep a certain level of photorealism in my images. It's an incredible hack for any photo editor, both people doing intense SFX-type stuff and photographers who want to add beauty makeup.

Here are some more great Photoshop tips you can learn:

5. Illustrator: Change the Default Text Settings

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Andrei Marius

I'm a self-taught graphic designer and a vector fanatic. I spend most of my time working on all sorts of designs in Illustrator, Photoshop, XD, Figma, or Sketch. Everything from illustrations to UI designs and interfaces, icons, charts, infographics and diagrams, logos and badges, patterns, a few character designs, and a lot of text effects.

I'll start with something that might sound a bit silly, but it took me years to ask myself if it's possible to change the default font settings when you add new text in Illustrator. As you probably know, by default, any new text that you add uses the Myriad Pro font with a pretty small font size.

You can easily replace these settings by going to Window > Type > Character Styles to open a panel, and then from a fly-out menu select Character Style Options. Go to Basic Character Formats, and here you can adjust the default font settings. Remember to click OK, and you're done.

The next Adobe Illustrator hack is about selecting an object. For a long time, when I had two overlapping objects and I needed to select the one at the back, I used to go to the Layers and look for that object to select it.

Instead of wasting your time like I did for way too long, you could hold down Control, click the front shape to select it, and then click once more to select the object that lies behind it. It's that easy.

Finally, one last Illustrator tip that I missed for too many years is the Draw Behind command. Instead of drawing something and then moving it behind your design, you can click the Draw Behind command, and now any new object that you add goes behind the rest of your objects.

If you'd like to learn more Illustrator tips, here are some great resources for you:

6. InDesign: Take Advantage of Select Subject

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Ashlee Harrell

I'm a graphic designer with over ten years of experience, currently working for a full-service data, digital, and print firm located in Florida. I'm passionate about all things design and know my way around the Creative Cloud suite.

One of my favorite InDesign hacks is the Select Subject feature, which is connected to the Text Wrap panel in InDesign. It functions similarly to Photoshop’s Select Subject: it outlines the object in the image to help you quickly and easily wrap text around the object.

This hack has made my workflow easier because I don’t have to use the Pen Tool to trace objects anymore. This is great for designers who spend time creating publications where text is often overlaid on top of images.

Need more InDesign tips? We've got you covered here:

7. Illustrator: Save Multiple Artboards

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Jonathan Lam

One Adobe Illustrator hack I wish I'd known sooner is the ability to save a document containing multiple artboards into separate AI files. This is especially useful if you want to send each design separately, and it's also a good way to stay organised with your work.

To do this, go to File > Save As, just as you would normally. Then, in the Illustrator options, make sure to select Save each artboard as separate file. This will also add a number to each file to help you stay organised.

If you liked this Adobe Illustrator hack, here are more Illustrator tips that you can use:

Many of the graphics used by our instructors in this video are from Envato Elements, so be sure to check it out! With one subscription, you'll have unlimited access to assets such as graphics, add-ons, and fonts. That's millions of creative digital assets, with simple commercial licensing, and you can cancel at any time.

Discover More Adobe Hacks and Tips

Our instructors covered their top Adobe hacks and Photoshop tips today, but if you want to go deeper and learn more, the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel is here for you:

Or if you prefer written tutorials, we have a huge library of tutorials and other practical resources. Here are a few to get you started: