Work Basics: Using History (VIdeo Included)

Photoshop tracks all the changes from the time you opened your image to the time you close it. This feature allows you to go back in time to any particular state* of the edited image.

1. Open your image and have some fun spoiling it as badly as you can.

2. Open the History palette. If you can't find it, pull down menu Window > History. Every step you took is stored there as a history state*.
*As default the palette can store up to 20 history states.
I recommend to increase this number

3. Keyboard shortcuts are easy for navigating the recent history. To get back for one or more steps, press [Alt+Ctrl+Z] one or more times; to move forward in your history press [Shift+Ctrl+Z].

4. For the longer tours in time we use the History palette. Click any state in the palette to move backward or forward in your history.

5. To backup a key history state, you can create a history snapshot (movie). Snapshots are shown at the top of the palette. The first one is always created automatically when you open an image file.

6. By default, our history is linear. What does it mean? Select an earlier history state and edit the image in some way - paint, select, just do anything you like. All the history states below the new step disappear (movie).

7. However, the Snapshot 1 is still there. Click it to return to the saved state. By creating a snapshot from a state, you are protecting it from the possibility of being deleted as you navigate and create new histories.