The History Panel - Introduction

The History Panel: What it Does

In common with all software programs that allow you to create, Photoshop allows you to undo the last thing you did. And the thing before that. And the thing before that...etc.

Undo

In common with other software programs you can Undo by using the menu, Edit > Undo (and the last action is named).

Or you can use the keyboard shortcut to undo, Ctrl+Z. This shortcut is universal, it works in all programs, on Windows and Apple computers.

When you want to quickly just undo the last thing you did the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+Z, can be ideal. But if you want to go back several steps, or compare how the image looks at different steps, a better method is to use the History panel and the History States in that panel.

History

If the History panel is not open, you can open it from the menu; Window > History.

In an earlier chapter on The Workspace, I recommend you set up your workspace to have open 4 main panels; Toolbar, Navigator, Layers and History. These are panels you will use frequently.

The History panel is more useful than simply using Undo. It keeps a list of every step you take, called “History States”. Every action, whether it’s adding a Layer Mask, adjusting Levels, adding a new layer.... each step you do is recorded as a “State” in the History panel.

You can step backwards through them, just like using Undo, and you can step forwards through them, like using Redo. Or you can jump to any State, then jump to another State. This is made easy because each of the History States is named with the tool you used, or a description of what you did.

History Snapshots

You can create “Snapshots” whilst working, that save a particular History State. This can be useful if you want to try a number of different options. Click on the camera icon at the bottom of the History panel. But note, when you save and close a file, these will not be saved. Next time you open the file, History will be empty.

Points to Note

• History is lost when you close an image. Snapshots are also lost.
• When you close an image, you will lose the History States in the History panel.
• This applies even if you save in the .PSD Photoshop format. When you reopen the document the History panel will be empty.
• You can save the History Log, but this will ONLY document the steps in text format, that you’ve performed but will NOT maintain the data in the History panel.
• From the menu; Edit > Preferences > History & Content Credentials (or similar name). Tick the box for History Log. You can choose to save the log either in a separate file, or within meta data of the file.

See below for examples of History States.