How to add or edit guides in Photoshop

Updated: 12/05/2021 by Computer Hope

Photoshop guides

When creating or editing images in Adobe Photoshop, guides are a smashing visual tool to help you align the many layers and graphical elements you lot might exist using. A guide is an individual guideline or a mathematical grid chosen a guide layout. Whether it's to marshal text, ensure your paradigm follows the rule of thirds, or add together bleed to your images, learning how to utilize guides helps your design workflow.

Beneath are the steps for creating private guides or guide layouts in Adobe Photoshop. If the default colors of the guides blend into the image you are creating, yous can follow our instructions for irresolute their appearance.

Annotation

To create and motion guides accurately, you need to enable Photoshop's ruler. To do this, select View, then Ruler in the menu bar, or press Ctrl+R (PC) or Command+R (Mac).

Creating individual guides in Photoshop

Guides can be created rapidly using the ruler:

  1. Move your cursor to the superlative ruler (horizontal guide) or the left ruler (vertical guide).
  2. Click and elevate from the ruler to the canvas until you lot are happy with its placement.
  3. Lock the guides by selecting View, then Lock Guides in the carte bar.

For a more accurate guide placement:

  1. Select View > New Guide in the carte bar.
  2. Select Vertical or Horizontal for the Orientation.
  3. Enter the position in your document's units (pixels, inches, etc.)
  4. Click OK.
  5. When you have created the guidelines, lock them using View, then Lock Guides in the carte bar.

Tip

To change your default units in Photoshop, select Edit, Preferences, so Units & Rulers in the menu bar. These are commonly set to pixels or inches, depending on the medium where your images are used.

Creating guide layouts in Photoshop

To create a guide layout based on a mathematical filigree:

  1. In the menu bar, select View, then New Guide Layout.
  2. Enable the checkbox for Columns (A), Rows (B), or both.

New Guide Layout menu in Photoshop

  1. Enter values for the number of rows or columns. If desired, add a gutter for space between each row or column.
  2. Click OK.
  3. Lock the guide layout by selecting View, then Lock Guides in the menu bar.

Changing the appearance of guides

To alter the color of your guidelines, or make them dashed:

  1. Select Edit so Preferences in the menu bar.
  2. In the Preferences window, select Guides, Grids & Slices (A).

Photoshop Guide Preferences

  1. Under Guides, employ the driblet-down menus side by side to Sheet. Adjust the colour (B) or stroke (C).
  2. Select OK.