And this shortcut isn’t just for Photoshop Elements – it works in Photoshop too.
I learned it from watching one of Jodi’s video tutorials at MCP Actions. You should check those out, by the way, if you haven’t seen them yet. She has tutorials for Photoshop, running actions, and even a few for Elements. Hmmm, does that voice in the Elements videos sound familiar? 
All her videos are free, and she is a great teacher. To find the videos, go to MCP Actions and click on the FAQs drop down to locate the various tutorial categories.
So, back to the shortcut. It’s a quick and easy way to see a before and after when running actions. Press your alt key, and click on the eyeball next to the background layer. All the other layers will toggle off, revealing the image as it was before you ran the action. This won’t work, obviously, on actions that don’t retain your background layer.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used it over the past few days, when trying to decide which action, if any, looks best on a photo. I hope you like it too!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I LUV little tips like this…they usually make the biggest impact in the everyday stuff! Thanks for sharing~
.-= wayoutnumbered´s last blog ..Upside Down =-.
Seriously COOL tip!! Thank you:) I am always clicking back and forth between the two windows to see the difference-
It’s one of those shortcuts that I definitely won’t use for a while and then forget. Thanks for your comment!
love learning new stuff – great tip!