I'm sure I can't be the first person to point out that one area in which Photoshop is seriously lacking is keyboard shortcuts.
Currently, there are many severe limitations to how you can customize shortcuts, such as:
• Tools can only be single keys
• Other shortcuts cannot be single keys
• All shortcuts must include Shift
• Actions can only be F keys
• Useful keys like Tilde and Backslash cannot be used
You might say: "Why does it matter?" But this kind of customizability is essential for cramming all the controls we use the most into those 12 keys under the left hand, so you don't have to keep moving your hands around constantly. The more shortcuts you can assign to a single key, the more power you have at your fingertips.
You might say: "Tools are special - they need to be a single key". But not everyone uses tools the same, or has the same definition of a tool. For example, some might say that showing/hiding extras was important enough to warrant a single-key command. (Adobe InDesign lets you do this by hitting "W".) You might also say that "Switch foreground/background colors" isn't exactly a "tool" and its control could take a backseat to more important tools.
As well as not being able to full customize controls, even more frustrating is that some of the most essential commands cannot be remapped AT ALL! Commands such as move up/down a layer, or fill layer with foreground/background color. My only option was to remap these to my mouse, using Logitech software, but Photoshop should let you assign them as keyboard shortcuts.
Photoshop has added so many features over the years which, to me, does not seem particularly essential. But what could be more essential than the actual CONTROLS we use to control it?
Please could Photoshop allow full control of the remapping of keyboard shortcuts (ideally also allowing the scroll wheel to move up/down through layers).