Here we can see, “The Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet”
Speed up designing in Adobe Illustrator with these keyboard shortcuts.
Adobe Illustrator is a compelling app, but it is often difficult to navigate. With numerous menus and toolbars, it’s hard to seek out your way around. Fortunately, it offers an enormous number of keyboard shortcuts to assist speed up your workflow.
We’ve compiled a number of the most straightforward Illustrator shortcuts in this cheat sheet for Windows and Mac. They’ll assist you quickly find the most necessary tools and panels, work more efficiently with complex documents and access some hidden features that will get you to design faster than ever.
Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut (Win) | Shortcut (Mac) | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Shortcuts | ||
| Ctrl + N | Cmd + N | Create new document |
| Alt + Ctrl + N | Option + Cmd + N | Skip New Document dialog box |
| Shift + Ctrl + N | Shift + Cmd + N | Create document from a template |
| Ctrl + S | Cmd + S | Save document |
| Alt + Ctrl + E | Option + Cmd + E | Export document for screens |
| Alt + Shift + Ctrl + P | Option + Shift + Cmd + P | Package document |
| Ctrl + P | Cmd + P | |
| Ctrl + Z | Cmd + Z | Undo |
| Shift + Ctrl + Z | Shift + Cmd + Z | Redo |
| Ctrl + X | Cmd + X | Cut |
| Ctrl + C | Cmd + C | Copy |
| Ctrl + V | Cmd + V | Paste |
| Shift + Ctrl + B | Shift + Cmd + B | Paste in place |
| Ctrl + F | Cmd + F | Paste in front of selected item |
| Ctrl + B | Cmd + B | Paste behind selected item |
| Shift + Ctrl + P | Shift + Cmd + P | Place an existing file into document |
| Ctrl + L | Cmd + L | Add new layer |
| Alt + Ctrl + L | Option + Cmd + L | Add new layer with the New Layer dialog box |
| Alt + Click layer name | Option + Click layer name | Select all objects on a layer |
| Alt + Click Eye icon | Option + Click Eye icon | Show or hide all other layers |
| Alt + Click Lock icon | Option + Click Lock icon | Lock or unlock all other layers |
| View Shortcuts | ||
| F | F | Switch between screen modes (Normal, Full Screen, etc.) |
| Esc | Esc | Exit Full Screen mode |
| Shift + Ctrl + H | Shift + Cmd + H | Show or hide artboards |
| Ctrl + R | Cmd + R | Show or hide rulers |
| Ctrl + U | Cmd + U | Show or hide smart guides |
| Ctrl + ‘ | Cmd + ‘ | Show or hide grid |
| Shift + Ctrl + ‘ | Shift + Cmd + ‘ | Turn Snap to Grid on or off |
| Alt + Ctrl + ‘ | Option + Cmd + ‘ | Turn Snap to Point on or off |
| Ctrl + = | Cmd + = | Zoom in |
| Ctrl + – | Cmd + – | Zoom out |
| Ctrl + 0 | Cmd + 0 | Fit to window |
| Ctrl + 1 | Cmd + 1 | View actual size |
| Tool Shortcuts | ||
| Double click | Double click | View settings for selected tool |
| H | H | Hand tool |
| Spacebar | Spacebar | Use Hand tool when not entering text |
| Ctrl + Spacebar | Cmd + Spacebar | Use Hand tool while entering text |
| V | V | Selection tool |
| A | A | Direct Selection tool |
| Y | Y | Magic Wand tool |
| Q | Q | Lasso tool |
| P | P | Pen tool |
| + | + | Add anchor point |
| – | – | Delete anchor point |
| Shift + C | Shift + C | Anchor Point tool |
| Shift + ~ | Shift + ~ | Curvature tool |
| T | T | Type tool |
| Shift + T | Shift + T | Touch Type tool |
| \ | \ | Line Segment tool |
| M | M | Rectangle tool |
| L | L | Ellipse tool |
| B | B | Paintbrush tool |
| Shift + B | Shift + B | Blob Brush tool |
| N | N | Pencil tool |
| Shift + N | Shift + N | Shaper tool |
| Shift + E | Shift + E | Eraser tool |
| C | C | Scissors tool |
| R | R | Rotate tool |
| O | O | Reflect tool |
| S | S | Scale tool |
| Shift + W | Shift + W | Width tool |
| Shift + R | Shift + R | Warp tool |
| E | E | Free Transform tool |
| Shift + M | Shift + M | Shape Builder tool |
| K | K | Live Paint Bucket |
| Shift + L | Shift + L | Live Paint Bucket Selection tool |
| Shift + P | Shift + P | Perspective Grid tool |
| Shift + V | Shift + V | Perspective Selection tool |
| U | U | Mesh tool |
| G | G | Gradient tool |
| I | I | Eyedropper tool |
| W | W | Blend tool |
| Shift + S | Shift + S | Symbol Sprayer tool |
| J | J | Column Graph tool |
| Shift + O | Shift + O | Artboard tool |
| Esc | Esc | Exit Artboard tool mode |
| Shift + K | Shift + K | Slice tool |
| Z | Z | Zoom tool |
| Ctrl + 1 | Cmd + 1 | Magnify 100 percent |
| X | X | Fill |
| Shift X | Shift X | Swap fill and stroke styles |
| Selection Shortcuts | ||
| Shift + Click | Shift + Click | Select multiple objects |
| Ctrl + A | Cmd + A | Select all |
| Shift + Ctrl + A | Shift + Cmd + A | Deselect all |
| Ctrl + 6 | Cmd + 6 | Reselect |
| Ctrl + G | Cmd + G | Group objects |
| Alt + Ctrl + ] | Option + Cmd + ] | Select object above current selection |
| Alt + Ctrl + [ | Option + Cmd + [ | Select object below current selection |
| Ctrl + Double click | Cmd + Double click | Select object behind |
| Arrow keys | Arrow keys | Move selection |
| Shift + Arrow keys | Shift + Arrow keys | Move selection 10 points |
| Alt + drag | Option + drag | Duplicate selection |
| Shift + Ctrl + B | Shift + Cmd + B | Hide bounding box for selected item |
| Alt + Shift + Ctrl + 3 | Option + Shift + Cmd + 3 | Hide unselected items |
| Shift + Ctrl + O | Shift + Cmd + O | Create outlines from type |
| Editing Tools Shortcuts | ||
| Shift + Drag handlebars | Shift + Drag handlebars | Expand or shrink object proportionally |
| Spacebar + Drag | Spacebar + Drag | Move and position shape while drawing it |
| ] | ] | Increase size of brush, text, etc. |
| [ | [ | Decrease size of brush, text, etc. |
| Alt | Option | Draw shape starting from its center |
| Shift (when drawing or rotating) | Shift (when drawing or rotating) | Snap line or object to vertical, horizontal, or diagonal position |
| Ctrl + 7 | Cmd + 7 | Create clipping mask |
| Alt + Ctrl + 7 | Option + Cmd + 7 | Remove clipping mask |
| X | X | Switch between stroke and fill |
| D | D | Revert stroke and fill to default settings |
| / | / | Set no stroke or fill |
| Ctrl + / | Cmd + / | Add new fill |
| Alt + Ctrl + / | Option + Cmd + / | Add new stroke |
| Shift + Eyedropper tool | Shift + Eyedropper tool | Sample color from an image |
| Ctrl + I | Cmd + I | Check spelling |
| Panels Shortcuts | ||
| Tab | Tab | Show or hide all panels |
| Shift + F7 | Shift + F7 | Align panel |
| Shift + F6 | Shift + F6 | Appearance panel |
| Ctrl + F11 | Cmd + F11 | Attributes panel |
| F5 | F5 | Brushes panel |
| F6 | F6 | Color panel |
| Shift + F3 | Shift + F3 | Color Guide panel |
| Ctrl + F9 | Cmd + F9 | Gradient panel |
| Shift + F5 | Shift + F5 | Graphic Styles panel |
| Ctrl + F8 | Cmd + F8 | Info panel |
| F7 | F7 | Layers panel |
| Shift + Ctrl + F9 | Shift + Cmd + F9 | Pathfinder panel |
| Ctrl + F10 | Cmd + F10 | Stroke panel |
| Shift + Ctrl + F11 | Shift + Cmd + F11 | Symbols panel |
| Shift + F8 | Shift + F8 | Transform panel |
| Shift + Ctrl + F10 | Shift + Cmd + F10 | Transparency panel |
Useful Illustrator Tips and Templates
Learning the shortcuts above will help to form graphic design with Adobe Illustrator an entire lot easier. But that’s only the start.
Conclusion
I hope you found this helpful guide. If you’ve got any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to use the shape below.
User Questions:
- Where are keyboard shortcuts in Illustrator?
Illustrator provides many shortcuts to assist you in getting work done faster. Many keyboard shortcuts appear once you hover over icons within the command menu.
- What is Ctrl D in Illustrator?
Identical to the functionality of Adobe Illustrator (i.e., learned behavior,) allow users to pick an object and use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl + D to duplicate that object after initial copy & paste (or Alt + Drag.)
- What is Ctrl Shift O in Illustrator?
Make a replica of the text (just in case you opt you would like to edit it later), select the first, and hit Ctrl-Shift-O (PC) or Command-Shift-O (Mac). (You also can attend Type > Create Outlines.) This converts the text to paths so that you’ll manipulate them.
- Keyboard Shortcuts Cheatsheet for the Adobe Suite
Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat sheet for the Adobe Suite from graphic_design
- Adobe Illustrator keyboard shortcuts
