Keyboard shortcuts

Many of the shortcuts are the same as those that you use in other apps (such as C to copy). You'll find many of the shortcuts listed next to menu items (and in the list below).

Many of the shortcuts are the same as those that you use in other apps (such as +C to copy). You'll find many of the shortcuts listed next to menu items (and in the list below).

For complete flexibility, you can customise keyboard shortcuts to your own way of working.

Show shortcuts for:

Operations shortcuts

Action	Key
Constrain the movement of an object horizontally, vertically or diagonally	-drag
Select multiple objects	-click
Select overlapped object	-click
Cycle Selection Box	.
Set Selection Box	.
Decrease/increase shape's/curve's stroke width by percentage	[ ]
Decrease/increase shape's/curve's stroke width by absolute values	[ ]
Change opacity for selected layer (or Brush tools in Pixel Persona)	numeric keys (4=40%, 43=43%, etc.)
Erase with Pixel Tool (Pixel Persona only)
Switch between Stroke/Fill (or Foreground/Background) colour selectors (Colour and Swatches panels)	X
Swap Stroke/Fill (or Foreground/Background) colour selectors	X +X
Set Stroke/Fill (or Foreground/Background) colour selectors and any vector objects that are selected to black and white, respectively	D
Set No fill on Stroke/Fill (or Foreground/Background) colour selectors	/ (International and selected keyboards only)
Fill with Foreground Colour (Pixel Persona only)	+
Fill with Background Colour (Pixel Persona only)	+
Modify attribute listed on a panel or dialog	Drag attribute text label
Toggle Snapping	;

Action (Curve drawing)	Key
Edit line or brush strokes as you draw/paint
Create cusp node (sharp corner)	-drag control handle
Snap a line's control handle to 45° intervals	-drag control handle
Create a straight line segment as you draw	-drag Drag + right-click

Action (Curve editing with Node Tool)	Key
Convert to Smooth node	-click -click
Convert to Sharp node	-click
Select next node on a curve	]
Select previous node on a curve	[
Straighten a segment	-click a segment
Delete a segment	-click -click
Delete a node (retaining curve's geometry)
Delete a node (for 'best-fitting' reshaped curve)	-

Action (Transforming)	Key
Move with horizontal, vertical or diagonal constraint	-drag
Rotate in 15° intervals	-drag rotation/corner handle
Rotate around opposite corner	-drag corner handle Drag corner handle then hold down right mouse button
Cancel a sizing, moving, or creating operation
Resize vector objects, maintaining aspect ratio	-drag from a corner handle
Resize an object from its centre	-drag from a corner handle
Mirror shearing	-drag
Nudge¹	arrow keys
Nudge (by modified distance)¹	-arrow keys

¹ Nudge distances are customisable via Affinity Designer>Settings (or >Preferences) (Tools)

¹ Nudge distances are customisable via Edit>Settings (Tools)

Action (Warping)	Key
Apply mesh warp	G G

Action (Shape Building) via numeric keypad	Key
Add mode	+
Delete mode	-
Create mode	*

Action (Symbols)	Key
Create symbol	K

File shortcuts

Action	Key
New Document	N +N
New from Clipboard	N +++N
Open Document	O +O
Close Document/Close App (when no documents open)	W +W
Close All Documents	W ++W
Switch Document/View	+
Save	S +S
Save As	S ++S
Export	S +++S
Document Setup	P ++P
Print	P +P

Tools shortcuts

Action (General and Designer Persona)	Key
Move Tool	V
Node Tool	A
Point Transform Tool	F
Contour Tool	O
Corner Tool	C
Pen Tool	P
Pencil Tool	N
Stroke Width Tool	W
Knife Tool	K
Vector Brush Tool	B
Gradient Tool	G
Transparency Tool	Y
Vector Flood Fill Tool	R
Rectangle, Ellipse, and Rounded Rectangle tools cycle	M
Shape Builder Tool	S
Artistic and Frame text tools cycle	T
Colour Picker Tool	I
View Tool	H
Zoom Tool	Z

Action (Pixel Persona only)	Key
Move Tool	V
Marquee Selection Tools cycle	M
Freehand Selection Tool	L
Selection Brush Tool	W
Pixel Tool	Y
Paint Brush Tool	B
Erase Brush Tool	E
Flood Fill Tool	G
Dodge and Burn Brush Tools cycle	O
Colour Picker Tool	I
View Tool	H
Zoom Tool	Z

Action (Export Persona only)	Key
Slice Tool	S
Slice Selection Tool	L

Edit shortcuts

Action	Key
Undo	Z +Z
Redo	Z ++Z
Paste Style	V ++V
Paste FX	V ++V
Paste Inside	V ++V
Paste without Format	V +++V

Object control shortcuts

Action	Key
Group	G +G
Ungroup	G ++G
Duplicate	J +J
Move to Front	] ++]
Move Forward One	] +]
Move to Back	[ ++[
Move Back One	[ +[
Move Inside	G ++G
Move Outside	G +++G
Show All	H +++H
Select All on Current Layer	A ++A
Lock	L +L
Unlock	L ++L
Unlock All	L +++L
New Pixel Layer	N ++N
Rename Layer	R ++R
Convert to Curves	+

Painting shortcuts

Action	Key
Picks up a new brush colour	-drag
Change selected layer content/brush tool's opacity	numeric keys (4=40%, 43=43%, etc.)
Decrease/increase brush width	[ ]
Toggle between standard brush cursor and crosshair cursor	Caps lock
Rotate brush nozzle anti-clockwise/clockwise (Pixel Persona only)
Decrease/increase brush width with on-screen readout	-drag (left/right) +-drag (left/right)
Decrease/increase brush hardness with on-screen readout (Pixel Persona only)	-drag (up/down) +-drag (up/down)
Paint a brush stroke along a straight line	Click then -click
Toggle brush properties (for width/hardness, shape/spacing or rotation, Pixel Persona only):	+left-click ++left-click
Setting brush properties on page (after setting above toggle, Pixel Persona only)	For nozzle shape: +left-click+drag (left/right) For nozzle shape: ++left-click+drag (left/right) For nozzle spacing: +left-click+drag (up/down) For nozzle spacing: ++left-click+drag (up/down) For nozzle rotation: +left-click+drag (left/right) For nozzle rotation: ++left-click+drag (left/right)
Setting brush hardness and flow (Pixel Persona only)	For modifying hardness: +] and +[ to increase and decrease the setting in 10% increments, respectively For modifying flow: +numeric keys to set percentage (press numeric keys in quick succession to set precise value)
Setting Strength (Smudge Brush Tool, Pixel Persona)	numeric keys (3=30%, 33=33%, etc.)
Ignore brush size and associated tool on the Brushes panel	+left-click +left-click
Ignore the associated tool on the Brushes panel	++left-click ++left-click

Text shortcuts

Action	Key
Show Character panel	T +T
Show Typography panel	T ++T
Spelling Options	; ++;

Action (Navigation)	Key
Moves insertion point one character left
Moves insertion point one character right
Moves insertion point to start of word	+
Moves insertion point to end of word	+
Moves insertion point to start of line	Home
Moves insertion point to end of line	End
Moves insertion point to start of text frame	+Home
Moves insertion point to end of text frame	+End
Moves insertion point to start of current paragraph	+
Moves insertion point to start of next paragraph	+

Action (Deleting)	Key
Delete character to left of insertion point
Delete character to right of insertion point	Delete
Delete from insertion point to start of word	+
Delete from insertion point to end of word	+Delete
Delete from insertion point to start of line
Delete from insertion point to end of paragraph	K

Action (Formatting)	Key
Bigger text	> +>
Smaller text	< +<
Precise bigger text	> ++>
Precise smaller text	< ++<
Bold	B +B
Italic	I +I
Underline	U +U
Superscript	+ ++=
Subscript	- ++-
Align Left	L ++L
Align Centre	C ++C
Align Right	R ++R
Justify Left	\| ++\|

Action (Typography)	Key
Tighten (Spacing, 10‰ decrement)	+
Loosen (Spacing, 10‰ increment)	+
Tighten More (Spacing, 50‰ decrement)	++
Loosen More (Spacing, 50‰ increment)	++
Raise Baseline	++
Lower Baseline	++
Precise Raise Baseline	+++
Precise Lower Baseline	+++
Increase Paragraph Leading	+
Decrease Paragraph Leading	+
Precise Increase Paragraph Leading	++
Precise Decrease Paragraph Leading	++

Action (Special characters)	Key
Line Break	+
Non-Breaking Space	+
Soft Hyphen	- ++-
Non-Breaking Hyphen	- ++-
En Dash	- +-
Em Dash	- ++-
Toggle Unicode	U +U

View shortcuts

Action	Key
Rotate document view (about cursor)	while using a mouse scroll wheel while using a mouse scroll wheel
Rotate document view (about centre)	+ while using a mouse scroll wheel + while using a mouse scroll wheel
Increase document view rotation speed	while rotating the document view
Reset document view rotation	R +++R
Zoom In	+ +=
Zoom Out	- +-
Zoom to Fit	0 (or double-click View Tool icon) +0 (or double-click View Tool icon)
Zoom to Width	0 (or double-click View Tool icon) ++0 (or double-click View Tool icon)
Zoom to Selection	0 (or double-click Layers panel thumbnail) ++0 (or double-click Layers panel thumbnail)
(Zoom to) 100%	1 (or double-click Zoom Tool icon) +1 (or double-click Zoom Tool icon)
(Zoom to) 200%	2 +2
(Zoom to) 400%	3 +3
(Zoom to) 800%	4 +4
(Zoom to) Actual Size	8 +8
(Zoom to) Pixel Size	9 +9
Hot key zoom	-drag +-drag
Hot key zoom in	-click +-click
Hot key zoom out	-click +-click
Hot key zoom in marquee	-drag +-drag
Hot key panning
Scroll vertically up/down	Mouse scroll wheel
Scroll horizontally left/right	+Mouse scroll wheel
Show Rulers	R +R
Show Guides	; +;
Show Grid	' +'
Grid Plane cycle	'
Pixel view mode	Y ++Y
Pixel (Retina) view mode	Y +++Y
Last used wireframe mode (Outline or X-ray) toggle	Y
Toggle Split View	,
Switch to Next View	` `
Clip to Canvas	\
Isolate an object	-click Layers panel thumbnail

Selection shortcuts

Action	Key
Select All	A +A
Deselect	D +D
Invert Pixel Selection	I ++I
Select Next	] ++]
Select Previous	[ ++[
Select Parent	+
Nudge selection¹	Arrow key
Modified nudge selection¹	arrow key +arrow key
Selection from layer	-click Layers panel thumbnail
Selection from layer luminosity	-click Layers panel thumbnail +-click Layers panel thumbnail
Add to/remove from object selection (by clicking object)	-click (Move Tool)
Add to/remove from object selection (when selection marquee wholly encompasses object)	-drag (Move Tool)
Add to object selection (when selection marquee partially intersects object)	-drag (Move Tool) Drag with left mouse button, then hold down right mouse button (Move Tool)
Add to pixel selection	-drag (Marquee and Freehand Selection tools) +-drag (Marquee and Freehand Selection tools)
Remove from pixel selection	-drag (Marquee and Freehand Selection tools)