Keyboard shortcuts

You can quickly access common tools and commands using your keyboard. 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).

You can quickly access common tools and commands using your keyboard. 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:

Editing shortcuts

Action Key
Resize Document I ++I
Resize Canvas C ++C
Select multiple -click
Select overlapping layer content -click
Reset Selection Box .
Toggle Snapping ;
Erase with Pixel Tool
Switch between Stroke/Fill (or Colour 1/Colour 2) colour selectors (Colour and Swatches panels) X
Swap Stroke/Fill (or Colour 1/Colour 2) colour selectors X +X
Set Stroke/Fill (or Colour 1/Colour 2) colour selectors to black and white, respectively D
Set No fill on Stroke/Fill (or Colour 1/Colour 2) colour selectors / (International and selected keyboards only)
Toggle between Crop Tool overlays (Crop Tool enabled) O
Flip golden spiral overlay (Crop Tool enabled) O +O
Modify attribute listed on a panel or dialog Drag attribute text label

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 from centre -drag from a corner handle
Mirror shearing -drag -drag
Nudge1 arrow keys
Nudge (by modified distance)1 -arrow keys

1 Nudge distances are customisable via Affinity Photo>Preferences>Tools

1 Nudge distances are customisable via Edit>Preferences>Tools

Vector-specific shortcuts

Action Key
Resize maintaining aspect ratio -drag from a corner handle
Edit curves as you draw
Creates cusp node (sharp corner) -drag control handle
Snap a curve's control handle to 45° intervals -drag control handle
Create a straight line segment as you draw -drag Drag + right-click
Convert to Smooth node -click Right-click
Convert to Sharp node -click
Convert to Curves +
Select next node on a curve ]
Select previous node on a curve [

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
Switch Document/View +
Save S +S
Save As S ++S
Export S +++S
Print P +P

Tools shortcuts

Action Key
Flood Fill Tool / Gradient cycle G
View Tool H
Move Tool V
Colour Picker Tool I
Crop Tool C
Selection Tools cycle W
Pen and Node Tool cycle P
Zoom Tool Z
Clone Tool S
Shape Tools cycle U
Text Tools cycle T
Dodge, Burn and Sponge Brush Tool cycle O
Retouch Tools cycle J
Painting Tools cycle B
Erase Tools cycle E
Marquee Selection Tools cycle M
Freehand Selection Tool L
Action (Liquify Persona only) Key
Liquify Push Forward Tool P
Liquify Push Left Tool L
Liquify Twirl Tool T
Liquify Pinch Tool U
Liquify Turbulence Tool B
Liquify Mesh Clone Tool C
Liquify Reconstruct Tool R
Liquify Freeze Tool F
Liquify Thaw Tool W
Liquify Zoom Tool Z
Liquify View Tool H
Action (Develop Persona only) Key
White Balance Tool W
Red Eye Removal Tool R
Blemish Removal Tool L
Overlay Paint Tool B
Overlay Erase Tool E
Overlay Gradient Tool G
Crop Tool C
Zoom Tool Z
View Tool H
Action (Export Persona only) Key
Slice Tool S
Slice Selection Tool L
Action (Panorama Persona only) Key
Transform Source Image Tool A
Add To Source Image Mask Tool L
Erase From Source Image Mask Tool U

Edit shortcuts

Action Key
Undo Z +Z
Redo Z +Y
Copy Merged C ++C
Paste Style V ++V
Paste FX V ++V
Paste Inside V ++V
Paste without Format V +++V
Fill F5 +F5
Inpaint +

Layer operations shortcuts

Action Key
Select All Layers A ++A
Group G +G
Ungroup G ++G
Duplicate J +J
Invert I +I
Move to Front ] ++]
Move Forward One ] +]
Move to Back [ ++[
Move Back One [ +[
Show All H +++H
Unlock All L +++L
New Layer N ++N
Merge Down E +E
Merge Selected E ++E
Merge Visible E +++E
Toggle between Frequency Separation layers F
Action (Live Projection only) Key
Edit Live Projection P

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.)
Increase/decrease brush width ] [
Decrease/increase brush width with on-screen readout -drag (left/right) +-drag (left/right)
Decrease/increase brush hardness with on-screen readout -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): +left-click ++left-click
Setting brush properties on page (after setting above toggle) For width: +left-click+drag (left/right) For width: ++left-click+drag (left/right)
For hardness: +left-click+drag (up/down) For hardness: ++left-click+drag (up/down)
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)

Text shortcuts

Action Key
Show Character T +T
Show Typography 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 < ++<
Superscript + ++=
Subscript - ++-

Action (Typography) Key
Tighten (Tracking/Kerning, 10‰ decrement) +
Loosen (Tracking/Kerning, 10‰ increment) +
Tighten More (Tracking/Kerning, 50‰ decrement) ++
Loosen More (Tracking/Kerning, 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 +
Non-Breaking Hyphen -
En Dash - +-
Em Dash - ++-

View shortcuts

Action Key
Rotate document view -scroll while using a mouse scroll wheel -scroll while using a mouse scroll wheel
Reset document view rotation R +++R
Rotate about the document view centre +-scroll while using a mouse scroll wheel
Increase document view rotation speed ctrl while rotating the document view
Zoom In + +=
Zoom Out - +-
Zoom to Fit 0 (or double-click View Tool icon) +0 (or double-click View Tool icon)
(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 +Mouse scroll wheel
Switch to Next View ` `
Show Rulers R +R
Show Guides ; +;
Show Grid ' +'
Grid Plane cycle '
Split View cycle (not Photo Persona) ,

Pixel selection/Mask shortcuts

Action Key
Select All A +A
Deselect D +D
Invert Pixel Selection I ++I
Add to selection (Marquee/Freehand selection tools only) -drag +-drag
Remove from selection -drag -drag
Grow/Shrink B +B
Feather F6 +F6
Refine Edges R ++R
Nudge selection1 Arrow key
Modified nudge selection1 arrow key +arrow key
Selection from layer -click layer thumbnail or O -click layer thumbnail or ++O
Selection from layer luminance -click layer thumbnail +-click layer thumbnail
Add layer contents to existing selection -click layer thumbnail +-click layer thumbnail
Add layer luminance to existing selection -click layer thumbnail ++-click layer thumbnail
Polygon selection (Freehand Selection Tool only) -click on page. +-click on page.
Quick Mask Q

1 Nudge distances are customisable via Affinity Photo>Preferences>Tools

1 Nudge distances are customisable via Edit>Preferences>Tools

Workspace shortcuts

Action Key
Show/Hide Studio (panels) H ++H
Show/Hide Toolbar T ++T
Toggle UI
Hide Workspace H +H

Adjustment and Filter shortcuts

Action Key
Levels (Adjustment) L +L
HSL (Adjustment) U +U
Invert (Adjustment) I +I
Curves (Adjustment) M +M
Black and White (Adjustment) B +++B
Repeat Filter F +F

Liquify Persona shortcuts

Action Key
Mask All A +A
Clear Mask D +D
Invert Mask I +I

Misc shortcuts

Action Key
Preferences , +,

macOS shortcuts

Action Key
Special Characters
Toggle Full Screen F
Hide Workspace H
Hide Others (applications) H

SEE ALSO: