Keyboard shortcuts

To speed up your workflow, you can use shortcuts to 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).

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 customize keyboard shortcuts to your own way of working.

Show shortcuts for:

Operations shortcuts

Action Key
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 numeric keys (4=40%, 43=43%, etc.)
Switch between Stroke/Fill color selectors (Color and Swatches panels) X
Swap Stroke/Fill color selectors X +X
Set Stroke/Fill color selectors and any vector objects that are selected to black and white, respectively D
Set No fill on Stroke/Fill color selectors / (International and selected keyboards only)
Modify attribute listed on a panel or dialog Drag attribute text label
Toggle Snapping ;

Action (Curve drawing) Key
Edit line strokes as you draw
Creates 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 Right-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 a segment
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 from within object's bounding box
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 center -drag from a corner handle -drag from a corner handle
Mirror shearing -drag -drag
Nudge1 arrow keys
Nudge (by modified distance)1 -arrow keys

1 Nudge distances are customizable via Affinity Publisher>Settings (or >Preferences) (Tools)

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

File shortcuts

Action Key
New Document 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
Place image M ++M
Export S +++S
Document Setup P ++P
Print P +P

Tools shortcuts

Action (General and Designer Persona) Key
Move Tool V
Node Tool A
Artistic and Frame Text and Table Tools cycle T
Pen tool P
Rectangle, Ellipse, and Rounded Rectangle Tools cycle M
Picture Frame Rectangle and Picture Frame Ellipse Tools cycle F
Gradient Tool G
Transparency Tool Y
Color Picker Tool I
View Tool H
Zoom Tool Z

Edit shortcuts

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

Page control shortcuts

Action Key
Add Page ++
Previous Page or +
Next Page or +

Object control shortcuts

Action Key
Group G +G
Ungroup G ++G
Move to Front ] ++]
Move Forward One ] +]
Move Back One [ +[
Move to Back [ ++[
Duplicate J +J
Show All H +++H
Select All on Current Layer A ++A
Lock L +L
Unlock L ++L
Unlock All L +++L
Rename Layer R ++R
Edit Detached D ++D

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/linked text frames +Home
Moves insertion point to end of text frame/linked text frames +End
Moves insertion point to start of current paragraph +
Moves insertion point to start of next paragraph +
Find F +F
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

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

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 +
Soft Hyphen - ++-
Non-Breaking Hyphen - +++-
Right Indent Tab +
Indent to Here \ +\
Insert a tab in table cell
En Dash - +-
Em Dash - ++-
Toggle Unicode U +U
Insert index mark [ +++[

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 center) + 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 Document 0 +++0
(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) Print 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 Guides ; +;
Show Grid ' +'
Show Rulers R +R
Grid Plane cycle '
Clip to Canvas \
Isolate an object -click Layers panel thumbnail

Selection shortcuts

Action Key
Select All A +A
Deselect D +D
Select Next ] ++]
Select Previous [ ++[
Select Parent +

Workspace shortcuts

Action Key
Preview Mode W ++W
Show/Hide Studio H ++H
Show/Hide Toolbar T ++T
Toggle UI (no selection in place)

Blend mode shortcuts

Action Key
Next Blend Mode = +=
Previous Blend Mode - +-
Normal N ++N
Darken K ++K
Multiply M ++M
Color Burn B ++B
Linear Burn A ++A
Lighten G ++G
Screen S ++S
Color Dodge D ++D
Add W ++W
Overlay O ++O
Soft Light F ++F
Hard Light H ++H
Vivid Light V ++V
Linear Light J ++J
Pin Light Z ++Z
Hard Mix L ++L
Difference E ++E
Exclusion X ++X
Hue U ++U
Saturation T ++T
Color C ++C
Luminosity Y ++Y

Other blend modes do not have keyboard shortcuts by default but can be assigned them, if required.

Misc shortcuts

Action Key
Settings (or Preferences) , +,
Curves (Adjustment) M +M
Black & White (Adjustment) B +++B

macOS shortcuts

Action Key
Toggle Full Screen F
Hide Workspace H
Hide Others (apps) H

SEE ALSO: