Illustrator In-depth Command List

CMD vs. CTRL

On Macs, use CMD in place of CTRL for commands (e.g., CMD + N to create a new document).

Shift for Alternate Tool Options

For many tools, pressing Shift + [Shortcut Key] cycles through related tool options. For example, pressing Shift + M toggles between the Rectangular and Elliptical Marquee tools.

Option/Alt Key for Enhanced Selection and Precision

Many selection tools and painting tools use ALT (Windows) or Option (Mac) to modify selections or sample areas. For instance, ALT + Click with the Lasso tool removes from the selection.

Right-Click for Context Menus

Right-clicking on tools or selections often brings up context-specific menus, such as blending options for layers or quick adjustments for text.

Using Modifier Keys for Quick Adjustments

When using a tool, hold down Shift for precision movements, ALT to duplicate items, or Space to temporarily activate the Hand tool for panning.

Tool Hints in the Status Bar

When a tool is selected, the status bar at the bottom of the window provides hints and tips specific to that tool, offering shortcuts and options.

Customizing Shortcuts

Adobe allows users to customize shortcuts under Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts. This is useful if you have specific workflows or frequently used tools.

Ctrl + X  — Undo 

Shift + Ctrl + Z — Redo 

Ctrl + X — Cut 

Ctrl + C — Copy 

Ctrl + V — Paste 

Ctrl + F — Paste in front 

Ctrl + B — Paste in back 

Shift + Ctrl + B — Paste in place 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + B — Paste on all artboards 

Ctrl + I — Check spelling 

Shift + Ctrl + K — Open the Color Setting dialog box 

Ctrl + K — Open the Preference dialog box

Ctrl + N  — Create a document 

Shift + Ctrl + N — Create a document without opening the New Document dialog box 

Ctrl + O — Open a document 

Shift + Ctrl + P — Place a file in the document 

Alt + Ctrl + P — OPen the Document Setup dialog box 

Alt + Ctrl + O — Browse in Adobe Bridge 

Ctrl + W — Close the document window 

Ctrl + S — Save changes made to the document 

Shift + Ctrl + S — Save a copy of the document 

Alt + Ctrl + S — Open the Save As dialog box 

Ctrl + F12 — Save the document as script files 

Alt + Ctrl + E — Open the Export for screens dialog box 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + S — Open the Save for Web dialog box 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + P — Package the document 

Ctrl + P — Print 

Ctrl + Q — Exit the application  

Shift + O — Artboard tool 

V — Selection tool 

A — Direct Selection tool 

Y — Magic Wand tool 

Q — Lasso tool 

P — Pen tool 

Shift + - — Curvature tool 

Shift + B — Blob Brush tool 

+ — Add Anchor Point tool 

- — Delete Anchor Point tool 

Shift + C — Switch to Anchor Point tool 

T — Type tool 

Shift + T — Touch Type tool 

\ — Line Segment tool 

M — Rectangle tool 

L — Ellipse tool 

B — Paintbrush tool 

N — Pencil tool 

Shift + N — Shaper tool 

R — Rotate tool 

O — Reflect tool 

S — Scale tool 

Shift + R — Warp tool 

Shift + W — Width tool 

E — Free Transform tool 

Shift + M — Shape Builder tool 

Shift + P — Perspective tool 

Shift + V — Perspective Selection Tool 

Shift + S — Symbol sprayer tool 

J — Column Graph tool 

U — Mesh tool 

G — Gradient tool 

I — Eyedropper tool 

W — Blend tool 

K — Live Paint Bucket Tool 

Shift + L — Live Paint Selection tool 

Shift + K — Slice tool 

Shift + E — Eraser tool 

C — Scissors tool 

H — Hand tool 

Z — Zoom tool 

Alt — Switch to Smooth tool while using Blob tool 

F — Toggle between screen modes: 

Normal Screen Mode, Full Screen Mode with Menu Bar, Full Screen Mode

Ctrl + 1 — Magnify 100%

Space — Switch to Hand tool (when not in text-edit mode) 

Shift + Ctrl + B — Hide bounding box 

Ctrl + Alt + Shift + 3 — Hide unselected artwork 

Ctrl + H — Sow document template 

Ctrl + Shift + H — Show / Hide artworks 

Ctrl + R — Show / Hide artboard rulers 

Shift + Ctrl + D — Show transparency grid 

Ctrl + Alt + 0 — View all artboards in window 

Ctrl + Shift + V — Paste in place on the active artboard 

Esc — Exit Artboard tool mode 

Ctrl + F6 — Navigate to next document 

Ctrl + Shift + F6 — Navigate to previous document 

Ctrl + Alt + F6 — Navigate to next document group 

Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F6 — Navigate to previous document group 

Ctrl + Y — Toggle between Outline and GPU Preview of the document 

Ctrl + E — Toggle between GPU and CPU Preview of document 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + Y — View the document in Overprint Preview mode 

Alt + Ctrl + Y — View the document in Pixel Preview mode 

Esc — Exit Full Screen mode 

Ctrl + = — Zoom in 

Ctrl + - — Zoom out 

Ctrl + ; — Hide guides 

Alt + Ctrl + ; — Lock guides 

Ctrl + 5 — Make guides 

Alt + Ctrl + 5 — Release guides 

Ctrl + U — Show / hide smart guides 

Ctrl + Shift + I — Show / hide perspective grid

Ctrl + ‘ — Show grid 

Shift + Ctrl + ‘ — Snap to grid 

Alt + Ctrl + ‘ — Snap to point 

Ctrl + ` — Switch to last-used selection tool:

(Selection tool, Direct Selection tool, or Group Selection tool)

Alt — Switch between Direct Selection tool and Group Selection tool 

Caps Lock — Change pointer to crosshair for lasso tool 

Ctrl + Alt + A — Select artwork in active artboard

Alt + C + O — Create crop marks around selected object 

Ctrl + A — Select all 

Shift + Ctrl + A — Deselect 

Ctrl + 6 — Reselect 

Alt + Ctrl + ] — Select the object above the current selection 

Alt + Ctrl + [ — Select the object below the current selection 

Ctrl + G — Group the selected artwork 

Shift + Ctrl + G — Ungroup the selected artwork 

Ctrl + 2 — Lock a selection 

Alt + Ctrl + 2 — Unlock a selection 

Ctrl + 3 — Hide a selection 

Alt + Ctrl + 3 — Show all selections 

Ctrl + Alt + Shift + 2 — Lock all deselected artwork 

Shift — (hold) constrain movement to 45 degree angle 

Ctrl + ] — Bring selection forward 

Shift + Ctrl + ] — Move selection to the front 

Ctrl + [ — Send selection backward 

Shift + Ctrl + [ — Move a selection to the back 

Start dragging, then press one of these shortcuts: 

Ctrl — (hold down) keep the inner radius of a star constant 

C — (hold down) Switch between open and closed arc 

F — (hold down) Flip the arc, keeping the reference point constant 

F — Decrease the skew values for horizontal dividers in a rectangular ot radial dividers in a polar grid by 10% 

V — Increase the skew value for horizontal dividers in a rectangular or radial dividers in a polar grid by 10% 

C — Increase the skew value for vertical dividers in a rectangular grid or concentric dividers in a polar grid by 10% 

] — Increase the size of Blob Brush 

[ — Decrease size of Blob Brush 

Shift — Constrain Blob Brush path horizontally or vertically 

Shift + D — Switch through drawing modes 

Select the paths, then use these shortcuts: 

Ctrl + J — Join two or more paths 

Alt + Ctrl + J — Average two or more paths 

Shift + Ctrl + Alt + J — Create corner or  smooth join 

Ctrl + 8 — Create a compound path 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + 8 — Release a compound path 

Shift + Ctrl + F8 — Edit a pattern 

Shift + P — Perspective Grid Tool 

Shift + V — Perspective Selection Tool 

Ctrl + Shift + I — Perspective Grid 

Ctrl + D — Repeat transforming objects in perspective 

Shift + D — Switching between drawing modes 

Alt — Switch Pen tool to Convert Anchor Point tool 

Alt — Switch between Add Anchor Point tool and Delete Anchor Point tool 

Alt — Switch Scissors tool to Add Anchor Point tool 

Alt — Switch Pencil tool to Smooth tool 

Shift + M — Select the Shape Builder tool 

Shift + } — Increase the intensity of symbols (when using Symbolism tool) 

Shift + { — Increase the intensity of symbols (when using Symbolism tool)

Alt + Ctrl + B — Blend objects 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + B — Finish adding objects to the blend 

Alt + Ctrl + Shift + W — Distort objects using a warp-shaped envelope 

Alt + Ctrl + M — Distort objects using a mesh as the shape of the envelope 

Alt + Ctrl + C — Distort objects using another object as the shape of the envelope 

Ctrl + D — Reapply a transformation to an object 

Ctrl + 4 — Apply last pathfinder effect to the selected object 

Shift + Ctrl + M — Move an object 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + D — Open the Transform Each dialog box 

X — Toggle between fill and stroke 

D — Set fill and stroke to default 

Shift + X — Swap fill and stroke 

> — Select gradient fill mode 

Alt + Ctrl + G — Hide gradient annotator (when using gradient tool) 

< — Select color fill mode 

/ — Select no stroke / fill mode 

Ctrl + / — Add new fill 

Ctrl + Alt + / — Add new stroke 

Alt + Ctrl + X — Make Live Paint (when using the Paint Bucket tool) 

[ — Decrease Bristle brush size 

] — Increase Bristle brush size 

Ctrl + Shift + L  — Align paragraph left 

Ctrl + Shift + R — Align paragraph right 

Ctrl + Shift + C — Align paragraph center 

Ctrl + Shift + J — Justify text left 

Shift + Ctrl + F — Justify all lines 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + C — Toggle line composer 

Shift + Enter — Insert soft return 

Ctrl + Alt + K — Highlight kerning 

Ctrl + Shift + X — Rest horizontal scale to 100% 

Ctrl + Shift + . — increase of decrease font size 

Alt + Up arrow / Down arrow — Increase or decrease leading (horizontal text) 

Alt + Ctrl + K — Select tracking value 

Ctrl + Alt + Q — Reset tracking / kerning 

Alt + Left arrow / Right arrow — Increase or decrease kerning and tracking (horizontal text) 

Alt + Up arrow / Down arrow — Increase or decrease leading (vertical text)

Alt + Left arrow / Right arrow — Increase or decrease kerning and tracking (vertical text) 

Shift — Switch between Type and Vertical Type, Area Type and Vertical Area Type, and Path Type and Vertical Path Type tools 

Alt — Switch between Area Type and Path Type, Vertical Area Type and Vertical Path Type Tools 

Shift + Ctrl + O — Create Outlines 

Ctrl + T — Open the Character panel 

Alt + Ctrl + T — Open the paragraph panel 

Shift + Ctrl + T — Open the OpenType panel 

Alt + 8 — Insert bullers 

Alt + G — Insert copyright symbol 

Alt + ; — Insert ellipsis 

Alt + 7 — Insert paragraph symbol 

Alt + 6 — Insert selection symbol 

Alt + 2 — Insert trademark symbol 

Alt + R — Insert registered trademark symbol 

Shift + Ctrl + = — Superscript 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + = — Subscript 

Alt + Shift + - — Insert em dash 

Alt + - — Insert en dash 

Shift + Ctrl + - — Insert discretionary hyphen 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + H — Toggle auto-hyphenation 

Alt + [ — Insert double left quotation marks 

Alt + Shift + [ — Insert double right quotation marks 

Alt + ] — Insert single left quotation marks 

Alt + Shift + ] — Insert single right quotation marks 

Shift + Ctrl + M — Insert em space 

Shift + Ctrl + N — Insert en space 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + M — Insert thin space 

Alt + Ctrl + I — Show hidden characters 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + U — Switch units of measurements 

Shift + Enter — Apply value and keep text box active 

Tab — Show / Hide all panels 

Shift + Tab — Show / Hide all panels except the Tools panel and Control panel 

Ctrl + T — Open the Character panel 

Alt + Ctrl + T — Open the Paragraph panel 

Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F — Highlight the font name field in the Character Panel 

Shift + F3 — Open Color Guide 

Ctrl + Alt + G  — Show / Hide gradient arrow 

G — View Gradient annotator in selected gradient filled object 

Ctrl + L — Add a layer 

Alt + Ctrl + L — Add a layer while opening the New layer dialog box 

Shift + Enter — Apply a value and keep focus edit field 

Alt + Enter — Apply a value and copy object 

Ctrl + Enter — Apply a value and scale option proportionally for width or height 

Shift + Ctrl + E — Apply last effect to the selected object 

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + E — Apply last effect to the selected object by adjusting the value in the effects dialog box 

F1 — Invoke Help 

F2 — Cut 

F3 — Copy 

F4 — Paste 

F5 — Show / Hide Brushes panel 

F6 — Show / Hide Color panel 

F7 — Show / Hide Layers panel 

F8 — Create new symbol 

Ctrl + F8 — Show / Hide Info panel 

Ctrl + F9 — Show / Hide Gradient panel 

Ctrl + F10 — Show / Hide Stroke panel 

Ctrl  + F11 — Show / ide Attributes panel 

F12 — Revert 

Shift + F5 — Show / Hide Graphic Styles panel 

Shift + F6 — Show / Hide Appearance panel 

Shift + F7 — Show / Hide Align panel 

Shift + F8 — Show / Hide Transform panel 

Shift + Ctrl + F9 — Show / Hide Pathfinder panel 

Shift + Ctrl + F10 — Show / Hide Transparency panel 

Shift + Ctrl + F11 — Show / Hide Symbols panel