| Tools | |
| Open tool options | Double–click the tool in toolbar |
| Change tool pointer to crosshair | Turn on Caps Lock |
| Constrain movement to 45°, 90°, 135°, 180° | Hold Shift while drawing |
| Selecting & Moving | |
| Get Selection or Direction Selection tool (the last used) any time | Cmd |
| Switch between Selection and Direct Selection tools | Cmd–Opt–Tab |
| Cycle through tools hidden behind another tool | Opt–click tool |
| To make copy while dragging | Opt |
| Add to a selection | Shift |
| Move selection by Increment set in Preferences | Arrow keys |
| Move selection by Increment x 10 | Shift–Arrow keys |
| Lock selected artwork | Cmd–2 |
| Lock all deselected artwork | Cmd–Opt–Shift–2 |
| Unlock all artwork | Cmd–Opt–2 |
| Hide selected artwork | Cmd–3 |
| Hide all deselected artwork | Cmd–Opt–Shift–3 |
| Show all artwork | Cmd–Opt–3 |
| Path Editing | |
| Join and Average at same time | Cmd–Opt–Shift–J |
| To get Anchor Point tool while using Pen tool | Opt |
| Switch between Add Anchor Point and Delete Anchor Point tools | Opt |
| To get Add Anchor Point tool while using Scissors tool | Opt |
| Move anchor point while drawing with Pen tool | Spacebar |
| Create closed path with Pencil or Paintbrush tool | When finished drawing, hold Opt and release mouse |
| Painting & Transforming | |
| To get Eyedropper tool while using Live Paint Bucket tool | Opt |
| Sample one color from a gradient with Eyedropper | Shift |
| Set reference point and show dialog | Opt–click with a transform tool |
| Duplicate while transforming selection | Opt–drag |
| Transform pattern without transforming object | ~(tilde)–drag |
| Scale proportionally with Selection tool | Shift–drag bounding box |
| Scale from center with Selection tool | Opt–drag bounding box |
| Move mesh point along path with Mesh tool | Shift–drag |
| Add mesh point with Mesh tool without changing color | Shift–click |
| Remove mesh point with Mesh tool | Opt–click |
| Shapes (while drawing) | |
| Draw from center | Opt |
| Draw from center with dialog | Opt–click |
| Constrain proportions | Shift |
| Constrain orientation of polygons, stars, spirals | Shift |
| Move object while drawing | Hold Spacebar |
| Add/subtract sides, star points, spiral segments, etc. | Up/Down arrow |
| Decrease/Increase inner radius | Cmd |
| Create continuous duplicates | Hold ~ while dragging |
| Layers Panel | |
| Create new layer & see options dialog | Opt–click New Layer button |
| Toggle layer between Preview/Outline mode | Cmd–click on eye |
| Show layer while turning off all others | Opt–click on eye |
| Select all items on layer | Opt–click layer name |
| Copy selected item(s) to another layer | Opt–drag selection square in Layers panel |
| Create new layer at the top of list | Cmd–click New Layer button |
| Create new layer below selected layer | Cmd–Opt–click New Layer button |
| Viewing & Guides | |
| Hand tool (while NOT editing Type) | Spacebar |
| Hand tool (while editing Type) | Opt |
| Zoom In tool | Cmd–Spacebar |
| Zoom Out tool | Cmd–Opt–Spacebar |
| Zoom In to exact size | Cmd–Spacebar–drag |
| Switch between Outline and Preview modes | Cmd–Y |
| Switch between GPU and CPU preview (if available) | Cmd–E |
| Hide/Show all tools and panels | Tab |
| Hide/Show all panels except Tools and Control | Shift–Tab |
| Release guide (turns it into a regular path) | Cmd–Shift–double–click |
| Switch between horizontal/vertical guide | hold Opt while dragging out a new guide |
| Type | |
| Decrease/Increase text size by Increment in Preferences | Cmd–Shift–< or > |
| Decrease/Increase text size Increment x 5 | Cmd–Opt–Shift–< or > |
| Decrease/Increase leading by Increment in Prefs | Opt–Up or Down arrow |
| Decrease/Increase kerning/tracking | Opt–Left or Right arrow |
| Kerning/tracking by Increment x 5 | Cmd–Opt–Left or Right arrow |
| Baseline shift Increment in Preferences | Shift–Opt–Up or Down arrow |
| Baseline shift by Increment x 5 | Cmd–Opt–Shift–Up or Down arrow |
| Align text left/center/right | Cmd–Shift–L/C/R |
| Justify with last line aligned left | Cmd–Shift–J |
| Justify all lines | Cmd–Shift–F |
| Reset horizontal/vertical scale to 100% | Cmd–Shift–X |
| Reset kerning or tracking to 0 | Cmd–Opt–Q |
| En Space | Cmd–Shift–N |
| Em Space | Cmd–Shift–M |
| Thin Space | Cmd–Opt–Shift–M |
| Superscript | Cmd–Shift–equal (=) |
| Subscript | Cmd–Opt–Shift–equal (=) |
| Discretionary Hyphen | Cmd–Shift–hyphen (-) |
| Panels | |
| Brushes panel | F5 |
| Color panel | F6 |
| Layers panel | F7 |
| Info panel | Cmd–F8 |
| Gradient panel | Cmd–F9 |
| Stroke panel | Cmd–F10 |
| Attributes panel | Cmd–F11 |
| Graphic Styles panel | Shift–F5 |
| Appearance panel | Shift–F6 |
| Align panel | Shift–F7 |
| Transform panel | Shift–F8 |
| Pathfinder panel | Cmd–Shift–F9 |
| Transparency panel | Cmd–Shift–F10 |
| Symbols panel | Cmd–Shift–F11 |
| Color Panel | |
| Saturate/Desaturate current color | Shift–drag a color slider |
| Change Color Mode | Shift–click color bar |
| Select compliment of current color | Cmd–click color bar |
| Miscellaneous Good Stuff | |
| Replace a color swatch with another | Opt–drag new swatch over old |
| Swap colors in a gradient | Opt–drag a color stop onto another |
| Create New Symbol | F8 |
| Revert file | F12 |
Illustrator Shortcuts: Mac
Keyboard Shortcuts
Here are many keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator, including lesser known and hidden keystrokes!
