Illustrator CC 2017 Shortcuts: PC

Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are many keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator CC 2017, including lesser known and hidden keystrokes!

Selecting & Moving
To access Selection or Direction Selection tool (whichever was used last) at any time Control
To switch between Selection and Direct Selection tools Ctrl–`
To cycle through tools behind column tool Alt–click tool
To make copy while dragging Alt
Add to a selection Shift
Move selection (in 1-point increments) Arrow keys
Move selection (in 10-point increments) Shift–any Arrow keys
Lock selected artwork Ctrl–2
Lock all deselected artwork Ctrl–Alt–Shift–2
Unlock all artwork Ctrl–Alt–2
Hide selected artwork Ctrl–3
Hide all deselected artwork Ctrl–Alt–Shift–3
Show all artwork Ctrl–Alt–3
Path Editing
Join and Average at same time Ctrl–Alt–Shift–J
To get Anchor Point tool while using Pen tool Alt
Switch between Add Anchor Point and Delete Anchor Point tools Alt
To get Add Anchor Point tool while using Scissors tool Alt
Move anchor point while drawing with Pen tool Spacebar
Create closed path with Pencil or Paintbrush tool When finished drawing, hold Alt and release mouse
Connect to an open (and selected) path with Pencil tool Ctrl–drag
Painting & Transforming
To get Eyedropper tool while using Live Paint Bucket tool Alt
Samples intermediate color from gradient, picture, etc. with Eyedropper Shift
Sets center point and shows dialog Alt–click with tool
Duplicates while transforming selection Alt–drag
Transform pattern without transforming object Tilde(~)–drag
Scale proportionally with Selection tool Shift–drag bounding box
Scale from center with Selection tool Alt–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 Alt–click
Shapes (While Drawing)
Draw from center Alt
Draw from center with dialog Alt–click
Constrain proportion Shift
Constrain orientation of polygons, stars, spirals Shift
Move object while drawing Hold Spacebar
Add/subtract sides, points, spiral segments Up or Down Arrow
Decrease/Increase inner radius Ctrl
Create continuous duplicates along mouse movement Hold Tilde(~) while dragging
Viewing & Guides
To get Hand Tool (while NOT editing Type) Spacebar
To get Hand Tool (while editing Type) Hold Control, then Spacebar. (This will show the Zoom tool.) Let go of Control so you see the Hand tool and immediately start dragging the mouse so you don't end up typing spaces. Be sure to let go of the Spacebar while dragging so you again don't type more spaces.
Zoom In Tool Ctrl–Spacebar
Zoom Out Tool Ctrl–Alt–Spacebar
Zoom In to exact size Ctrl–Spacebar–drag
Switch between Outline and Preview modes Ctrl–Y
Switch between GPU and CPU preview (if available) Ctrl–E
Hide/Show all tools and panels Tab
Hide/Show all panels except Tools and Control Shift–Tab
Switch between horizontal/vertical guide Hold Alt while dragging out a new guide
Release Guide (turns it into a regular path) Ctrl–Shift–double–click
Type
Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 2pts Ctrl–Shift–> or <
Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 10pts Ctrl–Alt–Shift–> or <
Increase/Decrease Leading by 2pts Alt–Down/Up Arrow
Increase/Decrease kerning/tracking Alt–Right/Left Arrow
Kerning/tracking x 5 Ctrl–Alt–Right/Left Arrow
Increase/Decrease baseline shift Shift–Alt–Up/Down Arrow
Baseline shift x 5 Ctrl–Alt–Shift Up/Down Arrow
Align type left, right, center Ctrl–Shift–L, R, C
Justify with last line left aligned Ctrl–Shift–J
Justify last line Ctrl–Shift–F
Reset horizontal/vertical scale to 100% Ctrl–Shift–X
Reset kerning or tracking to 0 Ctrl–Alt–Q
En Space Ctrl–Shift–N
Em Space Ctrl–Shift–M
Thin Space Ctrl–Alt–Shift–M
Superscript Ctrl–Shift–equal (=)
Subscript Ctrl–Alt–Shift–equal (=)
Discretionary Hyphen Ctrl–Shift–hyphen (-)
Panels
Show/Hide Brushes panel F5
Show/Hide Color panel F6
Show/Hide Layers panel F7
Show/Hide Info panel Ctrl–F8
Show/Hide Gradient panel Ctrl–F9
Show/Hide Stroke panel Ctrl–F10
Show/Hide Attributes panel Ctrl–F11
Show/Hide Graphic Styles panel Shift–F5
Show/Hide Appearance panel Shift–F6
Show/Hide Align panel Shift–F7
Show/Hide Transform panel Shift–F8
Show/Hide Pathfinder panel Shift–Ctrl–F9
Show/Hide Transparency panel Shift–Ctrl–F10
Show/Hide Symbols panel Shift–Ctrl–F11
Layers Panel
To create new layer and edit properties Alt–click New Layer button
Toggle layer between Preview/Outline mode Ctrl–click on eye
Show layer while turning off all others Alt–click on eye
Select all items on layer Alt–click layer name
Copy selected item to different layer Alt–drag selection square in Layers panel
To create the new layer at the top of list Ctrl–click New Layer button
To create the new layer below selected layer Ctrl–Alt–click New Layer button
Color Panel
Saturate/Desaturate current color Shift–drag color slider
Change Color Mode Shift–click color bar
Select compliment of current color Ctrl–click color bar
Swatches Panel
Create a swatch as a global color Crtl–Shift–click New Swatch button
Replace a swatch with another Alt–drag new swatch over old
Miscellaneous Good Stuff
Create New Symbol F8
Swap colors in a gradient Alt–drag a color stop onto another
Revert file F12
Tools
V Selection
A Direct Selection
Y Magic Wand
Q Lasso
P Pen
+ Add Anchor Point
- Delete Anchor Point
Shift–C Anchor Point
Shift–` Curvature
T Type
Shift–T Touch Type
\ Line Segment
M Rectangle
L Ellipse
B Paintbrush
Shift–B Blob Brush
Shift–N Shaper
N Pencil
Shift–E Eraser
C Scissors
R Rotate
O Reflect
S Scale
Shift–W Width
Shift–R Warp
E Free Transform
Shift–M Shape Builder
K Live Paint Bucket
Shift–L Live Paint Selection
Shift–P Perspective Grid
Shift–V Perspective Selection
U Mesh
G Gradient
I Eyedropper
W Blend
Shift–S Symbol Sprayer
J Column Graph
Shift–O Artboard
Shift–K Slice
H Hand
Z Zoom
X Toggle between Fill & Stroke
Shift–X Swap Fill & Stroke
D Default Fill & Stroke (white fill/black stroke)
< Fill or Stroke w/Color
> Fill or Stroke w/Gradient
/ Fill or Stroke w/None
Shift–D Cycle through Drawing Modes
F Cycle through Screen Modes
Double–click tools to bring up options.
Press CAPS LOCK to change tool pointer to crosshair.
Hold down Shift to constrain movement to 45°, 90°, 135°, or 180°.
Yelp Facebook LinkedIn YouTube Twitter Instagram