CS4 Illustrator Shortcuts
Tools
V........... Selection
E........... Free Transform
A........... Direct Selection
Y........... Magic Wand
J............ Column Graph
Q........... Lasso
U........... Mesh
P........... Pen
G........... Gradient
I............ Eyedropper
W........... Blend
K........... Live Paint Bucket
T........... Type
M........... Rectangle
D........... Default Fill & Stroke
R........... Rotate
C........... Scissors
O........... Reflect
L............ Ellipse
H........... Hand
S........... Scale
B........... Paintbrush
Z........... Zoom
F........... Cycle through Screen Modes
N........... Pencil
X........... Toggle between Fill & Stroke
+........... Add Anchor point
............ Line Segment
-............ Delete Anchor point
<........... Fill or Stroke w/Color
>........... Fill or Stroke w/Gradient
/............ Fill or Stroke w/None
Shift-R... Warp
Shift-E.... Eraser
Shift-S.... Symbol Sprayer
Shift-B... Blob Brush
Shift-C... Convert Anchor point
Shift-O... Artboard
Shift-K... Slice
Shift-L....Live Paint Selection
Shift-X.... Swap Fill & Stroke
Double-click tools to bring up options.
Press CAPS LOCK to change tool pointer to cross hair.
Hold down Shift to constrain movement to 45°, 90°, 135°, or 180°.
Viewing & Guides
Get Hand Tool (while NOT editing Type)............ Spacebar
Get Hand tool (while editing Type)......Hold Control, then Space. (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
Hide/Show all tools and panels........... Tab
Hide/Show all panels except toolbox............ Shift-Tab
Switch between horizontal/vertical guide.... hold Alt while dragging out a new guide
Release Guide (turns it into a regular path)......Shift-Ctrl-double-click
Type
Decrease/Increase type size......... Ctrl-Shift-< or >
Decrease/Increase leading........................ Alt arrow up or down (white fill/black stroke)
Decrease/Increase kerning/tracking............ Alt arrow left or right
Kerning/tracking x 5......Ctrl-Alt arrow left or right
Decrease/Increase baseline shift......... Shift-Alt arrow down or up
Baseline shift x 5...............Ctrl-Alt-Shift arrow down or up
Align type left, right, center................. Ctrl-Shift-L, R, C
Justify type........................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
Selecting and Moving
To access Selection or Direction Selection tool (whichever was used last)
at any time...................control
To make copy while dragging...............................Alt
To add to a selection.... Shift
Move Selection....................... Any arrow key
Lock all deselected artwork............................ Ctrl-Alt-Shift-2
Lock selected artwork..................... Ctrl-2
Unlock all artwork...................... Ctrl-Alt-2
Hide all deselected artwork.............. Ctrl-Alt-Shift-3
Hide selected artwork.................... Ctrl-3
Show all artwork................. Ctrl-Alt-3
To switch between Selection and Direct Selection tools............Ctrl-Alt-Tab
To cycle through tools behind column tool.............. Alt-click tool
Move Selection 10 pts................Shift-any arrow key
Panel Shortcuts/Function Keys
Show/Hide Brushes .........................F5
Show/Hide Color ........F6
Show/Hide Layers .................F7
Show/Hide Gradient ............. Ctrl-F9
Show/Hide Info ................ Ctrl-F8
Show/Hide Stroke.................. Ctrl-F10
Show/Hide Attributes.............. Ctrl-F11
Revert file...........................F12
Show/Hide Graphic Styles...............Shift-F5
Show/Hide Appearance.........Shift-F6
Show/Hide Align...................Shift-F7
Show/Hide Transform..............Shift-F8
Show/Hide Pathfinder.................. Shift-Ctrl-F9
Show/Hide Transparency............ Shift-Ctrl-F10
Show/Hide Symbols.................... Shift-Ctrl-F11
Layers Panel Shortcuts
To create the new layer at the top of list........ Ctrl-click
To create the new layer below selected layer.............. Ctrl-Alt-click
Toggle layer between Preview/Outline mode...............Ctrl-click on eye
Show layer while turningâoff 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
Path Editing
Join and Average at same time..........................Ctrl-Alt-Shift-J
Convert Anchor Point tool from Pen tool.......................Alt
Add Anchor Point tool from Scissors tool....................Alt
Move anchor point while drawing with Pen tool......................... Spacebar
Switch between Add Anchor Point and Delete Anchor Point tools...........Alt
Create closed path with Pencil or Paintbrush tool...................
........... when finished drawing, hold Alt and release mouse
Connect to an open (& selected) path with Pencil...................Ctrl-drag
Color Panel Shortcuts
Saturate/Desaturate current color................Shift-drag color slider
Change Color Mode.......................Shift-click color bar
Select compliment of current color................. Ctrl-click color bar
Painting and Transforming
Eyedropper tool from Live Paint Bucket tool . ........................Alt
Samples intermediate color from gradient, picture, etc. with eyedropper........ Shift
Duplicates and transforms selection.................................Alt-drag
Sets center point and shows dialog.................. Alt-click with Tool
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............................................. Spacebar
Add/subtract sides, points, spiral segments.................Up or Down Arrow
Decrease inner radius........................................Ctrl
Create continuous duplicates along mouse movement......... hold ~ while dragging
Swatches Panel Shortcuts
Create a swatch as a global color..............................Hold Crtl–Shift while creating
Replace a swatch with another................................. Alt-drag new swatch over old
Misc.
(In any panel) Apply a value, but keep value highlighted in panel....... Shift-Return
Create New Symbol..........................................................................................F8
