Adobe Illustrator Shortcut Key

Shift + O

Artboard tool

V

Selection tool

A

Direct Selection tool

Y

Magic Wand tool

Q

Lasso tool

P

Pen tool

Shift + B

Blob Brush tool

+ (plus)

Add Anchor Point tool

- (minus)

Delete Anchor Point tool

Shift + C

Convert Anchor Point tool

T

Type tool

\ (backslash)

Line Segment tool

M

Rectangle tool

L

Ellipse tool

B

Paintbrush tool

N

Pencil 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 Grid 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

Press Alt

Switch to Smooth tool while using Blob Brush tool

F

Toggle between screen modes: Normal Screen Mode, Full Screen Mode with Menu Bar, Full Screen Mode

Double-click Hand tool

Fit imageable area in window

Double-click Zoom tool

Magnify 100%

Spacebar

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

Ctrl + Spacebar

Switch to Zoom tool in magnify mode

Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar

Switch to Zoom tool in reduce mode

Spacebar

Move Zoom marquee while dragging with the Zoom tool

Control + Alt + Shift + 3

Hide unselected artwork

Alt-drag guide

Convert between horizontal and vertical guide

Ctrl + Shift-double-click guide

Release guide

Ctrl + Shift + H

Show/Hide artboards

Ctrl + Alt + R

Show/Hide artboard rulers

Ctrl + Alt + 0 (zero)

View all artboards in window

Ctrl+Shift+V

Paste in place on the active artboard

Esc

Exit Artboard tool mode

Shift-drag

Create artboard inside another artboard

Ctrl+click

Select multiple artboards in the Artboards panel

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

Esc

Exit Full Screen mode

Alt + v

Save multiple artboards to Illustrator CS3 or earlier format

Shift-drag

onstrain a shape’s proportions or orientation

spacebar-drag

Move a shape while drawing it

Alt-drag

Draw from the center of a shape (except for polygons, stars, and flares)

Start dragging, then press the Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Increase or decrease polygon sides, star points, arc angle, spiral winds, or flare rays

Start dragging, then hold down Ctrl

Keep the inner radius of a star constant

Alt-drag

Keep the sides of a star straight

Start dragging, then hold down C

Switch between an open and closed arc

Start dragging, then hold down F

Flip an arc, keeping the reference point constant

Start dragging, then Alt-drag

Add or subtract winds from a spiral while increasing the length of the spiral

Start dragging then Ctrl-drag

Change the decay rate of a spiral

Start dragging, then press the Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Add or remove horizontal lines from a rectangular grid or concentric lines from a polar grid

Start dragging, then press the Right Arrow or Left Arrow

Add or remove vertical lines from a rectangular grid or radial lines from a polar grid

Start dragging, then press F

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

Start dragging, then press V

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

Start dragging, then press X

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

Start dragging, then press C

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

Alt-click Live Trace in the Control panel

Create and expand a Live Trace object in one step

] (right square bracket)

Increase size of Blob Brush

[ (left square bracket)

Decrease size of Blob Brush

Shift

Constrain Blob Brush path horizontally or vertically

Shift+D

Switch through drawing modes

Select the paths, then press Ctrl+J

Join two or more paths

Select the paths, then press Shift+Ctrl+Alt+j

Create corner or smooth join

Shift+P

Perspective Grid Tool

Shift+V

Perspective Selection Tool

Ctrl+Shift+I

Perspective Grid

Press the number 5 key, then click and drag the object

Moving objects perpendicularly

Use the Perspective Selection tool and then press 1 for left grid, 2 for horizontal grid, 3 for right grid, or 4 for no active grid

Switching perspective planes

Ctrl+Alt+drag

Copying objects in perspective

Ctrl+D

Repeat transforming objects in perspective

Shift+D

Switching between drawing modes

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

Shift-click

Add to a selection with Selection tool, Direct Selection tool, Group Selection tool, Live Paint Selection tool, or Magic Wand tool

Shift-click

Subtract a selection with Selection tool, Direct Selection tool, Group Selection tool, or LIve Paint Selection tool

Alt-click

Subtract from selection with Magic Wand tool

Shift-drag

Add to selection with Lasso tool

Alt-drag

Subtract from selection with Lasso tool

Caps Lock

Change pointer to cross hair for Lasso tool

Ctrl + Alt + A

Select artwork in active artboard

Alt + c + o

Create crop marks around selected objec

Press Ctrl+click twice

Select behind an object

Ctrl+click twice

Select behind in isolation mode

Right Arrow, Left Arrow, Up Arrow, or Down Arrow

Move selection in user-defined increments

Shift + Right Arrow, Left Arrow, Up Arrow, or Down Arrow

Move selection in 10x user-defined increments

Ctrl + Alt + Shift + 2

Lock all deselected artwork

Hold down Shift

Constrain movement to 45° angle (except when using Reflect tool)

Alt

Switch Pen tool to Convert Anchor Point tool

Spacebar-drag

Move current anchor point while drawing with Pen tool

Alt-drag

Cut a straight line with Knife tool

Shift + Alt-drag

Cut at 45° or 90° with Knife tool

Alt + Shape mode

Use shape mode buttons in Pathfinder panel to create compound paths

Alt+click the closed region

Erase unwanted closed regions created using Shape Builder tool

Shift+M

Select the Shape Builder tool

Shift+click+drag

Display rectangular marquee to easily merge multiple paths (when using Shape Builder tool)

X

Toggle between fill and stroke

D

Set fill and stroke to default

Shift + X

Swap fill and stroke

>

Select gradient fill mode

<

Select color fill mode

/ (forward slash)

Select no stroke/fill mode

Shift + Eyedropper tool

Sample color from an image or intermediate color from gradient

Alt + Shift-click + Eyedropper tool

Sample style and append appearance of currently selected item

Ctrl + / (forward slash)

Add new fill

Ctrl + Alt + / (forward slash)

Add new stroke

Ctrl-click gradient button in Tools panel or Gradient panel

Reset gradient to black and white

Alt + o + j

Open Mosaic options for selected raster object

[

Decrease Bristle brush size

]

Increase Bristle brush size

Number keys 1 - 0

Set Bristle brush paint opacity valu

Alt-click + Live Paint Bucket tool

Switch to Eyedropper tool and sample fill and/or stroke

Alt + Shift-click + Live Paint Bucket tool

Switch to Eyedropper tool and sample color from an image or intermediate color from a gradient

Shift + Live Paint Bucket tool

Select opposite Live Paint Bucket tool options (if Paint Fills and Paint Strokes are currently selected, switch to Paint Fills only)

Double-click + Live Paint Bucket tool

Fill across unstroked edges into adjacent faces

Triple-click + Live Paint Bucket tool

Fill all faces that have same fill and stroke all edges that have same stroke

Alt-click + Live Paint Selection tool

Switch to Eyedropper tool and sample fill and/or stroke

Alt + Shift-click + Live Paint Selection tool

Switch to Eyedropper tool and sample color from an image or intermediate color from a gradient

Shift-click + Live Paint Selection tool

Add to/subtract from a selection

Double-click + Live Paint Selection tool

Select all connected faces /edges with same fill/stroke

Triple-click + Live Paint Selection tool

Select all faces/edges with same fill/stroke

Alt-click

Set origin point and open dialog box when using Rotate tool, Scale tool, Reflect tool, or Shear tool

Alt-drag

Duplicate and transform selection when using Selection tool, Scale tool, Reflect tool, or Shear tool

Tilde (~)-drag

Transform pattern (independent of object) when using Selection tool, Scale tool, Reflect tool, or Shear tool

Shift+click

Select multiple width points

Alt+drag

Create non-uniform widths

Alt+drag the width point

Create a copy of the width point

Shift+drag

Change the position of multiple width points

Delete

Delete selected width point

Esc

Deselect a width point

Right Arrow or Left Arrow

Move one character right or left

Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Move up or down one line

Ctrl + Right Arrow or Left Arrow

Move one word right or left

Ctrl + Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Move up or down one paragraph

Shift + Ctrl + Right Arrow or Left Arrow

Select one word right or left

Shift + Ctrl + Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Select one paragraph before or after

Shift-click

Extend existing selection

Ctrl + Shift + L, R, or C

Align paragraph left, right, or center

Ctrl + Shift + J

Justify paragraph

Shift + Enter

Insert soft return

Ctrl + Alt + K

Highlight kerning

Ctrl + Shift + X

Reset horizontal scale to 100%

Ctrl + Shift + > or <

Increase or decrease type size

Alt + Up or Down Arrow (horizontal text) or Right or Left Arrow (vertical text)

Increase or decrease leading

Ctrl + Alt + Q

Reset tracking/kerning to 0

Alt + Right or Left Arrow (horizontal text) or Up or Down Arrow (vertical text)

Increase or decrease kerning and tracking

Ctrl + Alt + Right or Left Arrow (horizontal text) or Up or Down Arrow (vertical text)

Increase or decrease kerning and tracking by five times

Alt + Shift + Up or Down Arrow (horizontal text) or Right or Left Arrow (vertical text)

Increase or decrease baseline shift

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

Alt-click New button

Set options (except for Actions, Brushes, Swatches, and Symbols panels)

Alt-click Delete button

Delete without confirmation (except for Layers panel)

Shift + Enter

Apply value and keep text box active

Shift-click

Select range of actions, brushes, layers, links, styles, or swatches

Ctrl-click

Select noncontiguous actions, brushes, layers (same level only), links, styles, or swatches

Tab

Show/Hide all panels

Shift + Tab

Show/Hide all panels except the Tools panel and Control panel

Alt-click expansion triangle

Expand/Collapse entire hierarchy for action set

Double-click folder icon

Set options for action set

Ctrl-click Play Current Selection button

Play a single command

Alt-click New Action button

Begin recording actions without confirmation

Double-click brush

Open Brush Options dialog box

Drag brush to New Brush button

Duplicate brush

Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Increase/decrease the selected value by a small increment

Shift + Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Increase/decreases the selected value by a large increment

Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F

Highlight the font name field in the Character panel

Ctrl-click color bar

Select the complement for the current color fill/stroke

Alt-click color bar

Change the nonactive fill/stroke

Ctrl + Alt-click color bar

Select the complement for the nonactive fill/stroke

Ctrl + Shift-click color bar

Select the inverse for the current fill/stroke

Ctrl + Shift + Alt-click color bar

Select the inverse for the nonactive fill/stroke

Shift-click color bar

Change the color mode

Shift-drag color slider

Move color sliders in tandem

Double-click to right of a numerical field

Switch between percentage and 0-255 values for RGB

Alt-drag

Duplicate color stops

Alt-drag color stop onto another stop

Swap color stops

Alt-click swatch in the Swatches panel

Apply swatch color to active (or selected) color stop

Ctrl-click Gradient Fill box in the Gradient panel

Reset the gradient fill to default black and white linear gradient

Ctrl + Alt + G

Show/Hide gradient arrow

Alt-drag end point of gradient annotator

Modify angle and end-point together

Shift-drag

Constrain Gradient tool or Gradient annotator while dragging

G

View Gradient annotator in selected gradient filled object

Alt-click layer name

Select all objects on the layer

Alt-click eye icon

Show/hide all layers but the selected one

Ctrl-click eye icon

Select Outline/Preview view for the selected layer

Ctrl + Alt-click eye icon

Selects Outline/Preview view for all other layers

Alt-click lock icon

Lock/unlock all other layers

Alt-click expansion triangle

Expand all sublayers to display entire hierarchy

Alt-click New Layer button

Set options as you create new layer

Alt-click New Sublayer button

Set options as you create new sublayer

Ctrl + Alt-click New Sublayer button

Place new sublayer at bottom of layer list

Ctrl-click New Layer button

Place layer at top of layer list

Ctrl + Alt-click New Layer button

Place layer below selected layer

Alt-drag selection

Copy the selection to a layer, sublayer, or group

Ctrl-click New Swatch button

Create new spot color

Ctrl + Shift-click New Swatch button

Create new global process color

Alt-drag a swatch over another

Replace swatch with another

Shift + Enter

Apply a value and keep focus in edit field

Alt + Enter

Apply a value and copy object

Ctrl + Enter

Apply a value and scale option proportionately for width or height

Alt-click on mask thumbnail

Change mask to grayscale image for editing

Shift-click on mask thumbnail

Disable opacity mask

Shift-click on disabled mask thumbnail

Re-enable opacity mask

Click opacity field + Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Increase/decrease opacity in 1% increments

Shift-click opacity field + Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Increase/decrease opacity in 10% increments

F1

Invoke Help

F2

Cut

F3

Copy

F4

Paste

F5

Show/hide Brushes panel

F6

Show/hide Color pane

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/hide Attributes panel

F12

Revert

Shift + F5

Show/hide Graphic Styles panel

Shift + F6

Show/hide Appearance panel

Shift + F7

Show/hide Align panel