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Hot Keys and Gestures

Most feature hot-keys can be found next to the action in the menus.

General Usage Hot-Keys

Mouse

  • Selection: Left click, or band-box
  • Shift + click adds to the current selection
  • Ctrl/⌘ + click removes from the current selection
  • Drag: Left-click & hold on an object, drag it
  • When dragging, Shift will keep the drag vertical, horizontal, or 45 degrees
  • When dragging, Ctrl means "don't grid / object snap"
  • When sizing, the default is retain the current aspect ratio, holding shift unlocks it.
  • When sizing, Control means "resize from center"
  • Zoom: Mouse wheel (zooms relative to the cursor)
  • View drag: Middle-mouse click and drag
  • Double clicking text Now auto chooses text mode and places cursor.

Keyboard

  • View drag: Hold space-bar + left-click & drag (useful for Mac, or users without a mouse wheel)
  • Delete: Backspace or Delete keys
  • Select Mode: Pressing the Esc key while in the workspace will return to the selection tool

Move

  • Arrow keys move the current selection
  • Shift + arrow moves in large steps
  • Ctrl/⌘ + arrow moves in small steps

File

Action Windows / Linux Mac OS
New Ctrl + N ⌘ + N
Open Ctrl + O ⌘ + O
Import Ctrl + I ⌘ + I
Save Ctrl + S ⌘ + S
Save As Ctrl + Shift + S ⌘ + Shift + S
Exit Ctrl + Q ⌘ + Q

Edit

Action Windows / Linux Mac OS
Undo Ctrl + Z ⌘ + Z
Redo Ctrl + Shift + Z ⌘ + Shift + Z
Select All Ctrl + A ⌘ + A
Invert Selection Ctrl + Shift + I ⌘ + Shift + I
Cut Ctrl + X ⌘ + X
Copy Ctrl + C ⌘ + C
Duplicate Ctrl + D ⌘ + D
Paste Ctrl + V ⌘ + V
Paste in place Alt + V Alt + V
Convert to Path Ctrl + Shift + C ⌘ + Shift + C
Convert to Bitmap Ctrl + Shift + B ⌘ + Shift + B
Close Path Alt + C Alt + C
Auto Join Alt + J Alt + J
Optimize Alt + O Alt + O
Delete Duplicates Alt + D Alt + D
Convert to Cut Ctrl + Shift + C ⌘ + Shift + C

Tools

Action Windows / Linux Mac OS
Draw Line Ctrl + L ⌘ + L
Rectangle Ctrl + R ⌘ + R
Ellipse Ctrl + E ⌘ + E
Edit Nodes Ctrl + ` ⌘ + `
Add Tabs Ctrl + Tab ⌘ + Tab
Edit Text Ctrl + T ⌘ + T
Zoom In Ctrl + = ⌘ + =
Zoom Out Ctrl + - ⌘ + -
Frame Selection Ctrl + Shift + A ⌘ + Shift + A
Preview Alt + P Alt + P

Cuts/Layers

Action Windows / Linux Mac OS
Flash items on Layer Right Click Layer Right Click Layer
Select all items on layer Shift+Click Layer Shift+Click Layer
Global Hotkeys

The following work from anywhere while objects are selected.

Action Windows / Linux Mac OS
Group Ctrl + G ⌘ + G
Ungroup Ctrl + U ⌘ + U
Flip Horizontal Ctrl + Shift + H ⌘ + Shift + H
Flip Vertical Ctrl + Shift + V ⌘ + Shift + V
Mirror Across Line Alt + M Alt + M
Align Left Ctrl + Shift + ← ⌘ + Shift + ←
Align Right Ctrl + Shift + → ⌘ + Shift + →
Align Top Ctrl + Shift + ↑ ⌘ + Shift + ↑
Align Bottom Ctrl + Shift + ↓ ⌘ + Shift + ↓
Align Centers Vertically Ctrl + Shift + PgUp ⌘ + Shift + PgUp
Align Centers Horizontally Ctrl + Shift + PgDn ⌘ + Shift + PgDn
Move H-Together Alt + Shift + H Alt + Shift + H
Move V-Together Alt + Shift + V Alt + Shift + V
Break Apart Alt + B Alt + B
Push forward in draw order PgUp PgUp
Push backward in draw order PgDn PgDn
Push to front Ctrl + PgUp ⌘ + PgUp
Push to back Ctrl + PgDn ⌘ + PgDn
Edit Window Specific

The following work only while focused on the edit window.

Action Windows / Linux Mac OS
Rotate 90 clockwise . (decimal) . (decimal)
Rotate 90 Counter-clockwise , (comma) , (comma)
Align Left L L
Align Right R R
Align Top T T
Align Bottom B B
Align Centers Vertically C C
Align Centers Horizontally E E
Move Selection to Page Center P P

Window

Action Windows / Linux Mac OS
Preview Alt + P Alt + P
Zoom In Ctrl + = ⌘ + =
Zoom Out Ctrl + - ⌘ + -
Frame Selection Ctrl + Shift + A ⌘ + Shift + A

Tool In-use - Hot-Keys

Node Edit

Action Windows / Linux Mac OS Notes
Smooth corner node S S while hovering over a node
Convert line to smooth curve S S while hovering over a line
Convert curve to line L L while hovering over a curve
Convert smooth node to corner C C while hovering over a node
Delete node D D while hovering over a node
Delete line D D while hovering over a line
Insert node point I I while hovering over a line or curve
Insert node at midpoint M M while hovering over a line or curve
Break shape at point B B while hovering over a point
Trim line T T while hovering over a line, trim line under mouse at next intersection
Extend line E E while hovering over a point, extend line from point under mouse to intersection with another shape

Help

  • Pressing F1 while hovering the mouse over the edit window will bring you to the documentation page for the editing mode you're in.
  • Pressing F1 while hovering the mouse over some tools will show you help for that tool.
  • Otherwise, pressing F1 will bring up the Help & Notes dialog window.