Illustrator CS5 Shortcuts: PC

Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are many keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator CS5, including lesser known and hidden keystrokes!

Selecting and 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-Alt-Tab
To cycle through tools behind column tool Alt-click tool
To make copy while dragging Alt
To add to a selection Shift
Move Selection Any arrow key
Move Selection 10 pts Shift-any arrow key
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
Convert Anchor Point tool from Pen tool Alt
Switch between Add Anchor Point and Delete Anchor Point tools Alt
Add Anchor Point tool from 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 (& selected) path with Pencil Ctrl-drag
Painting and Transforming
Eyedropper tool from 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 and transforms 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 Spacebar
Add/subtract sides, points, spiral segments Up or Down Arrow
Decrease inner radius Ctrl
Create continuous duplicates along mouse movement Hold tilde(~) while dragging
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
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
Panel Shortcuts / Function Keys
Show/Hide Brushes F5
Show/Hide Color F6
Show/Hide Layers F7
Show/Hide Info Ctrl-F8
Show/Hide Gradient Ctrl-F9
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
Toggle layer between Preview/Outline mode Ctrl-click on eye
Show layer while turningoff 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
To create the new layer below selected layer Ctrl-Alt-click
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
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
Swap Colors in a Gradient Alt-Drag a color stop onto another
Tools
V Selection
A Direct Selection
Y Magic Wand
Q Lasso
P Pen
+ Add Anchor point
- Delete Anchor point
Shift-C Convert Anchor point
T Type
\ Line Segment
M Rectangle
L Ellipse
B Paintbrush
N Pencil
Shift-B Blob Brush
Shift-E Eraser
C Scissors
R Rotate
O Reflect
S Scale
Shift-R Warp
E Free Transform
Shift-S Symbol Sprayer
J Column Graph
U Mesh
G Gradient
I Eyedropper
W Blend
K Live Paint Bucket
Shift-L Live Paint Selection
Shift-O Artboard Tool
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
F Cycle through Screen Modes
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°.
Yelp Facebook LinkedIn YouTube Twitter Instagram