Illustrator CC 2017 Shortcuts: Mac

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 Cmd (Command)
To switch between Selection and Direct Selection tools Cmd–Option–Tab
To cycle through tools behind column tool Option–click tool
To make copy while dragging Option
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 Cmd–2
Lock all deselected artwork Cmd–Option–Shift–2
Unlock all artwork Cmd–Option–2
Hide selected artwork Cmd–3
Hide all deselected artwork Cmd–Option–Shift–3
Show all artwork Cmd–Option–3
Path Editing
Join and Average at same time Cmd–Option–Shift–J
To get Anchor Point tool while using Pen tool Option
Switch between Add Anchor Point and Delete Anchor Point tools Option
To get Add Anchor Point tool while using Scissors tool Option
Move anchor point while drawing with Pen tool Spacebar
Create closed path with Pencil or Paintbrush tool When finished drawing, hold Option and release mouse
Connect to an open (and selected) path with Pencil tool Cmd–drag
Painting & Transforming
To get Eyedropper tool while using Live Paint Bucket tool Option
Samples intermediate color from gradient, picture, etc. with Eyedropper Shift
Sets center point and shows dialog Option–click with tool
Duplicates while transforming selection Option–drag
Transform pattern without transforming object Tilde(~)–drag
Scale proportionally with Selection tool Shift–drag bounding box
Scale from center with Selection tool Option–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 Option–click
Shapes (While Drawing)
Draw from center Option
Draw from center with dialog Option–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 Cmd
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 Cmd, then Spacebar. (This will show the Zoom tool.) Let go of Cmd 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 Cmd–Spacebar
Zoom Out Tool Cmd–Option–Spacebar
Zoom In to exact size Cmd–Spacebar–drag
Switch between Outline and Preview modes Cmd–Y
Switch between GPU and CPU preview (if available) Cmd–E
Hide/Show all tools and panels Tab
Hide/Show all panels except Tools and Control Shift–Tab
Switch between horizontal/vertical guide Hold Option while dragging out a new guide
Release Guide (turns it into a regular path) Cmd–Shift–double–click
Type
Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 2pts Cmd–Shift–> or <
Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 10pts Cmd–Opt–Shift–> or <
Increase/Decrease Leading by 2pts Option–Down/Up Arrow
Increase/Decrease kerning/tracking Option–Right/Left Arrow
Kerning/tracking x 5 Cmd–Option–Right/Left Arrow
Increase/Decrease baseline shift Shift–Option–Up/Down Arrow
Baseline shift x 5 Cmd–Option–Shift–Up/Down Arrow
Align type left, right, center Cmd–Shift–L, R, C
Justify with last line left aligned Cmd–Shift–J
Justify last line Cmd–Shift–F
Reset horizontal/vertical scale to 100% Cmd–Shift–X
Reset kerning or tracking to 0 Cmd–Option–Q
En Space Cmd–Option–N
Em Space Cmd–Option–M
Thin Space Cmd–Option–Shift–M
Superscript Cmd–Shift–equal (=) 
Subscript Cmd–Option–Shift–equal (=)
Discretionary Hyphen Cmd–Shift–hyphen (-)
Panels
Show/Hide Brushes panel F5
Show/Hide Color panel F6
Show/Hide Layers panel F7
Show/Hide Info panel Cmd–F8
Show/Hide Gradient panel Cmd–F9
Show/Hide Stroke panel Cmd–F10
Show/Hide Attributes panel Cmd–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–Cmd–F9
Show/Hide Transparency panel Shift–Cmd–F10
Show/Hide Symbols panel Shift–Cmd–F11
Layers Panel
To create new layer and edit properties Option–click New Layer button
Toggle layer between Preview/Outline mode Cmd–click on eye
Show layer while turning off all others Option–click on eye
Select all items on layer Option–click layer name
Copy selected item to different layer Option–drag selection square in Layers panel
To create the new layer at the top of list Cmd–click New Layer button
To create the new layer below selected layer Cmd–Option–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 Cmd–click color bar
Swatches Panel
Create a swatch as a global color Cmd–Shift–click New Swatch button
Replace a swatch with another Option–drag new swatch over old
Miscellaneous Good Stuff
Create New Symbol F8
Swap colors in a gradient Option–drag a color stop onto another
Revert file Cmd–Option–Z
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