Illustrator rewards keyboard work more than any other Creative Cloud application, because drawing involves constant switching between selecting, drawing and adjusting. Reaching for the toolbar every time breaks the rhythm. This sheet collects the shortcuts that remove that interruption, on one printable page with Windows and macOS keys side by side.

What is on it

  • Tools — selection and direct selection, pen, curvature, anchor point, type, rectangle, ellipse, rotate, reflect, scale, shape builder, gradient, eyedropper, artboard, zoom and hand.
  • Drawing and editing paths — joining, averaging, cutting a path, switching between fill and stroke, and swapping the two.
  • Objects — group and ungroup, lock and unlock all, hide and show all, and the four stacking-order keys that end most alignment arguments.
  • Repeat and duplicate — the drag-with-modifier duplicate and the transform-again key, which together build a row of evenly spaced objects in seconds.
  • Type — create outlines, and the keys for tracking and kerning adjustments by keyboard.
  • Masks and compound paths — make and release a clipping mask, make a compound path.
  • View — outline view, rulers, guides, smart guides, fit artboard in window and 100 per cent, plus pixel preview for screen work.
  • Paste behaviour — paste in front, paste behind, paste in place and paste on all artboards, which is the set most people never learn and immediately miss.
  • Place and export — Place, Export for Screens and Save As.

A sample of what you get

  • Ctrl/Cmd + D — transform again. Duplicate an object once with the right offset, then repeat it to build a series.
  • Ctrl/Cmd + Y — outline view. The fastest way to find stray points, hidden objects and a white shape sitting on white.
  • Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + O — create outlines on type, for the version of the logo that goes to a supplier.
  • Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + V — paste in place, which keeps the object at the same coordinates on the artboard.
  • Shift + M — the Shape Builder tool, which combines and subtracts shapes by dragging across them.

How to use it properly

Pin it up and pick three. The pen tool shortcuts and the paste-in-place group are usually the two that change a beginner's speed the most, because they replace repeated mouse journeys with a single key.

The keys shown are the defaults in current Creative Cloud versions. Illustrator lets you edit the keyboard set, so if you change anything, mark the printed sheet.

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