Adobe Illustrator 9 Keyboard Shortcuts

SHORTCUT	ACTION
Files
Ctrl-N	New Document dialog box
Ctrl-O	Open dialog box in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-W	Close
Ctrl-S	Save
Ctrl-Shft-S	Save As dialog box in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-Alt-S	Save a Copy dialog box
Ctrl-Alt-P	Document Setup dialog box
Ctrl-Q	Quit/Exit Illustrator
Tools
V	Selection
A	Direct-selection
Y	Lasso
Q	Direct-select Lasso
P	Pen
T	Type
L	Ellipse
M	Rectangle
B	Paintbrush
N	Pencil
R	Rotate
S	Scale
O	Reflect
E	Free Transform
W	Blend
J	Column Graph
U	Gradient Mesh
G	Gradient
I	Eyedropper
C	Scissors
H	Hand
Z	Zoom
+	Add-anchor-point
-	Delete-anchor-point
Shft-C	Convert-anchor-point
Dialog boxes
Tab	Highlight next field/option in Adobe Illustrator dialog boxes
Shft-Tab	Highlight previous field/option
Esc	Cancel
Enter	OK
Palettes
Tab	Show/hide all palettes
Shft-Tab	Show/hide all palettes except Toolbox
Enter	Apply value in palette field in Adobe Illustrator
Shft-Enter	Apply value in field, keep field selected
Tab	Highlight next field (pointer in palette)
Shft-Tab	Highlight previous field (pointer in palette)
Views
Ctrl-Y	Preview/Outline view toggle
Ctrl-Alt-Y	Pixel Preview view on/off in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-Alt-Shft-Y	Overprint Preview view on/off
Caps lock	Use crosshair pointer (drawing tools)
Ctrl-H	Show/Hide Edges
Double-click Hand tool	Display entire artboard in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-0	Fit In Window
Double-click Zoom tool or Ctrl-1	100% view size
Alt-click	Zoom out (Zoom tool selected)
Ctrl-Spacebar-click or Ctrl-+	Zoom in (any tool selected)
Ctrl-Alt-Spacebar-click or Ctrl--(minus)	Zoom out (any tool selected)
Drag with Zoom tool, then Spacebar-drag	Adjust Zoom marquee position
Drag Zoom tool or Ctrl-drag in Navigator palette	Zoom in on specific area of artboard
Spacebar	Use Hand tool (any tool selected)
Ctrl-Alt-Shft-3	Hide all unselected objects in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-Alt-3	Show All
Ctrl-Shft-W	Show/Hide Template(s)
Ctrl-Shft-B	Show/Hide Bounding Box
Ctrl-Shft-D	Show/Hide Transparency Grid
F with menu bar/Full screen mode	Standard screen mode/Full screen mode
Undo/redo
Ctrl-Z	Undo last operation in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-Shft-Z	Redo last undone operation
Create objects
Alt-drag	Draw object from center using Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, or Ellipse tool in Adobe Illustrator
Shft-drag	Draw circle with Rectangle or Rounded Rectangle tool; square with Ellipse tool
Polygon, Star, Spiral tools
Spacebar	Move object as you draw with Polygon, Star, or Spiral tool
Shft	Constrain orientation as you draw with Polygon, Star, or Spiral tool
Up or down arrow	Add or subtract sides as you draw with the Polygon tool, points as you draw with the Star tool, or segments as you draw with the Spiral tool
Alt	Align shoulders as you draw with Star tool
Ctrl	Increase or decrease outer radius as you draw with Star tool or decay as you draw with Spiral tool
Select/Copy
Ctrl-6	Select Again (last used command on Edit menu > Select submenu)
Ctrl	Use last-used selection tool (any non-selection tool chosen)
Ctrl-Tab	Toggle between Selection tool and Direct-selection tool or Group-selection tool
Alt	Toggle between Group-selection and Direct-selection tools
Ctrl-A	Select All in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-Shft-A	Deselect All
Ctrl-Alt-[-click	Select an object hidden behind another object
Shft-drag	Add to selection with either lasso tool in Adobe Illustrator
Alt-drag	Subtract from selection with either lasso tool
Move
Double-click Selection tool	Move dialog box
Alt-drag	Drag copy of object
Any arrow key	Move selected object the current Keyboard Increment (Preferences > General)
Shft-arrow key	Move selection 10x Keyboard Increment in Adobe Illustrator
Shft	Constrain movement to multiple of 45º
Clipboard
Ctrl-X	Cut
Ctrl-C	Copy
Ctrl-V	Paste
Ctrl-F	Paste In Front
Ctrl-B	Paste In Back
Transform
Alt-click	Transform tool dialog/set origin (any transform tool except Free Transform)
Shft-drag	Transform object along multiple of 45º (Shear, Reflect, Rotate tool)
Shft-drag	Scale object uniformly (Scale, Free Transform tools)
F-11	Show/Hide Attributes palette in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-D	Transform Again
~ drag	Transform pattern fill, not object(any transform tool)
Start dragging, then Alt-drag	Transform copy of object (any transform tool) in Adobe Illustrator
Modify value, then press Alt-Enter	Transform copy of object (Transform palette)
Modify W or H value, then press trl-Enter	Scale object uniformly (Transform palette)
Ctrl-Alt-D	Transform Each dialog box
Bounding box
Shft-drag handle	Scale object uniformly using bounding box(Free Transform or Selection tool)
Alt-drag handle	Resize object from center using bounding box in Adobe Illustrator
Blends
Ctrl-Alt-B	Blend > Make
Ctrl-Alt-Shft-B	Blend > Release
Free Transform tool
Alt-drag a handle	Transform from center
Start dragging corner handle, then Ctrl-drag	Distort
Start dragging side handle, then Ctrl-drag	Skew
Start dragging corner handle, then Ctrl-Alt-Shft-	Make Perspective
Pen/Reshape
Alt	Add-anchor-point and Delete-anchor-point tool toggle (either selected)
Alt	Use Add-anchor-point tool (Scissors tool selected)
Alt	Use Convert-anchor-point tool (Pen tool selected)
Alt	Smooth and Pencil tools toggle in Adobe Illustrator
Shft-drag	Constrain direction line angle to multiple of 45º with Direct-selection or Convert-anchor-point tool
Ctrl-J	Join two selected endpoints
Ctrl-Alt-J	Average two selected endpoints
Ctrl-Alt-Shft-J	Average and Join two selected endpoints
Drag, then Alt-release	Close path while drawing with Pencil or Paintbrush tool
Alt-drag tool	Cut in a straight line with Knife tool in Adobe Illustrator
Alt-Shft	Cut in 45º increment with Knife tool
Fill & Stroke
F-10	Show/Hide Stroke palette
D	Default fill/stroke
Alt	Eyedropper and Paint Bucket tool toggle (either one selected)
X	Fill/Stroke box toggle (Toolbox and Color palette)
< (comma)	Apply last-used solid color in Adobe Illustrator
/	Apply fill/stroke of None
Color palette
Ctrl-I or F-6	Show/Hide Color palette
Alt-click or drag color spectrum bar on Color pale	Change fill color if Stroke box on Toolbox is selected, or vice versa
Shft-click color spectrum bar	Cycle through color models in Adobe Illustrator Color pallete
Shft-X	Swap fill/stroke
Swatches palette
Ctrl-Alt-click list, start typing name name	Select a swatch name in Adobe Illustrator Swatches pallete
Layers
F-7	Show/Hide Layers palette in Adobe Illustrator
Grouping
Ctrl-G	Group
Ctrl-Shft-G	Ungroup
Restacking (keyboard)
Ctrl-Shft-]	Bring To Front
Ctrl-Shft-[	Send To Back in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-]	Bring Forward
Ctrl-[	Send Backward
Select
Click selection square or Alt-click name	Select layer, sublayer, group, or object
Shft-click square	Add to selection in Adobe Illustrator
Alt-drag-square	Copy selection to new layer, sublayer, group
Views
Alt-click eye icon	Hide/show all other layers
Ctrl-click eye icon	View a layer in Outline/Preview view
Ctrl-Alt-click eye icon	View all other layers in Outline/ Preview view
Alt-click blank box in second column	Lock/unlock all other layers in Adobe Illustrator
Create top-level layers
Ctrl-L	Create layer above currently selected layer
Ctrl-click New Layer button	Create layer at top of list
Ctrl-Alt-click New Layer button	Create layer below currently selected layer
Lock/unlock (keyboard)
Ctrl-2	Lock (selected object)
Ctrl-Alt-Shft-2	Lock all unselected objects
Ctrl-Alt-2	Unlock All
Type
Ctrl-T	Show/Hide Character palette
Ctrl-M	Show/Hide Paragraph palette
Enter	Hard Return
Shft-Enter	Soft Return
Ctrl-Alt-Shft-M	Highlight font field on Character palette
Ctrl-Shft-T	Show/hide Tab Ruler palette
Ctrl-Shft-(hyphen key)	Force hyphenate a word in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-Shft-O	Create Outlines
Type tools
Alt	Use Area Type tool (Type tool selected, over open path)
Alt	Use Path Type tool (Type tool selected, over closed path)
Shft with any type tool	Switch to vertical/horizontal type tool equivalent as you create type in Adobe Illustrator
Double-click with any selection tool	Switch to Type tool when selecting type block
Selecting type
Double-click	Select a word
Triple-click	Select a paragraph in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-A	Select all the type in a block
Ctrl-left/right arrow	Move insertion pointer left/right one word
Up/Down arrow	Move insertion pointer up/down one line
Alignment
Ctrl-Shft-L	Align left
Ctrl-Shft-C	Align center
Ctrl-Shft-R	Align right
Ctrl-Shft-J	Justify
Ctrl-Shft-F	Justify last line
Point size
Ctrl-Shft->	Increase point size in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-Shft-<	Decrease point size
Leading
Alt-down arrow	Increase leading
Alt-up arrow	Decrease leading
Double-click leading button on Character palette	Set leading to the current font size in Adobe Illustrator
Horizontal scale
Ctrl-Shft-X	Reset horizontal scale to 100%
Kerning/tracking
Alt-right arrow	Increase kerning/tracking in Adobe Illustrator
Alt-left arrow	Decrease kerning/tracking
Ctrl-Alt right arrow	Increase kerning/tracking 5x
Ctrl-Alt left arrow	Decrease kerning/tracking 5x
Ctrl-Shft-Q	Reset kerning/tracking to 0
Baseline shift
Alt-Shft up arrow	Increase baseline shift
Alt-Shft down arrow	Decrease baseline shift
Ctrl-Alt-Shft up arrow	Increase baseline shift 5x
Ctrl-Alt-Shft down arrow	Decrease baseline shift 5x
Curly quotes
Alt-0146 (numeric keypad only)	'
Alt-0145	'
Alt-0148	"
Alt-0147	"
Brushes
F-5	Show/Hide Brushes palette in Adobe Illustrator
Combine Paths
Ctrl-8	Compound Path > Make
Ctrl-Alt-8	Compound Path > Release
Ctrl-4	Repeat last-used Pathfinder command in Adobe Illustrator
Gradients
F-9	Show/Hide Gradient palette in Adobe Illustrator
> (period)	Reapply last-used gradient
Ctrl-click thumbnail	Reset gradient palette to black and white
Alt-drag	Duplicate color stop
Alt-click swatch	Apply swatch color to active color stop in Adobe Illustrator
Shft-drag with Gradient Mesh tool	Move mesh point along one of its lines
Shft-click with Gradient Mesh tool	Add mesh point using adjacent mesh color
Alt-click with Gradient Mesh tool	Remove mesh point
Clipping masks
Ctrl-7	Clipping Mask > Make
Ctrl-Alt-7	Clipping Mask > Release
Transparency palette
Alt-click mask thumbnail	View only opacity mask in mask edit mode in Adobe Illustrator Transparency palette
Shft-click mask thumbnail	Disable opacity mask
Effects
Ctrl-Shft-E	Apply Last Effect
Ctrl-Alt-Shft-E	Last Effect (reopen last effect dialog box)
Appearances
Ctrl-/	Add new fill
Ctrl-Alt-/	Add new stroke
Alt-Shft-click with Eyedropper	Sample style and append appearance of selected object in Adobe Illustrator
Filters
Ctrl-E	Apply Last Filter in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-Alt-E	Last Filter (reopen last filter dialog box)
Precision Tools
Ctrl-R	Show/Hide Rulers
Ctrl-;	Show/Hide Guides
Ctrl-5	Make Guides
Click selection square on Layers palette, then Ctr	Release Guides
Ctrl-Shft- double-click guide	Release a guide
Alt-drag new guide	Convert guide between horizontal/vertical orientation in Adobe Illustrator
Ctrl-Alt-;	Lock/Unlock Guides
Ctrl-"	Show/Hide Grid
Ctrl-Shft-"	Snap To Grid
Ctrl-Alt-"	Snap To Point (Pixel Preview off); Snap To Pixel (Pixel Preview on)
Ctrl-U	Smart Guides
Shft-drag with tool	Constrain Measure tool to multiple of 45º
Preferences
Ctrl-K	General Preferences dialog box in Adobe Illustrator
Export/Print
Ctrl-Alt-Shft-S	Save for Web
Ctrl-Shft-P	Page Setup/Print Setup dialog box
Ctrl-P	Print dialog box in Adobe Illustrator
F-8	Show/Hide Info
Shortcuts/Help
Ctrl-Alt-Shft-K	Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box in Adobe Illustrator
F1	Illustrator Help (online)