The 10 Basic Keyboard Shortcuts You Need to Know On Adobe Illustrator

After getting the basic gist of Adobe illustrator, there was one thing that kind of struck me as annoying about the whole program; you might've noticed it too – it takes a relatively long time to navigate through all of the tools. One second you're using the brush, but the next you need to move to the opposite side of the art board; so you have to stop what you're doing, move your mouse to the small hand icon and select. But if you're having this same problem, I have some happy news – there's a better way. Keyboard shortcuts. Now, I'm not talking copy and paste (though you can use those as well), Adobe illustrator has keyboard shortcuts for literally anything, and if they don't you can handle you can make one (but more on that next week). Using keyboard shortcuts dramatically speeds up the process of switching between tools, so you can spend more time actually drawing. Here are the most frequently used of my top keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Illustrator along with some additional tips and tricks.

A-Direct Select Arrow

Adobe Illustrator has two arrows. The direct select arrow (it's the one that's fully colored in and not just an outline) is used to select smaller parts . If you click and drag over your brush strokes, it will show all the anchors of the path. If you click on those anchors, you'll see the handles. These can all be moved with the direct select arrow to get whatever shape you want. Using this tool in tandem with the selection arrow (more on that next) you can move the illustration to a different place on the artboard. To do this you click and drag over what you want, select with the direct select arrow, then switch to the selection arrow and click and drag whatever you've selected to where you want it. To access this tool, simply tap the letter “A”.

Selection Arrow- V

This is the other arrow in Adobe Illustrator (the one that’s just an outline). If the direct select arrow is for details then this one is for the big picture, literally. Whatever you select with this arrow, will select everything connected to it; usually in a box outline. This is especially good for moving objects, but it can also be used to edit things like line thickness (right-hand side of upper panel) and angle or a corner diameter of lines and shapes (under the ‘shape’ tab on the left-hand side of the upper panel). You can access the tool with the keyboard shortcut “V”.

Brush – B

This tool is pretty self-explanatory; whatever you want to draw, you draw with the brush. However, keep in mind you can change the settings on the brush. Going across the top panel you see when using the brush:

• The first box changes the fill color (don't worry about this one for brush strokes)

• the second box is the outline color, shift click on this box to change your brush color.

• The stroke panel changes your brush thickness

• Brush definition changes your brush type. You can choose something more calligraphic or rough, just click the library icon and choose a brush set. You can also download other brushes if you wish.

• The others on this panel or either self-explanatory or I have little to no experience with.

You can access this tool with keyboard shortcut “B”.

Line –U

Lines can be useful for things you need to be perfectly straight – I know I use them often as makeshift rulers. They have the same edibility as brushstrokes (see the brush configuration descriptions above for more). Under the transform panel of the top panel you see for lines; you can edit rotation to make sure your line is at the exact angle you need. You can access this tool with keyboard shortcut “U”.

E – Eraser

The eraser tool for Adobe Illustrator is pretty standard. Basically you have two choices for erasing:

• Using the direct select arrow you can select the part that includes what you want to erase and then use the eraser tool to erase (this will not affect anything outside of what you've selected) or

• You can erase without selecting anything (this will leave all your paths available to be erased unless they're locked in the layers panel)

To change the eraser size, shape etc., double-click on the eraser icon. To select the eraser tool use the keyboard shortcut “E”.

Z – Zoom

Adobe illustrator has this interesting zoom tool that's different from a lot of the ones you’ve seen elsewhere- it’s even different than some of the ones in other Adobe programs. The way it works is you click and drag up with it to zoom in and click and drag down with it to zoom out. I prefer this way to the one that’s used in say, Adobe Indesign (that zoom tool has you make a box around where you want to zoom in or out of) but if you want to switch to the other way of zooming on illustrator you can. There's an article about it here. You can access the zoom tool with the keyboard shortcut “Z”.

Undo – ctrl/cmd+z

If you make a mistake in your illustration it's good to keep the keep this keyboard shortcut in mind. To undo a move in illustrator use the keyboard shortcut “ctrl/cmd+z”. Now, this doesn't go back indefinitely (I know for a fact it won't undo anything you've already saved) but you can go back pretty far, so don't panic if you've made a mistake a few steps back.

Redo – shift+ctrl/cmd+z

Now, say you undid something and then changed your mind, that's where the redo shortcut comes in handy. To quickly bring back something you have undone use the keyboard shortcut “shift+ctrl/cmd+z”.

H – Hand

The hand tool can be pretty handy. The hand tool moves your art board but keeps everything on it the same. It can be helpful for moving across large illustrations or adjusting your view to just the right spot-especially when used with the zoom tool. To access this tool, use the keyboard shortcut “H”.

R – Rotate

If you need to rotate your illustration, the rotation two is perfect for the job- especially when you don't know the exact angle you want to go to. To quickly access this tool use the keyboard shortcut “R”. To use this tool, first use the direct select arrow to select part or all of your illustration, then select the rotate tool. A blue kind of target will appear in the middle of your art board, this is your point of rotation (what you're rooting around) and it can be moved with the rotation tool if you wish to adjust how your illustration moves. To actually rotate, just click and drag until you get your desired result.

Hopefully this will help you get started with the highly efficient world of keyboard shortcuts, so you can spend your time making art instead of fiddling around with your mouse/computer pad. If the idea of having to memorize and then execute keyboard shortcuts-especially three-step keyboard shortcuts-has you kind of worried (as it did me) don't worry – you get used to it pretty quickly (and if you ever forget, a quick hover over your desired tool will reveal its shortcut). Soon you'll be looking for keyboard shortcuts for every program. Next week we’ll be looking at some more complex, and potentially more helpful, lesser known keyboard shortcuts and tricks of the trade for Adobe Illustrator.

Tried one of these tips? Have one to add? Leave it in the comments below!