16 Shortcuts - grymmjack/DRAW GitHub Wiki
What you'll learn: How to find any command instantly via the Command Palette, and the most important shortcuts grouped by activity.
🎯 Goal: Access any command instantly.
Press ? to open the Command Palette. Start typing — DRAW does fuzzy-matching across command names so you can type flip to find both Flip Horizontal and Flip Canvas Vertical. Each match shows its hotkey on the right; arrow keys to highlight, Enter to run.
Use Help → Cheat Sheet for Quick Reference Mode, which lists every command in the application without filtering — handy for learning what's available.
The Palette is grouped into categories that match the menus:
- Tools
- File
- Edit
- View
- Color
- Brush
- Layer
- Canvas
- Assist
- Grid
- Symmetry
- Select
- Help
- Image
- Audio
🎯 Goal: Memorize the essential shortcuts.
The full, authoritative list is in SHORTCUTS.md at the repository root — generated directly from the input registry, so it never drifts from the app, and it covers both keyboard and mouse. Below are the essentials — what you'll use thousands of times a session.
| Key | Tool |
|---|---|
B |
Brush |
D |
Dot |
L |
Line |
R |
Rectangle (Shift+R filled) |
C |
Ellipse (Shift+C filled) |
P |
Polygon (Shift+P filled) |
F |
Fill |
K |
Spray |
I |
Picker |
E |
Eraser |
M |
Marquee |
W |
Wand |
V |
Move |
Z |
Zoom |
T |
Text |
Q |
Bezier |
| (Toolbar) | Smart Shapes (Polygon, Pie/Donut, Rounded Rect, Tab, Pill, Pac-Man, 3D Dice, Bevel Rect, Arrow, 3D Text) |
| Combo | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl+S / Ctrl+O / Ctrl+N
|
Save / Open / New |
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y
|
Undo / Redo |
Ctrl+C / Ctrl+X / Ctrl+V
|
Copy / Cut / Paste |
Ctrl+A / Ctrl+D / Ctrl+E
|
Select All / Deselect / Clear |
Ctrl+L |
Toggle Layer Panel |
[ / ]
|
Brush Size − / + |
\ |
Brush Shape (circle ↔ square) |
X |
Swap FG / BG |
0–9
|
Paint Opacity 100% / 10–90% |
' ; . ,
|
Grid: toggle / snap / size+ / size− |
/ |
Toggle grid alignment (Corner ↔ Center) |
G+Arrow |
Adjust grid width/height independently |
} / {
|
Music: next / previous track |
F4–F9, F11
|
Panel and mode toggles |
Tab |
Toggle Toolbar |
? |
Command Palette |
| Key | Function |
|---|---|
Up/Down/Left/Right |
Adjust shape parameters (segments, bevel, mouth, Z depth, etc.) |
Mouse Wheel |
Adjust primary parameter |
Shift |
Constrain aspect ratio |
Left-click drag |
Wireframe mode (FG color) |
Right-click drag |
Solid mode (BG color fill, FG color wireframe) |
4/6/8/0/1/2
|
Switch dice type (D4/D6/D8/D10/D12/D20) |
W/A/S/D/Q/E
|
Orbit light |
=/-
|
Change light elevation |
L+0..9
|
Light intensity presets |
| Key / Action | Function |
|---|---|
Q |
Activate Bezier tool |
| Click | Drop corner anchor |
| Click+drag | Drop smooth anchor, shape handle |
H |
Toggle handle visualisation |
Backspace |
Remove last anchor |
Enter |
Commit curve |
Escape |
Cancel |
| Key | Function |
|---|---|
s |
Cycle start cap (while dragging) |
e |
Cycle end cap (while dragging) |
The following combos require holding a non-modifier key (not Ctrl/Alt/Shift) and clicking, pressing, or dragging another input. These are distinct from standard modifier shortcuts and are easy to miss!
| Hold Key | + Action | Effect |
|---|---|---|
F |
Left Click | Global Fill — flood-fills all visible non-locked layers with FG color (contiguous) |
F |
Right Click | Global Fill — flood-fills all visible non-locked layers with BG color (contiguous) |
Shift+F |
Left Click | Replace-all Global Fill — replaces all matching pixels across all visible layers with FG color |
Shift+F |
Right Click | Replace-all Global Fill — replaces all matching pixels across all visible layers with BG color |
E |
Click | Flood Erase — erases contiguous same-color pixels to transparent (no selection step) |
W |
Click | Magic Wand — select from merged canvas (all visible layers) |
G |
Arrow Key | Resize grid width/height independently |
L |
Digit (0-9) | Set Smart Shape 3D light intensity preset |
R |
Click | Picker — sample from reference image instead of visible layers |
See also: Tool-specific sections for additional drag-time and context-sensitive combos (e.g., Smart Shapes, Line End Caps, etc.).
For everything else, use the Command Palette or read the chapter where the feature is introduced.
🎯 Goal: Make DRAW's controls match your muscle memory.
Every shortcut in DRAW is now rebindable — keyboard and mouse. Open Edit → Customize Controls (or search "Customize Controls" in the Command Palette).
Rebinding a control
- Type in the FIND box to filter the list by command name.
- Click SET… on a row to open the capture dialog.
- Press the new key, click a mouse button, spin the wheel, or tilt the wheel left/right — whatever you press is captured. Toggle the Ctrl/Shift/Alt checkboxes to require modifiers.
- If the input is already bound elsewhere, DRAW warns and steals it (the old binding is unbound). Click OK to apply — changes take effect immediately.
Rows you've changed from the factory default show a marker and a "= changed from default" legend. RESET ALL restores every control to the shipped defaults instantly.
Mouse controls you can bind
| Control | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vertical wheel | Zoom in/out (cursor-centered) | Rebindable; can be set to canvas pan or brush size |
| Wheel tilt (left/right) | Brush size − / + | Tilt right = bigger; rebind to Pan Left/Right for horizontal scroll |
Ctrl + wheel |
Brush size | |
| Thumb buttons (Back / Forward) | Undo / Redo | |
| Right-click (Zoom tool) | Zoom out | Left-click zooms in |
| Pan drag button | Middle / Space+drag | Rebindable |
There are also dedicated Pan Up / Down / Left / Right actions you can bind to the wheel or tilt for scroll-to-pan.
Presets & export
- Load preset applies a full keymap in one click: Aseprite, Photoshop, GIMP, Krita, Illustrator, Procreate, MS Paint, Pro Motion, DeluxePaint.
- Export as… writes your live keymap (including overrides) to Markdown, HTML, or PDF.
- Bindings persist across sessions in
DRAW.bindings; the CLI flag--load-preset <name>applies one at launch.
➡️ Next: Chapter 17 — Undo, Redo & History