Keyboard Shortcuts
Paint Forge supports 100+ keyboard shortcuts for tools, editing, navigation, and more. Tool shortcuts are customizable via the Shortcut Remap dialog in Preferences.
Custom shortcuts: Open the in-app Keyboard Shortcuts dialog with ? to see your current bindings. Use the Shortcut Remap dialog to customize tool shortcuts — conflicts are detected automatically.
Tools
Tool keys are remappable via the Customize Shortcuts dialog. Defaults shown below.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Shift + V | Select tool |
| Shift + H | Hand tool (pan) |
| Shift + B | Brush tool |
| Shift + E | Eraser tool |
| Shift + R | Rectangle tool |
| Shift + C | Circle tool |
| Shift + L | Line tool |
| Shift + A | Arrow tool |
| Shift + P | Polygon tool |
| Shift + T | Text tool |
| Shift + I | Color picker tool |
| Shift + F | Fill tool |
| Shift + S | Star tool |
| Shift + Q | Blur tool |
| Shift + G | Gradient tool |
| Shift + K | Clone stamp tool |
| Shift + J | Spray paint tool |
| Shift + N | Sharpen tool |
| Shift + O | Dodge/Burn tool |
| Shift + U | Smudge tool |
| Shift + W | Freeform polygon tool |
| Shift + M | Marquee selection tool |
| Shift + Y | Red-eye removal tool |
| Shift + Z | Color replace tool |
General
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Z | Undo |
| Ctrl + Shift + Z | Redo |
| Ctrl + Y | Redo (alternative) |
| Ctrl + S | Save (auto-save enabled) |
| Ctrl + K | Command Palette |
| Ctrl + F | Find & Replace |
| Ctrl + L | Open Library |
| Ctrl + Alt + L | Link selected objects (when exactly 2 are selected) |
| Ctrl + , | Preferences |
| Tab | Toggle Fullscreen Mode |
| \ | Toggle Right Sidebar |
| ? | Keyboard Shortcuts Dialog |
| Escape | Deselect / Reset Rotation / Cancel |
| ` | Switch to Previous Tool |
Colors
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| X | Swap primary ↔ secondary (or fill ↔ stroke on selected object) |
| D | Reset colors to black / white |
Edit Operations
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + C | Copy selected objects |
| Ctrl + V | Paste (with cascading offset) |
| Ctrl + Shift + V | Paste in Place (original position) |
| Ctrl + Alt + Shift + V | Paste as New Layer |
| Ctrl + X | Cut (copy + delete) |
| Ctrl + D | Duplicate selected objects |
| Delete/Backspace | Delete selected |
| Ctrl + A | Select all objects |
| Shift + X | Swap fill & stroke on selected objects |
| Ctrl + Alt + C | Copy style |
| Ctrl + Alt + V | Paste style |
| Ctrl + Shift + C | Copy merged to clipboard (PNG) |
| Ctrl + Alt + S | Create named snapshot |
| Ctrl + R | Repeat last filter |
| Ctrl + Alt + E | Quick Export (uses saved Export preferences) |
| Ctrl + Alt + T | Copy transform (position, size, rotation) |
View & Navigation
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + =/Ctrl + + | Zoom in |
| Ctrl + - | Zoom out |
| Ctrl + 0 | Reset zoom to 100% |
| Space + Drag | Pan canvas (temporary hand tool) |
| Middle Mouse + Drag | Pan canvas |
| Alt + Scroll | Rotate canvas (1° per tick) |
| Alt + Shift + Scroll | Rotate canvas (15° increments) |
| Shift + Scroll | Pan canvas horizontally |
| Ctrl + Shift + O | Toggle Outline Mode |
| Ctrl + Shift + B | Cycle color blindness simulation mode |
| Alt + ← | Viewport back (zoom/pan history) |
| Alt + → | Viewport forward (zoom/pan history) |
Layer Operations
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Alt + ] | Select layer above |
| Alt + [ | Select layer below |
| Alt + , | Toggle layer visibility |
| Alt + . | Toggle layer lock |
| Ctrl + E | Merge layer down |
| Ctrl + Shift + E | Merge visible layers |
| Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E | Stamp visible to new layer |
| Ctrl + G | Group selected layers/objects |
| Ctrl + Shift + G | Ungroup |
| 0 | Set layer/object opacity to 100% |
| 1 - 9 | Set layer/object opacity (10%-90%) |
| Shift + ←/Shift + → | Cycle through layer comps |
| Ctrl + J | Layer Via Copy (copy selection to new layer) |
| Ctrl + Shift + J | Layer Via Cut (cut selection to new layer) |
| Ctrl + \ | Toggle Mask Editing mode on the active layer |
Pixel Selection
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Shift + I | Invert pixel selection |
| Ctrl + Shift + D | Clear pixel selection |
| Ctrl + Shift + A | Select all pixels |
| Ctrl + Shift + L | Select layer pixels (non-transparent pixels on active layer) |
| Q | Toggle Quick Mask Mode |
Object Arrangement
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + ] | Bring forward |
| Ctrl + Shift + ] | Bring to front |
| Ctrl + [ | Send backward |
| Ctrl + Shift + [ | Send to back |
| Arrow Keys | Nudge selected objects 1px |
| Shift + Arrow Keys | Nudge selected objects 10px |
Brush & Painting
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| [ | Decrease brush size |
| ] | Increase brush size |
| Alt + Click | Sample color (on supported tools) |
Text Formatting
These shortcuts work when a text or textbox object is selected:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + B | Toggle bold |
| Ctrl + I | Toggle italic |
| Ctrl + U | Toggle underline |
| Ctrl + Shift + X | Toggle strikethrough |
| Ctrl + Shift + S | Toggle spell check |
Save Conflict
These shortcuts work when the save-conflict dialog is open. Esc dismisses (Radix default).
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Enter | Primary action — Merge if available, otherwise Reload |
| 1 | Dismiss without resolving |
| 2 | Overwrite cloud (force-save your local copy) |
| 3 | Reload from cloud (discards local changes) |
| 4 | Merge automatically (when available) |
Touch Gestures
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Pinch | Zoom canvas in / out |
| Two-finger rotate | Rotate canvas view |
| Two-finger tap | Undo |
| Three-finger tap | Redo (or cancel QuickShape during a snap) |
| Hold ½s mid-stroke | QuickShape — snap stroke to a clean shape |
| Hold ~1.2s after snap | QuickShape — commit as editable vector object |
Transform Modifiers
Hold these modifier keys during object transforms for constrained behavior:
| Modifier | During Resize | During Move | During Rotate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shift | Proportional (aspect-ratio locked) | Axis-locked (horizontal or vertical) | Snap to 15° increments |
| Alt | Scale from center | Duplicate and move | — |
| Shift + Alt | Proportional + from center | — | — |
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