Adobe Illustrator’s keyboard shortcuts are one of the easiest ways to improve your productivity when working with this program. Many of them will come naturally as you learn how to use Illustrator, but others might not be so intuitive, especially if you’re a designer who works in other programs like Photoshop and InDesign.
To help those who are new to Adobe Illustrator, I’ve put together this list of my top 10 favorite Illustrator keyboard shortcuts that every designer needs to know to increase their speed and efficiency when using Adobe Illustrator! Check it out below!
Select and Outline
The first step to creating any vector design is to select the object you want to work with. To do this, simply click on the object with your mouse. If you want to select multiple objects, hold down the Shift key while clicking on each object.
Zoom, Pan, and Capture
Trying to select an object that’s just slightly out of reach? Zoom in for a closer look by pressing Control-Plus (Windows) or Command-Plus (macOS). You can also pan around your artwork by holding down the spacebar while you click and drag. And if you need to take a screenshot, press Control-Option-Shift-4 (Windows) or Command-Option-Shift-4 (macOS).
Layers, Groups, and Guides
The first step is to create a new layer for your design. To do this, click on the Create New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.
Fill, Stroke, Transparency
The fill, stroke, and transparency options in Adobe Illustrator are essential for any designer. With these three options, you can change the color of your object, add a border, and make your object transparent.
Transformations
To resize an object while keeping its proportions locked, hold down Shift as you drag a corner handle. To move an object 1px in any direction, use the arrow keys on your keyboard.
Selection Tools
The selection tools in Adobe Illustrator are some of the most commonly used tools and for good reason. With these shortcuts, you can quickly and easily select any object on your canvas.
Color Tools
There are a few different ways to select colors in Adobe Illustrator. The Color panel is probably the most intuitive way to select colors, but you can also use the Swatches panel or the Control panel. To access the Color panel, go to Window > Color.
Paths and Pen Tool
The pen tool is one of the most essential tools in Adobe Illustrator for creating custom shapes and paths. By default, the pen tool creates straight lines, but you can easily change that by holding down the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) while dragging a point. This will create a curved line. You can also add anchor points to an existing path by clicking on the path with the pen tool.
Text Boxes and Type
When you’re working on a design in Adobe Illustrator, there are a few keyboard shortcuts that can come in handy. For example, if you want to create a text box, all you have to do is press Command + T (Mac) or Control + T (Windows). This shortcut will create a new text box for you automatically. If you want to add type into your text box, simply click inside the text box and start typing.
Importing Images Into AI
You can import images into Adobe Illustrator in several ways, but the simplest is probably to just drag and drop the image file from your computer into the AI interface. You can also go to File > Place, or use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I. Once your image is imported, you can adjust its position by clicking and dragging it around, or by using the arrow keys on your keyboard.
Conclusion:
Illustrator shortcuts help boost productivity and speed up your workflow. Without shortcuts, you skip the hustle of clicking here and there which can switch your focus. If you want to learn more about Illustrator, you can always learn for free on youtube. There are thousands of social media marketing tutorials on YouTube. Use Career Ninja‘s LearnTube for hand-holding training on YouTube. Learn Tube organizes the results of your YouTube search into a course framework. If you want to learn “Illustrator tutorials”, search the term on LearnTube and it will show you a bunch of youtube videos like an online course. As a beginner, you’ll click through the videos from the first to the last, as if you were taking an online course tailored specifically for you.
