Welcome to our in-depth guide on keyboard shortcuts for Affinity Photo. This article is your key to more efficient and smoother photo editing. Affinity Photo offers a wealth of features, and knowing the right keyboard shortcuts can significantly increase your working speed and simplify the editing process. We'll show you how to go from beginner to expert with simple keystrokes, switching tools faster, changing views and tackling complex editing tasks with ease. Whether you're new to Affinity Photo or want to take your skills to the next level, this article will help you unleash the full potential of your creativity.
Table of Contents
Editing shortcuts
Action
button
Change document size
Alt + Ctrl + I
Change canvas size
Alt + Ctrl + C
Select multiple objects
Shift-click
Select overlapping layer contents
Alt-click
Reset selection box
.
Switch magnetic alignment on/off
;
Erase with the pixel tool
Ctrl
Switch between the color selectors for outline/fill (or color 1/color 2) in the "Color" and "Color fields" panel
X
Swap the color selectors for outline/fill (or color 1/color 2)
Shift + X
Set the color selectors for outline/fill (or color 1/color 2) to black and white.
D
Set the color selectors for outline/fill (or color 1/color 2) to "Without fill"
/ (only for international and selected keyboards)
Switch between overlays for the cutting tool (when the cutting tool is activated)
O
Mirror the spiral for the golden ratio (when the cutting tool is activated)
Shift + O
Change the attribute displayed in a panel or dialog box
Drag on the text name of the attribute
Action (Transform)
key
Restricted horizontal, vertical or diagonal movement
Shift -drag
Rotate in steps of 15 degrees
Shift -drag the rotation/corner handle
Rotate around the opposite corner
Drag the corner handle and hold the right mouse button.
Cancel a scaling, shifting or creation of content
ESC
Scale from the center
Ctrl -Drag from a corner handle
Mirrored tilting
Ctrl -Drag
Move step by step 1
Arrow keys
Move step by step (by the modified distance) 1
Shift + arrow keys
The distance for the incremental shift can be adjusted via Edit > Settings > Tools.
Keyboard shortcuts for working with vectors
Action
key
Scale without changing the aspect ratio
Shift -drag from a corner handle
Edit lines while drawing
Ctrl
Create an acute node (sharp corners)
Alt-drag the handle
Align the handle of a curve in 45° increments
Shift-drag the handle
Create a straight line segment while you are drawing
Drag + right-click
Convert to smooth node
Right-click
Convert to point node
Alt-click
Convert to curves
Ctrl + Enter
Select the next node of a curve
]
Select the previous node of a curve
[
Shortcuts for files
Action
button
New document
Ctrl + N
New from clipboard
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + N
Open document
Ctrl + O
Close document/close program (if no document is open)
Ctrl + W
Change document/view
Ctrl +Tab
Save document
Ctrl + S
Save as
Ctrl + Shift + S
Export
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + S
Print
Ctrl + P
Shortcuts for tools
Action
key
Switch between fill and gradient tool
G
View tool
H
Move" tool
V
The color pipette
I
Crop tool
C
Switching between the selection tools
W
Switch between drawing pen/knot tool
P
Zoom tool
Z
Clone tool
S
Switch between the shape tools
U
Switch between the text tools
T
Switch between the "Dodge", "Burn" and "Sponge" tools
O
Switch between the retouching tools
J
Switch between the painting tools
B
Switch between the erasing tools
E
Switch between the selection tools with selection frame
M
Freehand selection
L
Action (only for Liquify Persona)
button
"Liquify - Push forward" tool
P
"Liquify - Move left" tool
L
"Liquify - Swirl" tool
T
"Liquify - Distort concave" tool
U
Liquify - Turbulence" tool
B
Liquify - Grid Clone" tool
C
Liquify - Reconstruct" tool
R
Liquify - Freeze" tool
F
Liquify - Thaw" tool
W
Liquify - Zoom" tool
Z
"Liquify - View" tool
H
Action (only for Develop Persona)
button
White balance" tool
W
"Remove red eyes" tool
R
"Remove blemishes" tool
L
"Paint overlay" tool
B
Erase overlay" tool
E
Overlay gradient" tool
G
Crop tool
C
Zoom tool
Z
View tool
H
Action (only for export persona)
button
Slice tool
S
Slice selection" tool
L
Action (Panorama Persona only)
button
"Transform source image" tool
A
"Add to source image mask" tool
L
"Delete from source image mask" tool
U
To avoid accidentally switching to other tools, simply activate the option Switch tools with modifier key in the settings under Tools.
Shortcuts for editing
Action
button
Undo
Ctrl + Z
Redo
Ctrl + Y
Copy reduced to one
Ctrl + Shift + C
Transfer style
Ctrl + Shift + V
Transfer effect
Shift + Alt + V
Paste within
Ctrl + Alt + V
Paste without format
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + V
Fill
Shift + F5
Restore (Inpainting)
Alt + Backspace
Keyboard shortcuts for working with layers
Action
key
Select all layers
Alt + Ctrl + A
Group
Ctrl + G
Ungroup
Ctrl + Shift + G
Duplicate
Ctrl + J
Invert
Ctrl + I
All the way to the front
Ctrl + Shift + ]
One forward
Ctrl + ]
All the way back
Ctrl + Shift + [
One to the back
Ctrl + [
Show all
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + H
Unprotect all
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + L
New layer
Ctrl + Shift + N
Merge downwards
Ctrl + E
Merge selected
Ctrl + Shift + E
Merge visible
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E
Switch between layers for frequency separation
F
Keyboard shortcuts for painting
Action
key
Pick up a new brush color
Alt-drag
Change the opacity of the selected layer content or brush
Numeric keys (4 = 40 %, 43 = 43 %, etc.)
Increase/decrease the brush width
] [
Reduce/increase the brush width with screen display
Ctrl + Alt-drag (left/right)
Reduce/increase the brush hardness with screen display
Ctrl + Alt-drag (up/down)
Painting a brushstroke along a straight line
Click and then click with the Shift key
Switching the brush properties (for width, hardness, shape/spacing or rotation):
Ctrl + Alt + left-click
Setting the brush properties on the page (after setting the previously mentioned "switch option")
For width: Ctrl + Alt + left-click + drag (left/right) For hardness: Ctrl + Alt + left-click + drag (up/down) For the shape of the brush tip: Ctrl + Alt + left-click + drag (left/right) For the distance of the brush tip: Ctrl + Alt + left-click + drag (up/down) For the rotation of the brush tip: Ctrl + Alt + left-click + drag (left/right)
Shortcuts for text
Action
key
Open "Character" dialog box
Ctrl + T
Open "Typography" dialog box
Ctrl + Shift + T
Spelling options
Ctrl + Shift + ;
Action (navigation)
key
Moves the insertion point one character to the left
Left
Moves the insertion point one character to the right
Right
Moves the insertion point to the beginning of the word
Ctrl + Left
Moves the insertion point to the end of the word
Ctrl + Right
Moves the insertion point to the beginning of the line
Pos1
Moves the insertion point to the end of the line
End
Moves the insertion point to the beginning of the text frame
Ctrl + Pos1
Moves the insertion point to the end of the text frame
Ctrl + End
Moves the insertion point to the beginning of the current paragraph
Ctrl + Up
Moves the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph
Ctrl + Down
To select the text between the start and end position of the insertion point when moving the insertion point, hold down the key at the same time.
Action (delete)
key
Deletes the character to the left of the insertion point
Backspace
Deletes the character to the right of the insertion point
Del
Deletes from the insertion point to the beginning of the word
Ctrl + Backspace
Deletes from the insertion point to the end of the word
Ctrl + Del
Action (formatting)
key
Larger text
Ctrl +>
Smaller text
Ctrl +<
Enlarge text precisely
Ctrl + Alt +>
Reduce text precisely
Ctrl + Alt +<
Superscript
Ctrl + Shift + =
Subscript
Ctrl + Alt + -
Action (Typography)
key
Narrower (width/undercut; steps of 10 ‰)
Alt + Left
Next (width/undercut; steps of 10 ‰)
Alt + Right
Even narrower (width/undercut; steps of 50 ‰)
Alt + Shift + Left
Even wider (width/undercut; steps of 50 ‰)
Alt + Shift + Right
Increase paragraph indent
Alt + Down
Decrease paragraph indent
Alt + Up
Increase paragraph indent precisely
Ctrl + Alt + Down
Decrease paragraph indent precisely
Ctrl + Alt + Up
Action (special characters)
key
Line change
Shift + Enter
Protected space
Alt + Space
semi-four space
Alt + -
Square
Alt + Shift + -
Shortcuts for the view
Action
key
Rotate the document view
Alt-scroll while turning the mouse wheel
Reset rotation of the document view
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + R
Rotate around the center of the document view
Shift + Alt-scroll while turning the mouse wheel
Rotate document view faster
Ctrl while rotating the document view
Zoom in
Ctrl + =
Zoom out
Ctrl + -
Zoom to fit
Ctrl 0 (or double-click on the view tool icon)
Zoom to 100%
Ctrl 1 (or double-click on the zoom tool icon)
Zoom to 200
Ctrl + 2
Zoom to 400 %
Ctrl + 3
Zoom to 800
Ctrl + 4
Zoom to actual size
Ctrl + 8
Zoom to pixel size
Ctrl + 9
Zoom by shortcut
Space + Ctrl -Drag
Zoom in with shortcut
Space + Ctrl -click
Zoom out via shortcut
Spacebar+ Alt-click
Zoom in with shortcut (selection frame)
Spacebar+ Alt-drag
Pan using shortcut
Space bar
Scroll vertically (up/down)
Mouse wheel
Scroll horizontally (left/right)
Shift +mouse wheel
Switch to the next view
`
Show rulers
Ctrl + R
Show guides
Ctrl + ;
Show grid
Ctrl + '
Switch between projection planes of a grid
'
Toggle split view (not in Photo Persona)
,
Action
button
Select all
Ctrl + A
Deselect
Ctrl + D
Invert pixel selection
Ctrl + Shift + I
Add to selection (only for the selection frame tools and the "Freehand selection" tool)
Ctrl + Alt-Drag
Remove from selection
Alt-drag
Zoom in/out
Ctrl + B
Sharpen edges
Shift + F6
Refine edges
Ctrl + Alt + R
Move selection step by step1
Arrow keys
Move selection step by step with modifier1
Shift + arrow keys
Selection from layer
Ctrl -click on a layer thumbnail or press Ctrl + Shift + O
Create selection from layer brightness
Ctrl + Alt-click on the layer thumbnail
Add the content of a layer to an existing selection
Shift + Ctrl-click on the thumbnail of the layer
Add the luminance information of a layer to an existing selection
Shift + Ctrl + Alt-click on the thumbnail of the layer
Polygon selection (only for freehand selection tool)
Ctrl + Shift-click on the page.
QuickMask
Q
1 The distance for the incremental shift can be adjusted via Edit > Settings > Tools.
Shortcuts for the workspace
Action
Button
Show/hide Studio (panels)
Ctrl + Shift + H
Show/hide toolbar
Ctrl + Alt + T
Show/hide program interface
Tab
Hide workspace
Ctrl + H
Shortcuts for adjustments and filters
Action
button
Tone correction (adjustment)
Ctrl + L
HSL (adjustment)
Ctrl + U
Invert (adjustment)
Ctrl + I
Gradation curves (adjustment)
Ctrl + M
Black and white (adjustment)
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + B
Repeat filter
Ctrl + F
Shortcuts for the Liquify persona
Action
key
Mask all
Ctrl + A
Delete mask
Ctrl + D
Invert mask
Ctrl + I
Various shortcuts
Action
key
Program settings
Ctrl + ,
10 practical tips and tricks for Affinity Photo that will improve and facilitate your work with the program
Use adjustment layers : Instead of applying changes directly to your image, use adjustment layers. This way, your original images remain unchanged and you can adjust the settings at any time.
Frequency Separation for skin retouching : Frequency Separation is a powerful tool for professional skin retouching. It allows you to edit the texture and color tone of the skin separately.
Live filter layers : Live filter layers are a great way to apply effects non-destructively. You can add effects such as blurring or distortion and adjust them at any time without affecting the original image.
Macros for automation : If you often have recurring tasks, you can record and use macros to automate these processes.
Using the export person a: The export persona in Affinity Photo is specifically designed to optimize your workflow when exporting images. It allows you to export multiple formats and resolutions at the same time.
Pen and brush tool for precise work : Use the Pen tool for precise path work and the Brush tool for detailed painting and retouching.
Layer masks for advanced editing : Layer masks are extremely useful for selectively editing certain areas of an image without changing the actual layer.
Color management for consistent colors : Pay attention to consistent color management, especially when working for print, to ensure your colors are rendered correctly.
Advanced selection tools : Use Affinity Photo's powerful selection tools, such as the Magic Wand tool, Quick Selection Brush or Lasso tool, for precise selections.
Customizable workspace : Adapt your workspace to your needs. You can move toolbars and arrange tool icons according to your preferences.
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Shortcuts for Affinity Photo - Keyboard shortcuts at a glance
Together with his brother Matthias, Stefan Petri runs the popular specialist forum PSD-Tutorials.de and the e-learning platform TutKit.com, which focuses on the training and further education of digital professional skills.
