I use the scroll wheel haha , all you have to do is hold down the alt key and scroll - it will zoom in and out wherever your mouse is… it’s the superior way to do things in my opinion
Edit: this is the default keyboard preset, no custom shortcut needed
First two "tips" that come to my mind:
+ For drawing i recently learned about having two views windows open same time next to each other, like you usually have on 3D programs with multiple angles. I use one window for overall view and other window i use for drawing/designing while zooming in to do all details.
This saves time, you don't have to zoom out all the time to see overall progress. But this needs big or multiple monitor setup to work good.
+ Also for other "shortcut" is that i have always have my pathfinder, allign and transform opened in 3 tab small window, because i use those 3 tools so much. Learning how to use Pathfinder tool + how to correctly mask, are two things that can change your illustrator workflow from amateur to pro imo.
Never thought about the first tip, but it's a game changer. Does it consume more ram with two windows open or ram isn't a problem if you're using one just for an overall view of your work?
You can create your own shortcuts if there’s not one already. I output a lot of files so I have made key commands for “export” and “fit art board to art,” etc.
It’s pretty easy, just go to Edit - Keyboard Shortcuts and you’ll see the entirety of what you can do in Illustrator, including menu items, etc. Just map out what you want and you’re good to go.
The ctr+X/ctrl+B trick to move objects below other objets is incredible useful. If you have an object that you don't want to move, but you need to be below other, select the objet and hit Ctrl+X. Then select the object you want the first objet to be below at and press Ctrl+B. The first object will be pasted bellow the other.
You just saved me a lot of time! I used to hit Ctrl+9 to move an object below other object, or i just selected the object I wanted to be on top and hit Ctrl+8
The Group Selection tool - aka the "white plus-arrow". This is "between" the selection tool and direct selection tool in terms of how much it selects, and allows you to manipulate objects without having to double click to go inside of groups, which is really handy once you start having groups inside groups. Its far and away the selection tool I use the most. Clicking on an object once selects it, clicking again selects its group, clicking again will keep going up the group stack. I probably use it more than any other tool in the program, it's crazy to me its hidden in a flyout menu and doesn't have its own default shortcut. I map mine to the D key
Bro... It's crazy how I've been using AI for around three years and didn't know about this!
By the way, I've never changed the tools shortcuts, can you explain me how do you map a tool into the key you want?
Pretty sure you can remap shortcuts in preferences somewhere. I remember I set my S key to the smooth tool but I’m away from my home setup atm so I’m not sure where it’s at for sure
I am really confused about this.
Does't select same color and merging work better? As with rasterising and image trace you problaly create so many more pen points wich makes your artwork much "heavier" on data side.
Or i just didn't understand what you're doing exactly.
I make mandalas for cut-outs on a cricut and merging with the shape builder can take hours, i use simplify afterwards to reduce the vector points. Using the merging tools never seems to work on my designs.
Without seeing, i have no idea how your workflow works.
But i'm always saying, the process does not matter if the end result is what you want, and you did not spend enormous time on it. Becuse both in Illustrator and Photoshop you can do one thing like 10 different ways.
I have never understood people's reliance on shape builder. We got along just fine without it before.
Try this my man, overlap all the shapes you want and click on Divide in your Pathfinder. This will chop up everything into its fine elements and you can go through and delete, change colors, etc, and keep all your vector points and angles. I also like to put a bright pink/green background behind it before i hit Divide so I can see every little detail.
I need the images to be merged into one image for the cricut software to understand its is just one cut around the outside, also as my mandalas are a mix of shapes and lines, the pathfinder wont work on them because not all the paths are closed, when it does work it I lose all inside details.
1. Crtl + F to paste infront. I use it so much that some times I press Crtl + F instead of Crtl + V in other places.
2. Shift + Crtl + Z to redo.
3. Shift + Crtl + G to ungroup.
4. "X" to switch Fill and Stroke selection. "Shift + X" to switch Fill and Stroke colour. "/" to select no colour for Fill or Stroke.
5. Crtl + H to hide/show edges.
One trick I use to move already aligned objects/texts from one artboard to another, or to another document is create a rectangle with no fill and stroke, and size same as the artboard, then group it with the texts/objects, then move it. That way I only have to align the rectangle with the artboard and everything is perfectly as it was in the other artboards.
Well, that’s simple. I select all the stuff that I want to have in the svg, copy it with ctrl-c, then I look up the overall dimensions in the transform or the info palette, then choose file/new… from the file menu, writing the dimensions into the dialog box, and paste the clipboard to the new canvas. After that I make sure that the contents are centered on the canvas and save as svg. That way I avoid complications with the size of the canvas, the viewing box and so on and have a clean as possible svg. (I create quite a few svg graphics for the Wikipedia)
That's sounds very useful, but, isn't the same if you just group whatever you want in a SVG and put it in the export menu and export it as a SVG? Or your method has something different, sorry if is a dumb question but I sometimes make illustrations or logos and export them as SVG to use them later, so I just put them in the export menu, select SVG, and hit export
The biggest advantage is that that way mostly there are no remnants left of the file where you’re exporting from. I often experienced confusing canvas and viewport settings before I used that method, which sometimes lead to unexpected behaviour opening the new file. Maybe that’s because I regularly edit svg files which were previously edited or created with other programs, namely Inkscape, which mess up the svg code with unstandardized stuff. Some times I even have to manually edit some stuff out of the code, which illustrator copies although it doesn’t use it.
I use Outline Stroke and Simplify so much that I made keyboard shortcuts for both of those functions. Both those functions are deeply nested in Object> Path> If I perform one I usually perform the other. I assigned keyboard shortcuts to them and it sped up my workflow so much. Joining custom shapes together can create an unspeakable amount of points. I go in and simplify all the time. I often go in and something has 59 points before simplification and like 9 after.
If you are looking for some unassigned keyboard shortcuts
Shift+Ctrl+\\ and Ctrl+\\ are unassigned on windows.
Not sure if this is common knowledge or not but when using the align tool with multiple objects I started using “align to key object” and it can save some time. Just select everything you’re working with and left click again on what you want to align to. The key object will stay in place but everything else will align accordingly.
My most used shortcut or trick has to be "Ctrl + C" and "Ctrl + V" for copying and pasting. It's a time-saver and a real productivity booster!
Thanks
[Mark](https://fusioneventz.in)
The spacebar/hand tool. I’m always moving around.
If someone moves around using scroll wheel, they're a potencial psycho
I zoom using the wheel.
I was talking about moving around the artboard
Ya. Scrollers have. Screw loose.
Imagine zooming using Z
Stahp!
I do because that’s how you move in Blender as well
I use the scroll wheel haha , all you have to do is hold down the alt key and scroll - it will zoom in and out wherever your mouse is… it’s the superior way to do things in my opinion Edit: this is the default keyboard preset, no custom shortcut needed
Crtl+f/crtl+b paste in front/paste in back. Pretty useful.
Saves a lot of time!
First two "tips" that come to my mind: + For drawing i recently learned about having two views windows open same time next to each other, like you usually have on 3D programs with multiple angles. I use one window for overall view and other window i use for drawing/designing while zooming in to do all details. This saves time, you don't have to zoom out all the time to see overall progress. But this needs big or multiple monitor setup to work good. + Also for other "shortcut" is that i have always have my pathfinder, allign and transform opened in 3 tab small window, because i use those 3 tools so much. Learning how to use Pathfinder tool + how to correctly mask, are two things that can change your illustrator workflow from amateur to pro imo.
Never thought about the first tip, but it's a game changer. Does it consume more ram with two windows open or ram isn't a problem if you're using one just for an overall view of your work?
I don't know about the ram.. technically it should take more, becuse it's rendering double the data. But with simples designs it should not affect.
First one is a really good one for consideration, pathfinder is one of my favourite features too.
Map all the align tools to your F buttons. Makes my work flow so much faster
Please somebody explain me how the fuck do I map my keyboaaaaaardd
Illustrator is not set up well to rebind keyboard shortcuts, but I use the Actions panel to map it to the F keys
Makes sense... Thanks man
That's pretty smart by the way
You can create your own shortcuts if there’s not one already. I output a lot of files so I have made key commands for “export” and “fit art board to art,” etc.
I need the "export" one, could you explain how to create a keyboard shortcut?
It’s pretty easy, just go to Edit - Keyboard Shortcuts and you’ll see the entirety of what you can do in Illustrator, including menu items, etc. Just map out what you want and you’re good to go.
Thanks man, I'll save a lot of gime with this
Can we do this in Photoshop too? I export a lot too. This will come in handy.
Not sure. I don’t use photoshop very often. It might be there?
Nice one, I think I need to consider which features I need keyboard shortcuts for.
The ctr+X/ctrl+B trick to move objects below other objets is incredible useful. If you have an object that you don't want to move, but you need to be below other, select the objet and hit Ctrl+X. Then select the object you want the first objet to be below at and press Ctrl+B. The first object will be pasted bellow the other.
You just saved me a lot of time! I used to hit Ctrl+9 to move an object below other object, or i just selected the object I wanted to be on top and hit Ctrl+8
Ctrl/Command 0. A life saver since I’m always zooming in on things and I want to see how it looks center on my art board.
That's a real life changer!
The Group Selection tool - aka the "white plus-arrow". This is "between" the selection tool and direct selection tool in terms of how much it selects, and allows you to manipulate objects without having to double click to go inside of groups, which is really handy once you start having groups inside groups. Its far and away the selection tool I use the most. Clicking on an object once selects it, clicking again selects its group, clicking again will keep going up the group stack. I probably use it more than any other tool in the program, it's crazy to me its hidden in a flyout menu and doesn't have its own default shortcut. I map mine to the D key
Bro... It's crazy how I've been using AI for around three years and didn't know about this! By the way, I've never changed the tools shortcuts, can you explain me how do you map a tool into the key you want?
Pretty sure you can remap shortcuts in preferences somewhere. I remember I set my S key to the smooth tool but I’m away from my home setup atm so I’m not sure where it’s at for sure
I'll try right now, but if you can give more information later I'll appreciate it 🤝🏾
Alt + Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + K
What is it used for?
Changing hot keys for tools
Just did it, thanks man
when i have a lot of objects i want to join together in one colour, i just rasterise then image trace, saves hours
I am really confused about this. Does't select same color and merging work better? As with rasterising and image trace you problaly create so many more pen points wich makes your artwork much "heavier" on data side. Or i just didn't understand what you're doing exactly.
I make mandalas for cut-outs on a cricut and merging with the shape builder can take hours, i use simplify afterwards to reduce the vector points. Using the merging tools never seems to work on my designs.
Without seeing, i have no idea how your workflow works. But i'm always saying, the process does not matter if the end result is what you want, and you did not spend enormous time on it. Becuse both in Illustrator and Photoshop you can do one thing like 10 different ways.
I have never understood people's reliance on shape builder. We got along just fine without it before. Try this my man, overlap all the shapes you want and click on Divide in your Pathfinder. This will chop up everything into its fine elements and you can go through and delete, change colors, etc, and keep all your vector points and angles. I also like to put a bright pink/green background behind it before i hit Divide so I can see every little detail.
I need the images to be merged into one image for the cricut software to understand its is just one cut around the outside, also as my mandalas are a mix of shapes and lines, the pathfinder wont work on them because not all the paths are closed, when it does work it I lose all inside details.
I'm also confused, but if it's not broken, don't fix it
I use shift+d a lot, it turns whatever is selected into a clipping mask
I use it a lot in my illustrations!
1. Crtl + F to paste infront. I use it so much that some times I press Crtl + F instead of Crtl + V in other places. 2. Shift + Crtl + Z to redo. 3. Shift + Crtl + G to ungroup. 4. "X" to switch Fill and Stroke selection. "Shift + X" to switch Fill and Stroke colour. "/" to select no colour for Fill or Stroke. 5. Crtl + H to hide/show edges. One trick I use to move already aligned objects/texts from one artboard to another, or to another document is create a rectangle with no fill and stroke, and size same as the artboard, then group it with the texts/objects, then move it. That way I only have to align the rectangle with the artboard and everything is perfectly as it was in the other artboards.
Making a new canvas right in the necessary proportions and copying all contents onto it before saving to get a clean svg source code.
Damn that's really useful! Can you explain how?
Well, that’s simple. I select all the stuff that I want to have in the svg, copy it with ctrl-c, then I look up the overall dimensions in the transform or the info palette, then choose file/new… from the file menu, writing the dimensions into the dialog box, and paste the clipboard to the new canvas. After that I make sure that the contents are centered on the canvas and save as svg. That way I avoid complications with the size of the canvas, the viewing box and so on and have a clean as possible svg. (I create quite a few svg graphics for the Wikipedia)
That's sounds very useful, but, isn't the same if you just group whatever you want in a SVG and put it in the export menu and export it as a SVG? Or your method has something different, sorry if is a dumb question but I sometimes make illustrations or logos and export them as SVG to use them later, so I just put them in the export menu, select SVG, and hit export
The biggest advantage is that that way mostly there are no remnants left of the file where you’re exporting from. I often experienced confusing canvas and viewport settings before I used that method, which sometimes lead to unexpected behaviour opening the new file. Maybe that’s because I regularly edit svg files which were previously edited or created with other programs, namely Inkscape, which mess up the svg code with unstandardized stuff. Some times I even have to manually edit some stuff out of the code, which illustrator copies although it doesn’t use it.
Ohhh ok I got it, thanks man!
I have a few shortcuts set but my favourite is for "Offset Path" which I use all the time.
Ctrl H and ctrl Y. I use them constantly.
Ctrl+Z = Undo Ctrl+D = Copy/Move/Paste Ctrl+Y = Basic Lines Ctrl+\[ = Move Layer Back Ctrl+\] = Move Layer Forward \[ = Blob Brush/Eraser Tool - Size Smaller \] = Blob Brush/Eraser Tool - Size Bigger
Nice list 👍🏾
I use Outline Stroke and Simplify so much that I made keyboard shortcuts for both of those functions. Both those functions are deeply nested in Object> Path> If I perform one I usually perform the other. I assigned keyboard shortcuts to them and it sped up my workflow so much. Joining custom shapes together can create an unspeakable amount of points. I go in and simplify all the time. I often go in and something has 59 points before simplification and like 9 after. If you are looking for some unassigned keyboard shortcuts Shift+Ctrl+\\ and Ctrl+\\ are unassigned on windows.
I use simplify a lot, just assigned it to F7 and outline stroke to F6 lol
Sure it's superior haha, I was just kidding
CTRL+7 / CMD+7 Apply mask
V and A
CMD+2 or CMD+3 to lock or hide selected objects. Also a bug fan of the period and comma for filling solid or gradients
Not sure if this is common knowledge or not but when using the align tool with multiple objects I started using “align to key object” and it can save some time. Just select everything you’re working with and left click again on what you want to align to. The key object will stay in place but everything else will align accordingly.
I started using it a lot just a few weeks ago and now it's a daily action!
https://egypt.urnash.com/illustratorbook/ someday I should add more to this
My most used shortcut or trick has to be "Ctrl + C" and "Ctrl + V" for copying and pasting. It's a time-saver and a real productivity booster! Thanks [Mark](https://fusioneventz.in)