Affinity Photo is a powerful, non-destructive photo editor that blends pro-grade retouching with fast, responsive performance. If you want to move faster and stay in the creative flow, learning the keyboard shortcuts is the fastest win.
Essential tool shortcuts
These shortcuts switch between Affinity Photo's most-used tools.
| Tool | Shortcut |
|---|
| Flood Fill / Gradient (cycle) | G |
| View Tool | H |
| Move Tool | V |
| Crop Tool | C |
| Selection Tools (cycle) | W |
| Pen + Node Tools (cycle) | P |
| Zoom Tool | Z |
| Clone Tool | S |
| Shape Tools (cycle) | U |
| Text Tools (cycle) | T |
| Dodge/Burn/Sponge (cycle) | O |
| Retouch Tools (cycle) | J |
| Painting Tools (cycle) | B |
| Erase Tools (cycle) | E |
| Marquee Selection Tools (cycle) | M |
| Free Hand Selection Tool | L |
Editing essentials
Common editing actions for quick, precise control.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Resize Document | ⌥ + ⌘ + I |
| Resize Canvas | ⌥ + ⌘ + C |
| Reset Selection Box | . |
| Toggle Snapping | ; |
| Erase with Pixel Tool (current layer) | ⌘ |
| Switch between Stroke/Fill color selectors | X |
| Swap Stroke/Fill color selectors | ⇧ + X |
| Set no fill on Stroke/Fill selectors | / |
| Toggle crop overlays | O |
| Flip golden spiral overlay (crop tool) | ⇧ + O |
| Cancel sizing/moving/creating | Escape |
| Move item | Arrow keys |
| Move item (10x distance) | ⇧ + Arrow keys |
File operations
Manage documents quickly.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| New Document | ⌘ + N |
| New from Clipboard | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + N |
| Open Document | ⌘ + O |
| Close Document | ⌘ + W |
| Switch Document/View | ⌘ + Tab |
| Save | ⌘ + S |
| Save As | ⇧ + ⌘ + S |
| Export | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + S |
| Print | ⌘ + P |
View and navigation
Zoom and navigate the canvas with precision.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Zoom In | ⌘ + + |
| Zoom Out | ⌘ + - |
| Zoom to Fit | ⌘ + 0 |
| Zoom to 100% | ⌘ + 1 |
| Zoom to 200% | ⌘ + 2 |
| Zoom to 400% | ⌘ + 3 |
| Zoom to 800% | ⌘ + 4 |
| Zoom to Actual Size | ⌘ + 8 |
| Zoom to Pixel Size | ⌘ + 9 |
| Pan (temporary) | Space |
| Hot key zoom in | ⌘ + Space |
| Switch between views | ⌘ + Tab |
| Show Rulers | ⌘ + R |
| Show Guides | ⌘ + ; |
| Show Grid | ⌘ + ' |
Selections and masks
Speed up pixel selection and mask operations.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Select All | ⌘ + A |
| Deselect | ⌘ + D |
| Invert Pixel Selection | ⇧ + ⌘ + I |
| Add to Selection (marquee or free hand tools only) | ⌘ |
| Remove from Selection | ⌥ |
| Grow or Shrink | ⌘ + B |
| Feather | ⇧ + F6 |
| Refine Edges | ⌥ + ⌘ + R |
| Move Selection (1px) | Arrow keys |
| Move Selection (10px) | ⇧ + Arrow keys |
| Quick Mask | Q |
| Invert Mask | ⌘ + I |
Layer operations
Manage layers and stacking order.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Select All Layers | ⌥ + ⌘ + A |
| Group | ⌘ + G |
| Ungroup | ⇧ + ⌘ + G |
| Duplicate | ⌘ + J |
| Invert | ⌘ + I |
| Move to Front | ⇧ + ⌘ + ] |
| Move Forward One | ⌘ + ] |
| Move to Back | ⇧ + ⌘ + [ |
| Move Back One | ⌘ + [ |
| New Layer | ⇧ + ⌘ + N |
| Merge Down | ⌘ + E |
| Merge Selected | ⇧ + ⌘ + E |
| Merge Visible | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + E |
| Toggle Frequency Separation Layers | F |
| Edit Live Projection | ⌥ + ⌘ + P |
Brush and painting
Fine-tune brush behavior while you paint.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Set opacity (10%–100%) | 0–9 |
| Decrease brush width | [ |
| Increase brush width | ] |
Text formatting
Typography shortcuts for quick edits.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Bigger text | ⌘ + > |
| Smaller text | ⌘ + < |
| Precise bigger text | ⌥ + ⌘ + > |
| Precise smaller text | ⌥ + ⌘ + < |
| Tighten | ⌥ + ← |
| Loosen | ⌥ + → |
| Tighten more | ⌥ + ⇧ + ← |
| Loosen more | ⌥ + ⇧ + → |
| Bold | ⌘ + B |
| Italic | ⌘ + I |
| Underline | ⌘ + U |
| Show Character | ⌘ + T |
| Show Typography | ⇧ + ⌘ + T |
| Superscript | ⌥ + ⌘ + + |
| Subscript | ⌥ + ⌘ + - |
| Align Left | ⌥ + ⌘ + L |
| Align Right | ⌥ + ⌘ + R |
| Align Center | ⌥ + ⌘ + C |
| Justify Left | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + \\ |
| Increase paragraph leading | ⌥ + ↓ |
| Decrease paragraph leading | ⌥ + ↑ |
| Precise increase paragraph leading | ⇧ + ⌘ + ↑ |
| Precise decrease paragraph leading | ⇧ + ⌘ + ↓ |
| Raise baseline | ⌥ + ⇧ + ↑ |
| Lower baseline | ⌥ + ⇧ + ↓ |
| Precise raise baseline | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ↑ |
| Precise lower baseline | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ↓ |
| Special characters | ⌥ + ⌘ + Space |
| Line break | ⌘ + Enter |
| Non-breaking space | ⌥ + Space |
| En dash | ⌥ + - |
| Em dash | ⌥ + ⇧ + - |
| Spelling options | ⇧ + ⌘ + ; |
Adjustments and filters
Apply adjustments and repeat filters quickly.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Levels Adjustment | ⌘ + L |
| HSL Adjustment | ⌘ + U |
| Invert Adjustment | ⌘ + I |
| Curves Adjustment | ⌘ + M |
| Black & White Adjustment | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + B |
| Repeat Filter | ⌘ + F |
Edit and clipboard
Everyday edit actions you'll use constantly.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Undo | ⌘ + Z |
| Redo | ⇧ + ⌘ + Z |
| Copy Merged | ⇧ + ⌘ + C |
| Paste Style | ⇧ + ⌘ + V |
| Paste FX | ⌥ + ⌘ + V |
| Paste without format | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + V |
| Paste Inside | ⌥ + ⌘ + V |
| Fill | ⇧ + F5 |
| Inpaint | ⌥ + Tab |
Workspace and UI
Control panels and workspace visibility.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Show/Hide Studio Panels | ⇧ + ⌘ + H |
| Show/Hide Toolbar | ⌥ + ⌘ + T |
| Toggle UI | Tab |
| Hide Workspace | ⌘ + H |
Personas and persona tools
Affinity Photo uses personas to focus on specific workflows.
| Persona or Tool | Shortcut |
|---|
| Liquify Persona | ⌥ + ⌘ + L |
| Export Persona | ⌥ + ⌘ + E |
| Develop Persona | ⌥ + ⌘ + R |
Develop Persona tools
| Tool | Shortcut |
|---|
| Sampler Tool | S |
| White Balance Tool | W |
| Red Eye Removal Tool | R |
| Blemish Removal Tool | L |
| Overlay Paint Tool | B |
| Overlay Erase Tool | E |
| Overlay Gradient Tool | G |
| Crop Tool | C |
| Zoom Tool | Z |
| View Tool | H |
Tone Mapping Persona tools
| Tool | Shortcut |
|---|
| View Tool | H |
| Zoom Tool | Z |
| Overlay Paint Tool | B |
| Overlay Erase Tool | E |
| Overlay Gradient Tool | G |
Liquify Persona tools
| Tool | Shortcut |
|---|
| Push Forward Tool | P |
| Push Left Tool | L |
| Twirl Tool | T |
| Pinch Tool | U |
| Turbulence Tool | B |
| Mesh Clone Tool | C |
| Reconstruct Tool | R |
| Freeze Tool | F |
| Thaw Tool | W |
| Zoom Tool | Z |
| View Tool | H |
Liquify Persona masks
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Mask All | ⌘ + D |
| Invert Mask | ⌘ + I |
| Clear Mask | ⌘ + A |
Panorama Persona tools
| Tool | Shortcut |
|---|
| Transform Source Image Tool | A |
| Add to Source Image Mask Tool | L |
| Erase from Source Image Mask Tool | U |
Export Persona tools
| Tool | Shortcut |
|---|
| Slice Tool | S |
| Layer Select Tool | L |
Vector editing
Work faster with curve and node editing.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Edit curves while drawing (Pen Tool) | ⌘ |
| Convert to Curves | ⌘ + Enter |
Miscellaneous
Small but useful shortcuts worth knowing.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Preferences | ⌘ + , |
| Hide Others (Applications) | ⌥ + ⌘ + H |
| Media Browser | ⌥ + ⌘ + M |
Customize your shortcuts
Affinity Photo lets you customize every shortcut. Go to Affinity Photo → Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts to create your own shortcut set that matches your workflow.
Show your shortcuts on screen
Teaching Affinity Photo or recording tutorials? KeyScreen displays your keystrokes beautifully so your audience always knows what shortcuts you're using—perfect for professional-looking walkthroughs and live demos.