Keyboard Shortcuts

ArcBrush provides keyboard shortcuts for nearly every action. On macOS, substitute Cmd for Ctrl throughout.

Every one of them is a named command you can rebind. This page lists the shipped defaults; open Settings > Keyboard (or Help > Keyboard Shortcuts…) for the live list, which reflects your own changes. See Customizing shortcuts below.

File

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+N`	New file
`Ctrl+O`	Open file
`Ctrl+S`	Save file
`Ctrl+Shift+S`	Save As
`Ctrl+Shift+E`	Export selected nodes
`Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E`	Export All (every export node in the graph)
`Alt+F4` / `Cmd+Q`	Quit

Edit

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Z`	Undo
`Ctrl+Y` or `Ctrl+Shift+Z`	Redo
`Ctrl+A`	Select all nodes
`Ctrl+D`	Deselect
`Delete` or `Backspace`	Delete selected
`Ctrl+C`	Copy
`Ctrl+X`	Cut (copy and delete)
`Ctrl+V`	Paste (also pastes clipboard images as Image In nodes)
`Ctrl+G`	Create group from selection
`Ctrl+R`	Swap two selected nodes (trades positions and rewires connections)
`D`	Bypass selected nodes (toggle)
`Alt+H`	Align selected nodes horizontally (same X position), under Edit > Arrange Nodes
`Alt+V`	Align selected nodes vertically (same Y position), under Edit > Arrange Nodes
`Ctrl+Shift+H` / `Ctrl+Shift+V`	Distribute selected nodes with equal spacing, horizontally or vertically (Edit > Arrange Nodes)
`Ctrl+Shift+Arrow`	Pack the selection into a tidy line toward that direction (Edit > Arrange Nodes)
`F5` or `Ctrl+Enter`	Re-run graph (numpad Enter also works)
`Ctrl+,`	Open settings

View

Shortcut	Action
`M`	Toggle minimap
`F`	Zoom to Selected (frame current selection with margin)
`Ctrl+0`	Zoom to Fit (frame entire graph or image)
`Ctrl+1`	Reset zoom to 100%
`Ctrl++` / `Ctrl+=` / `Ctrl+-`	Zoom in / Zoom out (numpad `+` and `-` also work). Active on the Node Graph and Preview panels.

Window

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Shift+L`	Toggle the Library panel
`Ctrl+Shift+P`	Toggle the Preview panel
`Ctrl+Shift+I`	Toggle the Parameters panel
` or `Ctrl+Shift+M`	Maximize the panel under the pointer to fill the window; press again to restore. See Panels & Layout.

Canvas

These shortcuts are active when the cursor is over the graph editor.

Shortcut	Action
`Tab`	Open Add Node menu
`Ctrl+F`	Open node search dialog
`G`	Toggle grid lines
`W`	Cycle wire style (Curved → Rounded → Right Angle → Straight)
`L`	Lock/unlock preview to the node under the cursor
`F`	Zoom to selected nodes
Hold `Q`	Bring every wire on top of the nodes in a high-contrast yellow overlay (release to return wires to normal).
Double-click node	Quick-Lock the preview to that node (View menu, on by default)
Double-click empty canvas	Unlock the preview
`Alt` + drag	Duplicate selected nodes, groups, or sticky notes
Drop node on wire	Splice the node into the connection (drag from the Library or an existing node)
Double-click wire	Insert a Reroute dot that passes the signal through unchanged
Shake a dragged node	Disconnect every wire attached to the node, bridging upstream and downstream where compatible.
`Y` + drag	Cut wires
`Ctrl` + drag slider	Precision mode: 1/10 speed for fine-tuning
Hold right-click + drag	Scrub-zoom smoothly. A quick right-click still opens the context menu.
Middle-mouse drag	Pan the canvas
`Escape`	Cancel current operation

Panning past the edge of the canvas wraps the pointer and returns it to where you grabbed, rather than leaving it stranded at the screen edge.

Hold middle-mouse and drag to scroll in any scrollable panel (Swatches, Node Library, Brush Library, Brush Studio, Parameters, pop-up lists). The node graph and image preview keep using middle-mouse for panning, and both use right-click drag for scrub-zoom.

Preview Panel

These shortcuts are active when the cursor is over the preview panel.

Shortcut	Action
`L`	Lock/unlock preview to current node
`O`	Toggle overlay mode (Always / Never / Auto)
`I`	Hide/show the info overlays (resolution badge, hover color readout)
`H`	Toggle the scopes strip (Histogram / Waveform Luma / RGB Parade)
`T`	Toggle tile preview (Off / 3x3 grid)
`Z`	Toggle overbright zebras (32-bit float mode only)
`Escape`	Back to All Frames, while viewing a single frame of a batch
`R`	Toggle red channel view
`G`	Toggle green channel view
`B`	Toggle blue channel view
`A`	Toggle alpha channel view
`D`	Bypass the previewed node (show upstream input)
`F`	Zoom preview to fit
`Ctrl+0`	Zoom to fit
`Ctrl+1`	Zoom to 1:1 (100%)

Viewer Slots

Pin nodes to numbered slots to compare up to nine outputs side by side in the Preview grid.

Shortcut	Action
`1`-`9`	Pin the node under the cursor to that Viewer Slot
`Shift`+`1`-`9`	Solo that Viewer Slot
`Shift`+`0`	Make a Viewer Slot follow the current selection

Preview Manipulators

These modifiers apply while dragging a manipulator handle in the Preview panel (Transform, Crop, Shape, Gradient, Corner Pin, Mesh Warp, Text, Scatter, and others).

Modifier	Action
Hold `Shift`	Constrain the drag: lock a move to one axis, keep proportions while scaling, or snap rotation to 15° steps
Hold `Ctrl`	Snap the handle onto the image frame’s edges, corners, center, and (optionally) thirds

Manipulator snapping is configured under View > Manipulator Snapping (Enabled is on by default; Snap to Thirds is off by default).

Paint Node

These shortcuts are active when a Paint node is selected.

Shortcut	Action
`B`	Brush tool
`E`	Eraser tool
`I`	Eyedropper tool
`C`	Clone Stamp tool
`[` / `]`	Decrease / increase brush size (auto-repeats when held)
`Shift`+`[` / `Shift`+`]`	Decrease / increase brush hardness
Hold `Shift` while painting	Constrain to a straight horizontal or vertical stroke (also on Mask Paint)
`Alt`+click	Set the Clone Stamp source

Bracket-key size and hardness changes are undoable as one step per held gesture, and they adjust the one app-wide current brush rather than a per-node setting. See Brushes.

Hardness belongs to a procedural tip, so a hardness shortcut pressed while an image-tip brush is active says why it does not apply rather than doing nothing. The toolbar’s Size and Hardness sliders name these shortcuts in their tooltips, reading whatever keys you have the commands bound to.

Trackpad (macOS)

Gesture	Action
Pinch to zoom	Zoom the node graph or image preview
Two-finger scroll	Pan the node graph or image preview

Curves Editor

These shortcuts are active when editing a Curves node in the Parameters panel.

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+click`	Add a control point
`Alt+click`	Remove a control point

Dialogs

Pop-up dialogs are keyboard-navigable. When a dialog opens, its safe action is preselected as the default button and outlined.

Shortcut	Action
`Enter` or `Space`	Activate the default (safe) button
`Left` / `Right` / `Tab`	Move the selection between buttons
`Escape`	Dismiss the dialog (cancel)

The default never lands on a destructive action: Unsaved Changes defaults to Save, and an export name collision defaults to Add Suffix. Sign-in code and feedback fields take focus automatically when their dialog opens, and a valid sign-in code submits on Enter.

Tips

Context-sensitive shortcuts: keys like G, L, D, and F do different things depending on whether the cursor is over the canvas or the preview panel. L toggles the preview lock from either location.
Clipboard image paste: copying an image in any application and pressing Ctrl+V on the canvas automatically creates an Image In node with the clipboard contents.
Wire cutting: hold Y and drag a line across any wires to disconnect them in one sweep.

Customizing shortcuts

Open Settings > Keyboard, or Help > Keyboard Shortcuts…. Changes save as soon as you make them, apply immediately everywhere the shortcut is shown, and survive updates.

Where a shortcut applies

A shortcut does not mean the same thing everywhere. Each command declares where it works, shown in the list’s When column:

Application commands work anywhere: Save, Undo, Re-Run Graph, panel toggles.
Node Graph, Preview, Swatches panel, Brush Studio panel, and Viewer grid commands work when that surface is the one you are pointing at or last used.
Tool commands (Paint, Mask Paint, Roto, Relight, Cryptomatte, Magic Wand) work while that tool is active in the preview.

That is why F can fit the image in the Preview and frame the graph in the Node Graph without either giving way. Two rules settle a contested key: the most specific place wins, and your own binding always beats a built-in default, in this version and every future one.

Recording a shortcut

Click a command’s shortcut chip and press the keys. That is the whole interaction: the recorder closes and the new shortcut works immediately. Escape always cancels recording, which is also why Escape itself cannot be recorded. Cancel and Clear are buttons rather than keys, so Tab, Enter, Delete, and Backspace are all recordable.

ArcBrush stops to ask only when the keys are genuinely claimed, and then it tells you which case you are in and what each command would still do before you choose. When two commands could never collide (because their surfaces are mutually exclusive), the shortcut saves straight away with a note.

Each row’s ... menu also offers Reset to Default, Remove Shortcut (the command stays available from its menu or panel), Add Alternate (a second or third key without giving up the first), Show Same Shortcut, and Test Shortcut.

Finding things

Search matches command names, descriptions, categories, where a command works, and the keys themselves, so typing ctrl+s finds Save. Record to Find lets you press a key and see every command that uses it. Test shows the raw key you pressed, the command that ran, and whether something else consumed it first. Filters narrow the list to Modified, Unassigned, Conflicts, Contextual reuse, New since update, or Unavailable commands.

Shortcuts for adding nodes

Any node type can get its own key. Set one up in the Add Node section of Settings > Keyboard, or right-click a row in the Node Library and choose Assign Shortcut…. Assigned nodes show their key as a badge on the Node Library row and in the Add Node popup.

Node shortcuts ship with no defaults, so nothing you already use changes. They work in the Node Graph only, and accept anything the rest of the system accepts, including a bare letter or digit. The node is created at the pointer when the pointer is over the canvas, otherwise at the center of the visible area; holding the key down makes one node, not a stream. They are suppressed while you type in a field, while a dialog is open, and during a drag, pan, wire drag, or eyedropper pick. They are remembered by node type rather than by name, so renaming a node type in a future version keeps your key.

What you cannot rebind

A short list stays fixed so the app is never unusable: Escape always cancels the innermost thing; text-editing keys work normally while you are typing in a field even when the same key is a command elsewhere; undo while typing undoes your typing first and only reaches the app’s undo once the field has nothing left; and Quit keeps the platform standard, though you can add an alternate.

Keys that never arrive

Some keys are taken by your operating system, desktop, or another application before ArcBrush can see them, in which case ArcBrush receives nothing at all and no application can override it. Common examples are Alt+F4 and Alt+Tab, Cmd+Q, Cmd+Tab, and Cmd+Space, chords using the Windows or Super key, and media keys.

Use Test to tell the two cases apart. If Test reports the key, ArcBrush received it and the keymap decides what happens; if Test reports nothing, something outside ArcBrush took it.

Keypad keys and the primary modifier

The keypad digits are separate keys from the top row: Num 1 and 1 are two different shortcuts and can be bound to different commands. Several built-in shortcuts deliberately bind both spellings.

Shortcuts are stored with a portable “primary” modifier meaning Ctrl on Windows and Linux and Cmd on macOS, which is why a keymap exported from a PC still reads correctly on a Mac. Labels always show the real key for the machine you are on.

Taking your shortcuts to another machine

Export writes only your own changes to an .arcbkeys file, not the whole default set, so it stays small and keeps working across updates. Import shows exactly what would change before anything is applied, and offers Merge (apply the file’s changes on top of yours) or Replace (discard your current customizations and use only the file’s). Reset All Shortcuts removes every change you have made without touching anything else in Settings.

When an update adds new default shortcuts, your own bindings are never overwritten. A new default that would have collided with yours is quietly suppressed, and a notice on the Keyboard tab tells you what was skipped; Review New Shortcuts filters the list to exactly those rows. If a command you had bound no longer exists, its shortcut is preserved and still reserves the key, listed under Unavailable.

Your shortcuts live in keybindings.json alongside your other settings, with a backup of the last version saved successfully. If the file cannot be read, ArcBrush runs on the built-in shortcuts, leaves your file untouched, and offers to restore the backup, reset to defaults, or open the folder. Nothing is written until you pick one.