Keyboard Shortcuts

This page lists ArcBrush’s default shortcuts. On macOS, read Cmd for Ctrl throughout. Every shortcut is a named command you can rebind in Settings > Keyboard (or Help > Keyboard Shortcuts…), which shows the live list with your changes. See Customizing shortcuts.

Several single keys (F, G, D, I, Q) mean different things over the Node Graph and over the Preview: the key acts on the panel under the pointer, and the tables below are grouped the same way. L locks the preview from either panel.

File

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New file
Ctrl+O	Open file
Ctrl+S	Save
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

Save As Template, Collect Files, Package as .zip, Export Node Graph Image, Reveal Document, and Open Preferences Folder have no default shortcut; bind one in Settings > Keyboard.

Edit

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Y or Ctrl+Shift+Z	Redo
Ctrl+A	Select all nodes
Ctrl+Shift+A	Deselect
Delete or Backspace	Delete selected
Ctrl+C / Ctrl+X	Copy / Cut (also Edit > Cut, above Copy)
Ctrl+V	Paste. An image copied from any other app pastes as an Image In node.
Ctrl+D	Duplicate the selected nodes, groups, and sticky notes one step down and to the right, keeping their wires
Ctrl+Shift+D	Duplicate Without Wires: the same copy, leaving off the wires coming in from outside the selection
Ctrl+G	Create group from selection
Ctrl+Shift+X	Swap two selected nodes (trades positions and rewires connections)
D	Bypass selected nodes (toggle)
Alt+H / Alt+V	Align selected nodes horizontally (same X) / vertically (same Y)
Ctrl+Shift+H / Ctrl+Shift+V	Distribute selected nodes with equal spacing, horizontally / vertically
Ctrl+Shift+Arrow	Pack the selection into a tidy line toward that direction
F5 or Ctrl+Enter	Re-run graph (numpad Enter also works)
Ctrl+,	Open Settings

The align, distribute, and pack commands are also under Edit > Arrange Nodes.

View and Window

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+0	Zoom to Fit (the whole graph, or the whole image in the Preview)
Ctrl+1	Zoom to 100%
Ctrl++ / Ctrl+= / Ctrl+-	Zoom in / out (numpad + and - also work), in the Node Graph and Preview
M	Toggle minimap
Alt+Space (Windows)	Open the window menu (Restore, Move, Size, Minimize, Maximize, Close). See The Title Bar and Menus
Ctrl+R	Show Rulers in the Preview (View > Guides)
Ctrl+;	Show Guides in the Preview
Ctrl+Shift+L	Toggle the Library panel
Ctrl+Shift+P	Toggle the Preview panel
Ctrl+Shift+I	Toggle the Parameters panel
` (shown as Backtick in menus) or Ctrl+Shift+M	Maximize the panel under the pointer; press again to restore. Window > Maximize Panel lists the visible panels by name instead. See Panels & Layout.

Node Graph

Active while the pointer is over the graph editor.

Shortcut	Action
Tab	Open the Add Node menu. Over a wire, it lists only the nodes that fit that wire and inserts the one you pick (right-clicking the wire does the same)
J	Connect Selected: wire the selected nodes left to right, each main output into the next node’s first free input
Left / Right	Select the node feeding the selected one / the node it feeds (the nearest node that way when nothing is wired); the opposite arrow retraces your steps
Up / Down	Select the node directly above / below
Shift+Arrow	Add the next node to the selection; stepping back along the wires deselects the node you leave
Page Up / Page Down	Cycle through the separate node trees, landing on each tree’s output
Ctrl+F	Find a node
F	Zoom to selected nodes
G	Toggle grid lines
W	Cycle wire style (Curved, Rounded, Right Angle, Straight)
L	Lock/unlock the preview to the node under the cursor
Hold I	Node Info: show the type, output sizes and channels, last cook, and memory of the node under the pointer. See Node Info
Hold Q	Draw every wire on top of the nodes in a high-contrast yellow overlay
Y + drag	Cut every wire the drag crosses
Hold T + drag	Tie the wires the drag crosses together, or untie them where it crosses a tie. Across one wire it adds a reroute dot; across a reroute dot it removes it
Hold Space + drag, or middle-mouse drag	Pan
Hold right-click + drag	Scrub-zoom. A quick right-click still opens the context menu.
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
Hold C as you start a node drag	Carry Downstream: every node downstream of it, level with it or further right, moves along
Drop a node on a wire	Splice it into the connection (from the Library, the graph, or an Alt+drag duplicate)
Drop a dragged wire on a node’s body	Connect it to the pin that fits best, preferring a free one
Double-click wire	Insert a Reroute dot
Shake a dragged node	Disconnect all its wires, bridging upstream to downstream where compatible
Ctrl + drag a slider	Precision mode: 1/10 speed, steps ten times finer
Ctrl while dragging a group or sticky note	Move freely, without snapping to nearby nodes, groups, and notes
Escape	Cancel the current operation, or clear the selection when nothing is in progress. During a new-wire drag (a Shift-drag that moves wires included), letting go then connects nothing.

The arrow keys and Page Up / Page Down work while the Node Graph has keyboard focus, and pass through Reroute points. See Moving between nodes with the arrow keys.

Insert After, Select Upstream, Select Downstream, Copy All Parameters, and Paste All Parameters ship with no key; assign them in Settings > Keyboard. See Connecting and rewiring and Working with nodes.

Panning past the edge of the canvas wraps the pointer rather than stranding it at the screen edge.

In any other scrollable panel (Swatches, Node Library, Brush Library, Brush Studio, Parameters, pop-up lists), middle-mouse drag scrolls the panel.

Preview Panel

Active while the pointer is over the Preview.

Shortcut	Action
F	Fit the image to the Preview
L	Lock/unlock the preview to the current node
D	Bypass the previewed node (show its upstream input)
R / G / B / A	Isolate the red / green / blue / alpha channel (press again for RGBA)
H	Toggle the scopes strip (Histogram / Waveform Luma / RGB Parade)
T	Toggle tile preview (Off / 3x3 grid)
O	Cycle Manipulators (Always / Never / Auto): tool handles and their input
I	Hide/show Info: the Preview’s status row (pointer position and color, picture size), Preview Locked border and badge, status badge, Tile Preview seam markers
Hold Q	Clean View: hide tool handles, guides, zebras, and 3D helpers while held; the rulers and the status row stay (a live Pixel Art tool keeps Q for the lasso)
Hold Space + drag, or middle-mouse drag	Pan
Hold right-click + drag	Scrub-zoom
Z	Toggle overbright zebras (32-bit documents)
0 / 1	Reset view exposure to 0 / view gamma to 1 (32-bit documents)
K	Play or pause batch playback, while the playback bar is showing
Left / Right	Previous / next batch frame, while paused in the single-frame view (a tool handle nudge, a selected guide, or selected Puppet Warp pins take the arrows first)
Escape	Back to All Frames from a single batch frame

Guides

With a guide selected in the Preview:

Shortcut	Action
Arrow / Shift+Arrow	Nudge the guide 1 pixel (or 0.1 percent) / ten times as far
Enter	Open the Edit Guide dialog
Delete or Backspace	Delete the guide (ahead of Trim Sheet’s Remove Trim)

Clear the selection before nudging a tool handle

A selected guide keeps the arrow keys, so clear the selection before nudging a tool handle. See Rulers and Guides.

Viewer Slots

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

Shortcut	Action
1-9	Over the Node Graph: pin the node under the cursor (or the selection) to that slot
Shift+1-9	Solo that slot
Shift+0	Solo the selection cell’s node, else the selected node
Arrow / Shift+Arrow	Over the grid: nudge the selected node’s cell (the arrows never solo a slot)
Escape	Leave Solo or Compare and return to the grid
Shift+C	Clear every slot (asks first)

Preview Manipulators

Modifiers while dragging a manipulator handle (Transform, Crop, Shape, Gradient, Corner Pin, Mesh Warp, Text, Scatter, and others):

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

| Arrow / Shift+Arrow | With no guide selected, nudge the active tool’s object or selected handle 1 / 10 image pixels, at any zoom | | Tab | Give the Preview canvas keyboard focus | | Escape | Clear the remembered handle (Gradient, Mesh Warp, Magic Wand, Roto, Path Warp, Scatter’s Path mode) |

Snapping options and which tools nudge are on Preview Panel.

Paint Node

Active while a Paint or Mask Paint node is selected.

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

Size and hardness keys change the one app-wide current brush, and each held gesture is one undo step. Hardness belongs to procedural tips, so with an image-tip brush the hardness keys say why they do not apply. The toolbar’s Size and Hardness tooltips show whatever keys you have bound.

Roto Node

Active while a Roto node is selected. On macOS, Ctrl here is the Command key and Alt is Option.

Shortcut	Action
V / B / R / E	Select / Pen / Rectangle / Ellipse
Escape, Enter or V	Return to Select. Drawing tools stay active after each shape; with a shape in progress, Escape or Enter finishes it first.
Ctrl+A / Ctrl+Shift+D / Ctrl+Shift+I	Select all shapes / Reselect / Invert selection
Shift while drawing	Keep a Rectangle square or an Ellipse circular (Alt draws from the center)
Alt+click a point	Make it a cusp (sharp corner)
Alt+drag a point	Pull out a fresh pair of smooth handles
Alt+drag a handle	Break the pair, so only the dragged handle moves
Alt+drag a shape’s edge	Duplicate the shape (every selected shape, when it is one of them) and move the copy
Shift+drag a handle	Mirror the opposite handle at the same length
Ctrl+click an edge	Add a point without changing the curve
Ctrl+drag an edge	Bend that stretch of the edge through the pointer
Ctrl+click a point	Delete it
Arrow keys	Move the selection one image pixel, ten with Shift
Delete or Backspace	Delete the selected points, or the selected shapes

Path Warp and Scatter Path Mode

Active while a Path Warp node, or a Scatter in Path mode, is selected and following a drawn path. The drawing tools are buttons in the Preview’s path tool row and have no keys of their own. On macOS, Ctrl is the Command key and Alt is Option.

Shortcut	Action
Escape	End the Pen path in progress, or leave a drawing tool for Select
Hold Shift while dragging a point	Lock the drag to one axis
Alt+click a point	Make it a sharp corner
Alt+drag a point	Pull out a fresh pair of smooth handles
Alt+drag a handle	Break the pair, so only the dragged handle moves
Alt+drag a path’s line	Duplicate the path (every selected path, when it is one of them) and move the copy
Ctrl+click the path	Add a point without changing the curve
Ctrl+click a point	Delete it (a path keeps at least two points)
Ctrl+click empty canvas	Add a point to the nearer end of an open path
Ctrl+click the closing segment	Open a closed path there
Double-click a knob	Reset Path Warp’s Position to 0.5, or Scatter’s Start to 0 or End to 1

Pixel Art Node

Active while a Pixel Art node is selected.

Shortcut	Action
B / E / L	Pencil / Eraser / Line
U / Shift+U	Rectangle / Ellipse
G / Shift+G	Fill / Replace Color
I	Eyedropper (hold Alt with any drawing tool for a quick pick)
M / Q / W	Marquee / Lasso Select / Magic Wand (Shift adds, Alt+Shift subtracts, Ctrl+Shift intersects)
Alt+drag (Rectangle, Ellipse)	Draw the shape from its center; Shift+Alt for a square or circle
Double-click a symmetry handle	Recenter that symmetry axis
V	Move Layer
X	Swap foreground and background colors
[ / ]	Step the armed tool’s brush or outline size by one cell
Ctrl+A / Ctrl+D	Select all / Deselect
Ctrl+Shift+D / Ctrl+Shift+I	Restore last selection / Invert selection
Ctrl+X / Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V	Cut / Copy / Paste pixels
Delete or Backspace	Delete the selected pixels
Enter	Finalize the selection
Arrow / Shift+Arrow	Nudge the selected pixels (faster with Shift)
Alt+Arrow	Nudge the selection boundary only
Shift+H / Shift+V	Flip horizontal / vertical
Shift+R / Ctrl+Shift+R	Rotate 90° clockwise / counter-clockwise
Ctrl+click a layer row	Select that layer’s contents without changing the active layer
Right-click drag	Paint with the background color (hold Ctrl+Shift to scrub-zoom instead)

Layer, palette, canvas-size, and import actions are named commands too, unassigned by default.

Other node tools

Node	Shortcut	Action
Puppet Warp	Ctrl+A	Select every pin
	Delete or Backspace	Delete the selected pins
	Arrow / Shift+Arrow	Nudge the selected pins 1 / 10 pixels
Relight, 3D Render	Delete or Backspace	Delete the selected light
Trim Sheet	Delete or Backspace	Remove the trim selected in the Preview; a neighbor takes its space (Remove Trim)
3D Render	F, Num 0, or Ctrl+0	Frame Model: Target back to the model’s center, Distance back to 1
	Num 1 / Ctrl+Num 1	Front / Back view
	Num 3 / Ctrl+Num 3	Right / Left view
	Num 7 / Ctrl+Num 7	Top / Bottom view
	Num 9	Flip to the opposite view
	Num 5	Toggle Perspective and Orthographic
	Num 4 / Num 6	Turn the view 90 degrees left / right
	Shift while orbiting	Snap Orbit Yaw and Pitch to 15 degree steps
	Double-click the model	Focus: make the clicked point the orbit Target
	Middle-drag, Space+drag, or a macOS trackpad drag	Pan the camera
	Ctrl+Shift+right-drag	Zoom the rendered image itself, for a pixel-level look
Levels	Alt+click (Master pick)	Neutralize: set Red, Green, and Blue so the pixel lands on black or white
	Esc or right-click	Cancel an armed black or white point pick
Any pick button	Click the small arrow beside it	Switch between a single pixel and a 3 x 3 or 5 x 5 Average (remembered app-wide)
Font Family, Weight, and other previewing lists	Up / Down, Enter, Escape	Preview the next entry, keep it, or restore the original
Curves (Parameters panel)	Ctrl+click / Alt+click	Add / remove a control point
Parameters panel section header	Click / Alt+click (Option on macOS)	Fold the section / show only that section
Node Library	Enter	Add the focused row’s node

Trackpad (macOS)

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

Dialogs

When a dialog opens, its safe action is preselected and outlined. The default is never destructive: Unsaved Changes defaults to Save, and an export name collision to Add Suffix.

Shortcut	Action
Enter or Space	Activate the default button
Left / Right / Tab	Move between buttons
Escape	Cancel

The sign-in code field takes focus when its dialog opens, and a valid sign-in code submits on Enter.

Customizing shortcuts

Click to zoom

Open Settings > Keyboard, or Help > Keyboard Shortcuts…. Changes save immediately, show everywhere the shortcut is displayed, and survive updates.

Most menu commands and the Node Graph’s right-click commands can take a shortcut, though many ship with none. Among them: Snap to Thirds, each Working Space (Linear, sRGB, ACEScg, ACEScct, Linear P3-D65), Display / View: Smart Default, the status bar’s Memory Usage and Network Status toggles, Replace With…, Copy to Clipboard as PNG, Save to PNG…, Reset to Defaults, the group commands (Rename Group, Select Group Nodes, Bypass or Enable Group), Edit Sticky Note Text, the wire tie commands (Re-sort Wires, Select Tied Nodes), and the Help menu’s commands, Copy Diagnostics and Email Support… included.

Where a shortcut applies

The When column shows where each command works:

• 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, Pixel Art, Trim Sheet) work while that tool is active in the Preview, including in a Viewer slot that is its editor, wherever the pointer is over the Preview, its toolbar and tool rows included. A text field you are typing in, or an open menu, keeps the key.
• Preview Guides commands work only while a guide is selected; Preview Manipulator Nudge commands work while you hover the image or after Tab focuses the canvas; in the Viewer grid they move the selected node’s cell.

That is how F can fit the image in the Preview and frame the graph in the Node Graph. When two commands share a key, the most specific place wins, and your own binding always beats a built-in default, now and in future versions.

Recording a shortcut

Click to zoom

Click a command’s shortcut chip and press the keys; the new shortcut works immediately. Escape cancels recording (so it cannot be recorded itself), while Tab, Enter, Delete, and Backspace are all recordable.

ArcBrush asks only when the keys are genuinely taken (reserved, including the shortcuts macOS keeps, used by another command in the same place, or partly overlapping), and lets you replace, swap, or pick another key. If the two commands can never apply at the same time, the shortcut saves straight away with a note.

Each row’s ... menu offers:

• Reset to Default
• Remove Shortcut (the command stays in its menu or panel)
• Add Alternate (a second or third key alongside the first)
• Show Same Shortcut
• Test Shortcut

Finding commands

• Search matches names, descriptions, categories, where a command works, and the keys themselves (ctrl+s finds Save).
• Record to Find lists every command using the key you press.
• Test shows the raw key pressed, the command that ran, and whether something else consumed it first.
• Filters: Modified, Unassigned, Conflicts, Contextual reuse, New since update, Unavailable.

Shortcuts for adding nodes

Any node type can have its own key: set it in the Add Node section of Settings > Keyboard, or right-click a Node Library row and choose Assign Shortcut…. The key shows as a badge on the Library row and in the Add Node popup.

Node shortcuts ship with no defaults, work in the Node Graph only, and can be bare letters or digits. The node appears at the pointer (or the center of the view if the pointer is elsewhere); holding the key makes one node. They are ignored while typing, in a dialog, and during a drag, pan, wire drag, or eyedropper pick, and are stored by node type, so a future rename keeps your key.

What you cannot rebind

• Escape always cancels the innermost thing.
• Text-editing keys work normally while you type in a field, even when the same key is a command elsewhere.
• Undo while typing undoes your typing first, and reaches the app’s undo only when the field has nothing left.
• Quit keeps the platform standard, though you can add an alternate.

Shortcuts macOS keeps

On macOS, five shortcuts belong to the system and always do the system’s job:

Shortcut	What it does
Cmd+Q	Quit ArcBrush (asks about unsaved changes first)
Cmd+H	Hide ArcBrush
Option+Cmd+H	Hide Others
Cmd+M	Minimize the window
Control+Cmd+F	Full Screen

Recording refuses them: press one and the card says that macOS keeps it, so pick another key. If you saved one of them on a command in an earlier version, the row shows it as a conflict, because the command never runs from it; give the command another key or remove that shortcut. Cmd+W is not on the list, so it stays free for your own use. Cmd+` and Shift+Cmd+` switch between ArcBrush’s windows, such as a panel you popped out, unless you assign them to a command.

The macOS menus show your current shortcuts, but what a key does is decided by Settings > Keyboard, the same way on every platform, so a key does the same thing whether or not its command is in a menu. See The Title Bar and Menus.

Keys that never arrive

Some keys are taken by your operating system, desktop, or another app before ArcBrush sees them: Alt+F4, Alt+Tab, Cmd+Tab, Cmd+Space, chords with the Windows or Super key, and media keys. Use Test: if it reports the key, ArcBrush received it; if it reports nothing, something outside ArcBrush took it.

AltGr on European layouts

On many European layouts the right Alt key is AltGr, which the system reports as Ctrl+Alt. A Ctrl+Alt shortcut on a letter, digit, or punctuation key can therefore type a character instead of running the command. ArcBrush warns when you record one; prefer another modifier for keys you use while typing.

Keypad keys and the primary modifier

Keypad digits are separate keys: Num 1 and 1 can be bound to different commands. Several built-in shortcuts bind both.

Shortcuts are stored with a portable “primary” modifier (Ctrl on Windows and Linux, Cmd on macOS), so a keymap exported from a PC reads correctly on a Mac. Labels always show the real key for your machine.

Moving shortcuts to another machine

• Export writes only your changes to an .arcbkeys file, so it stays small and keeps working across updates.
• Import previews what would change, then offers Merge (the file’s changes on top of yours) or Replace (only the file’s).
• Reset All Shortcuts removes every change without touching other settings.

Updates never overwrite your bindings. A new default that would collide with yours is suppressed, and a notice on the Keyboard tab says what was skipped; Review New Shortcuts filters to those rows. A binding for a command that no longer exists is kept, still reserving the key, under Unavailable.

Your shortcuts live in keybindings.json beside your other settings, with a backup of the last good version. If the file cannot be read, ArcBrush runs on the defaults, leaves your file untouched, and offers to restore the backup, reset to defaults, or open the folder.