Keyboard Shortcuts Reference¶

Memorising shortcuts is optional. Using them is addictive. Once your left hand learns to tap V for the Editor or B for the Brush without looking, the lag between thinking and doing shrinks to nearly zero. This page collects every keyboard shortcut in Vexy Lines, organised by what you are doing at the time.

Where macOS and Windows differ, both are shown as macOS / Windows.

Tools¶

Each tool has a single-letter shortcut. Press the key and the tool activates. No modifier required.

Key	Tool	What It Does
V	Editor	Select, move, and transform fill regions
P	Pencil	Draw precise vector paths for masks and shapes
K	Knife	Split fills and cut paths
B	Brush	Paint masks freehand (white = reveal, black = hide)
I	Rectangle Mask	Draw rectangular mask areas
O	Ellipse Mask	Draw elliptical mask areas
S	Freeform Mask	Draw irregular mask boundaries point by point

Tip: The tool shortcuts spell out V-P-K-B-I-O-S along the top-left of a QWERTY keyboard. No mnemonics needed: just remember the positions.

Moving around the canvas: zooming, panning, and framing.

Action	Shortcut	Notes
Zoom in	Z	Tap to zoom in one step at the cursor position
Zoom out	X	Tap to zoom out one step at the cursor position
Zoom at cursor (continuous)	Alt + scroll wheel	Smooth zoom centred on the cursor. The fastest way to navigate.
Pan	Spacebar + drag	Hold Spacebar, then click and drag. Works with any tool active.
Frame selection	Cmd+2 / Ctrl+2	Zoom to fit the selected element(s) in the viewport
Show all	Cmd+3 / Ctrl+3	Zoom to fit the entire document in the viewport
Zoom to 100%	Cmd+1 / Ctrl+1	One document pixel = one screen pixel
Zoom to fit	Cmd+0 / Ctrl+0	Fit the entire canvas in the window

Trackpad users: Two-finger pinch zooms in and out. Two-finger drag pans. These work alongside the keyboard shortcuts.

Editing¶

Selection, clipboard, grouping, and deletion.

Action	Shortcut	Notes
Undo	Cmd+Z / Ctrl+Z	Reverses the last operation. Repeatable.
Redo	Cmd+Shift+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z	Re-applies the last undone operation. Also Cmd+Y / Ctrl+Y on Windows.
Copy	Cmd+C / Ctrl+C	Copy selected element(s) to clipboard
Paste	Cmd+V / Ctrl+V	Paste from clipboard
Duplicate	Cmd+D / Ctrl+D	Create a copy of the selected element in place
Group selected	Cmd+G / Ctrl+G	Wrap selected layers into a new group
Ungroup	Cmd+Shift+G / Ctrl+Shift+G	Dissolve the selected group, releasing its contents
Delete	Delete / Backspace	Remove the selected element (fill, layer, or group)
Select all	Cmd+A / Ctrl+A	Select all elements in the current context

View¶

Controlling what you see on the canvas.

Action	Shortcut	Notes
Toggle preview	Cmd+Space / Ctrl+Space	Show rendered artwork without the source image overlay
Toggle source image	Cmd+Shift+I / Ctrl+Shift+I	Show or hide the source image beneath the fills
Toggle wireframe	Cmd+Shift+W / Ctrl+Shift+W	Show stroke paths as outlines without fill thickness
Refresh current fill	Cmd+R / Ctrl+R	Re-render the selected fill only
Refresh all fills	Cmd+Shift+R / Ctrl+Shift+R	Re-render every fill in the document
Toggle Auto Refresh	Cmd+Shift+A / Ctrl+Shift+A	Enable or disable automatic re-rendering after parameter changes

Brush and Mask Modifiers¶

These modifiers apply when a painting or mask tool is active (B, I, O, or S).

Action	Shortcut	Notes
Switch to reveal (white)	Hold Shift	While held, brush paints white (reveal). Release to return to current mode.
Switch to hide (black)	Hold Alt / Option	While held, brush paints black (hide). Release to return to current mode.
Resize brush	Ctrl + drag left/right	Hold Ctrl and drag horizontally to shrink or grow the brush diameter. macOS only. On Windows, use [ and ] keys.
Decrease brush size	[	Step the brush diameter down
Increase brush size	]	Step the brush diameter up
Constrain to straight line	Hold Shift while dragging	Brush strokes or mask shapes snap to horizontal, vertical, or 45-degree lines
Constrain rectangle to square	Hold Shift while dragging	Rectangle Mask tool creates a perfect square
Constrain ellipse to circle	Hold Shift while dragging	Ellipse Mask tool creates a perfect circle
Draw from centre	Hold Alt / Option while dragging	Rectangle and Ellipse mask tools draw from the centre outward instead of from corner to corner

Editor Tool Modifiers¶

These apply when the Editor tool (V) is active.

Action	Shortcut	Notes
Constrain movement	Hold Shift while dragging	Restrict movement to horizontal or vertical
Proportional resize	Hold Shift while resizing	Maintain aspect ratio during resize
Resize from centre	Hold Alt / Option while resizing	Resize anchored at the centre instead of the opposite corner
Duplicate by dragging	Hold Alt / Option and drag	Create a copy and move it in one gesture
Fine-tune position	Arrow keys	Move selected element 1 pixel per tap
Large position step	Shift + Arrow keys	Move selected element 10 pixels per tap

Layer Panel¶

Quick actions in the Layers Panel (bottom-right).

Action	Shortcut	Notes
New layer	Cmd+Shift+N / Ctrl+Shift+N	Create a new empty layer
Move layer up	Cmd+] / Ctrl+]	Move the selected layer higher in the stack
Move layer down	Cmd+[ / Ctrl+[	Move the selected layer lower in the stack
Toggle layer visibility	Click the eye icon	No keyboard shortcut; mouse only

File¶

Standard file operations.

Action	Shortcut	Notes
New document	Cmd+N / Ctrl+N	Create a new document
Open	Cmd+O / Ctrl+O	Open an existing file
Save	Cmd+S / Ctrl+S	Save the current document
Save As	Cmd+Shift+S / Ctrl+Shift+S	Save under a new name or location
Export	Cmd+E / Ctrl+E	Open the Export dialog
Close document	Cmd+W / Ctrl+W	Close the current document
Quit	Cmd+Q / Alt+F4	Close the application

Quick Reference Card¶

The shortcuts you will use 90% of the time, on one table:

Action	Shortcut
Editor tool	V
Brush tool	B
Zoom in/out	Z / X
Pan	Spacebar + drag
Undo	Cmd+Z / Ctrl+Z
Refresh fill	Cmd+R / Ctrl+R
Toggle preview	Cmd+Space / Ctrl+Space
Save	Cmd+S / Ctrl+S
Export	Cmd+E / Ctrl+E

Print this table and tape it to your monitor for the first week. After that, your fingers will know.

Customisation¶

Vexy Lines does not currently support custom keyboard shortcuts. The shortcuts listed here are fixed. If you are accustomed to different bindings from other applications, the adjustment period is short: most tools are single-key shortcuts, and the modifier combinations follow standard macOS and Windows conventions.