Keyboard shortcuts

Every key Polyform answers on Windows, macOS and Linux, from its own menus and key map: the tools, the menus and their keys, the canvas, editing points, Dev Mode, comments, the layer list and Present.

Every menu shows its keys beside its commands, and the Inspector lists the tool keys while nothing is selected.

Open the full-size picture

Open the full-size picture

A key does nothing while you are typing in a field or editing text: the field has it.

On a Mac, read ⌘ (Command) for Ctrl, ⌥ (Option) for Alt and ⇧ for Shift: Ctrl+Shift+E is ⇧⌘E. The menus, and Polyform’s own hints and tooltips, show the Mac’s symbols. Two differ: Version History has no key on a Mac, because ⌥⌘H hides your other apps there, and the File menu ends with Close Window (⌘W), since Quit (⌘Q) is in the Polyform menu. Control-click is a right-click on a Mac and only opens the menu, so deep select is ⌘-click.

Tools

Press a letter to pick a tool from the bottom bar.

Keys	What it does
V	Move
K	Scale
H	Hand
F	Frame
R	Rectangle
O	Ellipse
L	Line
P	Pen
Shift+P	Pencil
T	Text
C	Comment

Polygon and Star have no key: pick them in the bottom bar.

File menu

The keys shown beside the commands in the File menu.

Keys	What it does
Ctrl+N	New Project…
Ctrl+O	Open Project…
Ctrl+S	Save
Ctrl+Shift+S	Save As…
Ctrl+Shift+K	Import › Image…
Ctrl+Shift+E	Export › PNG…

Edit menu

The keys shown beside the commands in the Edit menu.

Keys	What it does
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Shift+Z	Redo
Ctrl+C	Copy
Ctrl+V	Paste
Ctrl+Alt+C	Copy Properties
Ctrl+Alt+V	Paste Properties
Ctrl+D	Duplicate
Ctrl+A	Select All

View menu

The keys shown beside the commands in the View menu.

Keys	What it does
Ctrl++	Zoom In (the = key, also marked +)
Ctrl+-	Zoom Out
Shift+1	Zoom to Fit
Shift+2	Focus on Selection
Ctrl+0	Zoom to 100%
Ctrl+'	Toggle Grid
Shift+R	Toggle Rulers
Shift+G	Toggle Layout Guides
Shift+C	Comments on the Canvas
Shift+D	Dev Mode
Ctrl+Enter	Present
Ctrl+Alt+H	Version History
Ctrl+Alt+J	Variables…

Object menu

The keys shown beside the commands in the Object menu.

Keys	What it does
Ctrl+G	Group Selection
Ctrl+Shift+G	Ungroup
Ctrl+Alt+G	Frame Selection
Shift+H	Flip Horizontal
Shift+V	Flip Vertical
Ctrl+]	Bring Forward
Ctrl+[	Send Backward
Ctrl+Shift+]	Bring to Front
Ctrl+Shift+[	Send to Back
Ctrl+Alt+M	Use as Mask
Ctrl+Alt+K	Create Component
Ctrl+Alt+B	Detach Instance
Ctrl+E	Flatten
Ctrl+Shift+H	Carve Holes

The menus from the keyboard

On Windows and Linux, the menus in the title bar open and work from the keyboard too.

Keys	What it does
Alt+F, Alt+E, Alt+V, Alt+O, Alt+P, Alt+A or Alt+H	Open the File, Edit, View, Object, Plugins, Agent or Help menu
↓ or ↑	Move between the commands (Home and End: the first and the last)
→ or ←	The next or the previous menu; on Open Recent, Import or Export, → opens it and ← closes it
Enter or Space	Choose the highlighted command
Esc	Close the submenu (Open Recent, Import or Export), then the menu
1 to 9	In Open Recent, open the project with that number

A Mac has no menus in the title bar: Polyform’s menus are in the Mac’s own menu bar, which ⌃F2 (Control-F2, with Fn on some keyboards) reaches from the keyboard.

On the canvas

These work while the canvas has the keyboard, not while you type in a field.

Keys	What it does
Ctrl+F	Find layers (Find assets on the Assets tab)
Esc	Clear the selection, or leave the group or frame you double-clicked into
Enter	Edit the points of the selected vector
Space (hold) and drag	Pan
K (hold) and drag	In Move: a handle dragged while K is held scales everything inside, for that drag; let go of K for Move
F2	Rename the selected layer
Delete or Backspace	Delete the selection
Arrow keys	Nudge the selection 1 px (Shift: 10 px)

Drawing with the pen

While the pen is drawing a path.

Keys	What it does
Enter	Finish the path you are drawing, open
Esc	Finish the path you are drawing, open (Ctrl+Z removes it)

Editing points

While a vector’s points are open for editing (Enter, or double-click the vector).

Keys	What it does
G	Move the selected points with the pointer
R	Rotate the selected points
S	Scale the selected points
E	Extrude: grow a new segment from each selected point, then place it
J	Join two selected points with a segment
M	Merge the selected points into one, at their middle
Shift+X	Symmetry X on or off
Shift+Y	Symmetry Y on or off
Esc or Enter	Finish editing points
Delete or Backspace	Delete the selected points
Arrow keys	Nudge the selected points 1 px (Shift: 10 px)

While G, R, S or E moves points

G, R, S and E pick up the selected points; these keys finish the move.

Keys	What it does
X or Y	Lock a move or a scale to that axis (press again to free it)
Type a number	Move, rotate or scale by exactly that much (Backspace corrects it)
Enter or click	Apply
Esc	Cancel and put the points back

Dev Mode

Dev Mode reads the design and changes nothing.

Keys	What it does
V	Move: select layers to read them
H	Hand
M	Measure between layers
C	Comment (a comment is not a design edit)

Dev Mode also keeps Space, Shift+1, Shift+2, Shift+R, Shift+G, Shift+C and Shift+D; the keys that change the document do nothing there.

Comments

Press C for the Comment tool, and Shift+C to show or hide comments on the canvas.

Keys	What it does
Esc	Close the open thread, a cluster’s list or the pin you are placing; with none of those, go back to the Move tool
Enter	Post the comment you are writing
Shift+Enter	Start a new line in the comment
Esc	In the comment field: stop writing (with text written, the first Esc only warns, and a second within two seconds throws the text away)
Alt+↓ or Alt+↑	The next or the previous thread, while a thread is open

The layer list

While a row of the Layers panel has the keyboard (click a layer’s row first).

Keys	What it does
↓ or ↑	Move to the next or the previous layer (Shift: select the layers on the way)
←	Fold a group or frame, or go to the layer it is in
→	Unfold a group or frame, or go to its first layer
Home or End	The first or the last layer in the list
F2	Rename the layer
Type a name	Go to the next layer whose name starts with what you type
Esc	Give the keyboard back to the canvas

Enter, Delete and the Ctrl keys mean what they mean on the canvas.

Presenting

While a prototype plays (View → Present, Ctrl+Enter).

Keys	What it does
Esc	Stop presenting
R	Start the prototype again

A prototype can give a key its own action (a key trigger); that action comes first.

With the mouse

Some keys change what a click or a drag does.

Do this	What it does
Scroll the wheel	Pan up and down
Shift and scroll	Pan sideways
Ctrl and scroll	Zoom, around the pointer
On a Mac, pinch on the trackpad, or ⌘ and scroll	Zoom, around the pointer
Shift-click	Add a layer to the selection, or take it out
Ctrl-click	Select the layer under the pointer, however deep it is in groups and frames
Double-click a group or frame	Go into it, to select what’s inside
Double-click a vector	Edit its points
Double-click text	Edit the text
Shift while dragging a layer	Keep the move straight, across or up and down
Ctrl while dragging	Don’t snap
Shift while drawing a shape	A square or a circle (a line snaps to 45°)
Shift while rotating	Turn in steps of 15°
Alt while dragging a point’s handle	Move that handle alone, this once