23 Adobe Illustrator Shortcuts for Fashion Designers (with animated gifs!)

When you’re learning Adobe Illustrator for fashion design, it can feel like you have to know EVERYTHING! And that’s OVERWHELMING.

Which is why you don’t need another printable PDF with every. single. shortcut. in the world.

So, I decided to give you just what you need, and no more:

23 of my “can’t live without” Adobe Illustrator shortcuts!

Because here’s the thing with AI that I talk about in my Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion:

You don’t have to know it all! Not now, not ever.

So when I got the idea to put this piece of content together for you, I decided to only give you the best of the best.

And the best place to start was by combing through my Illustrator Masterclass. Why?

Because one of the things Masterclass students tell me ALL the time is how much they love all the quick tips and shortcuts.

It used to surprise me (because AI shortcuts are second nature to me) but then I realized:

How useful the shortcuts are
How many designers don’t know many of them
How tedious the “manual” methods can be

So, here you go, my best and top 23 Adobe Illustrator shortcuts that you can implement TODAY to save HOURS. YASS!

Quick disclaimer about the GIFs! Turns out, the internet doesn’t LOVE 23 animated GIFs on ONE page. #SLOWLOADINGTIME! For all the GIFs, click through the links below!

OH! And I also put together a cheatsheet for you to download (YASS!). Get the printable download here.

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR SHORTCUTS TO MANAGE YOUR WORKSPACE

(see all the Workspace GIFs)

Tab to hide / show all the panels
Cmd/Ctrl + 0 (zero) to fit CURRENT artboard in the window
Cmd/Ctrl + Opt/Alt 0 (zero) to fit ALL artboards in the window
Cmd/Ctrl + Opt/Alt + Shift + V to Paste on All Artboards (a great option if you need to add a logo or heading to ALL the pages of your linesheet!)
Spacebar (while using any tool) for quick access to the Hand Tool to move around your workspace
Shift + up/down arrow to adjust a value (ie stroke width) by 10x increments
Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts to create custom shortcuts (I have one for Live Color and the Pattern Tool, two must haves for fashion designers!)

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR SHORTCUTS FOR DRAWING

(see all the Drawing GIFs)

Opt/Alt while drawing or resizing any shape (ellipse, rectangle, etc) to scale from the center
Opt/Alt to make a copy of an object
Cmd/Ctrl + D (Object > Transform > Transform Again) to replicate a transformation (works great for a line of buttons)
Cmd/Ctrl + F (Object > Paste in Front) to paste an object exactly in front of where you copied it from
Cmd/Ctrl + Opt/Alt + Shift + J to Average and Join at the same time (there’s no menu option for this, the keyboard shortcut is the only way!)
Spacebar to move an object while drawing it (works for shapes OR individual Anchor Points with the Pen Tool)
Shift to constrain proportion while drawing a shape (ellipse, rectangle, etc) or scaling any object
Shift to draw a perfectly horizontal, vertical or 45° line with the Pen or Pencil tool
Shift to rotate an object in 45° increments
Shift + any arrow key to move an object in 10x increments
Shift click (with the Selection Tool, black arrow) on an object to add or subtract it from a selection

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR SHORTCUTS FOR COLOR + PATTERNS

(see all the Color + Pattern GIFs)

D to change any object to the default fill / stroke (white fill / black 1pt stroke)
X to switch whether the stroke or fill is active on the toolbar
Shift + X to swap the fill and stroke color of a selected object
Tilde (~) + Scale Tool to resize a pattern inside an object (Pro tip! If you have a German keyboard, use ^ + >)
Opt/Alt to overwrite an existing pattern with a new one when dragging it into the Swatches panel (works with brushes too!)

I hope you love these shortcuts as much as I do! And one thing to keep in mind: don’t get overwhelmed with learning ALL of them right now. Tackle a couple at a time, and before you know it, they’ll be second nature for you too.

The best thing you can do? Grab that printable PDF and tape it above your workspace. The visual will help TONS!