Master Krita with these essential shortcuts!
Master Krita: Essential Shortcut Keys for Digital Artists | Design Tools
Krita is a powerful, free, and open-source raster graphics editor designed primarily for digital painting, illustration, and 2D animation. Developed by artists for artists, Krita provides an end-to-end solution for creating digital art from scratch. It's a versatile tool used by illustrators, concept designers, animators, comic book artists, game developers, and anyone passionate about visual art.
Key features of Krita include:
- Robust Brush Engines: Over a dozen different brush engines with extensive customization options, supporting pressure sensitivity, tilt, and rotation. It comes with hundreds of default brushes and allows users to create and share their own.
- Layers and Masks: Comprehensive layer management with various layer types (paint, group, filter, vector, clone, file, fill) and non-destructive masks (transparency, filter, transform, colorize, local selection).
- Animation Tools: Dedicated timeline and onion skinning for traditional frame-by-frame 2D animation and storyboarding.
- Drawing Assistants: Tools to help with linear perspective, curves, ellipses, and different rulers, making complex compositions easier.
- Color Management: Full color management support, including CMYK, HDR painting, and a wide variety of ICC working space profiles.
- Customizable Interface: Flexible workspaces, customizable toolbars, and dockers that can be arranged to suit any artist's workflow.
- Cross-Platform: Available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and ChromeOS.
Krita's commitment to being free and open-source, coupled with its professional-grade features, makes it an excellent choice for both beginners and seasoned professionals in the digital art world.
Using shortcut keys can significantly speed up your workflow in Krita, allowing you to access tools and commands quickly without navigating through menus. This comprehensive list of essential shortcut keys for Windows users will help you master the software. (Note: Mac users often substitute 'Ctrl' with 'Command' and 'Alt' with 'Option').
Mobile Tip: On touch devices, press & hold tables to scroll horizontally if needed.
🚀 General & File Management
| Description |
Shortcut |
| New Document | Ctrl + N |
| Open Document | Ctrl + O |
| Save Document | Ctrl + S |
| Save As | Ctrl + Shift + S |
| Save Incremental Version | Ctrl + Alt + S |
| Save Incremental Backup | F4 |
| Close Document | Ctrl + W |
| Close All Documents | Ctrl + Shift + W |
| Quit Krita | Ctrl + Q |
| Undo | Ctrl + Z |
| Redo | Ctrl + Shift + Z |
| Cut | Ctrl + X |
| Copy | Ctrl + C |
| Copy Merged (visible layers) | Ctrl + Shift + C |
| Paste | Ctrl + V |
| Paste into New Image | Ctrl + Shift + N |
| Paste as Reference Image | Ctrl + Shift + R |
| Clear (content of active layer/selection) | Delete |
| Open Krita Handbook | F1 |
✨ Canvas & View Controls
| Description |
Shortcut |
| Pan Canvas | Hold Spacebar + Drag Mouse |
| Zoom In | Ctrl + + or Ctrl + = |
| Zoom Out | Ctrl + - |
| Zoom 1:1 (Actual Size) | 1 |
| Zoom to Fit Canvas | 2 |
| Zoom to Fit Width | 3 |
| Rotate Canvas Right (15 degrees) | Ctrl + ] or 6 |
| Rotate Canvas Left (15 degrees) | Ctrl + [ or 4 |
| Reset Canvas Rotation | 5 |
| Show Canvas Only (distraction-free mode) | Tab |
| Full-Screen Mode | Ctrl + Shift + F |
| Mirror View (temporary) | M |
| Interactive Zoom | Ctrl + Spacebar + Drag Mouse |
| Interactive Rotate Canvas | Shift + Spacebar + Drag Mouse |
| Resize Image | Ctrl + Alt + I |
| Resize Canvas | Ctrl + Alt + C |
🎨 Brush & Tool Controls
| Tool |
Shortcut |
| Freehand Brush Tool | B |
| Multi-Brush Tool | Q |
| Toggle Eraser Mode | E |
| Color Select Tool (Eyedropper) | P |
| Fill Tool (Bucket) | F |
| Gradient Tool | G |
| Rectangular Select Tool | R |
| Elliptical Select Tool | J |
| Move Tool | T |
| Crop Tool | C |
| Description |
Shortcut |
| Decrease Brush Size | [ |
| Increase Brush Size | ] |
| Decrease Brush Opacity | I |
| Increase Brush Opacity | O |
| Show Pop-Up Color Palette | Right-Click (on canvas) |
| Switch Foreground/Background Color | X |
| Reset Foreground/Background Color | D |
| Fill with Foreground Color | Shift + Backspace |
| Fill with Background Color | Backspace |
| Darken Color | K |
| Lighten Color | L |
| Switch to Previous Brush Preset | / |
| Wrap-Around Mode | W |
叠 Layer & Panel Controls
| Description |
Shortcut |
| New Paint Layer | Insert |
| Rename Current Layer | F2 |
| Activate Previous Layer | Page Down |
| Activate Next Layer | Page Up |
| Duplicate Layer | Ctrl + J |
| Merge Down | Ctrl + E |
| Flatten All Layers | Ctrl + Shift + E |
| Create New Layer Group | Ctrl + G |
| Remove Layer | Shift + Delete |
| Panel/Docker |
Shortcut |
| Show/Hide Advanced Color Selector Docker | F3 |
| Show/Hide Brush Presets Docker | F4 |
| Show/Hide Layers Docker | F7 |
| Show/Hide Tool Options Docker | F5 |
| Show/Hide History Docker | F8 |
| Show/Hide Overview Docker | F9 |
| Show/Hide Animation Docker | Shift + F7 |
| Show/Hide Channels Docker | Ctrl + Shift + H |
🌈 Adjustments & Effects
| Description |
Shortcut |
| Color Balance Adjustment | Ctrl + B |
| HSV/HSL Adjustment | Ctrl + U |
| Levels Adjustment | Ctrl + L |
| Desaturate | Ctrl + Shift + U |
| Show Common Colors | C |
| Show Color History | H |
🎯 Selection Shortcuts
| Description |
Shortcut |
| Select All | Ctrl + A |
| Deselect All | Ctrl + Shift + A |
| Reselect Last Selection | Ctrl + Shift + D |
| Invert Selection | Ctrl + Shift + I |
| Show/Hide Selection Mask | Ctrl + H |
| Cut Selection to New Layer | Ctrl + Shift + J |
| Feather Selection | Shift + F6 |
| Move Selection Area | Alt + Drag (after making selection) |
| Add to Selection | Shift + Drag (when making selection) |
| Subtract from Selection | Alt + Drag (when making selection) |
| Intersect with Selection | Shift + Alt + Drag (when making selection) |
Customizing Shortcuts
Krita is highly customizable! If a default shortcut doesn't suit your workflow, you can change it or add new ones. Go to Settings > Configure Krita... and then select the Keyboard Shortcuts tab. You can search for actions and assign your preferred key combinations. This flexibility allows you to tailor Krita precisely to your needs, making your creative process even more efficient.
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