Tools⚓

• s,F1Selector

• SpaceSelector (temporary)

  Space switches to the Selector tool temporarily; another Space switches back.

  When the "Mouse move pans when Space is pressed" option is on in Preferences, Space+mouse drag pans canvas instead of switching to/from Selector.

• N,F2Node tool

• XShape Builder tool

• R,F4Rectangle tool

• E,F5Ellipse/arc tool

• *,Shift+F9Star tool

• Shift+F43D box tool

• I,F9Spiral tool

• B+Shift+F6Pen (Bezier) tool

• P,F6Pencil (Freehand) tool

• C,Ctrl+F6Calligraphy tool

• T,F8Text tool

• G,Ctrl+F1Gradient tool

• D,F7Dropper tool

• U,Shift+F7Paint Bucket tool

• W,Shift+F2Tweak tool

• A,Shift+F3Spray tool

• Shift+EEraser tool

• O,Ctrl+F2Connector tool

  Double-click on the tool buttons opens the Preferences dialog showing the page of the corresponding tool.

• MMeasure tool

• F3,ZZoom tool

Dialogs⚓

Open

• Ctrl+Shift+FFill and Stroke

• Ctrl+Shift+WSwatches

• Ctrl+Shift+TText and Font

• Ctrl+Shift+MTransform

• Ctrl+Shift+LLayers and Objects

• Ctrl+Shift+YSymbols

• Ctrl+&Path effects

• Ctrl+Shift+AAlign and Distribute

• Ctrl+Shift+OObject Properties

• Ctrl+Shift+HUndo History

• Ctrl+Shift+XXML Editor

• Ctrl+Shift+QSelectors and CSS dialog

• Ctrl+Shift+DDocument Properties

• Ctrl+Shift+PInkscape Preferences

• Ctrl+Shift+EExport

• Ctrl+FFind/Replace

• Shift+Alt+BTrace Bitmap

• Ctrl+Alt+KCheck Spelling

  These shortcuts open a new dialog window if it wasn't open yet, otherwise the corresponding dialog gets focus.

Toggle visibility

• F12toggle dialogs

  This temporarily hides all open dialogs; another F12 shows them again.

Within a dialog

• Escreturn to the canvas

• Ctrl+F4,Ctrl+Wclose the dialog

• Tabjump to next widget

• Shift+Tabjump to previous widget

• Enterset the new value

  This accepts the new value you typed in a text field and returns focus to canvas.

• Space,Enteractivate current button or list

• Ctrl+PgUp,Ctrl+PgDnin a multi-tab dialog, switch tabs

• Ctrl+Fopen a search field in a dialog with a list

  Start typing to select the first match. In some dialogs, this will only find elements starting with the search term (e.g. Text and Font), in others (e.g. XML editor), it will find all elements that contain the search term. Use the up/down arrows to select the next matching element.

XML editor

• *expand all children and subchildren of the currently selected element

• +,Shift+Right arrowexpand direct children of the currently selected element

• -,Shift+Left arrowcollapse the currently selected element

• Home,Endselect the topmost/lowermost visible element in the list

• Up arrow,Down arrowselect the previous/next visible element in the list

• PgUp,PgDnselect element on previous/next page of list

• Ctrl+Enterset the attribute's value

  When editing an attribute value in XML Editor, this sets the new value (same as clicking the "Set attribute" button).

Layers and Objects Dialog

• mouse dragdrag label to move in object stack

• right-clickright-click on label to open context menu

• Shift+clickselect a layer and toggle visibility (eye icon) or lock status (lock icon) on the other layers

• Shift+Alt+clicktoggle visibility (eye icon) or lock status (lock icon) on the unselected layers

• mouse dragdrag eye icon/lock vertically to (un)lock/(un)hide all touched objects

• clickclick on opacity indicator to open opacity and blend mode menu

• arrowsnavigate through dialog's rows and columns with arrow keys

• Spaceconfirm (select, apply or open)

• Shift+Left arrow,Shift+Right arrowexpand/contract selected group or layer

• Shift+Up arrow,Shift+Down arrowmove current selection up or down in z-order

Tool controls bar⚓

Access

• The tool controls bar at the top of the document window provides different buttons and controls for each tool.

  Alt+Xjump to the first editable field

Navigate

• Tabjump to next field

• Shift+Tabjump to previous field

  Use these to navigate between fields in the tool controls bar (the value in the field you leave, if changed, is accepted).

Change values

• Up arrow,Down arrowchange value by 0.1

• PgUp,PgDnchange value by 5.0

• Enteraccept the new value

  This accepts the new value you typed in a text field and returns focus to canvas.

• Esccancel changes, return to canvas

  This cancels any changes you made in a text field and returns focus to canvas.

• Ctrl+Zcancel changes

  This cancels any changes you made in a text field but you stay in the field.

Canvas⚓

Zoom

• =,+zoom in

• -zoom out

  The keypad +/- keys do zooming even when you are editing a text object, unless NumLock is on.

• middle click,Ctrl+right-clickzoom in

• Shift+middle click,Shift+right-clickzoom out

• Ctrl+mouse wheelzoom in or out

  When the "Mouse wheel zooms by default" option is on in Preferences, Ctrl+wheel scrolls instead of zooming. To zoom, use wheel without Ctrl.

• Shift+middle button dragzoom into the area

• Alt+Zactivate zoom field

  The zoom field in the lower right corner of the window allows you to specify zoom level precisely.

• Qquick zoom

  Zooms to selection, or doubles the current zoom factor if nothing is selected, until key is released.

Preset zooms

• 1zoom 1:1

• 2zoom 1:2

• 3zoom to selection

• 4zoom to drawing

• 5zoom to page

• Ctrl+E,6zoom to page width

• Ctrl+4center page in view (without changing zoom level)

Zoom history

• `(back quote) previous zoom

• Shift+`next zoom

  With these keys, you can travel back and forth through the history of zooms in this session.

Scroll (pan)

• Ctrl+arrowsscroll canvas

  Scrolling by keys is accelerated, i.e. it speeds up when you press Ctrl+arrows in quick succession, or press and hold.

• middle button dragpan canvas

• Shift+right button drag,Ctrl+right button dragpan canvas

• mouse wheelscroll canvas vertically

  When the "Mouse wheel zooms by default" option is on in Preferences, mouse wheel zooms instead of scrolling. To scroll, use Ctrl+wheel.

• Shift+mouse wheelscroll canvas horizontally

  When the "Mouse move pans when Space is pressed" option is on in Preferences, Space+mouse drag also pans canvas.

Guides, grids, snapping

• mouse dragdrag off a ruler to create guide

  Drag off the horizontal or vertical ruler to create a new guideline. Drag a guideline onto the ruler to delete it.

• mouse dragdrag a guide to move it

• Shift+mouse dragdrag a guide (not near anchor) to rotate it

• Ctrl+Shift+mouse dragrotate guide with angle snapping

• Deldelete guide

• |toggle guide visibility

  For activating / deactivating snapping to guides, use the snap bar or the global snapping toggle (% key).

  When you create a new guide by dragging off the ruler, guide visibility is automatically turned on.

• #toggle grids visibility

  For activating / deactivating snapping to grids, use the snap bar or the global snapping toggle (% key).

  Note that only the 3 key on the main keyboard works, not on the keypad.

• %toggle snapping on and off

  This toggle affects snapping to grids, guides, and objects in all tools. The settings in the snap bar determine which snap targets and snapping points will snap.

Display/Color mode

• Ctrl+keypad 5toggle normal/no filters/outline/enhance thin lines/outline overlay mode

• Shift+keypad 5toggle normal/grayscale mode

• FQuick preview

  This will temporarily hide any objects that are not on a page as well as any handles, guide lines and other canvas overlays.

Split Canvas

• Ctrl+keypad 6toggle split canvas

X-Ray Mode

• Alt+keypad 6toggle X-ray mode

Command Palette

• ?open command palette

• Escclose command palette

Document⚓

• Ctrl+Shift+Rresize page to current selection, or to the drawing if nothing is selected

Palette⚓

• These keys work both in the floating palette dialog and in the palette frame at the bottom of the window.

  clickset fill color on selection

• Shift+click,middle clickset stroke color on selection

• right-clickopen pop-up menu

• mouse dragdrag fill color to objects

• Shift+mouse dragdrag stroke color to objects

  To change fill/stroke of an object by dragging color on it, that object need not be selected.

  You can also drag colors to the Fill (F) and Stroke (S) indicators in the statusbar to change the selection.

• mouse wheelscroll palette

File⚓

• Ctrl+Ncreate new document

• Ctrl+Alt+Nopen template selection to create new document

• Ctrl+Oopen a document

• Ctrl+Shift+Eexport to various image formats

• Ctrl+Iimport bitmap or vector

• Ctrl+Pprint document

• Ctrl+Ssave document

• Ctrl+Shift+Ssave under a new name

• Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Ssave a copy

• Ctrl+Qexit Inkscape

Window⚓

• Ctrl+Rtoggle rulers

• Ctrl+Btoggle scrollbars

• Shift+Alt+Ptoggle palette

• F11toggle fullscreen

• Shift+F11toggle toolbars

• Ctrl+F11toggle toolbars and fullscreen

• F10main menu

  Menus can also be activated by Alt with the letter underscored in the menu name.

• Shift+F10,right-clickdrop-down (context) menu

• Ctrl+F4,Ctrl+Wclose document window

  This shuts down Inkscape if it was the only document window open.

• Ctrl+Tabnext document window

• Ctrl+Shift+Tabprevious document window

  These cycle through the active document windows forward and backward.

Extensions⚓

• Alt+Qprevious extension

• Shift+Alt+Qprevious extension settings

Layers⚓

• Ctrl+Shift+Ncreate new layer

• Shift+PgUpmove to layer above

• Shift+PgDnmove to layer below

  These commands move the selected objects from one layer to another.

• Ctrl+Shift+PgUpraise layer

• Ctrl+Shift+PgDnlower layer

• Ctrl+Shift+Homeraise layer to top

• Ctrl+Shift+Endlower layer to bottom

  These commands move the current layer among its siblings (normally other layers).

Object⚓

Undo/redo

• Ctrl+Zundo

• Ctrl+Yredo

Clipboard

• Ctrl+C,Ctrl+Inscopy selection

• Ctrl+X,Shift+Delcut selection

• Ctrl+V,Shift+Inspaste clipboard

  This places the clipboard objects at the mouse cursor, or at the center of the window if mouse is outside the canvas.

  When editing text with the text tool, this pastes the text from the clipboard into the current text object.

• Ctrl+Alt+Vpaste in place

  This places the clipboard objects into the original location from which they were copied.

• Ctrl+Shift+Vpaste style

  This applies the style of the (first of the) copied object(s) to the current selection.

  If a gradient handle (in Gradient tool) or a text span (in Text tool) are selected, they get the style instead of the entire object.

Duplicate

• Ctrl+Dduplicate selection

  New object(s) are placed exactly over the original(s) and selected.

• Ctrl+Alt+Dduplicate and transform

  Duplicates the selection and applies its last transform to the duplicate, so that each new object created this way will be inserted in a different position/size/angle

Transform

• Ctrl+Alt+Treapply transform

  Applies the object's previous transformation action (move, scale, rotate, shear) another time.

  On Linux, this shortcut might by default open a new terminal window, so you may want to change this shortcut either in Inkscape or in your system settings.

Clone

• Alt+Dclone object

  A clone can be moved/scaled/rotated/skewed independently, but it updates the path, fill, and stroke from its original.

  The clone is placed exactly over the original object and is selected.

  You can only clone one object at a time; if you want to clone several objects together, group them and clone the group.

• Shift+Alt+Dunlink clone

  Unlinking a clone cuts the link to the original, turning the clone into a plain copy.

• Shift+Dselect original

  To find out which object this is a clone of, select the clone and give this command. The original will be selected.

Bitmaps

• Alt+Bcreate a bitmap copy

  This exports the selected object(s) (all other objects hidden) as PNG in the document's directory and imports it back as embedded bitmap.

  The imported bitmap is placed over the original selection and is selected.

• Shift+Alt+Btrace bitmap

  This opens the Trace Bitmap dialog allowing you to convert a bitmap object to path(s).

Patterns

• Alt+Iobject(s) to pattern

  This converts the selection to a rectangle with tiled pattern fill.

• Shift+Alt+Ipattern to object(s)

  Each selected object with pattern fill is broken into the same object without fill and a single pattern object.

Style

• Shift+Xswap fill and stroke styles

Clipping / Masking

• Ctrl+Mset clip

• Ctrl+Alt+Mset inverse clip (Live Path Effect)

• Alt+Mrelease clip

Guides

• Shift+Gobject(s) to guide(s)

Group

• Ctrl+Shift+U,Ctrl+Ggroup selected objects

  Use Ctrl+click to select objects within group.

• Ctrl+Shift+G,Ctrl+Uungroup selected group(s)

  This removes only one level of grouping; press Ctrl+U repeatedly to ungroup nested groups.

Align

• Ctrl+Alt+keypad 1center selected objects on vertical axis

• Ctrl+Alt+keypad 7center selected objects on horizontal axis

• Ctrl+Alt+keypad 5center selected objects on horizontal and vertical axis

• Ctrl+Alt+keypad 4align left edges of selected objects

• Ctrl+Alt+keypad 8align top edges of selected objects

• Ctrl+Alt+keypad 6align right edges of selected objects

• Ctrl+Alt+keypad 2align bottom edges of selected objects

  Objects are aligned relative to the anchor point set in the "Relative to" field in the "Align and Distribute" dialog.

Z-order

• Homeraise selection to top

• Endlower selection to bottom

• PgUpraise selection one step

• PgDnlower selection one step

Path⚓

Convert to path

• Ctrl+Shift+Cconvert selected object(s) to path

• Ctrl+Alt+Cconvert stroke to path

Boolean operations

• Ctrl++union

  Union combines any number of objects into a single path, removing overlaps.

• Ctrl+-difference

  Difference works on 2 objects, extracting the top from the bottom.

• Ctrl+*intersection

  Intersection creates a path representing the common (overlapping) area of all selected objects.

• Ctrl+^exclusive OR (XOR)

  XOR is similar to Union, except that it works on 2 objects and removes areas where the objects overlap.

• Ctrl+/division (cut)

  Division cuts the bottom object into pieces by the top object, preserving the fill and stroke of the bottom.

• Ctrl+Alt+/cut path

  Cut Path cuts the bottom object's stroke only where it is intersected by the top path, removing any fill from the result.

  The result of Union, Difference, Intersection, and XOR inherits the id= attribute and therefore the clones of the bottom object.

  Division and Cut path normally produce several objects; of them, a random one inherits the id= of the bottom source object.

• Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Ksplit path

  Separates a path that consists of multiple subpaths into a set of paths that 'belong together'. This means that parts of a path that have holes in them are kept as whole objects.

• Shift+Alt+Ffracture

  Cuts a set of paths along every line in any path in the selection, keeping only the topmost objects.

• Shift+Fflatten

  Only visible parts of overlapping objects will be kept. Useful for separating colors for screen printing and offset printing as well as for doing any kind of plotting.

Offsets

• Ctrl+(inset path (towards center)

• Ctrl+)outset path (away from center)

  The default offset distance is 2 px (SVG pixel units, not screen pixels).

• Alt+(inset path by 1 pixel

• Alt+)outset path by 1 pixel

• Shift+Alt+(inset path by 10 pixels

• Shift+Alt+)outset path by 10 pixels

  The actual distance for pixel offsets depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer adjustment.

  All the (, ) commands convert the object to path, if necessary, and produce regular path.

• Ctrl+Jcreate dynamic offset

• Ctrl+Alt+Jcreate linked offset

  These commands produce an offset object, editable by the node tool, standalone or linked to the original.

• Shift+Dselect source

  Selecting a linked offset and giving this command will select the source path of the linked offset.

Combine

• Ctrl+Kcombine paths

  This is different from grouping in that combined paths create one object.

  This is different from Union in that overlapping areas are not affected.

  Whether overlapping areas are filled is controlled by the Fill: winding/alternating switch on the Fill & Stroke dialog.

• Ctrl+Shift+Kbreak paths apart

  This attempts to break an object into constituent paths; it will fail if the object is one solid path.

Simplify

• Ctrl+Lsimplify

  This command attempts to simplify selected path(s) by removing extra nodes. It converts all objects to paths first.

  If you invoke this command several times in quick succession, it will act more and more aggressively.

  Invoking Simplify again after a pause restores the default threshold (settable in the Inkscape Preferences dialog).

Path effects

• 7show next editable path effect parameter

• Ctrl+7,&paste path effect

  This applies the path effect of the copied path to the paths/shapes in the current selection.

Selector⚓

Select (mouse)

• clickselect an object

  When you left-click on an object, previous selection is deselected.

• Shift+clicktoggle selection

  Shift+click adds an object to the current selection if it was not selected, or deselects it otherwise.

• double-clickedit the object

  For paths, double-clicking switches to Node tool; for shapes, to corresponding shape tool; for text, to Text tool.

  For groups, double-clicking performs the "Enter group" command (the group becomes a temporary layer).

  Double-clicking in empty space switches to the parent layer in the hierarchy, if any.

Rubberband, touch selection

• mouse dragselect by rubberband

  Dragging around objects does "rubberband" selection; previous selection is deselected.

• Shift+mouse dragadd objects to selection

  Normally, you need to start from an empty space to initiate a rubberband.

  However, if you press Shift before dragging, Inkscape will do rubberband selection even if you start from an object.

• Alt+mouse drag,Shift+Alt+mouse dragselect by touch

  Alt+dragging over objects selects those objects that are touched by the path.

  To start touch selection with Alt, you must have nothing selected; otherwise use Shift+Alt.

  You can switch rubberband selection to touch selection and back while dragging by pressing/releasing Alt.

Select (keyboard)

• Tabselect next object

• Shift+Tabselect previous object

  These keys pick objects in their z-order (Tab cycles from bottom to top, Shift+Tab cycles from top to bottom).

  Unless you did manual rearrangements, the last object you created is always on top.

  As a result, if nothing is selected, pressing Shift+Tab once conveniently selects the object you created last.

  This works on objects within the current layer (unless you change that in preferences).

• Ctrl+Aselect all (current layer)

  This works on objects within the current layer (unless you change that in preferences).

• Ctrl+Alt+Aselect all (all layers)

  This works on objects in all visible and unlocked layers.

• Shift+Alt+Aselect all with same type (all layers)

  Selects all objects of the same type as the currently selected. This works on objects in all visible and unlocked layers.

• !invert selection (current layer)

  This inverts selection (deselects what was selected and vice versa) in the current layer.

• Alt+!invert selection (all layers)

  This inverts selection (deselects what was selected and vice versa) in visible and unlocked layers.

• Escdeselect

• Backspace,Deldelete selection

Select within group, select under

• Ctrl+clickselect within group

  Ctrl+click selects the object at click point disregarding any levels of grouping that this object might belong to.

• Shift+Ctrl+clicktoggle selection within group

• Alt+clickselect under

  Alt+click selects the object at click point which is beneath (in z-order) the lowest selected object at click point.

  If the bottom object is reached, Alt+click again selects the top object. So, several Alt+clicks cycle through z-order stack at point.

  On GNU/Linux, Alt+click and Alt+drag may be reserved by the window manager. Reconfigure it so you can use them in Inkscape.

  If your keyboard has a Meta key, you may wish to set your "Modifier key" to use it instead of Alt.

  (Sometimes you can also use Ctrl+Alt+click (select under in groups) with the same effect as Alt+click.)

• Shift+Alt+clicktoggle under

• Ctrl+Alt+clickselect under, in groups

• Shift+Ctrl+Alt+clicktoggle under, in groups

• Ctrl+Enterenter group

• Ctrl+Backspacego to parent group/layer

Move (mouse)

• mouse dragselect + move

  Dragging an object selects it if it was not selected, then moves selection.

• Alt+mouse dragmove selected

  Alt+drag moves the current selection (without selecting what is under cursor), no matter where you start the drag.

  On GNU/Linux, Alt+click and Alt+drag may be reserved by the window manager. Reconfigure it so you can use them in Inkscape.

  If your keyboard has a Meta key, you may wish to set your "Modifier key" to use it instead of Alt.

• Ctrl+mouse dragrestrict movement to horizontal or vertical

• Ctrl+mouse dragselect and drag first touched item

  When starting the drag motion in an empty area of the canvas and then touching any object, that object will be moved along with the mouse. You can then let go of the Ctrl key to keep dragging the item without restriction of movement direction.

• Shift+mouse dragtemporarily disable snapping

  This temporarily disables snapping when you are dragging with snapping activated.

• mouse drag+Spacedrop a copy

  When dragging or transforming with mouse, each Space leaves a copy of the selected object.

  You can press and hold Space while dragging for a nice "trail."

• mouse drag+Cdrop a clone

  When dragging or transforming with mouse, each time you press C leaves a clone of the selected object.

Move (keyboard)

• arrowsmove selection by the nudge distance

• Shift+arrowsmove selection by 10x nudge distance

  The default nudge distance is 2 px (SVG pixel units, not screen pixels).

• Alt+arrowsmove selection by 1 pixel

• Shift+Alt+arrowsmove selection by 10 pixels

  The actual distance for pixel movements depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer movement.

Transform (mouse)

• click,Shift+Stoggle scale/rotation handles

• mouse dragscale (with scale handles)

• mouse dragrotate or skew (with rotation handles)

Scale by handles

• mouse dragscale

• Ctrl+mouse dragscale preserving aspect ratio

• Shift+mouse dragsymmetric transformation

  Holding Shift while transforming makes the transformation symmetric around the rotation center of the selection. Combined with Ctrl, this can be used to scale objects around an arbitrary center point.

• Alt+mouse dragscale by integer

  Hold Alt while scaling to limit scale to 2, 3, 4, etc. or 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 etc. of the initial size.

Scale (keyboard)

• .,>scale selection up by the scale step

• ,,<scale selection down by the scale step

  The default scale step is 2 px (SVG pixel units, not screen pixels).

• Ctrl+.,Ctrl+>scale selection to 200%

• Ctrl+,,Ctrl+<scale selection to 50%

• Alt+.,Alt+>scale selection up by 1 pixel

• Alt+,,Alt+<scale selection down by 1 pixel

  The actual size increment for pixel scaling depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer scaling.

  The default size increment is added to (or subtracted from) either the selection's height or width, whichever one is larger. Scaling is done around the center of the selection's bounding box and keeps the proportions of the selected object(s).

Rotate/skew by handles

• mouse dragrotate or skew

• Ctrl+mouse dragsnap skew angle

  Holding Ctrl when dragging a skew (non-corner) handle snaps the skew angle to angle steps (default 15 degrees).

• Ctrl+mouse dragsnap rotation angle

  Holding Ctrl when dragging a rotation (corner) handle snaps the rotation angle to angle steps (default 15 degrees).

• Shift+mouse dragrotate around opposite corner

Rotate (keyboard)

• [,]rotate selection by the angle step

  The default angle step is 15 degrees. ] rotates clockwise, [ rotates counterclockwise.

• Ctrl+[,Ctrl+]rotate selection by 90 degrees

• Alt+[,Alt+]rotate selection by 1 pixel

  The actual angle for pixel rotation depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer movement.

  These commands use the rotation center, draggable in Selector (by default it's in geometric center).

Flip

• Hflip selection horizontally

• Vflip selection vertically

  If the tool is in rotate mode (rotation center visible), that center becomes the axis of flipping; otherwise it flips around geometric center of selection.

Rotation center

• mouse dragmove rotation center

  Moved rotation center remembers and saves its position for (all) selected object(s); you can reset it.

• Shift+mouse dragmove without snapping

• Shift+clickreset rotation center

  Resetting rotation center moves it back to the geometric center of the object's or selection's bounding box.

Cancel

• Esccancel rubberband, move, transformation

  Press Esc while mouse button is still down to cancel rubberband selection, move, or transformation of any kind.

Node tool⚓

Select objects (mouse)

• clickclick a non-selected object to select

• Alt+clickselect under

• Alt+mouse wheelcycle z-order

• Shift+clicktoggle selection

  These work the same as in Selector. The nodes or handles of the single selected object become editable.

Select nodes (mouse)

• clickselect a node

  Clicking on a node selects it.

• clickselect two adjacent nodes

  Clicking on a selected path between the nodes selects the two nodes closest to the click point.

• Shift+clicktoggle selection

  This adds/removes a node (if clicked on node) or two nodes (if clicked on path) to/from the node selection.

• clickdeselect

  Clicking in an empty space deselects all selected nodes. Next click will deselect the object.

Selecting / Deselecting multiple nodes

• mouse dragselect multiple nodes

  Opens a rectangular "rubberband" selection area. All nodes within the current object and in the area will be selected; previous node selection is deselected.

• Alt+mouse dragselect multiple nodes

  Draw around nodes on the canvas to select them. All nodes within the current object and in the area that is enclosed by the drawn line will be selected; previous node selection is deselected

• Shift+mouse dragadd nodes to selection

  Normally, you need to start from a point not over a path or a node to initiate a rubberband.

  However, if you press Shift before dragging, Inkscape will do rubberband selection even if you start over the path.

• Ctrl+Shift+mouse dragremove nodes from selection

  Creates a box-shaped area.

• Ctrl+Alt+Shift+mouse dragremove nodes from selection

  Draw around nodes (similar to the Pencil tool) to remove them.

• Ctrl+mouse draginverted node selection

  This selects all nodes in all subpaths of the path outside the rubberband.

• Ctrl+Alt+mouse draginverted node selection

  This selects all nodes in all subpaths of the path outside the drawn selection area.

Select nodes (keyboard)

• Tabselect next node

• Shift+Tabselect previous node

  These keys select nodes within the selected path.

• Ctrl+Aselect all nodes in subpath(s)

  If the path has multiple subpaths and some nodes selected, this selects all only in subpaths with already selected nodes.

• Ctrl+Alt+Aselect all nodes in path

  This selects all nodes in the entire path.

• !invert selection in subpath(s)

  If the path has multiple subpaths and some nodes selected, this inverts selection only in subpaths with already selected nodes.

• Alt+!invert selection in path

  This inverts selection (deselects what was selected and vice versa) in the entire path.

• Escdeselect all nodes

Grow/shrink node selection

• PgUp,PgDngrow/shrink selection (spatial)

• mouse wheelgrow/shrink selection (spatial)

• Ctrl+PgUp,Ctrl+PgDngrow/shrink selection (along path)

• Ctrl+mouse wheelgrow/shrink selection (along path)

  Your mouse pointer must be over a node for growing/shrinking.

  Each key press or turn of the mouse wheel selects the nearest unselected node or deselects the farthest selected node.

  Distance to nodes can be calculated directly (spatial mode) or along path.

Move nodes (mouse)

• mouse dragmove selected nodes

• Ctrl+mouse dragrestrict movement to horizontal or vertical

• Ctrl+Alt+mouse dragmove along handles

  This restricts movement to the directions of the node's handles, their counter directions and perpendiculars (total 8 snaps).

  If the node has straight lines on one or both sides, this will snap it to these lines' directions and perpendiculars instead.

• Shift+mouse dragtemporarily disable snapping

• Shift+mouse dragdrag out handle

  If a node has a retracted handle, dragging with Shift lets you drag it out of the node.

• mouse drag+Spacedrop a copy

  When dragging nodes with mouse, each Space leaves a copy of the selected object.

  You can press and hold Space while dragging for a nice "trail."

• Alt+mouse dragsculpt selected nodes

  Sculpting moves the selected nodes so that the dragged node moves all the way, the farthest selected nodes stay put; all intermediate selected nodes move intermediate distances, governed by a bell-like curve.

  Sculpting is pressure-sensitive with a tablet; press harder for a blunter drag profile, press lightly for a sharper profile.

  To stop sculpting without losing the pressure-sensitive profile, release Alt first and then lift the pen.

Move nodes (keyboard)

• arrowsmove selected node(s) by the nudge distance

• Shift+arrowsmove selected node(s) by 10x nudge distance

  The default nudge distance is 2 px (SVG pixel units, not screen pixels).

• Alt+arrowsmove selected node(s) by 1 pixel

• Shift+Alt+arrowsmove selected node(s) by 10 pixels

  The actual distance for pixel movements depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer movement.

Move node handle (mouse)

• mouse dragmove a node handle

• Ctrl+mouse dragsnap the handle to angle steps

  The default angle step is 15 degrees. This also snaps to the handle's original angle, its counter direction and perpendiculars.

• Shift+mouse dragrotate both handles

• Alt+mouse draglock the handle length

  Ctrl, Shift, Alt can be combined when dragging handles.

• Ctrl+clickretract the handle

  Retracted handle is zero length; use Shift+drag to drag it back out.

Scale handle (1 node selected)

• <,>contract/expand both handles by scale step

  The default scale step is 2 px (SVG pixel units, not screen pixels). May apply to more than one node.

• Left Ctrl+<,Left Ctrl+>scale left handle by the scale step

• Right Ctrl+<,Right Ctrl+>scale right handle by the scale step

• Left Alt+<,Left Alt+>scale left handle by 1 pixel

• Right Alt+<,Right Alt+>scale right handle by 1 pixel

  The actual size increment for pixel scaling depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer scaling.

  Instead of the < and > keys, you can use the , (comma) and . (period) keys respectively.

Rotate handle (1 node selected)

• [,]rotate both handles by the angle step

  The default angle step is 15 degrees. ] rotates clockwise, [ rotates counterclockwise. May apply to more than one node.

• Left Ctrl+[,Left Ctrl+]rotate left handle by the angle step

• Right Ctrl+[,Right Ctrl+]rotate right handle by the angle step

• Left Alt+[,Left Alt+]rotate left handle by 1 pixel

• Right Alt+[,Right Alt+]rotate right handle by 1 pixel

Handles visibility

• Ctrl+Htoggle handles

Scale nodes (>1 nodes selected)

• These commands scale the selected nodes as if they were an "object".

  If mouse is over a node, that node becomes the axis of scaling; otherwise it scales around geometric center of selected nodes.

  .,>scale nodes up by the scale step

• ,,<scale nodes down by the scale step

  The default scale step is 2 px (SVG pixel units, not screen pixels).

• Alt+.,Alt+>scale nodes up by 1 pixel

• Alt+,,Alt+<scale nodes down by 1 pixel

  The actual size increment for pixel scaling depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer scaling.

  The default size increment is added to (or subtracted from) either the node selection's height or width, whichever one is larger. Scaling keeps the proportions of the node selection.

Rotate nodes (>1 nodes selected)

• These commands rotate the selected nodes as if they were an "object".

  If mouse is over a node, that node becomes the axis of rotation; otherwise it rotates around geometric center of selected nodes.

  [,]rotate nodes by the angle step

  The default angle step is 15 degrees. ] rotates clockwise, [ rotates counterclockwise.

• Alt+[,Alt+]rotate nodes by 1 pixel

  The actual angle for pixel rotation depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer movement.

Flip nodes (>1 nodes selected)

• These commands flip the selected nodes as if they were an "object", around the center of that object.

  Hflip nodes horizontally

• Vflip nodes vertically

  If mouse is over a node, that node becomes the axis of flipping; otherwise it flips around geometric center of selected nodes

Change segment(s)

• Shift+L,Alt+double-clickmake line

  The keyboard shortcut works with pairs of selected nodes, while the mouse shortcut works directly with any (unselected) path segment.

• Shift+Umake curve

Change node type

• Shift+Cmake cusp

  First Shift+C changes type of node; if you do another Shift+C on an already cusp node, it retracts its handles.

• Shift+Smake smooth

  If a cusp node is adjacent to a line segment, first Shift+S makes it half-smooth with one handle collinear with the segment; another Shift+S will expand a second handle.

• Shift+Ymake symmetric

  When making smooth or symmetric, you can lock the position of one of the handles by hovering mouse over it.

• Shift+Amake auto

• Ctrl+clicktoggle smooth/cusp/symmetric/auto

Join/break

• Shift+Jjoin selected nodes

  This requires that exactly two end nodes within the path be selected.

  You can lock the position of one of the two joined nodes by hovering mouse over it.

• Alt+Jjoin selected end nodes with new segment

• Shift+Bbreak selected node(s)

  After break, only one of each two new nodes is selected. May apply to more than one node.

Delete, create, duplicate, copy

• Backspace,Deldelete selected node(s), trying to keep shape if not too cusp

• Ctrl,Deldelete selected node(s), replacing them by a straight line segment

• Shift+Backspace,Shift+Deldelete selected node(s), invert shape-keeping behavior

  Deleting without Shift adjusts handles on the remaining nodes to preserve the shape of the curve in some, but not all cases. When deleting sharp corners handles will not be adjusted.

  Deleting with Shift inverts the behavior: for slight curves adjacent nodes' handles will not be adjusted, for very cusp curves, handles will be adjusted to try and keep the shape.

  Note that there is a preferences option in the Node tool preferences that will disable autodetection and always adjust handles to try and keep the shape.

• Alt+Backspace,Ctrl+double-clickdelete segment

  The keyboard shortcut works with pairs of selected nodes, while the mouse shortcut works directly with any (unselected) path segment.

• Ctrl+Alt+clickcreate/delete node

  Ctrl+Alt+click on a node deletes it; Ctrl+Alt+click on the path between nodes creates a new node in the click point.

  Deleting nodes this way always tries to preserve the shape of the curve (same as Del/Backspace).

• double-clickcreate node

  Double-clicking on the path between nodes creates a node in the click point.

• Ins,Shift+Iinsert new node(s)

  This adds new node(s) in the middle(s) of selected segment(s), so it requires that more than two adjacent nodes be selected.

• Shift+Dduplicate selected node(s)

  New nodes are created on the same path; they are placed exactly over the old ones and are selected.

• Ctrl+Ccopy selected node(s) to clipboard

• Ctrl+Vinsert nodes from clipboard

  Inserts a set of nodes into the currently selected path in the current mouse cursor position.

Reverse

• Shift+Rreverse path direction

Edit shapes

• Node tool can also drag the handles of shapes (rectangles, ellipses, stars, spirals). Click on a shape to select it.

  See the corresponding shape tools for their editing shortcuts, all of which also work in node tool.

Edit fills and path effects

• Node tool can also edit the handles of a pattern fill, gradient fill, and the editable handles of path effects.

Cancel

• Esccancel rubberband or move

  Press Esc while mouse button is still down to cancel rubberband selection, node move, or handle move.

Shape Builder tool⚓

Add mode

• This is the default mode. To indicate it select "Shape Builder Tool: Add" button on the toolbar.

  clickon segment to add it to the result as separate object

• Shift+clickon a segment to remove the segment

• mouse dragover segment boundary to union all touched segments

• Shift+mouse dragover segment boundary to remove all touched segments

Remove mode

• This is the inverted mode. To indicate it select "Shape Builder Tool: Delete" button on the toolbar.

  clickon segment to remove the segment

• Shift+clickon segment to add it to the result as separate object

• mouse dragover segment boundary to remove all touched segments

• Shift+mouse dragover segment boundary to union all touched segments

Apply

• Enterapply changes and leave Shape Builder tool

• Escleave Shape Builder tool without changes

Rectangle tool⚓

Draw

• mouse dragdraw a rectangle

• Ctrl+mouse dragmake a square or integer-ratio rectangle

  This restricts width/height ratio or its inverse to a whole number or the golden ratio.

• Ctrl+Alt+mouse dragmake a square

• Shift+mouse dragdraw around the starting point

  This creates a rectangle symmetric around the starting point of the mouse drag.

Select

• clickclick to select

• Alt+click,Ctrl+Alt+clickselect under

Move

• mouse dragdrag cross handle to move

Resize by handles

• mouse dragdrag a square handle to resize

  Initially, the two resize (square) handles are in top left and bottom right corners.

  Resize handles change the width and height of the rectangle in its own coordinate system, before any transforms are applied.

• Ctrl+mouse draglock width, height, or ratio

Round corners by handles

• mouse dragdrag a circular handle to round corners

  Initially, the two rounding handles are in the top right corner of the rectangle.

• Ctrl+mouse draglock the corner circular

• Ctrl+clickset the corner circular

  When rounding corners, dragging one rounding handle keeps the corner circular if the other remains at the corner.

  You can drag both handles for an elliptic rounded corner, or drag/click one with Ctrl to make it circular again.

• Shift+clickremove corner rounding

Ellipse tool⚓

Draw

• Without Alt the starting and ending point of the mouse drag mark the corners of the bounding box.

  With Alt the ellipse is enlarged so that its circumference passes through these two points (Ctrl+Alt is a special case; see below).

  mouse dragdraw an ellipse

• Ctrl+mouse dragmake circle or integer-ratio ellipse

  This restricts width/height ratio or its inverse to a whole number or the golden ratio.

• Shift+mouse dragdraw around the starting point

  This creates an ellipse symmetric around the starting point of the mouse drag.

• Ctrl+Alt+mouse dragcreate circle passing through the starting and ending point

  This creates a perfect circle whose diameter is defined by the starting and ending point of the mouse drag.

Select

• clickclick to select

• Alt+click,Ctrl+Alt+clickselect under

• Shift+clicktoggle selection

  In this tool, selecting by click disregards any grouping (i.e. acts as clicking with Ctrl in Selector).

• Escdeselect

Move

• mouse dragdrag cross handle to move

Edit by handles

• mouse dragresize, make arc or segment

  Initially, the two resize handles are at the topmost and leftmost points; the two arc/segment handles are in the rightmost point.

• Ctrl+mouse draglock circle (resize handles)

• Ctrl+mouse dragsnap to angle steps (arc/segment handles)

  Resize handles change the width and height of the ellipse in its own coordinate system, before any transforms are applied.

  The default angle step is 15 degrees.

• Shift+clickmake whole (arc/segment handles)

Star tool⚓

Draw

• mouse dragdraw a star

• Ctrl+mouse dragsnap star to angle steps

  The default angle step is 15 degrees.

Select

• clickclick to select

• Alt+click,Ctrl+Alt+clickselect under

• Shift+clicktoggle selection

  In this tool, selecting by click disregards any grouping (i.e. acts as clicking with Ctrl in Selector).

• Escdeselect

Move

• mouse dragdrag cross handle to move

Edit by handles

• mouse dragdrag a handle to vary the star shape

• Ctrl+mouse dragkeep star rays radial (no skew)

• Shift+mouse draground the star

• Shift+clickremove rounding

• Alt+mouse dragrandomize the star

• Alt+click,Ctrl+Alt+clickremove randomization

3D box tool⚓

Draw

• mouse dragdraw a 3D box (X/Y plane)

• Shift+mouse dragdraw a 3D box (extrude in Z)

Select

• clickclick to select

• Alt+click,Ctrl+Alt+clickselect under

• Shift+clicktoggle selection

• Escdeselect

Move

• mouse dragdrag cross handle to move

Edit by handles

• All editing operations occur "in perspective", i.e., either along perspective lines or within planes spanned by these.

  mouse dragresize/move box

  The four front handles and the center normally move within the XY plane, the four rear handles along the Z axis.

• Shift+mouse dragresize/move (with handle behaviour swapped)

• Ctrl+mouse dragresize/move (handles snap to axes or diagonals)

Edit perspectives

• In what follows, we use the abbreviations VP = vanishing point, PL = perspective line.

  mouse dragdrag square handles to move the VPs

• [,]rotate X-PLs (if parallel) by the angle step

  The default angle step is 15 degrees. ],),} rotate clockwise, [,(,{ rotate counterclockwise.

• Alt+[,Alt+]rotate X-PLs (if parallel) by 1 pixel

• (,)rotate Y-PLs (if parallel) by the angle step

• Alt+(,Alt+)rotate Y-PLs (if parallel) by 1 pixel

• {,}rotate Z-PLs (if parallel) by the angle step

• Alt+{,Alt+}rotate Z-PLs (if parallel) by 1 pixel

Spiral tool⚓

Draw

• mouse dragdraw a spiral

• Ctrl+mouse dragsnap spiral to angle steps

  The default angle step is 15 degrees.

Select

• clickclick to select

• Alt+click,Ctrl+Alt+clickselect under

• Shift+clicktoggle selection

  In this tool, selecting by click disregards any grouping (i.e. acts as clicking with Ctrl in Selector).

• Escdeselect

Move

• mouse dragdrag cross handle to move

Edit by handles

• mouse dragroll/unroll from inside (inner handle)

  Dragging the inner handle adjusts the "inner radius" parameter.

• Alt+mouse dragconverge/diverge (inner handle)

• Alt+click,Ctrl+Alt+clickreset divergence (inner handle)

  Vertical Alt+drag of the inner handle adjusts the "divergence" parameter, Alt+click resets it to 1.

• Shift+clickzero inner radius (inner handle)

  Shift+click on inner handle makes the spiral start from the center.

• mouse dragroll/unroll from outside (outer handle)

  Dragging the outer handle adjusts the "turns" parameter.

• Alt+mouse draglock radius (outer handle)

  Roll/unroll without changing radius.

• Shift+mouse dragscale/rotate (outer handle)

  Use Shift+Alt+drag to rotate only (locks the radius of the spiral).

• Ctrl+mouse dragsnap handles to angle steps

  The default angle step is 15 degrees. This works for both handles.

Pen (Bezier) tool⚓

Create nodes

• clickcreate a sharp node

  If no path is being created, this starts a new path.

• Shift+clickadd to selected path

  If a path is selected, Shift+dragging anywhere creates a new subpath instead of a new independent path.

• mouse dragcreate a Bezier node with two handles

• Shift+mouse dragmove only one handle

  This moves only one handle (instead of both) while creating a node, making it cusp.

• Ctrl+mouse dragsnap the handle to angle steps

  The default angle step is 15 degrees.

Move last node

• These commands move the last created node (at the start of the red segment) while creating a path.

  arrowsmove last node by the nudge distance

• Shift+arrowsmove last node by 10x nudge distance

  The default nudge distance is 2 px (SVG pixel units, not screen pixels).

• Alt+arrowsmove last node by 1 pixel

• Shift+Alt+arrowsmove last node by 10 pixels

  The actual distance for pixel movements depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer movement.

Create/modify segments

• Ctrlsnap last segment to angle steps

  This snaps the new node's angle, relative to the previous node, to angle steps (default 15 degrees).

• Shift+Lmake last segment line

• Shift+Umake last segment curve

  These commands change the last (red) segment of the path to straight line or curve.

Create dots

• Ctrl+clickcreate a dot (straight line modes only)

  This creates a small circle. Its size (relative to the current stroke width) can be set in Preferences.

• Ctrl+Shift+clickcreate a double-sized dot

• Ctrl+Alt+clickcreate a random-sized dot

Finish

• Enterfinish current path

• Shift+Enterfinish and close current path

• right-clickfinish current path

• double-clickfinish current path

  Enter or right-click finish the current line, discarding the last unfinished (red) segment. Double left-click finishes the current line where double-clicked.

Cancel

• Esc,Ctrl+Zcancel current line

• Backspace,Delerase last segment of current line

Pencil tool⚓

• mouse dragdraw a freehand path

• Shift+mouse dragadd to selected path

  If a path is selected, Shift+dragging from anywhere starts a new subpath instead of a new independent path.

• Shift+mouse dragtemporarily disable snapping

  This temporarily disables snapping when you are dragging with snapping activated.

• Alt+mouse dragaveraging draw (sketch mode)

• Ctrl+mouse draglift pencil

  A short press of the Ctrl key discontinues the current path. Release the mouse button and click and drag again to continue. The loose ends will be connected by straight lines when the path is finished.

• clickstart a straight path (finish with another click)

Create dots

• Ctrl+clickcreate a dot

  This creates a small circle. Its size (relative to the current stroke width) can be set in Preferences.

• Ctrl+Shift+clickcreate a double-sized dot

• Ctrl+Alt+clickcreate a random-sized dot

Calligraphy tool⚓

Draw

• mouse dragdraw a calligraphic stroke

• Shift+mouse dragadd to selected path

  Drawing with Shift unions the newly created stroke with the previous selection.

• Alt+mouse dragsubtract from selected path

  Drawing with Alt subtracts the newly created stroke from the previous selection.

• Ctrl+mouse dragtrack a guide path

  Drawing with Ctrl tracks a selected guide path at the constant distance.

• Left arrow,Right arrowadjust pen width by 1

• Home,Endset pen width to its minimum or maximum

• Up arrow,Down arrowadjust pen angle

  Width and angle can be adjusted while drawing.

• Escdeselect

Create dots

• clickcreate a dot

• Shift+clickcreate a larger dot

  Click in place without moving the mouse to create a dot.

Text tool⚓

Select/create

• clickcreate/select a text object

  Clicking in an empty space or on a non-text creates a text object; now you can type your text.

  Clicking on a text object selects it; cursor is placed near the click point.

• Escdeselect the text object

Navigate in text

• arrowsmove cursor by one character

• Ctrl+Left arrow,Ctrl+Right arrowmove cursor by one word

• Ctrl+Up arrow,Ctrl+Down arrowmove cursor by one paragraph

• Home,Endgo to beginning/end of line

• Ctrl+Home,Ctrl+Endgo to beginning/end of text

• PgUp,PgDnmove cursor by one screen

  All these commands cancel current text selection, if any. Use them with Shift to add to / subtract from selection instead.

Flowed text (internal frame)

• mouse dragcreate flowed text

  Clicking and dragging in an empty space or on a non-text creates a flowed text object with internal frame.

• mouse dragadjust frame size

  Dragging the handle in the lower right corner of the selected flowed text changes width/height of the frame.

• Ctrl+mouse draglock width, height, or ratio of frame

  Dragging the corner handle with Ctrl resizes the frame preserving either width, or height, or ratio.

Flowed text (external frame)

• Alt+Wflow text into frame

  With a text object and a shape/path selected, this flows text into the shape/path.

  Both remain separate objects, but are linked; editing the shape/path causes the text to reflow.

• Shift+Alt+Wunflow text from frame

  This cuts the flowed text's link to the shape/path, producing a single-line regular text object.

• Shift+Dselect external frame

  To find out which object is the frame of this flowed text, select it and press Shift+D. The frame will be selected.

Text on path

• Shift+Dselect path from text

  To find out which path this text is put on, select it and press Shift+D. The path will be selected.

Edit text

• To type + and - characters, use the main keyboard; keypad + and - are reserved for zoom (unless NumLock is on).

  Enterstart a new line or paragraph

  Enter in regular text creates new line; in flowed text it creates a new paragraph.

• Ctrl+Utoggle Unicode entry

  To insert an arbitrary Unicode character, type Ctrl+U, then the hexadecimal code point, then Enter.

  For example, type Ctrl+U 2 0 1 4 Enter for an em-dash; Ctrl+U a 9 Enter for a copyright sign.

  To stay in Unicode mode after inserting the character, press Space instead of Enter.

  Press Esc or another Ctrl+U to cancel Unicode mode without inserting the character.

• Ctrl+Spaceinsert no-break space

  A no-break space is visible even in a text object without xml:space="preserve".

Select text

• mouse dragselect text

  Left-dragging over a text object selects a text span.

• Shift+arrowsselect text by character

• Shift+Ctrl+arrowsselect text by word

• Shift+Home,Shift+Endselect to beginning/end of line

• Shift+Ctrl+Home,Shift+Ctrl+Endselect to beginning/end of text

• Shift+PgUp,Shift+PgDnselect one screen up/down

• double-clickselect word

• click+click+clickselect line

• Ctrl+Aselect all text

  This selects the entire text of the current text object.

Style selection

• Ctrl+Bmake selection bold

• Ctrl+Imake selection italic

  Also, you can use the Text&Font or Fill&Stroke dialogs to assign any style to text selection.

Letter spacing

• Alt+>expand line/paragraph by 1 pixel

• Shift+Alt+>expand line/paragraph by 10 pixels

• Alt+<contract line/paragraph by 1 pixel

• Shift+Alt+<contract line/paragraph by 10 pixels

  These commands (only when editing text) adjust letter spacing in the current line (regular text) or paragraph (flowed text).

  The actual adjustment for pixel movements depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer adjustment.

Line spacing

• Ctrl+Alt+>make the text object taller by 1 pixel

• Shift+Ctrl+Alt+>make the text object taller by 10 pixels

• Ctrl+Alt+<make the text object shorter by 1 pixel

• Shift+Ctrl+Alt+<make the text object shorter by 10 pixels

  These commands (only when editing text) adjust line spacing in the entire text object (regular or flowed).

  The actual adjustment for pixel movements depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer adjustment.

Kerning and shifting

• Alt+arrowsshift characters by 1 pixel

• Shift+Alt+arrowsshift characters by 10 pixels

  These commands work when editing a regular text object. Kerning does not work in flowed text.

  With no selection, they shift (horizontally or vertically) the characters after the cursor until the end of line.

  With selection, they shift the selection relative to the rest of text (by inserting opposite kerns at both ends of selection).

  The actual adjustment for pixel movements depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer adjustment.

Rotate

• Ctrl+[,Ctrl+]rotate character(s) by 90 degrees

• Alt+[,Alt+]rotate character(s) by 1 pixel

  These commands rotate the next character (without selection) or all characters in the selection (with selection).

  Rotation only works in regular text (not flowed text).

  The actual angle for pixel rotation depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer movement.

Gradient tool⚓

Select objects

• clickclick an object to select

• Alt+clickselect under

• Shift+clicktoggle selection

Create gradients

• mouse dragcreate gradient

  This creates gradient on selected objects. The tool controls bar lets you select linear/radial and fill/stroke for the new gradient.

• double-clickcreate default gradient

  This creates default (horizontal edge-to-edge for linear, centered edge-to-edge-to-edge for radial) gradient on clicked object.

Select handles

• clickselect a handle

• Shift+clickadd handle to selection

• Shift+mouse dragselect by rubberband

• Tabselect next handle

• Shift+Tabselect previous handle

• Ctrl+Aselect all handles

• Escdeselect all handles

  Single click outside all handles also deselects all handles.

Create/delete intermediate stops

• Ctrl+Alt+click,double-clickcreate a stop

  Ctrl+Alt+click or double-click on a gradient line creates a new intermediate stop.

• Ctrl+Alt+clickdelete stop

  Ctrl+Alt+click on a stop's handle deletes the stop; if it was an end stop, gradient shortens or disappears.

• Ins,Shift+Iinsert new stop(s)

  This adds new stop(s) in the middle(s) between adjacent, selected stops or, if only one stop is selected, in the middle of the segment that starts with the selected stop.

• Deldelete selected stops

Move handles/stops

• mouse dragmove selected handle(s)

• Ctrl+mouse dragmove stops in 1/10 range increments

  Ctrl+dragging selected intermediate stops moves them snapping to 1/10 steps of the available range.

• Alt+mouse dragsculpt selected stops

  Sculpting moves the selected intermediate stops depending on how close each one is to the stop being dragged, using a smooth bell-like curve similar to the node sculpting feature in Node tool.

• Ctrl+Lsimplify selected stops

  Simplify looks at adjacent selected stops and removes redundant stops.

• arrowsmove selected handle by the nudge distance

• Shift+arrowsmove selected handle by 10x nudge distance

  The default nudge distance is 2 px (SVG pixel units, not screen pixels).

• Alt+arrowsmove selected handle by 1 pixel

• Shift+Alt+arrowsmove selected handle by 10 pixels

  If at least one end handle is selected, arrow keys move the end handle to move or resize the gradient line.

  If only mid stops are selected, arrow keys move the selected stops along the gradient line.

  The actual distance for pixel movements depends on zoom level. Zoom in for finer movement.

Reverse

• Shift+Rreverse gradient definition

  This mirrors the stop positions of the current gradient without moving the gradient handles.

Mesh tool⚓

Create

• click+mouse drag,double-clickcreate a mesh gradient on an object

Selecting corners and handles

• clickon a corner to select the mesh corner

• clickon a path to select the end corners of a path

• Shift+clickon a path to add the end corners of a path to selection

• mouse dragselect multiple mesh corners

  Opens a rectangular "rubberband" selection area.

• Shift+mouse dragadd mesh corners to selection

• Ctrl+Aselect all mesh corners

Modify corners

• mouse dragdrag a mesh corner or handle (circle, triangle) to modify mesh geometry

• Alt+Btoggle selected sides between Beziers and lines

• Alt+Cmake selected sides elliptical by changing the length of handles

• Shift+Isubdivide mesh between two selected corners

• double-clickon a path to divide row/column by two at that point

• Alt+Gtoggle on/off tensor points (square markers) for selected (all four surrounding corners) patches

Colors

• Alt+Kpick color underneath mesh at selected corners

• Alt+Jeliminate "Mach Banding" optical illusion by making color transition smooth around a corner by changing length of Bezier handles

Dropper tool⚓

• clickpick fill color

• Shift+clickpick stroke color

• mouse dragaverage fill color

• Shift+mouse dragaverage stroke color

  Click applies the color under cursor to the current selection. Dragging a radius calculates the average color of a circular area.

  If a gradient handle (in Gradient tool) is selected, it gets the color instead of the entire object.

• Alt+click,Alt+mouse drag,Ctrl+Alt+click,Ctrl+Alt+mouse dragpick inverse color

  If Alt is pressed, picking color (with or without Shift, by click or by drag) picks the inverse of the color.

• Ctrl+Ccopy color

  This copies the color under cursor to the clipboard, as text in RRGGBBAA format (8 hex digits).

Paint Bucket⚓

• clickfill a bounded area

• Shift+clickadd to selected path

  Clicking with Shift unions the newly created fill with the previous selection.

• mouse dragfill from each point

  From each point, the fill spreads to the neighbors with the colors similar to that point.

  This can be used to fill an area currently filled with a gradient or blur.

• Alt+mouse dragfill from each point similar to the initial point

  From each point, the fill spreads to the neighbors with the colors similar to the initial point of the drag.

  This can be used to fill several disjoint bounded areas by starting in one and dragging over all of the areas.

• Ctrl+clickset fill color

• Shift+Ctrl+clickset stroke color

  Ctrl+clicking an object sets its fill (or stroke with Shift) to the tool's current style; the object need not be selected.

Tweak tool⚓

Operation

• mouse dragact on selected paths in the current mode

• Shift+mouse dragreverse current mode (when applicable)

• Ctrl+mouse dragtemporarily switch to shrink mode

• Ctrl+Shift+mouse dragtemporarily switch to grow mode

  The amount of tweaking action is the greatest at the center of the circular area and drops off smoothly towards the edges.

Modes

• Shift+Mmove mode

• Shift+Imove in/out mode

  Drag moves objects inwards to cursor, drag with Shift moves outwards from cursor.

• Shift+Zmove jitter mode

• Shift+<,Shift+>scale mode

  Drag scales objects down, drag with Shift scales up.

• Shift+[,Shift+]rotate mode

  Drag rotates objects clockwise, drag with Shift, counterclockwise.

• Shift+Dduplicate/delete mode

  Drag randomly duplicates objects, drag with Shift randomly deletes.

• Shift+Ppush path mode

• Shift+Sshrink/grow path mode

  Drag insets paths, drag with Shift outsets.

• Shift+Aattract/repel path mode

  Drag attracts paths to cursor, drag with Shift repels.

• Shift+Rroughen mode

• Shift+Ccolor paint mode

• Shift+Jcolor jitter mode

• Shift+Bblur mode

Parameters

• Left arrow,Right arrowadjust brush width by 1

• Home,Endset brush width to its minimum or maximum

• Up arrow,Down arrowadjust tweaking force

  Width and force can be adjusted while drawing. With a pressure-sensitive tablet, force also depends on pen pressure.

Spray tool⚓

Operation

• clickspray a single item on the canvas

• right-click+mouse dragchange next item for single-item mode

• mouse dragspray many items on the canvas

• click+mouse wheelspray more items in the same location

Modes

• Shift+Jcopy mode

• Shift+Kclone mode

• Shift+Lsingle path mode

Parameters

• Left arrow,Right arrowadjust spray width by 1

• Up arrow,Down arrowadjust spray population by 1

• Home,Endset spray width to its minimum or maximum

Eraser tool⚓

• Left arrow,Right arrowadjust eraser width by 1

• Home,Endset eraser width to its minimum or maximum

Measure tool⚓

• mouse dragmeasure distance and angle between the start point and the cursor

• Shift+mouse dragset base of angle measurement to cursor position

• Ctrl+mouse dragsnap angle measure to angle steps

  The default angle step is 15 degrees.

Zoom tool⚓

• clickzoom in

• Shift+clickzoom out

• mouse dragzoom into the area

Pages tool⚓

• mouse dragon empty space of canvas to create new page

• clickon existing page to select the page

• mouse dragmove a selected page

• mouse dragcorner square-shaped handles to resize the page

• mouse dragblue circle-shaped handle to adjust page margin on that side

• Ctrl+mouse dragblue circle-shaped handle to adjust all page margins of equal value simultaneously

• Backspace,Deldelete a selected page