Best Affinity Photo Keyboard Shortcuts 2023: time-saving tips

The best Affinity Photo Keyboard Shortcuts stands out as an award-winning photo editing software that offers a one-time purchase option, distinguishing itself from Adobe’s subscription-based model for Photoshop. It not only has powerful features that rival Photoshop, but it is also compatible with PSD files, which makes it easy for Adobe suite users to work together.

As with most editing programs, Affinity Photo has a number of keyboard shortcuts that make working with the program much easier. The website for the software has a shortcut guide, but it looks like a confusing keyboard overlay. I think this overlay is too hard to understand and takes too much time to use. Many people on the Affinity forum said the same thing: they were annoyed by the interface’s fancy graphics, which seemed to put looks over usability.

So, I decided to make a simple, tabulated list of keyboard shortcuts for Affinity Photo so that they are easy to find. This complete list will make it easy for you to find the shortcuts you need quickly, making editing much easier. We recommend that you save this page as a bookmark or download the whole list as a PDF. You can then print it out and keep it at your desk or on your phone. Below we have mentioned the best Affinity Photo Keyboard Shortcuts.

Best Affinity Photo Keyboard Shortcuts

General Shortcuts:

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New document
Ctrl+O	Open document
Ctrl+S	Save document
Ctrl+Shift+S	Save As
Ctrl+P	Print document
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Y	Redo
Ctrl+C	Copy
Ctrl+X	Cut
Ctrl+V	Paste
Ctrl+A	Select All
Ctrl+D	Deselect
Ctrl+T	Transform
Ctrl+Shift+T	Repeat last transform
Ctrl+Shift+Z	Step Forward
Ctrl+Alt+Z	Step Backward
F1	Show Help

File Operations:

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New document
Ctrl+O	Open document
Ctrl+S	Save document
Ctrl+Shift+S	Save As
Ctrl+P	Print document
Ctrl+W	Close document
Ctrl+Shift+W	Close all documents
Ctrl+Q	Quit Affinity Photo

Edit Operations:

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Y	Redo
Ctrl+C	Copy
Ctrl+X	Cut
Ctrl+V	Paste
Delete	Delete
Ctrl+A	Select All
Ctrl+D	Deselect
Ctrl+T	Transform
Ctrl+Shift+T	Repeat last transform
Ctrl+Alt+Z	Step Backward
Ctrl+Shift+Z	Step Forward
Ctrl+Shift+X	Clear

Selection Tools:

Shortcut	Action
M	Rectangle Marquee
V	Move
L	Lasso
W	Magic Wand
I	Inpainting Brush
J	Flood Select
E	Erase Brush
G	Gradient Fill
B	Paint Brush
P	Pen Tool
Z	Zoom
H	Hand
R	Rotate View
O	Selection Brush
U	Focus Merge

Layer Operations:

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+Shift+N	New Pixel Layer
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+N	New Mask Layer
Ctrl+J	Duplicate Layer
Ctrl+E	Merge Down
Ctrl+Shift+E	Merge Visible
Ctrl+G	Group Layers
Ctrl+Shift+G	Ungroup Layers
Ctrl+Shift+R	Rasterize
Ctrl+Shift+M	Mask to Below
Ctrl+Shift+F	Fill Mask with Primary Color

Affinity Photo Keyboard Shortcuts for Different Platforms

Windows shortcuts:

Shortcut	Description
Ctrl+N	New document
Ctrl+O	Open document
Ctrl+S	Save document
Ctrl+Shift+S	Save As…
Ctrl+P	Print
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Y	Redo
Ctrl+X	Cut
Ctrl+C	Copy
Ctrl+V	Paste
Ctrl+A	Select All
Ctrl+D	Deselect All
Ctrl+Shift+I	Invert Selection
Ctrl+G	Group layers
Ctrl+Shift+G	Ungroup layers
Ctrl+Shift+T	Create Clipping Mask
Ctrl+T	Transform
Ctrl+Shift+M	Merge Visible
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E	New Snapshot from Visible
Ctrl+Shift+C	Copy Merged
Ctrl+Shift+J	New Layer from Visible
Ctrl+Alt+J	New Layer with Copy
Ctrl+Shift+U	Desaturate
Ctrl+Shift+N	New Layer
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+N	New Layer below
Ctrl+Shift+F	Fade
Ctrl+L	Levels
Ctrl+M	Curves
Ctrl+U	Hue/Saturation/Lightness
Ctrl+B	Brightness/Contrast
Ctrl+I	Invert
Ctrl+Shift+D	Duplicate
Ctrl+Shift+K	Convert to Curves
Ctrl+Shift+B	Blend Options
Ctrl+J	Duplicate Layer
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T	Create Texture Brush
Ctrl+Shift+E	Rasterize
Ctrl+H	Show/Hide Selection
Ctrl+Shift+A	Expand Stroke
Ctrl+Shift+Z	Switch Zoom to Fill
Ctrl+Plus (+)	Zoom In
Ctrl+Minus (-)	Zoom Out
Ctrl+0 (zero)	Actual Size
Ctrl+1	Zoom to Fit
Ctrl+9	Toggle UI
Ctrl+Shift+W	Close Document
Ctrl+Shift+Q	Exit Affinity Photo

Mac shortcuts:

Shortcut	Description
Cmd+N	New document
Cmd+O	Open document
Cmd+S	Save document
Cmd+Shift+S	Save As…
Cmd+P	Print
Cmd+Z	Undo
Cmd+Y	Redo
Cmd+X	Cut
Cmd+C	Copy
Cmd+V	Paste
Cmd+A	Select All
Cmd+D	Deselect All
Cmd+Shift+I	Invert Selection
Cmd+G	Group layers
Cmd+Shift+G	Ungroup layers
Cmd+Shift+T	Create Clipping Mask
Cmd+T	Transform

FAQs

What are keyboard shortcuts in Affinity Photo?

Keyboard shortcuts are key combinations that perform specific actions or commands in Affinity Photo. They provide a faster and more efficient way to navigate and use the software.

Can I customize the keyboard shortcuts in Affinity Photo?

Yes, you can change the keyboard shortcuts in Affinity Photo so that they work the way you want them to. In the “Keyboard Shortcuts” tab of the “Preferences” menu, you can assign new shortcuts or change existing ones by double-clicking on the action and pressing the desired key combination.

How can I quickly switch between tools in Affinity Photo?

You can use keyboard shortcuts to move from one tool to another in Affinity Photo. Press the key that corresponds to the tool you want to use. For example, press “V” for the Move Tool, “M” for the Rectangular Marquee Tool, “B” for the Brush Tool, etc.