There are plenty of ways to use the tools in Hexels, including some fancy features you may have not known about. We’ve put together a helpful list of keys and shortcuts to help you push all the right buttons.

Note:  On Mac, use Command instead of Ctrl.

Tools
Item Key Notes
Brush B Selects the Brush tool
Brush Size + ] Increase brush size by one
Brush Size – [ Decrease brush size by one
Brush Hardness + Shift+} Increase pixel brush hardness by one
Brush Hardness – Shift+{ Decrease pixel brush hardness by one
Cycle Brush Type Shift+B Cycles pixel brush between paintbrush, pencil, and airbrush modes
Color Dropper Tool I Switch to the eyedropper tool
Screen Dropper Shift+C Switch to the anywhere-on-screen color picker for one click only
Color Picker C Show the Color Picker window
Floating Color Picker Alt+RMB Show/hide the floating color picker
Invert Color Ctrl+I Invert colors in selection/cel
Color Swap X Swap selected foreground and background colors
Current Fill Tool G Switch to the current fill tool (Flood fill, Gradient, or Noise)
Cycle Fill Tools Shift+G Cycle through the fill tools (Flood fill, Gradient, Noise)
Current Shape Tool L Switch to the current shape tool (Line, Shape, Super Shape)
Cycle Shape Tools Shift+L Cycle through the shape tools (Line, Shape, Super Shape)
Outline O Select the Outline tool for drawing outlines on a Vector layer
Erase E Select the Erase tool
Quick Erase Q Hold key to temporarily switch to the eraser tool
Current Selection Tool S Switch to the current selection tool
Cycle Selection Tools Shift+S Cycle through Selection tools
Zoom Tool Z Switch to the Zoom tool
Zoom In Ctrl+=
Zoom Out Ctrl+-
Zoom Canvas Ctrl+0 Zoom to show the entire canvas
Pixel Zoom (Hold) R Zoom to pixel resolution until button is released
Frame Tool F Switch to the Frame tool
Free Transform Ctrl+T Switch to the Free Transform tool (requires a selection)
Layer Transform T Switch to the Layer Transform Tool for animating layer motion
Pan (Hold) Space Switch to the pan tool while the button is held
Brush Opacity % 0-9
File
Item Key Notes
New File Ctrl+N
Open Ctrl+O
Save Ctrl+S
Save As Ctrl+Shift+S
Import Image Ctrl+Alt+I Import and convert an image file to a vector layer
Export Image Ctrl+E Export current frame as an image file
Export Again Ctrl+Shift+E Repeat the previous export to the same file with the same settings
Exit Ctrl+Q
Edit
Item Key Notes
Cut Ctrl+X
Copy Ctrl+C
Paste Ctrl+V
Undo Ctrl+Z
Redo Ctrl+Shift+Z
Invert Color Ctrl+I
Free Transform Ctrl+T
Select
Item Key Notes
Select None Ctrl+D
Esc
Cancel selection
Select All Ctrl+A Select everything on the current layer, corner to corner
Select All Wrapped Ctrl+Shift+A Select everything on the current layer that isn’t empty space
Invert Selection Ctrl+Shift+I
Fill Selection Ctrl+F Flood-fill selected area with color. If using outline tool, creates outline around selection borders.
View
Item Key Notes
Zoom In Ctrl+=
Zoom Out Ctrl+-
Zoom to Fit Ctrl+0 View the whole canvas
Toggle Vector Grid Ctrl+G
Toggle Pixel Grid Ctrl+P
Toggle Trixel Sub-Grid Alt+1-9 Trixel mode only
Toggle Glow Ctrl+Shift+G
Toggle Fullscreen Ctrl+Return
Flip Horizontal H (Hold) View and paint on a horizontally flipped canvas
Flip Vertical V (Hold) View and paint on a vertically flipped canvas
Tool Tabs Ctrl+1-9
Floating Color Picker Alt+C, Alt+RMB
Layers
Item Key Notes
Layer Quick Select W Hover tool over layer content to pick layer
Isolate Layer ` (Hold) Isolate current layer while button is held
New Vector Layer Ctrl+Shift+N Create a new Vector layer
New Pixel Layer Ctrl+Shift+P Create a new Pixel layer
Merge Layer Ctrl+Shift+M Merge current layer with the one below it. Vector layers merged with pixel layers will be rasterized to pixels first.
Layer Settings Ctrl+L Open layer properties window for editing settings and post-effects for the current layer
Animation
Item Key Notes
Previous Frame , Move to the previous animation frame
Play/Pause P Play/pause the document’s animation
Next Frame . Move to the next animation frame
Insert Frame = Insert new animation frame

[tabby title=”Modifiers”]

Selection
Action/Key Description
Hold Shift (new selection) Constrain selection to square
Hold Shift (existing selection) Add to selection
Hold Alt Remove from selection
Hold Ctrl Move selection area
Drag Move selected content
Color/Paint
Action/Key Description
Hold Shift Lock paintbrush along axis
Hold Alt Temporary switch to Color Drop tool
Hold Alt + Shift Blend between current and picked color
X Swap between foreground and background color
Free Transform
Action/Key Description
Hold Alt Scale from center
Hold Shift Constrain scale to 1:1 aspect ratio
Layer Transform
Action/Key Description
Hold Ctrl Snap to grid when moving layer contents
Hold Shift Constrain transform along specific direction
Hold Alt Precise transform when moving layer contents
Super Shape Tool
Action/Key Description
Hold Shift Snap to grid
Hold Ctrl + Drag Create duplicate of shape
Drag exterior control points Scale and skew
Drag interior control points Move shape
Timeline
Action/Key Description
Hold Shift + tap arrow keys Cycle Layers/Frames
Hold Shift + Double click cel Turn cel into an empty key cel
Navigation
Action/Key Description
Hold Alt + Scroll forward/backward Zoom in/out
Hold Spacebar + Hold rmb Pan canvas
Hold H View and paint on a horizontally flipped canvas
Hold V View and paint on a vertically flipped canvas