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Keyboard shortcuts

A complete cheatsheet. Hotkeys are case-insensitive unless noted.

Tools

KeyTool
BPencil
EEraser
IEyedropper
GFill (paint bucket)
KColor Replace
HShade
LLine
RRectangle
OEllipse
MRectangular Selection
WMagic Wand
QLasso
ASelection Brush
YSlice

Colours

KeyAction
XSwap primary and secondary
DReset to default colours (B/W)

Zoom & pan

KeyAction
+ / =Zoom in
-Zoom out
Space + dragPan
Middle-click + dragPan
Mouse wheelZoom (centred on cursor)

History

KeyAction
Ctrl+ZUndo
Ctrl+Shift+Z / Ctrl+YRedo

Selection

KeyAction
Ctrl+ASelect all
Ctrl+DDeselect
Ctrl+Shift+IInvert selection
Ctrl+CCopy
Ctrl+XCut
Ctrl+VPaste
Delete / BackspaceClear inside selection
Arrow keysMove floating selection 1 px
Shift+ArrowMove floating selection 8 px
EscCancel pending op (deselect / cancel slot pick)

Selection modifiers (during drag with Select / Lasso / Magic Wand)

KeyEffect
(none)Replace current selection
ShiftAdd to selection
AltSubtract from selection
Shift+AltIntersect with selection

Transforms

KeyAction
Shift+HFlip horizontally
Shift+VFlip vertically
Shift+RRotate 90° clockwise (square area required)
Shift+Alt+RRotate 90° counter-clockwise
Shift+TFree Transform (interactive on-canvas handles)

Workspace toggles

KeyAction
TToggle tile preview (3×3 grid)
PToggle preview window
Shift+DToggle frame diff overlay

File & app

KeyAction
Ctrl+SSave project to browser storage (also suppresses the browser's native "Save Page As" dialog)
Ctrl+K / Ctrl+POpen the command palette

Palette

KeyAction
[Quick palette swap — previous built-in preset
]Quick palette swap — next built-in preset

Panel clipboard (when focus is on the Layers or Frames panel)

KeyAction
Ctrl+CCopy the focused row (a snapshot — survives deleting the source)
Ctrl+XCut the focused row
Ctrl+VPaste — adds a new layer/frame from the most recent copy/cut
DeleteDelete the focused row

These shortcuts are scoped to the panel — the canvas-pixel Ctrl+C/X/V keeps working when focus is on the canvas. See Layers and Frames timeline.

Notes

  • Pixel-perfect mode, Symmetry, Onion Skin, and Reference are toggled from the Tools panel — they don't have global hotkeys yet.
  • Color Replace scope is set in the Tools panel when the tool is active.
  • Frame and Layer reorder is mouse-based (drag the grip handle).
  • Transforms operate on the active selection if any, otherwise the whole active layer.

Language & theme

  • Display language — English / Español, auto-detected from the browser on first launch. Change in Preferences → Display language.
  • Theme — Light / Dark / System, auto-detected from your OS preference. Quick switcher in the avatar menu (top-right of the top bar) and full control in Preferences.

Customising shortcuts

The keys above are defaults. Open the Keyboard icon in the top bar to remap any tool / color / workspace / transform / palette shortcut. Bindings persist in your browser's localStorage.

Standard combinations stay fixed (not remappable): Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+C/X/V, Ctrl+A/D, Ctrl+Shift+I, arrow keys, +/-, Space, Esc, Delete/Backspace.

Motestack is a personal hobby project. The editor and these docs ship under no warranty — back up your `.mstack` files.