How to Use Shortcut Keys in CorelDRAW

posted by: Anastasiia Kucherenko, in Articles / Theory/ Comments: 2

This article is all about shortcut keys for CorelDRAW, and the corresponding options on the Menu bar. Knowing the shortcuts you will definitely save your time when drawing in CorelDRAW.

Here are some of the most useful you might need:

If you want to align the objects to one of the sides, centre, etc. go to Arrange > Align and Distribute > (Align Left/ Right/ Top/ Bottom/ Centers Horisontally/ Centres Vertically/ Centre to Page), or press L, R, T, B, E, C, P respectively:

So, in the example below I aligned the objects to the Left. To do this just select all of them and click "L” or go to Arrange > Aligh and Distribute > Align Left:

To transform your objects go to Arrange > Trasformations > (Position (Alt+F7)/ Rotate (Alt+F8)/ Scale (Alt+F9)/ Size (Alt+F10):

After you click at one of your options, there will appear a docker on the right side of your window, where you can chose the precise angle of rotation, as well as the position on the page, scale and size the object you need:

Very often you work with the groups of objects; for this you will have to know how to group the opbects, ungroup them, brake them apart and combine them. To be able to do so go to Arrange > Group (Ctrl+G)/ ungroup (Ctrl+U), break apart (Ctrl+L)/ combine (Ctrl+K):

To order the object or the group of objects to one or a few layers back or forward, go to Arrange > Order > :

These are the basic and very important shortcuts for arranging obects in CorelDraw.

And here is the list of all shortcuts for CorelDraw (the list taken from here). Hope you find it useful:

Align Bottom	B	Aligns selected objects to the bottom
Align Centers Horizontally	E	Horizontally aligns the centers of the selected objects
Align Centers Vertically	C	Vertically aligns the centers of the selected objects
Align Left	L	Aligns selected objects to the left
Align Right	R	Aligns selected objects to the right
Align To Baseline	Alt+F12	Aligns text to the baseline
Align Top	T	Aligns selected objects to the top
Artistic Media	I	Draws curves and applies Preset, Brush, Spray, Calligraphic or Pressure Sensitive effe
Back One	Ctrl+PgDn	Back One
Break Apart	Ctrl+K	Breaks apart the selected object
Brightness/Contrast/Intensity	Ctrl+B	Brightness/Contrast/Intensity…
Bring up Property Bar	Ctrl+Enter	Brings up the Property Bar and gives focus to the first visible item that can be tabbed to
Center to Page	P	Aligns the centers of the selected objects to page
Character Formatting	Ctrl+T	Character Formatting
Color Balance…	Ctrl+Shift+B	Color Balance
Combine	Ctrl+L	Combines the selected objects
Contour	Ctrl+F9	Opens the Contour Docker Window
Convert	Ctrl+F8	Converts artistic text to paragraph text or vice versa
Convert Outline To Object	Ctrl+Shift+Q	Converts an outline to an object
Convert To Curves	Ctrl+Q	Converts the selected object to a curve
Copy	Ctrl+C	Copies the selection and places it on the Clipboard
Copy	Ctrl+Insert	Copies the selection and places it on the Clipboard
Cut	Ctrl+X	Cuts the selection and places it on the Clipboard
Cut	Shift+Delete	Cuts the selection and places it on the Clipboard
Delete	Delete	Deletes the selected object(s)
Distribute Bottom	Shift+B	Distributes selected objects to the bottom
Distribute Centers Horizontally	Shift+E	Horizontally Distributes the centers of the selected objects
Distribute Centers Vertically	Shift+C	Vertically Distributes the centers of the selected objects
Distribute Left	Shift+L	Distributes selected objects to the left
Distribute Right	Shift+R	Distributes selected objects to the right
Distribute Spacing Horizontally	Shift+P	Horizontally Distributes the space between the selected
Distribute Spacing Vertically	Shift+A	Vertically Distributes the space between the selected objects
Distribute Top	Shift+T	Distributes selected objects to the top
Duplicate	Ctrl+D	Duplicates the selected object(s) and offsets by a specified amount
Duplicate In Place	+	Duplicates the selected object(s) at their current location
Dynamic Guides	Alt+Shift+D	Shows or hides the Dynamic Guides (toggle)
Edit Text…	Ctrl+Shift+T	Opens the Edit Text dialog box
Ellipse	F7	Draws ellipses and circles; double-clicking the tool opens the Toolbox tab of the Option
Envelope	Ctrl+F7	Opens the Envelope Docker Window
Eraser	X	Erases part of a graphic or splits an object into two closed paths
Exit	Alt+F4	Exits CorelDRAW and prompts to save the active drawing
Export…	Ctrl+E	Exports text or objects to another format
Font Size Decrease	Ctrl+NUMPAD2	Decreases font size to previous point size
Font Size Increase	Ctrl+NUMPAD8	Increases font size to next point size
Font Size Next Combo Size	Ctrl+NUMPAD6	Increase font size to next setting in Font Size List
Font Size Previous Combo Size	Ctrl+NUMPAD4	Decrease font size to previous setting available in the Font Size List
Forward One	Ctrl+PgUp	Forward One
Fountain Fill…	F11	Applies fountain fills to objects
Freehand	F5	Draws lines and curves in Freehand mode
Full-Screen Preview	F9	Displays a full-screen preview of the drawing
Graph Paper	D	Draws a group of rectangles; double-clicking opens the Toolbox tab of the Options dial
Graphic and Text Styles	Ctrl+F5	Opens the Graphic and Text Styles Docker Window
Group	Ctrl+G	Groups the selected objects
Hand	H	Hand Tool
Horizontal Text C	Ctrl+,	Changes the text to horizontal direction
Hue/Saturation/Lightness…	Ctrl+Shift+U	Hue/Saturation/Lightness
Import…	Ctrl+I	Imports text or objects
Insert Symbol Character	Ctrl+F11	Opens the Insert Character Docker Window
Interactive Fill	G	Adds a fill to object(s); clicking and dragging on object(s) applies a fountain fill
Lens	Alt+F3	Opens the Lens Docker Window
Linear	Alt+F2	Contains functions for assigning attributes to linear dimension lines
Macro Editor…	Alt+F11	Macro Editor…
Mesh Fill	M	Converts an object to a Mesh Fill object
Micro Nudge Down	Ctrl+DnArrow	Nudges the object downward by the Micro Nudge factor
Micro Nudge Left	Ctrl+LeftArrow	Nudges the object to the left by the Micro Nudge factor
Micro Nudge Right	Ctrl+RightArrow	Nudges the object to the right by the Micro Nudge factor
Micro Nudge Up	Ctrl+UpArrow	Nudges the object upward by the Micro Nudge factor
Navigator	N	Brings up the Navigator window allowing you to navigate to any object in the document
New	Ctrl+N	Creates a new drawing
Next Page	PgDn	Goes to the next page
Nudge Down	DnArrow	Nudges the object downward
Nudge Left	LeftArrow	Nudges the object to the left
Nudge Right	RightArrow	Nudges the object to the right
Nudge Up	UpArrow	Nudges the object upw
Open…	Ctrl+O	Opens an existing drawing
Options…	Ctrl+J	Opens the dialog for setting CorelDRAW options
Outline Color…	Shift+F12	Opens the Outline Color dialog box
Outline Pen…	F12	Opens the Outline Pen dialog box
Pan Down	Alt+DnArrow	Pan Down
Pan Left	Alt+LeftArrow	Pan Left
Pan Right	Alt+RightArrow	Pan Right
Pan Up	Alt+UpArrow	Pan Up
Paste	Ctrl+V	Pastes the Clipboard contents into the drawing
Paste	Shift+Insert	Pastes the Clipboard contents into the drawing
Place Inside Container…	Ctrl+1	Places selected object(s) into a PowerClip container object
Polygon	Y	Draws polygons
Position	Alt+F7	Opens the Position Docker Window
Previous Page	PgUp	Goes to the previous page
Print…	Ctrl+P	Prints the active drawing
Properties	Alt+Enter	Allows the properties of an object to be viewed and edited
Record Temporary Macro	Ctrl+Shift+R	Record Temporary Macro
Rectangle	F6	Draws rectangles; double-clicking the tool creates a page frame
Redo	Ctrl+Shift+Z	Reverses the last Undo operation
Refresh Window	Ctrl+W	Redraws the drawing window
Repeat	Ctrl+R	Repeats the last operation
Rotate	Alt+F8	Opens the Rotate Docker Window
Run Temporary Macro	Ctrl+Shift+P	Run Temporary Macro
Save As… S	Ctrl+Shift+	Saves the active drawing with a new name
Save…	Ctrl+S	Saves the active drawing
Scale	Alt+F9 Window	Opens the Scale Docker
Select all	Ctrl+A	Select all object of the active page
Shape	F10	Edits the nodes of an object; double-clicking the tool selects all nodes on the selected
Size	Alt+F10 Window	Opens the Size Docker
Smart Drawing	Shift+S Dbl-click	opens Smart Drawing Tool options; Shift+drag backwards over line erases
Snap to Grid	Ctrl+Y	Snaps objects to the grid (toggle)
Snap to Objects	Alt+Z	Snaps objects to other objects (toggle)
Spell Check…	Ctrl+F12	Opens the Spell Checker; checks the spelling of the selected text
Spiral	A	Draws spirals; double-clicking opens the Toolbox tab of the Options dialog
Step and Repeat…	Ctrl+Shift+D	Shows Step and Repeat docker
Stop Recording	Ctrl+Shift+O	Stop Recording
Super Nudge Down	Shift+DnArrow	Nudges the object downward by the Super Nudge factor
Super Nudge Left	Shift+LeftArrow	Nudges the object to the left by the Super Nudge factor
Super Nudge Right	Shift+RightArrow	Nudges the object to the right by the Super Nudge factor
Super Nudge Up	Shift+UpArrow	Nudges the object upward by the Super Nudge factor
Symbol Manager	Ctrl+F3	Symbol Manager Docker
Text	F8	Adds text; click on the page to add Artistic Text; click and drag to add Paragraph Text
To Back Of Layer	Shift+PgDn	To Back Of Layer
To Back Of Page	Ctrl+End	To Back Of Page
To Front Of Layer	Shift+PgUp	To Front Of Layer
To Front Of Page	Ctrl+Home	To Front Of Page
Toggle Pick State	Ctrl+Space	Toggles between the current tool and the Pick tool
Toggle View	Shift+F9	Toggles between the last two used view qualities
Undo	Ctrl+Z	Reverses the last operation
Undo	Alt+Backspace	Reverses the last operation
Ungroup	Ctrl+U	Ungroups the selected objects or group of objects
Uniform Fill…	Shift+F11	Applies uniform color fills to objects
Use bullets	Ctrl+M	Show/Hide Bullet
Vertical Text	Ctrl+.	Changes the text to vertical
View Manager	Ctrl+F2	Opens the View Manager Docker Window
What’s This?	Shift+F1	What’s This? Help
Zoom	Z	Zoom Tool
Zoom One-Shot	F2
Zoom Out	F3	Zoom Out
Zoom To Fit	F4	Zoom To All Objects
Zoom To Page	Shift+F4	Zoom To Page
Zoom To Selection	Shift+F2	Zoom To Selected