Keyboard shortcuts & settings
Design Studio is built to be driven from the keyboard with one hand while the other stays on the mouse. Every shortcut below is a default — all of them can be changed.
| What | Where you'll find it |
|---|---|
| Shortcut editor | Edit → Preferences… → keyboard shortcuts |
| Object defaults | Edit → Default Properties… |
| Display & performance | Display & Defaults dropdown on the toolbar's second row |
| Job-wide defaults | Side panel → Project tab |
Tools
| Q | Select tool |
| P | Pipe tool |
| S | Sprinkler tool |
| 1 2 3 4 | Pendent · upright · sidewall · concealed pendent |
| L | Coverage Cell (head layout) tool |
| F | Fitting tool — or, with a pipe selected, generate that pipe's missing fittings |
| 5 / H | Hanger tool |
| V | Valve tool |
| 6 | Pressure gauge |
| Ctrl+Shift+W / Ctrl+Shift+P | Water supply · fire pump |
Drafting & annotation
| G / Ctrl+L | Line segment |
| R | Rectangle |
| C | Circle |
| X | Crosshatch polygon |
| T | Text tool — or, with something selected, jump to its Properties |
| Ctrl+T | Text box |
| E | Leader |
| O | Revision cloud |
| W / Ctrl+W | Dimension · running dimension |
| Shift+V | Viewport (view frame) |
| Ctrl+Shift+A | Plan callout |
| Ctrl+Shift+S | Section |
| Alt+O Alt+T Alt+X Alt+F Alt+H | Offset · Trim · Extend · Fillet · Chamfer |
Building elements
| Ctrl+Shift+B | Beam |
| Ctrl+Shift+C | Column line |
| Ctrl+Alt+W | Wall |
| Ctrl+Shift+R | Roof plane |
| Ctrl+Shift+F | Floor slab |
Editing & selection
| Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y | Undo · redo |
| Ctrl+C Ctrl+X Ctrl+V | Copy · cut · paste, each with a base point |
| Ctrl+A Ctrl+D Ctrl+I | Select all · deselect all · invert selection |
| A / Shift+A | Select all similar · select all like selected inside a rectangle |
| D / Delete | Delete selection |
| Alt+M Alt+A Alt+R Alt+S | Mirror · array · rotate · scale selection |
| Alt+E / Ctrl+E | Match elevation · elevate elements to the last-selected pipe |
| Alt+P | Match properties |
| B | Flatten selection to zero elevation |
| M | Maintain Connections on/off |
| Z | Resolve Connections |
| I / Shift+I / Shift+H | Isolate the selection's layers · unisolate · hide that layer |
| Ctrl+R | Recall the last selection |
| F2 | Place benchmark (the copy/paste base point) |
While you are drawing
| Enter | Finish the run |
| Backspace | Undo the last segment |
| Esc | Cancel the command / clear the selection |
| Tab | Cycle the snap candidates under the cursor — or accept a rhythm ghost when one is showing |
| . | Repeat the last placement; hold to sweep a run of them |
| Space | Repeat the previous tool |
| Type a number | Typed distance entry — feet first, so 12-6 is 12'-6" |
Function keys
| F2 | Place benchmark |
| F3 | All snaps on/off — the master switch |
| F4 | Pipe snap |
| F5 | Reload viewport |
| F6 / F7 | Center snap · endpoint snap |
| F8 / F9 | Perpendicular snap |
| F10 | Intersection snap |
| F11 | Full screen drawing |
| F12 | Report a bug |
| Shift+F2 / Shift+F3 / Shift+F5 | Elevation lock · rounding snap · midpoint snap |
| Alt+F2 / Ctrl+F3 | Ortho · visible grid |
Two collisions worth knowing. F12 belongs to
the bug reporter, so the Near snap has no working function key — use its Near pill in the
SNAPS row. And Ctrl+P plots to PDF, so the Polyline tool's listed
Ctrl+P does not fire — start a polyline from the ANNOTATE toolbar group instead.
File & output
| Ctrl+S | Save |
| Ctrl+P | Plot plans to PDF |
| Ctrl+Shift+K | Run any command by name |
| Ctrl+Shift+X | Create a repro bundle |
| Ctrl+Shift+D | Save diagnostic screenshots of the viewport |
Changing a shortcut
Open Edit → Preferences… and find the keyboard shortcut list. Every action shows its default and its current binding; click the gesture and press the keys you want. Two actions may not share a gesture — if the list ends up invalid it resets itself to the defaults rather than leaving you with keys that do nothing.
An action can carry more than one gesture; that is how the hanger tool answers both 5 and H.
The other settings
- Edit → Default Properties… — what a newly placed object starts life as: pipe material and schedule, sprinkler K-factor and temperature, hanger type, drop style.
- Side panel → Project — the same idea at job scale, split into Pipe, Sprinkler, Hanger, Drafting and Building. Set it once when you start the job.
- Display & Defaults (toolbar, second row) — theme, performance mode, camera and render styles, head-layout spacing, snap kind labels, hover highlight.
Performance mode matters on big drawings. Full re-runs live
analysis immediately. Draft defers the live hydraulic work and hides hydraulic node tags so
drafting stays fast; the Studio selects Draft for you on very large jobs.