Sketch glossary with keyboard shortcuts

Updated by Jill Bowers

Term

Keyboard shortcut

Description

Break

B

Use Break to create a wall or roof offset. With Break active, click along the wall to add the break. Select and drag the appropriate side of the wall to create an offset. You can also click and drag along the line to c

Combine rooms

Ctrl+Shift+C

Combine selected rooms by selecting Ctrl + Shift+ C.

Copy

Ctrl+C

Copy any selected items or objects to the clipboard (to be pasted later).

Copy rooms or objects from Sketch levels

U

Copy a room or object from one Sketch level to another. This option is only available when there is a room or object on the level directly beneath the current one. 

Cut

Ctrl+X

Remove any selected items from your sketch and place them on the clipboard (to be pasted later) .

Deck

Shift+D

Add a deck to the sketch.

Doorway

D

Add a doorway to the sketch.

Dormer

E

Add a dormer to the sketch.

Fence

Ctrl + F

Add a fence to the sketch.

Flip horizontal

[

Flip a selected object left to right.

Flip vertical

]

Flip a selected object top to bottom.

Flooring cuts window

Shift+Q

Opening the flooring cuts window is only available once a flooring line item is added to a room. 

Flooring Orientation 

\

Use Flooring Orientation to set the directionality of flooring after the flooring line item is placed. 

Full screen

Shift+Enter

The full-screen view does not take up the entire screen; instead, it removes the Search and Items sections from the view and expands the workspace to fill the space.  

Images

Ctrl+Shift+4

This toggles the Images pane.

Items

Ctrl+Shift+2

This toggles the Items pane.

Load view

Ctrl + Shift + L

This open a list of previously saved views.

Macros

Ctrl+M

This allows you to open the Macros window. From the window, you can create your own macros or use those created by others.

Missing wall

M

When this tool is active, you can add a missing wall to your sketch. You can do this by selecting the portion of the existing wall that should be missing.

Orientation

N

Change the orientation of an object in the sketch.

Paste

Ctrl+V

Paste items or objects from the clipboard to your sketch.

Properties

Ctrl + F

After selecting a room or item, you can open the Properties window to set certain preferences. 

Reference Area

A

Place a reference area in the sketch.

Reference Block 

O

Place a reference block in the sketch.

Reference Line

L

Place a reference line in the sketch.

Reference Point

P

Place a reference point in the sketch. 

Roof

F

You can a roof to a sketch and change roof types by pressing the spacebar while the roof tool is active. Press E to add a dormer to the workspace.

Room

R

Add a room to the sketch.

Rotate 

Q

Users can rotate objects by 90 degrees. If you change the angle of the rotation in the Tools menu, the rotation for the shortcut changes as well.

Save view

Shift + V

Save the current view of the workspace.

Scale 

G

Scale is only available if there is a roof in the active level. 

Search

Ctrl+Shift+1

Toggle the Search pane.

Select

Esc

Clear your selection.

Separate rooms

Ctrl+Shift+S

You can separate selected combined rooms by pressing Ctrl + Shift + S.

Snap line

S

Add a snap line anywhere within the workspace.

Snap to Grid 

Shift+P

Snap items to the grid by selecting Shift + P.

Staircase

C

Add a staircase to the sketch.

Toggle calculations

J

Toggle calculations on and off. Please note that if you are sketching a large house with plenty of carpet, it will be faster to first draw the house, turn off the auto calculations and then place the carpet. Be aware that you should turn it back on while scoping so your totals are calculated correctly. 

Undo

Ctrl + Z

Undo your last change.

Wall

Shift + W

Add a wall to the sketch. You can add individual walls to an existing room or create a room from individual walls.

Window

W

Add a window to the sketch.

Vertex

V

Add a vertex point to a wall in the sketch.

Active object

Ctrl

Keep an object active on the cursor by holding Ctrl when placing an item. The item will remain on the cursor to use again. 

Disable Snab Grid

Shift

Disable the Snap Grid while editing an object. This option is best used when items you are editing are snapping to the grid and you need them to move fluidly. 

Rotate item

Tab

Press Tab to rotate an object 90 degrees clockwise. Press Shift + Tab to rotate an object 90 degrees counter-clockwise. 

Toggle views

Shift+Spacebar

Press Shift + Spacebar to switch between the 3-D and Plan views. 

Rename

F2

Select an object and then press F2 to rename it. 

View summary totals

Ctrl+T

View the summary totals report.

Reset layout

Ctrl+Shift+R

If you have modified the pane sizes, press Ctrl+Shift+R to reset the window layout. 


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