Adobe Substance 3D Painter keyboard shortcuts
Substance 3D Painter lets artists paint textures straight onto 3D models for games, film, and product renders. The keys cover projects, tools and the manipulator, painting with stencils, the camera and viewport, and masks, layers, and animation.
Windows, macOS · 90 shortcutsApplication and projects
These editable commands manage files, interface modes, baking, export, and the application's main workspaces.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Show or hide the interface | Windows / macOSTab |
| Undo | WindowsCtrl + Z macOSCmd + Z |
| Redo | WindowsCtrl + Y macOSCmd + Y |
| Open Baking mode | Windows / macOSF8 |
| Open Painting mode | Windows / macOSF9 |
| Open Rendering mode | Windows / macOSF10 |
| Open a project | WindowsCtrl + O macOSCmd + O |
| Close the project | WindowsCtrl + F4 macOSCmd + W |
| Save the project | WindowsCtrl + S macOSCmd + S |
| Create a new project | WindowsCtrl + N macOSCmd + N |
| Quit Substance 3D Painter | WindowsAlt + F4 macOSCmd + Q |
| Open Bake Mesh Maps | WindowsCtrl + Shift + B macOSCmd + Shift + B |
| Open Export Textures | WindowsCtrl + Shift + E macOSCmd + Shift + E |
Tools and manipulator
Number keys select paint tools. Q, W, E, and R control the transform manipulator, with Shift variants for surface placement and warping.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Show the manipulator | Windows / macOSQ |
| Increase manipulator size | Windows / macOS+ |
| Decrease manipulator size | Windows / macOS- |
| Cycle manipulator coordinate spaces | Windows / macOST |
| Toggle Warp transform and Edit vertices modes | Windows / macOSShift + V |
| Activate translation | Windows / macOSW |
| Activate rotation | Windows / macOSE |
| Activate scaling | Windows / macOSR |
| Activate the surface tool | Windows / macOSShift + W |
| Toggle symmetry | Windows / macOSL |
| Pause or resume engine computation | Windows / macOSShift + Esc |
| Activate Paint | Windows / macOS1 |
| Activate Paint with particles | WindowsCtrl + 1 macOSCmd + 1 |
| Activate Eraser | Windows / macOS2 |
| Activate Eraser with particles | WindowsCtrl + 2 macOSCmd + 2 |
| Activate Projection | Windows / macOS3 |
| Activate Projection with particles | WindowsCtrl + 3 macOSCmd + 3 |
| Activate Polygon Fill | Windows / macOS4 |
| Activate Smudge | Windows / macOS5 |
| Activate Clone with a relative source | Windows / macOS6 |
| Activate Clone with an absolute source | WindowsCtrl + 6 macOSCmd + 6 |
Painting and stencils
These editable and fixed chords adjust the active brush, draw constrained strokes, position stencils, and set a clone source.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Increase brush size | Windows / macOS] |
| Decrease brush size | Windows / macOS[ |
| Invert the current grayscale value | Windows / macOSX |
| Pick a material | Windows / macOSP |
| Toggle Lazy Mouse | Windows / macOSD |
| Paint a stroke | Windows / macOSLeft click |
| Paint a straight line | Windows / macOSShift + Left click |
| Paint a snapped straight line | WindowsCtrl + Shift + Left click macOSCmd + Shift + Left click |
| Rotate the stencil | Windows / macOSS then Left drag |
| Rotate the stencil with snapping | Windows / macOSShift + S then Left drag |
| Move the stencil | WindowsS then Middle drag macOSNot documented |
| Scale the stencil | Windows / macOSS then Right drag |
| Adjust brush size and hardness | WindowsCtrl + Right drag macOSCmd + Right drag |
| Adjust brush flow and rotation | WindowsCtrl + Left drag macOSCmd + Left drag |
| Set the clone source | Windows / macOSV then Left click |
| Ignore the stencil while painting | Windows / macOSN |
| Resume the previous stroke | Windows / macOSA |
Camera and viewport
Camera drags use different modifier chords on Windows and macOS. View commands change projection, channel display, layout, or framing.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Rotate the camera | WindowsAlt + Left drag macOSOption + Left drag |
| Rotate the camera with snapping | WindowsAlt + Shift + Left drag macOSShift + Cmd + Left drag |
| Translate the camera | WindowsAlt + Middle dragorCtrl + Alt + Left drag macOSOption + Cmd + Left drag |
| Zoom the camera | WindowsAlt + Right drag macOSMiddle drag |
| Hide or ignore geometry excluded by the Geometry Mask | WindowsAlt + H macOSOption + H |
| Use perspective projection | Windows / macOSF5 |
| Use orthographic projection | Windows / macOSF6 |
| Display the next channel | Windows / macOSC |
| Display the previous channel | Windows / macOSShift + C |
| Display the full material | Windows / macOSM |
| Display the next mesh map | Windows / macOSB |
| Display the previous mesh map | Windows / macOSShift + B |
| Center the mesh in the viewport | Windows / macOSF |
| Show 3D and 2D views | Windows / macOSF1 |
| Show the 3D view | Windows / macOSF2 |
| Show the 2D view | Windows / macOSF3 |
| Swap the 3D and 2D viewports | Windows / macOSF4 |
| Isolate the current Texture Set | WindowsAlt + Q macOSOption + Q |
| Rotate the environment | Windows / macOSShift + Right drag |
| Set the Depth of Field autofocus point | WindowsCtrl + Middle click macOSNot documented |
| Select a Texture Set from the viewport | WindowsCtrl + Alt + Right click macOSOption + Cmd + Right click |
| Open the viewport context menu | Windows / macOSRight click |
Masks, layers, and animation
Quick-mask and animation commands are editable. Layer-stack clipboard commands are fixed defaults in Adobe's reference.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Toggle Quick Mask | Windows / macOSU |
| Clear the Quick Mask | Windows / macOSY |
| Invert the Quick Mask | Windows / macOSI |
| Play or pause animation | Windows / macOSSpace |
| Copy the selected layer | WindowsCtrl + C macOSCmd + C |
| Cut the selected layer | WindowsCtrl + X macOSCmd + X |
| Paste a layer | WindowsCtrl + V macOSCmd + V |
| Delete the selected layer | Windows / macOSDelete |
| Duplicate the selected layer | WindowsCtrl + D macOSCmd + D |
| Group selected layers | WindowsCtrl + G macOSCmd + G |
| Copy layer content | WindowsCtrl + Shift + C macOSOption + Cmd + C |
| Paste layer content | WindowsCtrl + Shift + V macOSOption + Cmd + V |
| Display a layer mask | WindowsAlt + Left click macOSOption + Left click |
| Enable or disable a layer mask | Windows / macOSShift + Left click |
| Drag a material without opening its menu | WindowsCtrl + Drag macOSCmd + Drag |
| Constrain or snap the manipulator | Windows / macOSShift |
| Mirror manipulator-point movement around its pivot | WindowsCtrl macOSCmd |
Source
Adobe Substance 3D Painter shortcuts · Checked
Current defaults from Adobe's July 3, 2026 shortcut reference, checked August 31, 2026. Editable assignments can be changed in Settings > Shortcuts. Fixed shortcuts are identified by their group, and actions whose official shortcut cell is blank are omitted.