Top 12 Microsoft Paint 3D Keyboard Shortcuts That You Should Use

Keyboard shortcuts work in all Microsoft applications, including MS Paint. Why should the improved version of Paint, ie Paint 3D, be left behind? Paint 3D is loaded with a bunch of cool features like 3D objects, custom sticker creation, magic selection tool, and more. To use these functions quickly, one can take the help of keyboard shortcuts. Here you will find 12 Paint 3D keyboard shortcuts that you can use on a daily basis.

Keyboard shortcuts undoubtedly speed up our work. With the following shortcuts, you can perform actions ranging from basic functions like cutting, copying, opening, saving images, etc., to activating Paint 3D tools, grouping items, etc.

Let’s check out the main keyboard shortcuts for the Microsoft Paint 3D application in Windows 10. We will first dive into the common Windows shortcuts that work in Paint 3D.

1. Basic editing shortcuts

All of the basic control shortcuts also work in Paint 3D. They can be used to perform the following editing tasks:

• Ctrl + C: Use it to copy 2D and 3D elements to your image.
• Ctrl + X: delete or move an item using this shortcut.
• Ctrl + V: Paste the copied element to duplicate an element. Alternatively, if you have an image or text in your Windows clipboard from another application, you can paste it onto your image.
• Ctrl + A: Select all 3D elements on your canvas using this command.
• Ctrl + Z: cancel an action.
• Ctrl + Y: Redo an action.

Pro tip: Learn about the keyboard shortcuts that work with MS Paint.

2. Text formatting shortcuts

To customize your text in Paint 3D, you can apply text formatting to it using the following commands:

• Ctrl + B: bold text
• Ctrl + U: add an underline to your text
• Ctrl + I: put your text in italics

3. File shortcuts

All commonly used file shortcuts also work in Paint 3D. Here’s a recap:

• Ctrl + N: create a new image
• Ctrl + O: open an existing image from your computer
• Ctrl + P: print a 2D image
• Ctrl + S: save image
• Ctrl + Shift + S: opens the Save As dialog box to save the image in a different format

4. Activate the eyedropper tool

Paint 3D offers a large collection of colors. You can also add them using the color palette. If you want to pick a color from your image itself, the eyedropper tool comes to the rescue. Press the I button on the keyboard to activate the tool. Then move your mouse pointer over the color you want to select and click once. The color will be ready to use for your brushes.

Point: Remember the shortcut I with the name of the tool – eyedropper.

5. Minimize the side menu

Another one-key shortcut is to close or maximize the sidebar on the right side of Paint 3D. If you need more space for your canvas, closing the right bar is handy. To reduce it, press the M key on your keyboard. Press again to expand it.

6. Display the canvas properties

The canvas is the basis of your image in Paint 3D. It helps when dealing with transparent or PNG pages. You can make your image transparent in Paint 3D by activating the Transparent Canvas option under Canvas Properties. Resize, rotate and flip are other functions available in the canvas properties.

To open the canvas properties, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + E.

You can go further and select the canvas using the shortcut Ctrl + W. To hide or show the canvas, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + W.

7. Activate the crop tool

Do you crop a lot of images? Then you’re going to love the crop tool keyboard shortcut. Press Ctrl + Shift + X to activate the tool and start cropping.

Pro tip: Find out how to crop an image into a circle in Paint 3D.

8. Switch between 2D and 3D view

Users who use the 3D functionality of Paint 3D will be happy to hear about this keyboard shortcut. Press Ctrl + 3 on your keyboard to instantly switch between 2D and 3D views. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + E to show or hide the 3D perspective.

9. Group and ungroup elements

If you want to move or perform some other action on multiple items, you must group them together. There are several ways to group items on your canvas.

First, press the Ctrl key and left click on the first item. With the Ctrl key pressed, click other items to select them. Second, use Ctrl + G and Ctrl + Shift + G to group and ungroup objects, respectively.

10. Zoom

There are several ways to zoom in and out the image in Paint 3D. Use the keyboard shortcut PgUp or Ctrl + PgDn to zoom in. To zoom out in an image, use the keyboard shortcuts PgDn or Ctrl + PgDn.

You can also use your mouse scroll wheel to zoom in and out. If mouse wheel scrolling does not work, hold down the Ctrl key while scrolling.

Professional advice: To reset the zoom, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + 0 and to reset the view, press the Home key.

11. Change the brush size

Very few apps allow you to customize brush size using keyboard shortcuts. Fortunately, Paint 3D is one of them. Use Ctrl + Minus (-) or Ctrl + [ to decrease brush size. For increasing brush size, use Ctrl + Plus (+) or Ctrl + ]

12. Take a screenshot

In Paint 3D, you can take a screenshot of your canvas without having the image menus and toolbars. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + C to capture a screenshot of your Paint 3D canvas.

Mouse or keyboard

Some of the actions mentioned above are also accessible from right click or context menu. For example, screenshot, undo and redo, canvas properties. But if you prefer to use keyboard shortcuts, check out the full collection of Paint 3D shortcuts on Microsoft’s official website.