Keyboard, Undo & Documents

Move points with keys, cancel safely, and switch documents without leaving overlays behind.

Select and Delete

While a Vextra tool has the canvas:

  • Command-A / Ctrl-A selects every node in the active path.
  • Command-C / Ctrl-C copies the selected Vextra nodes and segments.
  • Command-V / Ctrl-V pastes the copied contours into the path you are editing.
  • Delete or Backspace removes the Vextra selection.
  • Escape cancels the current action, or clears the selection and any first point a tool is holding.

These shortcuts stand aside while you type in a panel field.

Copy and Paste

Copy works while a Vextra tool is active and the current path has a node or segment selection. Use the keyboard shortcut or choose Edit → Copy Vextra Contour.

Vextra puts several versions of the shape on the clipboard:

  • Vextra's own contour data, which preserves the editable contour structure.
  • SVG text for other vector applications.
  • Metadata inside that SVG, which lets supported Vexy web tools restore the editable contours.

Paste adds the copied contours to the path you are editing rather than creating a separate Illustrator object, and leaves them selected so you can move them immediately.

Copy and Paste belong to Vextra only while Vextra editing is active. At every other time, Illustrator's own Copy and Paste apply.

Move with Arrow Keys

Arrow keys move the selected nodes or handles:

  • Arrow — 1 point.
  • Shift-Arrow — 10 points.
  • Command-Arrow / Ctrl-Arrow — 100 points.

While a Tunni control is active, arrows change tension by 1% and Shift-arrows by 10%.

Hide the Overlays

Hold backtick to hide the Vextra path, nodes, handles, measurements, Quick Help, and other marks. Release it to bring them back. Your settings and artwork are untouched.

Undo and Redo

Illustrator's own commands apply:

  • Command-Z / Ctrl-Z — Undo.
  • Shift-Command-Z / Ctrl-Shift-Z — Redo.

Each finished Vextra drag or command is one Illustrator undo step, and the many small previews during a drag stay out of the undo list.

Cancel a Drag

Vextra remembers the path as it stood when you pressed the mouse. Press Escape before mouse-up to return to that version, whether you are moving, reshaping, drawing, erasing, cleaning, cutting, or using Scissors.

A drag also stays with the artwork it started on, so a nearby object cannot take it over partway through.

Switch Documents

Each Vextra session belongs to one Illustrator document. When you switch documents:

  • The overlays of the old document disappear.
  • Quick Help disappears.
  • Any unfinished action in the old document is canceled.
  • The new document starts without an active path.

Return to the old document to continue there, or activate a path in the new one.

Switch Vextra Tools

Changing tools clears short-lived tool state, such as the first Optimizer point or a Knife preview line.

The active path stays ready whenever the new tool can use it.

For mouse keys and modifiers, see the article for that tool and Nodes & Handles.