Keyboard shortcuts
Every editor and designer shortcut on one page — the same bindings the in-app cheatsheet (?) shows.
Working from the keyboard
VanPlot's editor is built to be driven Figma-style: one-key tools, arrow-key nudging, and modifiers for the exceptions. The key pills below adapt to your platform — on a Mac you'll see ⌘ symbols, on Windows and Linux the same shortcuts show Ctrl.
You never have to memorize this page — the app teaches it as you go:
- Press ? in the editor or the designer to open the shortcut cheatsheet right where you're working.
- Watch the shortcut bar at the bottom of the canvas — it shows the most useful keys for whatever you have selected.
- Hover any toolbar button — its tooltip carries the shortcut after the description.
- Shortcuts stay out of your way while typing — they never fire while your cursor is in a text field.
Editor · Tools
1V — Free move (drag)
2G — Move gizmo
3E — Rotate gizmo
4S — Resize gizmo
M — Measure tape
T — Toggle top view
O — Open / close doors
P — Photo mode
Editor · View
Space — Hold: drag pans instead of orbiting
⇧1–4 — Camera angles: ¾ front · side · ¾ rear · top
F — Frame selection (or the whole van)
H — Toggle auto-hide walls
X — Peek inside — body hidden while held
⇧H — Hide / show selection
Editor · Edit
R — Rotate item 90°
[[]]] — Fine-rotate 15° (Shift: 45°) — [ for the other way
⌘D — Duplicate item
Del — Delete item
←→↑↓ — Nudge 2 cm (hold Shift: 25 cm)
⌘G — Group selection
⇧⌘G — Ungroup
Editor · Selection
⌘A — Select all items
Esc — Deselect / exit mode
Editor · History & file
⌘K — Command palette — search everything
⌘Z — Undo
⇧⌘Z — Redo
⌘S — Save + quick snapshot (rename it in History)
Editor · While dragging
Two modifiers change how a drag behaves: hold ⌥ to disable snapping for that drag, and ⌥-drag a grouped item to move it out of its group on its own. Holding ⇧ with the arrow keys nudges in 25 cm steps instead of 2 cm.
Component designer · Tools
1V — Free move (drag)
2G — Move gizmo
3E — Rotate gizmo
4S — Scale gizmo
Space — Hold: drag pans instead of orbiting
Component designer · Edit
R — Rotate part 90°
⌘D — Duplicate part
Del — Delete part
Esc — Deselect
Component designer · History & file
⌘Z — Undo
⇧⌘Z — Redo
⌘S — Save to library
Designer notes
The designer adds the Scale gizmo S — stretching parts along axes is a designer-only tool — and its undo history is separate from the editor's, so experiments on a component never touch your layout's history. ⌘S in the designer saves the component to your library.