Software & Apps Design How to Use the GIMP Keyboard Shortcut Editor by Ian Pullen Writer Ian Pullen is a former Lifewire writer and an experienced graphic designer and web developer with a strong interest in free and open-source graphics software. our editorial process LinkedIn Ian Pullen Updated on April 27, 2020 The Ultimate Guide to Keyboard Shortcuts The Ultimate Guide to Keyboard Shortcuts Introduction Windows Timesavers The Best Windows 10 Keyboard Shortcuts Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Better Productivity How to Use the Shortcut Alt + Underline Shortcut to Create New Folders Essential Shortcuts for iTunes Mac, iOS & iPad Quick Tricks The Best Mac Shortcuts Keyboard Shortcuts for Finder Mac Startup Keyboard Shortcuts 18 Shortcuts for Apple's iOS Shortcuts App iPad Keyboard Tips and Smart Keyboard Shortcuts Android & iPhone Shortcuts The Best Android Shortcuts You Should Be Using Create and Use iPhone X Shortcuts Email Shortcuts The 30 Best Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts for 2020 How to Use Yahoo Mail Keyboard Shortcuts The Complete Apple Mail Shortcut List Shortcuts in iOS Mail Delete Shortcut Keys for Popular Email Programs How to Use Outlook.com Keyboard Shortcuts Create Text Snippets With Shortcuts in Mac OS X Mail Online & Browser Shortcuts Top 36 Shortcuts for Edge and IE 11 Keyboard Shortcuts: Google Chrome for Windows Create Web Page Shortcuts in Chrome for Windows Control Safari Windows With Keyboard Shortcuts Shortcuts for Safari Toolbars Shortcuts for Safari on OS X & Sierra Excel Shortcuts The 23 Best Excel Shortcuts Shortcut Excel's Fill Down Command Shortcut the Current Date/Time Formatting Numbers Adding Worksheets Shortcut to Saving Your Work Creating a Chart MAX Function Shortcut More Office Shortcuts Top 10 Microsoft Word Shortcuts The 5 Best Hidden Word Shortcuts Add Shortcut Keys to AutoText Entries Uppercase Shortcut Key How to Reset Keyboard Shortcuts in Word Shortcut to Speed Up PowerPoint Presentations Other Useful Shortcuts The Best Google Docs Shortcuts 18 Shortcuts for Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon Changing Linux Mint Cinnamon Shortcuts Fedora GNOME Keyboard Shortcuts Maya Keyboard Shortcuts Create or Reassign Keyboard Shortcuts in MS Office Useful Keyboard Shortcuts for Photoshop CC Time-Saving Fill Tool Shortcuts in Photoshop The 5 Most Useful GIMP Keyboard Shortcuts How to Use the GIMP Keyboard Shortcut Editor Shortcuts to Type a Tilde Mark Tweet Share Email If you want to add a keyboard shortcut to a feature that doesn't have one, or change an existing shortcut to one that feels more intuitive to you, GIMP offers an easy way to do this using the Keyboard Shortcut Editor. GIMP keyboard shortcuts can be useful tools for speeding up your workflow when working with GIMP. Many tools and features have keyboard shortcuts assigned by default, and you can see a list of the default options that are assigned to the Toolbox palette in Keyboard Shortcuts in GIMP. Just follow the steps below to start customizing GIMP to better suit the way that you work. Open the Preferences Dialog Select the Edit menu and select Preferences. If your version of GIMP has a Keyboard Shortcuts option in the Edit menu you can select that and skip the next step. Open Configure Keyboard Shortcuts... In the Preferences dialog, select the Interface option in the list to the left – it should be the second option. From the various settings that are now presented, select the Configure Keyboard Shortcuts button. Open Subsection if Necessary A new dialog is opened and you can open sub-sections, such as the various Tools, by clicking the small box with a + sign in it next to each section name. Assign New Keyboard Shortcut Now, you need to scroll to the tool or command that you want to edit and select it. When selected, the text for that tool in the Shortcut column changes to read New accelerator and you can press the key or combination of keys you want to assign as a shortcut. Remove or Save Shortcuts We've changed the Foreground Select Tool's keyboard shortcut to Shift+Ctrl+F by pressing the Shift, Ctrl and F keys simultaneously. If you want to remove a keyboard shortcut from any tool or command, just select it to select it and then when the New accelerator text displays, press the backspace key and the text will change to Disabled. Once you're happy that your GIMP keyboard shortcuts are set up as you wish, ensure that the Save keyboard shortcuts on exit checkbox is checked and select Close. Beware of Reassigning Existing Shortcuts If you thought our choice of Shift+Ctrl+F was an odd selection, we chose it because it was a keyboard combination that hadn't already been assigned to any tool or command. If you try to assign a keyboard shortcut that is already in use, an alert will open telling you what the shortcut is currently being used for. If you want to keep the original shortcut, just select the Cancel button, otherwise, select Reassign shortcut to make the shortcut apply to your new selection. Don't Go Shortcut Crazy Don't feel that every tool or command should have a keyboard shortcut assigned to it and that you need to memorize all of them. We all use applications like GIMP in different ways—often using different tools and techniques to achieve similar results—so concentrate on the tools that you use. Taking some time to customize GIMP to work in a way that suits you can be a good investment of your time. A well thought out series of keyboard shortcuts can have a dramatic effect on your workflow. Useful Tips Try to analyze how you work and which tools you use on a regular basis, then look at assigning easily accessed keyboard combinations to these tools and commands only.Don't be afraid to try out different shortcuts, or to reassign default shortcuts to new tools or commands. You can always easily reset the original default keyboard shortcuts in the User Interface panel of the Preferences dialog at any time.Assigning shortcuts that are grouped together on the keyboard may mean you can select tools without moving your hand, but using shortcuts that are more spaced out may reduce the possibility of you selecting the incorrect tool. This will be down to personal preference. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. 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