The Magic of Ctrl

While most of these combinations are common to many applications, there are some that you may find new and unique.

Ctrl + A	Select entire canvas
Ctrl + C	Copy selected area
Ctrl + X	Cut selected area
Ctrl + V	Paste clipboard data
Ctrl + Z	Undo last action
Ctrl + Y	Redo action
Ctrl + E	Shows image properties
Ctrl + G	Toggles grid lines
Ctrl + P	Print the picture
Ctrl + R	Show or hide the ruler
Ctrl + W	Open the Resize and Skew dialog box
Ctrl + N	Create a new picture
Ctrl + O	Open a picture
Ctrl + S	Save changes to a picture
Ctrl + Page Up	Zoom in
Ctrl + Page Down	Zoom out
Ctrl + B	Bold selected text
Ctrl + I	Make selected text italics
Ctrl + U	Underline selected text
Ctrl + Num Pad +	Scale up and tool or shape
Ctrl + Num Pad –	Scale down tool or shape

 

The Alt Combo

If you simply press the Alt key you will be shown few key tips (as shown in the image) using which you can navigate the interface and its tools. I find it really useful when my mouse malfunctions due to whatever reasons.

Alt-F	Opens the File menu
Alt-H	Shows key help/ Switch to Home tab
Alt-V	Switch to View tab
Alt-F4	Close the window
Alt-Esc	Minimizes MS Paint interface
Alt-Spacebar	Equivalent to right-clicking on the title bar

What’s in the Function Keys?

Windows in general has specific functions associated with each function key (F1 through F12 keys). Lets us see what MS Paint supports.

F1	Open Paint Help
F11	View a picture in full screen mode
F12	Save the picture as a new file
F10	Displays key tips like the Alt key

Arrow Keys

Right Arrow	Move the selection or active shape right by one pixel
Left Arrow	Move the selection or active shape left by one pixel
Down Arrow	Move the selection or active shape down by one pixel
Up Arrow	Move the selection or active shape up by one pixel

Miscellaneous

Esc	Cancel a selection
Delete	Delete a selection
Print Screen	Well, we all know what that does 🙂