GIMP Cheat Sheet

Free, open-source image editor (Windows, macOS, Linux). Shortcuts are for GIMP 2.10 / 3.x on Windows and Linux (macOS: Ctrl → ⌘). All shortcuts can be changed in Edit → Keyboard Shortcuts.

47 entries
7 sections
Updated 1 Oct 2026

F

47 entries

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Tools #

Key	Tool
`M`	Move
`Q`	Align
`R` / `E`	Rectangle / ellipse select
`F`	Free select (lasso)
`U`	Fuzzy select (magic wand)
`Shift + O`	Select by color
`B`	Paths (pen)
`T`	Text
`P` / `N`	Paintbrush / pencil
`Shift + E`	Eraser
`Shift + B`	Bucket fill
`G`	Gradient
`C`	Clone
`H`	Heal
`O`	Color picker
`Shift + C`	Crop
`Shift + S`	Scale
`Shift + R`	Rotate
`Shift + F`	Flip
`Shift + T`	Unified transform
`Z`	Zoom

Colors & Brushes #

Shortcut	Action
`D`	Default colors (black / white)
`X`	Swap foreground / background
`[` / `]`	Brush smaller / bigger
`Ctrl + ,`	Fill with the foreground color
`Ctrl + .`	Fill with the background color

Layers #

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl + Shift + N`	New layer
`Ctrl + Shift + D`	Duplicate layer
`Ctrl + H`	Anchor a floating selection
`Ctrl + M`	Merge visible layers
`Page Up` / `Page Down`	Select the layer above / below

Selections #

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl + A`	Select all
`Ctrl + Shift + A`	Select none
`Ctrl + I`	Invert the selection
`Shift` / `Ctrl` while selecting	Add to / subtract from the selection
`Shift + Q`	Quick Mask

View #

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl + Shift + J`	Fit the image in the window
`1`	100%
`+` / `-`	Zoom in / out
`Tab`	Hide the docks
`F11`	Full screen
`Space + drag`	Pan

File #

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl + S`	Save as `.xcf` (GIMP format, keeps layers)
`Ctrl + Shift + E`	Export As (PNG, JPG, WebP…)
`Ctrl + E`	Export again with the same settings
`Ctrl + Shift + V`	Paste as a new image
`Ctrl + Z` / `Ctrl + Y`	Undo / redo

Tips #

Save ≠ Export: Save keeps the editable .xcf, Export makes a normal image file.
GIMP 3 adds non-destructive filters (edit them later in the Layers panel).
Image → Canvas Size changes the canvas; Image → Scale Image changes the resolution.