One of the most important sets of Illustrator shortcuts I use every day are the fill and stroke shortcuts. These shortcuts, if you take the time to learn them and get used to them, will make your workflow much, much, easier! This is on my list of things that you MUST learn in Illustrator. So if you’ve gotten used to working in the program but aren’t using these shortcuts yet, then print this out and practice until it is second nature!

(Click image above to download and print a PDF!)

Here’s just one example of how I use these every day. Any time I want to use black or white in a fill or stroke, I very rarely choose black or white from my swatches palette. Instead, I press D, which sets my fill to white and my stroke to black. If I need a black fill, then I press Shift X to swap them, then make sure my stroke (white now) is in the foreground (press X if it’s not!) and then press / to take off the stroke!

This is also very handy to use if I start to draw something with the pen tool and realize that I have a fill and want a stroke only.

I’m sure there are a dozen other reasons and situations when I use these shortcuts, but to be honest, because they are so second nature, it’s all very subconscious at this point! And that’s how I think it should be for you, too! Download this list, tack it up, and master these! They are essential!