Skip to content

Keyboard Shortcuts

It is also possible to work with keyboard shortcuts. Almost all commands can now be called with 2 letters just like in Autocad - Revit.

The two letters, often an abbreviation of the command (such as BE for “Add Beam” or LQ for “Add beam Load Q”), make it logical and quick to learn, even for beginners. We've already created those shortcuts for you. And you can use the menu or the letters KS (“Keyboard Shortcuts”) to show that list of shortcuts.

With keyboard shortcuts, you don't have to move your hand from the keyboard to the mouse all the time. This saves several seconds each time, which adds up to hours of time saved in a workday.

Note that to repeat the last drawing command just press the Enter key or the spacebar like in AutoCAD, or F4 key like MS Word. This is super convenient because you often want to quickly repeat the drawing of, say, a new beam. The big advantage is that you don't have to move your mouse to the function in the ribbon menu so you can input your model even easier and faster.

General

Shortcut Description
KS Shows this overview of Keyboard Shortcuts
Ctrl+Z Undo
Ctrl+Y Redo
Return / Enter / Spacebar / F4 Repeats the last command
Escape Interrupt

File

Shortcut Description
Ctrl+N New file
Ctrl+O Open file
Ctrl+S Save file
Ctrl+P Print file
PV PreView

Geometry

Shortcut Description
BE BEam / Adds a beam to the model
NO NOde / Adds a node to the model
PL PLate / Adds a plate to the model
LI LIne / Adds a line to the model
PA PAnel / Adds a panel to the model
GR GRid / Changes grid lines in the model
HI HInge / Adds a hinge to a beam
SP Support Pinned / Adds a pinned support to the model
SF Support Fixed / Adds a fully fixed support to the model
SX Support Roller-X / Adds a roller x-support to the model
SY Support Roller-Y / Adds a roller y-support to the model
SS Support Spring-Z / Adds a z-spring support to the model
TG Tables Geometry / toggles between Show and Hide of geometry tables

Loads

Shortcut Description
LG Load Generator / Starts the load generator
LQ Load Q / Adds a distributed load on a beam
LP Load Point / Adds a point load on a beam
LM Load Moment / Adds a moment load on a beam
LN Load Node / Adds loads on a node
LS Load Surface / Adds a surface load to the model
GL Generate Plate Load / Generates surface load on a plate
TL Tables Loads / Toggles between Show and Hide of load tables
TC Tables Cases/Combinations / Toggles between Show and Hide of tables

Edit / Modify

Shortcut Description
Ctrl+M / MV MoVe / Moves selected element(s)
Ctrl+C / CO / CC COpy / Copies selected element(s)
RO ROtate / Rotates selected element(s) around an axis
MC / AR Multi Copy / ARrays / Creates a linear or radial array of selected element(s)
MR / MM MiRror / Reverses the position of selected element(s) using a selected mirror surface
DE / Del-key DElete / Deletes selected element(s)
MA MAtch / Matches all beam properties to another beam
PP / P ProPerties / Opens the property dialog of selected element(s)
SL SpLit / Divides selected beam(s) at selected node(s)
EX EXtend / Extends selected beam(s) and line(s)
DV DiVide / Generates nodes on selected beam(s), divided along beam axis
IS InterSections / Generates nodes on intersections of selected beam(s) and line(s)
BO Beam Orientation / Swaps start and end node of selected beam(s)

View

Shortcut Description
Ctrl+A Select All
S Select Previous – Repeats previous selection
SR / FR Search – Opens search dialog
VV Visibility – Toggles between Highlight Selection and Show All
MD Measure Distance – Measures distances using a tape measure
VS Visual Style – Toggles between Render and Wireframe (Solid and Line mode)
DL / DI Dimension Line – Adds dimension line to the model
SD Snap Distance – Sets the snap distance
PS Print Screen – Makes a screenshot
ZE Zoom Extend – Zooms to fit all elements fit in view
ZS Zoom Selection – Zooms to fit all selected element(s) in view

Calculate

Shortcut Description
CA CAlculate – starts analysis
CS Calculation Settings – Shows all calculation settings