Shortcut keys
If you really want to get productive with LDCad you'll need to learn (some of) the keyboard shortcut keys in order to minimize mouse usage and speedup frequently used features otherwise 'hidden' in menus.
Keep in mind the current mouse cursor location will dictate what keys do. Therefore the following overview has listings for each major region.
| Global | |
| ctrl+N | Start a new file/model. |
| ctrl+O | Open an existing file/model from disk. |
| ctrl+S | Save the file the current model is part of. |
| ctrl+shift+S | Save all changed LDraw files. |
| ctrl+W | Close current file. |
| F05 | Reload current file. |
| F11 | Enable/disable rendering of snap info points. |
| Menus | |
| up/down | Scroll one item up/down. |
| pageup/pagedown | Scroll a page up/down. |
| home/end | Scroll the first/last item into view. |
| mousewheel | Scroll one item up/down |
| esc | Navigate to the parent group if any. |
| Colorbin menus | |
| up/down | Scroll one item up/down. |
| pageup/pagedown | Scroll a page up/down. |
| home/end | Scroll the first/last item into view. |
| mousewheel | Scroll one item up/down |
| Colorbin wheel. | |
| left/right | Rotate the wheel one segment. |
| up/down | Go to the next/previous page. |
| pagup/pagedown | Go to the next/previous page. |
| home/end | Go to the first/last page. |
| mousewheel | Rotate the wheel one segment. |
| ctrl+mousewheel | Tilt the wheel up/down. |
| ctrl+lmb | Apply the color of the wheel segment below the mouse to the selection. |
| dbl LMB on wheel segment | Same as ctrl+lmb. |
| Color bin general | |
| 1..6 | Switch to view. |
| F | Add the current color to your favorites. |
| shift+F | Remove the current color from your favorites. |
| ctrl+lmb | Apply the history bar color below the mouse to the selection. |
| Partbin | |
| up/down | Scroll one row up/down. |
| pageup/pagedown | Scroll to the next/previous page. |
| home/end | Scroll the first/last row into view. |
| esc | If the mouse is inside the filter text area it will clear the filter, if not it will navigate to the parent group if any. |
| F3 | Opens the filter dialog. |
| return | Opens the filter dialog if the mouse cursor is currently inside the filter text rectangle. |
| end | Clear filter text if inside the filter region. |
| ins | Insert the part below the mouse at 0,0,0 in the current model. |
| double lmb | Replace the selection with the item below the mouse cursor. If no selection is active it will insert the item at 0,0,0 like the ins key does. |
| esc | Go one level/group up. |
| + / - | Increase/decrease the number of item columns. |
| F | Add the current working part to your favorites. |
| shift+F | Remove the current working part from your favorites. |
| R | Reset cell orientations to the current default. |
| 1..6 | Switch to view. |
| mousewheel | Scroll one row up/down |
| shift+mousewheel | Scroll a couple of rows up/down. |
| ctrl+lmb+mousemove | Rotate cell content if the cursor is currently in a cell. |
| ctrl+mousewheel | Rotate cell content left/right. |
| ctrl+alt+mousewheel | Rotate cell content up/down. |
| dbl lmb on cell | Apply to selection. |
| Editor | |
| lmb on part | Select or deselect. |
| ctrl+lmb on part | Add to or remove from selection. |
| shift+lmb on part | Set part as the current working part without changing any of the other work variables. |
| ctrl+shift+lmb on part | Make part the selection's main item. |
| ins | 1: While no selection or a single selection is active it will insert a new instance of the current working part. 2: If a muliple selection is active it will replicate it like ctrl+d does. |
| ctrl+D | Duplicate the current selection. |
| ctrl+ins | Append a new building step. |
| shift+ins | Insert the last used session's model as if it were the current working part. |
| del | Delete the selection. |
| esc | 1: Cancel the current editing activity if supported. 2: Deselect the selection, if any, otherwise. |
| home | 1: Snap to the current editing grid using the current plane's (2D) axis' only. 2: While inserting/moving parts it will reset the 'floating' parts orientation. 3: While the mouse is inside the animation panel seek to the first frame instead. |
| ctrl+home | Reset the selection's orientation relative to the current grid orientation. |
| shift+home | Snap to all (3D) grid axis'. |
| end | 1: Switch back to the previous used session/model. 2: While the mouse is inside the animation panel it will seek the last frame instead. |
| ctrl+end | switch to the main session/model in the current LDraw file. |
| shift+end | switch to the session/model of the current selection's main item. |
| ctrl+shift+end | During nested mode switches to the session/model which contains the current selection's main item. |
| pageup/pagedown | 1: Go to the next/previous building step. 2: While inserting/moving parts it will rotate the 'floating' parts 90 degrees around the screens depth axis. |
| ctrl+pageup/pagedown | 1: Go to the last/first building step. 2: While inserting/moving parts it will rotate the 'floating' parts 45 degrees around the screens depth axis. |
| left/right | 1: While the editing pin is in move mode, it will move the selection on grid step on it's horizontal axis. 2: While the editing pin is in rotate mode it will rotate the selection on rotate step around the current editing plane's dead axis. 3: While inserting/moving parts it will rotate the 'floating' parts 90 degrees around the screens vertical axis. 4: If the mouse is over a path point resize control spot it will resize it by one grid step. |
| ctrl+left/right | 1: During move mode it will force rotation grid manipulation, during rotation or center move mode it will force gird move manipulation. 2: While inserting/moving parts it will rotate the 'floating' parts 45 degrees around the screens vertical axis. |
| up/down | 1: While the editing pin is in move mode, it will move the selection on grid step on it's vertical axis. 2: While the editing pin is in rotate mode it will rotate the selection on rotate step around the current editing plane's dead axis. 3: While inserting/moving parts it will rotate the 'floating' parts 90 degrees around the screens horizontal axis. 4: If the mouse is over a path point resize control spot it will resize it by one grid step. |
| ctrl+up/down | 1: During move mode it will force grid rotation manipulation, during rotation or center move mode it will force grid move manipulation. 2: While inserting/moving parts it will rotate the 'floating' parts 45 degrees around the screens horizontal axis. |
| return | Open a relevant dialog for the current selection or model. |
| spacebar | Switch between split views (if any) and a zoomed current editing view. |
| F | Set the editing plane to front/back (XY). |
| T | Set the editing plane to top/bottom (XZ). |
| S | Set the editing plane to sides (ZY). |
| O | Change the grid orientation to match the current selection's main part. Or reset to the absolute grid if no selection is active. |
| M | Set (the editing pin in) move mode. |
| ctrl+M | Open the selection move dialog. |
| R | Set (the editing pin in) rotate mode. |
| ctrl+R | Open the selection rotate dialog. |
| A | Go to animation mode. |
| shift+A | Leave animation mode. |
| ctrl+A | Select all. |
| shift+ctrl+A | Select none. |
| P | 1: Show/hide the edting pin or rectangle depending on projection mode. 2: Play/pause the animation while in animation mode. |
| shift+P | Enable/disable part snapping. |
| shift+ctrl+P | Initialize resizing of the editing pin length. |
| C | Center the camera on the current selection. |
| ctrl+C | Copy the selection's LDraw data to the clipboard. A dialog with additional options might appear if needed. |
| shift+c | Move the selection to 0,0,0. |
| V | Switch the camera between the perspective and orthographic projection mode. |
| shift+V | Switch the camera between the perspective and orthographic projection mode while trying to retain the current view direction. |
| ctrl+V | Paste LDraw data from the clipboard into the model. A dialog with options might show up first if needed. |
| Z | Zoom to fit. |
| ctrl+Z | Undo the last editing action. |
| shift+ctrl+Z | Redo the last undone editing action. |
| E | Add the current selection to the nesting exclusion list. |
| ctrl+E | Remove the current selection from the nesting exclusion list. |
| ctrl+shift+E | Clear the nesting exclusion list. |
| H | Hide (ghost) the selection. |
| ctrl+H | Undo the last selection hide. |
| ctrl+shift+H | Make all currently hidden parts visible again. |
| G | Show/hide the selection's editing grid. |
| ctrl+G | Create a new group from the current selection. |
| shift+ctrl+G | Remove all top level grouping from the current selection. |
| L | Enable/disable looped playback for the current animation if any. |
| I | Show/hide the selected parts information panel. |
| ctrl+I | Show/hide the (bottom/left) document information icon. |
| ctrl+F05 | Regenerate dynamic (path/spring) parts. |
| ctrl+X | Cut (copy to clipboard and remove) the current selection. A dialog with extra options might first appear if needed. |
| N | Enter nesting mode. |
| shift+N | Leave nesting mode. |
| 1..9 | Choose the current move stepping. |
| ctrl+1..9 | Choose the current rotate stepping. |
| lmb+mousemove | While on the editing or compass background it will rotate the view in perspective mode or move the view in orthographic mode. |
| shift+lmb+mousemove | While on the editing or compass background it will move the camera lookat in relation to the screen. |
| shift+ctrl+lmb+mousemove | While on the editing or compass background it will move the camera lookat in relation to the current edting plane. |
| rmb+mousemove | Rotate the view in perspective mode or move the view in orthographic mode. |
| shift+rmb+mousemove | Move the camera lookat in relation to the screen. |
| shift+ctrl+rmb+mousemove | Move the camera lookat in relation to the current edting plane. |
| mousewheel | Zoom in/out on the lookat point. |
| ctrl+mousewheel | Zoom in/out on the lookat point using smaller steps. |
| shift+ctrl+mousewheel | Zoom in/out on the lookat point using larger steps. |
| mmb | Open related dialog to object below the mouse. |