Keyboard & Mouse Reference
Caident Design has no macro system; these shortcuts are the fast path to everything. (They're also summarized in-app under the ? menu.)
Shortcuts are suppressed while you're typing in a text field — except F8, which always works.
| Keys | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl+S | Save (prompts for a path on first save) |
| Ctrl+E | Export DXF |
| Ctrl+Z | Undo |
| Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y | Redo |
| Ctrl++ / Ctrl+− | Zoom in / out |
| Ctrl+0 | Reset zoom |
| Keys | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl+N | New project |
| Ctrl+O | Open project |
| Keys / mouse | Action |
|---|
| Click | Select topmost object |
| Shift+click | Add / remove from selection |
| Drag left→right on empty canvas | Window select (full containment) |
| Drag right→left on empty canvas | Crossing select (any touch); Shift-drag adds |
| Alt+click or Tab | Cycle overlapping objects |
| Ctrl+click | Select one member inside a group |
| Double-click a space | Make it active |
| Esc | Clear selection / cancel (see below) |
| Keys | Action |
|---|
| Delete / Backspace | Delete selection (entities, routed spans, compartments, or unlocked background entities) |
| Arrow keys | Nudge selection 1 ft |
| Shift+arrows | Nudge 0.25 ft |
| Ctrl+D | Duplicate |
| Ctrl+M | Mirror (then click two axis points) |
| Ctrl+M with 2+ rooms selected | Merge compartments |
| Ctrl+G / Ctrl+Shift+G | Group / Ungroup |
| Keys | Action |
|---|
| F8 | Toggle Ortho (works even while typing) |
| Hold Shift | Bypass snapping for the current pick |
| Enter | Finish a polyline / boundary / compartment draft; commit a typed L/∠ value |
| Esc | Cancel the in-progress draft; press again to exit the tool |
| Right-click | Finish a polyline; open the context menu |
Esc cancels the most specific thing first: context menu → in-progress draft → move/mirror pick → placement mode → selection. Press repeatedly to unwind completely.
| Keys | Action |
|---|
| Enter | Continue to the flow table |
| Esc | Cancel |
| Gesture | Action |
|---|
| Wheel | Zoom about the cursor (Sheet view: zoom the paper) |
| Middle-drag | Pan |
| Right-click | Context menu |
| Double-click a space tab | Rename the space |
| Double-click a layer name | Rename the layer |
| Drag a space's name label | Move the whole space |
| Shift+click a compartment corner | Delete that corner |
Enter confirms and Esc cancels in essentially every dialog (name prompts, calibration, auto-place, vertical pipe, text notes). Esc also closes the research window and a finished export dialog.