What are some helpful short keys in Illustrator?

Answer 1

I use the following two keyboard shortcuts more than any of the others:

1. Command + C (Mac); CTRL + C (Win) = Copy
2. Command + V (Mac); CTRL + V (Win) = Paste

They save a lot of time instead moving your mouse to the menu items.

Answer 2

There are a lot of them but these are a few that I'm personally using often:

1. Mac: Command + G Windows: Control + G - Grouping
2. Mac: Command + N Windows: Control + N - Create a Document
3. Mac: Command + R windows: Control + R - Show/Hide Ruler
4. Mac: Cmd+Spacebar Windows: Ctrl+Spacebar - Activate Zoom In tool
5. Mac: Cmd+2 Windows: Ctrl+2 - Lock Selected Artwork
6. Mac: Cmd+Option+2 Windows: Ctrl+Alt+2 - Unlock Selected Artwork
7. Mac: Cmd+Shift+H Windows: Ctrl+Shift+H - Show/hide artboards
8. Mac: Option+drag Windows: Alt+drag - Duplicate Artwork or Text

Answer 3

M - Square tool

L - Circle tool

Command + alt + shift + s - save for web

Command + Z - undo

Command + shift + Z - redo

Command + F - paste in place