Keyboard Shortcuts

This page lists every keyboard shortcut in the ScanImage® interface in one place. The individual tab reference pages repeat the shortcuts that belong to each tab; this page is the complete list.

Shortcuts Worth Learning First

These are the shortcuts that save the most time day to day. Everything else on this page is a variation on them.

Shortcut	Description
`F1`	Open this documentation in your web browser
`Home`	Show the features overlay, which labels the parts of the main window. `Escape` or `Enter` dismisses it
`f`	Rescale the axes under the mouse. In the viewport this frames the field of view, or the selected object if one is selected; in the Z view it frames the field of view; in a plot panel it zooms to full extents
`a`	Start the “add” tool of the panel you are working in: add an imaging ROI, stim ROI, SLM point, integration ROI, quick-analysis ROI, power box, mosaic, or calibration point, depending on which tab is open
`Escape`	Cancel the active tool
`Delete`	Delete the selected object
`shift` + `s` / `shift` + `o`	Save / load the group of objects the open tab manages (ROI group, stim group, power boxes, cycle, and so on)
`m` / `s` / `d`	With an object selected in the viewport: toggle move-all, snapping, and duplicate-on-drag
`g`	With an object selected in the viewport: raise the tab that owns it
`↓` / `↑`	In the Z view, move the display slider 1 µm deeper into / out of the sample. `Page Down` / `Page Up` do the same in 5 µm steps
`shift` + `↓` / `shift` + `↑`	In the Z view, move the Z stage 0.5 µm, and `shift` + `Page Down` / `Page Up` move it 5 µm
`alt` + `↓` / `alt` + `↑`	In the Z view, move the fast Z actuator 0.5 µm, and `alt` + `Page Down` / `Page Up` move it 5 µm
`t` / `b` / `c`	In the Z view, set the top, bottom, and center of a bounded stack at the display slider
`1` – `9`	Over the histograms, show only that channel. Press the same key again to show all channels
`p`	Pin all ROI displays in the viewport

Note

Shortcuts are ignored while the keyboard focus is in a table or in an editable field, so typing a filename or a number into a control never triggers one.

How Key Bindings Work

Key bindings belong to the part of the interface that owns them, not to the application as a whole, which is why the same letter can mean different things in different places.

Two binding sets. The main window’s left and auxiliary panels share one set of bindings, and each viewport has its own. Both are listed under Help → Selected Left Panel’s Key Bindings and Help → Selected Viewport’s Key Bindings.
Bindings come and go with context. A tab contributes its bindings while it is open, and a tool contributes its bindings while it is active. The s key is “toggle snap” while an ROI is selected and “start previewing” while the Camera tab is open.
Some shortcuts need the mouse in the right place. The viewport, the Z view, and the histograms only act on a key press while the mouse cursor is over them.
Direction keys follow the objective. Where a shortcut moves something in Z, the arrow and page keys are assigned so that ↓ and Page Down always move deeper into the sample. On a system whose objective points up, the keys are swapped accordingly, so the descriptions on this page hold either way.

Customizing Key Bindings

Every shortcut on this page can be re-assigned, disabled, or re-timed from the Key Bindings Editor, reached from Help → Selected Left Panel’s Key Bindings or Help → Selected Viewport’s Key Bindings.

Column	Description
Enable	Turns the binding on or off without removing it
Key	The single key to press, for example `A`, `F1`, or `space`
Modifiers	A comma-separated list of `control`, `shift`, and `alt`, for example `control, alt`. The modifiers must match exactly: a binding with no modifiers does not fire while `shift` is held
TriggerMode	`once` fires one time per key press, `rate` fires at most once per rate limit, and `spam` fires continuously while the key is held Warning `spam` mode can degrade interface performance.
Variable / Function	The component and the method it calls. Clicking a cell in the Variable column opens that component’s source
Rate Limit [s]	For `rate` mode, the shortest interval between two triggers
trigger	Clicking the bullet runs the binding’s action once, to confirm what it does

Save writes the current bindings to a .json file and Load reads one back. Once a file has been loaded or saved, later edits in the table are written to it automatically, so a customized set can be carried between machines.

Main Window

Shortcut	Description
`F1`	Open the ScanImage® documentation in your web browser
`F7`	Open the transition helper, the legacy window layout that shows where controls used to be
`Home`	Show the features overlay. `Escape` or `Enter` dismisses it

Viewport

These act on the viewport under the mouse cursor.

Shortcut	Description
`f`	Rescale the axes to the field of view, or to the selected object if one is selected
`l`	Toggle showing only the live display, hiding the other viewport layers
`control` + `d`	Toggle the Display Settings panel
`p`	Pin all ROI displays
`shift` + `p`	Pin the current camera image
`Escape`	Cancel the active tool

Z View

The Z view is the vertical strip on the side of the viewport. These shortcuts act while the mouse cursor is over it. ↓ and Page Down move deeper into the sample; see How Key Bindings Work.

Display Slider

Shortcut	Description
`↓` / `↑`	Move the display slider 1 µm into / out of the sample
`Page Down` / `Page Up`	Move the display slider 5 µm into / out of the sample
`d`	Bring the display slider to the current cursor position

Z Stage and Fast Z

Shortcut	Description
`shift` + `↓` / `shift` + `↑`	Step the Z stage 0.5 µm toward / out of the sample
`shift` + `Page Down` / `shift` + `Page Up`	Step the Z stage 5 µm toward / out of the sample
`shift` + `End`	Set the Z stage travel limit at the current position
`alt` + `↓` / `alt` + `↑`	Step the fast Z actuator 0.5 µm into / out of the sample
`alt` + `Page Down` / `alt` + `Page Up`	Step the fast Z actuator 5 µm into / out of the sample
`shift` + `0`	Zero the Z of the sample-relative coordinate system here
`shift` + `r`	Clear that Z zero
`f`	Rescale the Z axes to the field of view

Warning

The shift shortcuts above move the Z stage. Confirm that the sample and the objective are clear before holding one down.

Bounded Stacks

See Stack Definition Panel for what a bounded stack is. Clicking the top, bottom, or center line of the stack first selects which part the control shortcuts move.

Shortcut	Description
`t`	Set the beginning (top) slice of the stack at the display slider
`b`	Set the ending (bottom) slice of the stack at the display slider
`c`	Set the center of the stack at the display slider
`control` + `c`	Toggle a centered stack
`control` + `Enter`	Enter the stack definition numerically
`control` + `↓` / `control` + `↑`	Move the selected part of the stack 1 µm closer to / farther from the sample
`control` + `Page Down` / `control` + `Page Up`	Move the selected part of the stack 5 µm closer to / farther from the sample

Arbitrary Stacks

Shortcut	Description
`z`	Append a slice at the display slider to the end of the slice sequence
`shift` + `z`	Insert a slice at the display slider
`Delete`	Delete the selected slice
`Enter`	Enter the stack definition numerically
`↓` / `↑`	Move the stack 1 µm closer to / out of the sample
`Page Down` / `Page Up`	Move the stack 5 µm closer to / out of the sample

Selected Objects in the Viewport

Selecting an imaging ROI, stim ROI, integration ROI, quick-analysis ROI, or power box in the viewport activates a tool that shares the same shortcuts.

Shortcut	Description
`m`	Toggle move-all, so dragging one object moves every object in the group
`s`	Toggle snapping
`d`	Toggle duplicate, so dragging an object leaves a copy behind
`e`	Toggle between scaling symmetrically about the center and dragging a single corner
`q`	Toggle coercing the shape to a square while scaling
`Delete`	Delete the selected object. For an imaging ROI this deletes the selected scanfield
`g`	Raise the tab that owns the selected object: MROI, Photostim, Online Analysis, or Quick Analysis

Note

m, s, and d are also the tile and cycle tools’ shortcuts: a selected tile or cycle supports toggle move-all and snapping, and a selected power box supports all three.

Viewport Tools

Shortcut	Description
`Escape`	Cancel whichever tool is active
`Delete`	Point adding and dragging tool, FOV relocation tool: delete the selected point
`control` + `a`	Point adding and dragging tool: select all points
`[` / `]`	Integration mask paint tool: shrink / grow the brush
`h`	SLM burn tool: toggle the markers
`x`	SLM burn tool: switch the stage between burn depth and view depth
`space`	Light beads Z affine tool: add an affine at the current Z

Tabs and Panels

Each of these acts while its tab or panel is open. a starts a drawing tool in the viewport; shift + s and shift + o save and load the group of objects the tab manages.

Tab or panel	Shortcut	Description
MROI	`a`	Add an imaging ROI
	`m`	Toggle drawing multiple ROIs
	`r`	Toggle drawing an array of ROIs
	`shift` + `s` / `shift` + `o`	Save / load the ROI group
Scanfields	`s`	Add a scanfield at the current Z
Photostim	`a`	Add a stim ROI, or an SLM point when the SLM pattern editor is open
	`shift` + `s` / `shift` + `o`	Save / load the stim ROI group
Online Analysis	`a`	Add an integration ROI
	`shift` + `s` / `shift` + `o`	Save / load the integration ROI group
Quick Analysis	`a`	Add a quick-analysis ROI
	`m`	Toggle drawing multiple ROIs
	`shift` + `s` / `shift` + `o`	Save / load the ROI group
Power Box	`a`	Add a sample power box
	`r`	Add an ROI power box
	`shift` + `s` / `shift` + `o`	Save / load the power box group
Arbitrary Line Scanning	`a`	Add an arbitrary line scan ROI
	`shift` + `s` / `shift` + `o`	Save / load the ROI group
Mosaic	`a`	Start the add-mosaic tool
Cycle	`shift` + `s` / `shift` + `o`	Save / load the cycle group
Camera	`s`	Start or stop reading frames from the camera
Background image	`Delete`	Delete the selected label

Tables

The tables in the left panel take their own shortcuts, which act on the rows that are selected. These are the one group of shortcuts that work because the keyboard focus is in the table; every other shortcut on this page is suppressed there.

Shortcut	Description
`Delete`	Remove the selected rows: ROIs, stim ROIs, integration ROIs, quick-analysis ROIs, arbitrary line scan ROIs, power boxes, cycles, tiles, or scanfields
`control` + `↑` / `control` + `↓`	Move the selected rows one position earlier / later in the order they are scanned. Available on the MROI, Photostim, Online Analysis, Quick Analysis, Arbitrary Line Scanning, and Cycle tables
`control` + `alt` + `↑` / `control` + `alt` + `↓`	Move the selected rows to the front / back of the order

Note

The order of stim ROIs cannot be changed while the photostimulation component is active, and the order of arbitrary line scan ROIs cannot be changed during an acquisition.

Tiles and Cycles

Shortcut	Description
`control` + `t`	Add a tile at the current stage position
`control` + `alt` + `t`	Add a tile at the mouse cursor
`control` + `w`	Add a cycle at the current position
`control` + `shift` + `w`	Add a cycle at the mouse position
`Delete`	Delete the selected tile or cycle

Histograms

These act while the mouse cursor is over a histogram, in either the standalone Live Display Histograms panel or the Display tab’s histograms.

Shortcut	Description
`a`	Auto-set the contrast limits of that channel
`s`	Open the color picker for that channel
`v`	Toggle the channel’s visibility
`l`	Toggle showing saturation
`t`	Toggle the pixel-statistics text overlay
`1` – `9`	Show only that channel. Press the same key again to show all channels again
`w` / `r` / `g` / `b` / `c` / `m` / `y`	Set the channel color to white, red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, or yellow
`shift` + scroll wheel	Zoom the histogram’s intensity axis

Alignment and Calibration

These act while the corresponding panel of the Alignment tab is open.

Panel	Shortcut	Description
FastZ alignment	`→` / `←`	Move the target Z deeper into / out of the sample
	`↑` / `↓`	Adjust the Z deeper into / out of the sample
	`Delete`	Delete the current calibration point
Resonant scanner calibration	`↑` / `↓`	Adjust the resonant amplitude higher / lower
	`Delete`	Delete the current calibration point
X galvo offset calibration	`↑` / `↓`	Adjust the X galvo scaling higher / lower
	`Delete`	Delete the calibration point
Stage-scanner alignment	`a`	Add a calibration point
	`z`	Undo the last calibration point

Warning

The FastZ, resonant, and X offset shortcuts move an actuator or change a scan amplitude as soon as they are pressed.

Plot Panels

Shortcut	Description
`f`	Reset the view of the plot under the cursor: the scan path preview, the scan info preview, the waveform plot (zoom to full extents), or the field curvature display (home on the scannable volume)

Photostim On-Demand Hot Keys

Enable these with Enable HotKeys on the Photostim tab while the photostim module is running in on-demand mode. See Hot-Keys.

Shortcut	Description
`0` – `9`, or the numpad digits	Type the index of the stim group to output. ScanImage® waits for as many digits as the largest stim group number has, then outputs that group. With 10 or more stim groups defined, `0`-`4` outputs group 4 and `1`-`4` outputs group 14
`Enter`	Output the digits typed so far without waiting for the rest. Pressed before any digit, it repeats the last group
`Escape`	Clear the digits typed so far

Warning

These keys fire the stimulus immediately, with no confirmation.

Modifier Keys with the Mouse

Action	Description
Scroll wheel	Zoom the viewport about the cursor
`shift` + scroll wheel	Step the viewport’s current Z
`control` + scroll wheel	Change the transparency of the displayed channels
`shift` + middle-click and drag	Orbit the viewport, when the display is not constrained to two dimensions
`control` + right-click and drag	Drag the motor reference position
`shift` while dragging an SLM point	Snap to the scanner or SLM neutral axes

Legacy Windows

The windows of the pre-2025 interface, reached through the transition helper (F7), keep their own shortcuts. They are documented with those windows in the Windows Reference Guide.