Shortcuts and Command Bar

This reference page consolidates the most practical keyboard, mouse, and command-bar workflows from the in-app help so you can work faster without leaving the docs shell.

Scene editing

• Ctrl+X: cut the selected fixtures, trusses, hoists, and scene objects.
• Ctrl+C: copy the selected scene elements.
• Ctrl+V: paste copied scene elements into the current project.

These commands support mixed selections and are also available from the Edit menu. When a text field or table cell is being edited, the same keys keep their native text-editing behavior.

Global shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New project
Ctrl+L	Load project
Ctrl+S	Save project
Ctrl+Q	Close application
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y	Undo / Redo
Del	Delete selection
Ctrl+G	Group the active cross-table selection
Ctrl+U	Ungroup selected objects from their direct group
F1	Open help
Ctrl+Alt+D / Ctrl+Shift+D	Distribute fixtures on truss / between points
P / R	Focus Console and prefill pos / rot outside editable widgets
F	Focus Console and prefill fixture (outside editable widgets)
1 / 2 / 3 / 4	Switch to Fixtures / Trusses / Hoists / Objects

Viewer shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Z	Fit view (focused 2D/3D viewer)
NumPad1	Front view
NumPad3	Side/Right view
NumPad7	Top view
NumPad5	Reset 3D camera orientation
Arrow keys (3D)	Orbit camera
Shift + Arrow keys (3D)	Pan camera
Alt + Arrow keys (2D/3D)	Zoom in/out
Arrow keys (2D)	Pan view

Layout View shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Delete	Delete selected layout element
Z	Fit layout view

Console input shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Esc	Exit prompt and re-enable app shortcuts
Up / Down	Navigate command history
Home	Move to start of input (after prompt)
Left / Backspace	Cannot move before prompt

Mouse shortcuts (3D viewer)

Action	Result
Left drag	Orbit camera
Shift + left drag or middle drag	Pan camera
Mouse wheel	Zoom in/out
Left click	Select fixture/truss/object under cursor
Shift/Ctrl + left click	Toggle selection
Ctrl + left drag	Rectangle select
Double click fixture label	Open fixture patch dialog

Command bar quick workflow

1. Focus the command bar.
2. Outside editable widgets, use P, R, or F to focus and prefill the Console.
3. Edit the command text.
4. Execute and verify the result in tables/viewers.
5. Reuse command history for repetitive changes.

Experimental CLI

Starting with 1.7.0, Perastage includes an experimental perastage-cli for automation and advanced workflows. Run it in a terminal:

Platform	Example
Windows (PowerShell, default install)	& "C:\Program Files\Perastage\perastage-cli.exe" --help
macOS (app installed in Applications)	/Applications/Perastage.app/Contents/MacOS/perastage-cli --help
Linux AppImage (replace the filename with your download)	./Perastage-1.7.0-x86_64.AppImage --cli --help
Arch Linux	perastage-cli --help

Use --version to check the installed version. Windows and macOS do not add the CLI to PATH. Commands and options remain in English. inspect reads files without changing them; scene requires a separate output file and never overwrites its source; live connects only to a running local Perastage instance over loopback. Experimental refers to support and stability maturity; existing validation and atomicity rules still apply. The MCP adapter is configured separately and is not included in the installer. For detailed grammar, see Developer CLI.

Console commands (frequent and useful)

Selection commands

Command	Description
clear	Clear fixtures, trusses, and objects selections
f ...	Select fixtures by ID
t ...	Select trusses by unit number (clears truss selection first)

Selection syntax examples:

• Single ID: f 12
• Range: f 1-5, f 1 thru 5, f 1 t 5
• Add/remove: f + 10 - 3
• Mixed: f 1 3 5 7-9

Position and rotation commands

Command	Description
pos x <values>	Set X positions
pos y <values>	Set Y positions
pos z <values>	Set Z positions
pos <x>,<y>,<z>	Set X/Y/Z together
x <values> / y <values> / z <values>	Axis shortcuts for pos
rot x <values> / rot y <values> / rot z <values>	Set roll/pitch/yaw
rot x|y|z <values> --group or --g	Rotate full selection as one group

Notes:

• Console position values and pivot coordinates use meters; rotation values use degrees.
• One value applies to all selected items.
• Two values distribute linearly from start to end across selection; t and thru are accepted as optional range separators, so pos x -7 t 7, pos x -7 thru 7, and pos x -7 7 are equivalent.
• Use ++ / -- for relative offsets. Compact and spaced values are both accepted, for example pos x ++1.5, pos x ++ 1.5, pos z --1, and pos z -- 1.
• Grouped movement follows Selection & Movement preferences.
• Group rotation pivot defaults to selection bounding-box center.
• You can override pivot with a trailing x,y,z triplet, for example rot y ++45 --g -2.5,0,0.

Transform spaces

World axes are the default for command-bar transforms. Relative position and rotation commands can opt into local axes with --local or -l:

f 1
pos x ++ 1
pos x ++ 1 --local
rot y ++ 45
rot y ++ 45 -l
rot z ++ 30 --group --local

Transform-space modifiers affect incremental operations (++ and --). Absolute position commands still set world coordinates, and absolute rotation commands keep the existing Euler-angle behavior. The Local Axes toolbar button is persistent and affects viewport transforms only; command-bar history and scripts stay deterministic and do not inherit that toolbar state.

Focus and priority behavior

• Shortcuts are blocked while typing in editable text fields/cells.
• Viewer shortcuts run in the currently focused viewer.
• Dialog-local shortcuts remain local to that dialog.

Create from text dialog local shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
↑ / ↓	Move through suggestions
Enter or Tab	Accept selected suggestion
Esc	Close suggestions without closing dialog

For page editing and layout mouse controls, see Layouts and PDF.