DOCUMENTATION

From an empty sheet to a released cutlist

How Wiring Studio models a harness, what it derives from that model, and how each view feeds the bill of materials and the cutlist.

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Chapters

Wiring Studio 1.11
Last updated 3 September 2026

REFERENCE

Keyboard shortcuts

Every shortcut in the app, grouped by where it applies. The canvas and mouse controls work everywhere; the view, sheet, project and tab shortcuts are desktop-only, because the browser has already claimed most of those chords for itself.

Design canvas

These work on the Design canvas in both apps.

Shortcut	Action
Delete or Backspace	Delete the selection
Cmd/Ctrl + Z	Undo
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Z	Redo
Cmd/Ctrl + A	Select every component on the sheet
Cmd/Ctrl + C	Copy the selection
Cmd/Ctrl + V	Paste at the pointer
Escape	See the note below
Shift + click	Add or remove one component from the selection
Shift + drag	Marquee select

NOTE

Escape resolves in order: it cancels a placement in progress; then, if a dialog is open, the dialog takes it; then it clears the selection; and finally it clears a pinned wire trace. So pressing it twice after tracing a wire clears the selection and then the trace.

The actions panel keeps the most-used ones on screen under Shortcuts, so you do not have to come back here for them.

Wiring canvas

The Wiring view is driven by its context menus and its selection panel rather than by keys, and it has no undo of its own.

Action	What it does
Click a wire	Selects it, opens the panel, highlights its network
Right-click the canvas	Add Splice, Diode, Resistor; Auto Route
Right-click a wire	Twist, Ungroup
Right-click a component	Pin Configuration, Pin Layout
Drag a control point	Adjust the wire's path

Views and zoom

Available in the desktop app, where each one also appears beside its command in the menu bar.

Shortcut	Action
Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + 1	Design view
Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + 2	Wiring view
Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + 3	BOM
Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + 4	Cutlist
Cmd/Ctrl + = or Cmd/Ctrl + +	Zoom the canvas in
Cmd/Ctrl + −	Zoom the canvas out
Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + 0	Fit the drawing to the screen

NOTE

Cmd/Ctrl + 0 is a different thing: it resets the zoom of the application window, not the canvas. Canvas zoom runs from 0.1× to 10×.

Project and sheet commands

Also desktop-only, and greyed out in the menu when they do not apply — a command is offered only when the current view can actually run it.

Shortcut	Action
Cmd/Ctrl + D	Duplicate the selection
Cmd/Ctrl + E	Open the export dialog
Cmd/Ctrl + I	Open project properties
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + S	Save the selection as a component
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + N	Add a sheet
Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + →	Next sheet
Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + ←	Previous sheet

Tabs

The desktop app opens each project in its own tab and answers to the chords a browser does.

Shortcut	Action
Cmd/Ctrl + N or Cmd/Ctrl + T	New project in a new tab
Cmd/Ctrl + W	Close the current tab
Ctrl + Tab	Next tab
Ctrl + Shift + Tab	Previous tab
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + ] or Ctrl + Page Down	Next tab
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + [ or Ctrl + Page Up	Previous tab
Cmd/Ctrl + 1 to Cmd/Ctrl + 8	Jump to that tab
Cmd/Ctrl + 9	Jump to the last tab

Mouse action	Effect
Middle-click a tab	Close it
Double-click a tab	Rename the project
Drag a tab	Reorder

Canvas navigation

Action	Effect
Scroll wheel	Zoom, at 1.05× per increment
Ctrl + scroll	Zoom, inverted
Drag empty canvas	Pan the viewport
Click empty canvas	Deselect everything

The canvas at a closer zoom, showing the grid detail

Zoom range is 0.1× to 10× on both canvases.
The wheel steps by 1.05×; the keyboard shortcuts step by 1.2×, which is deliberately coarser because a trackpad fires the wheel dozens of times per gesture.
The Design grid is 40 px and is a visual reference only — nothing snaps to it. The Wiring grid is 20 px and nodes do snap to it as you drag, with wire bend handles snapping to a finer 10 px.
Each canvas keeps its own viewport, so switching views does not lose your place.

Design canvas mouse actions

Action	Effect
Drag a component	Move it
Click a connection point	Start drawing a cable
Click the target point	Complete the cable
Click a cable	Add a curve waypoint
Double-click a waypoint	Remove it
Drag a waypoint	Reshape the curve
Drag a tangent handle	Change the curve direction at that point
Drag a label	Reposition it relative to its component
Hover a strand in a cable's cross-section	Trace that wire
Click a strand	Pin the trace

Context menus

Where you right-click	What you get
Design canvas	Add Connector, Ring Terminal, Branch Point; Insert Component; Save Sheet as Component; Paste; Auto-Scale Layout; Show Details; Export; Project Properties
A component	Properties, Pin Configuration, Mating Connector, Pin Layout (wiring only), Flip H, Flip V, Duplicate, Copy, Save as Component, Delete
A cable	Set Length, Set Covering, Add Label, Add Branch Point, Reset Curve, Delete
A multi-selection	Save as Component, Delete
Wiring canvas	Add Splice, Diode, Resistor; Auto Route; Export; Project Properties
A wire	Twist, Ungroup
A sheet tab	Rename, Delete

The Design View with its context menu open

Worth knowing

Undo immediately. If you delete the wrong component, Cmd/Ctrl + Z brings it and its wiring back. The history covers the whole session.
Right-click everything. Most of the app is reachable from a context menu, and the menu you get depends on what is under the cursor.
Zoom in for precision. Snap range is measured in screen distance, so zooming in makes connection points easier to hit.
Check the menu bar. On desktop, every shortcut on this page is displayed beside its command, so there is nothing to memorise.

TIP

In the docs, Cmd/Ctrl + K puts the cursor in the search field at the top of any chapter.

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