HairStorm is built for fast grooming. Keep this cheatsheet handy to learn the tools, mouse shortcuts, and viewport controls as you build your hairstyle.
12 Grooming tools & brushes
In the Groom workspace (Professional and Studio plans), each tool has a single-letter shortcut. Press the key on your keyboard to instantly switch tools.
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| Tool | Key | What it does | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q | Click a card to select it, or drag a box over multiple cards. Shows root and tip control handles. | Always ready | |
| B | Click and drag across the head to draw new hair cards that snap smoothly to the scalp surface. | Head model imported | |
| R | Redraw the curve of a selected card while keeping its width, texture, and twist settings intact. | Head model imported | |
| T | Rotate cards along their length to face the light and catch natural hair sheen. | Head model imported | |
| W | Change card thickness at the root, body, or tip. Drag horizontally in the viewport to size interactively. | Head model imported | |
| E | Bend the card across its width into an arch so it wraps around the rounded skull without sticking out. | Head model imported |
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| Brush / Tool | Key | What it does | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | Gently sweep and guide card locks in 3D space to establish hair flow and parting lines. | Head model imported | |
| S | Relax jittery curves, soften harsh angles, and even out the spacing between cards. | Head model imported | |
| M | Push and pull hair volume away from or closer to the skull to shape the silhouette. | Head model imported | |
| K | Pinch neighboring cards together into tight, natural bundles and locks. | Head model imported | |
| X | Trim hair card lengths interactively in the viewport to style bangs, fringe, and hairline borders. | Head model imported | |
| L | Draw two boundary lines to automatically generate a row of cards between them (great for fade cuts). | Head model imported | |
| Y | Toggle left/right mirror grooming on the X-axis so drawing on one side updates the other. | Head model imported | |
| G | Automatically insert intermediate cards between two selected cards to fill empty gaps. | Head model imported |
Mouse shortcuts & gestures
You can quickly adjust brush sizes, duplicate cards, and slide hair across the scalp using simple mouse gestures:
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| Action | Shortcut / Mouse Gesture | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Resize Brush or Card Width | Hold Alt + Right Mouse Button Drag | Drag left/right to instantly adjust card thickness or brush size on the fly without opening a menu. |
| Adjust Brush Strength | Hold Shift+Alt + Right Mouse Button Drag | Increases or decreases brush impact (available for the Comb brush). |
| Slide Card on Scalp | Drag Green Root Handle | Moves the card across the head while keeping it conformed flat to the skull. |
| Duplicate & Stamp Card | Hold Shift + Drag Root Handle | Creates a copy of the card and slides it to a new location on the head. |
| Slide Card Root Only | Hold Ctrl + Left Mouse Button (in Move mode) | Slides only the root point across the scalp while keeping the hair tip in place. |
| Adjust Control Points | Hold Tab + Scroll Mouse Wheel | Adds or removes control points along selected cards (between 4 and 16 points). |
| Loft Card Count | Hold Ctrl + Scroll Mouse Wheel (in Loft mode) | Increases or decreases the number of generated cards between the two boundary rails. |
| Select Multiple Cards | Hold Shift + Click cards | Adds cards to your active selection. |
| Isolate Selected Cards | Shift+I | Hides all other cards so you can focus on the selected lock without visual clutter. |
| Hide Selected Cards | Shift+H | Temporarily hides selected cards. |
| Unhide All Cards | Shift+Alt+H | Restores visibility for all hidden cards and exits isolate mode. |
| Cancel / Clear Selection | Esc | Cancels an in-progress drawing stroke, or clears your card selection. |
| Delete Selected Card | Delete | Removes the selected card from the hairstyle. |
2D & 3D canvas tools
When working in the 2D and 3D strand stages (Stage 1 and Stage 2):
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| Tool / Action | Key | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Draw Hair Brush | B | Paint guide curves directly on the 2D canvas to shape strand direction. |
| Move / Rotate / Scale Gizmos | W / E / R | Activate transform gizmos to move, rotate, or scale hair groups. |
| Toggle Snapping | S | Turn grid snapping on or off. |
| Cycle Debug Views | D | Cycle through display modes (Lit, Base Color, Normal, Flow, Alpha). |
| Direct View Slots | 1 – 9 | Press 1 for Lit shading, 2 for Albedo, 3 for Normal, 4 for Alpha, etc. |
Project & file shortcuts
Standard application shortcuts for saving, opening, and managing projects:
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| Action | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| New Project | Ctrl+N | Start a fresh, clean project canvas. |
| Open Project | Ctrl+O | Open an existing .hairstorm project file. |
| Save Project | Ctrl+S | Save your current progress. |
| Save Project As | Ctrl+Shift+S | Save a copy to a new file location. |
| Import Head Model | Ctrl+I | Import an OBJ, FBX, or glTF head asset to act as your grooming scalp. |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z | Revert your last action. |
| Redo | Ctrl+Shift+Z | Restore an undone change. |
| Open Preferences | Ctrl+, | Open application settings and interface options. |
| Shortcuts Dialog | Ctrl+/ | Display the in-app keyboard shortcuts manager. |