Can you script your own keyboard shortcuts?

Neil

I think on the InDesign forum, someone found a way to make shortcut keys by manually editing some config file. This allowed more options than what are presented within the program interface. Maybe a similar trick can be employed with PS.

Eugene,

Many Mac keyboards have "alt" in tiny letters on the upper left-hand corner of the Option key.

>Many Mac keyboards have "alt" in tiny letters on the upper right-hand corner of the Option key.

Son if a gun -- so they do! Thanks, Ramon.

--Gene

Hey guys, thanks. I hope Adobe can soon bring a solution to this issue.

Nini,
>I've always run US English version of apps (including the OS) but has to use Swedish keyboard-layout (or won't be able to write either my name or mmy adress, not to mention my native toungue)

For your umlauted "a", on a U.S. keyboard, it is easily set using Option-u followed by a: ä. Many other western European accents and letters are similarly easy to key -- albeit with multiple keystrokes. But it is not impossible, as you imply.

Neil

Ramón,

Since I do not do a lot of typesetting that requires accents, having to do a little finger exercise to get those characters is no big deal for me. (And certainly a lot easier than MS's old, bewildering and hard to remember alt+four digit method. If I had a lot of accented typesetting as you do, I would certainly find an easier way.

My point to Nini was that her comment made it appear that it is not possible to extract accented letters from a U.S. keyboard.

Neil

Exactly. Bad translations and the lack of application-updates were the main reasons I originally switched to US English versions years and versions ago. Unfortunately I need to use Swedish localized versions at work so I still see the lousy translations.

For those of you who are only using English and living in English speaking countries, note that the problem is that keyboards that come with the machines are localized to your area and if you change keyboard layout the layout of the keys do not match what is under them. Does make it hard to work unles you glue something to the keys or create an overlay (remember those?) for the keyboard. That means that for isntance you cannot reach the tilde key (just an example, there are other ones too) but by using yet other keys to get there. That's what breaks the shortcut.

Editing keyboard shortcuts in each and every version of the applications is usally also not an option (and in some apps those shortcuts - if they can be called shortcuts when they contain around 4 keys...) as the shortcuts do not even reside in a selfcontained file that you can move to other machines, but is embedded into other settings. Or hardcoded into the application an unreachable. And not portable between versions.

Changing keyboard layout in Internationl is not an option either.

The only application that is semi-smart is actually Bridge where you can set your keyboard prefs to another keyboard layout than the one you use for the application itself (Bridge is multi-lingual like OS X) and then the shortcuts follow with that setting. On the other hand you cannot edit shortcuts in Bridge. Bridge is also a limited application when it comes to features and shortcuts which makes this esier from an engeneering view I would guess. The other Adobe apps are far more complex in that regard (and if a short-cut would be changed in favour of the international users in for instance Illustrator, you would hear a roar you wouldn't believe from those Illustrator users....those are a conservative bunch).

The only solution that would be a good one would be if there would be no hardcoded shortcuts at all that are tied to one keyboard layout only, the US English one, but would use keys that can be used regardless of keyboard layout used at user end. I've fought for this for many years but so far only with limited success.

That's an entirely different matter.
The forumdiscussion is not about being able to create your own shortcuts (I've always known how to do that and so does the original poster in the forum).

The forum discussion is about being able NOT to have to remap the shortcuts as soon as there is an update and that when you use an English version of an application but are stuck with a Swedish or Norwegian (or whatever) keyboard and need to use that keyboard layout, then you are locked out of a lot of shortcuts because they are done only for the US English keyboard layouts and only work if you use such a keyboard layout. And even worse, some are hardwired into the application and cannot be changed to something else. Which means if you are not using an English keyboard layout you are unable to use those shortcuts and alos unable to create another shortcut for that function.

Nini,

Is there a key combo for increasing/decreasing the size of the brush in a Swedish version of Photoshop when you use a Swedish keyboard?

I'm just curious about possibly re-mapping a custom software keyboard layout to accomplish the same with a standard US keyboard.

I wouldn't call it a bug as much as the lack of a feature.

I had to work with German keyboards for years.

@John Joslin: I think it is in fact a bug that has to do with Leopard.
@Feerix, do you run Leopard by any chance? I run
- Macbook Pro
- Mac OS 10.5.2
- Photoshop CS3 10.0.1
- Swedish keyboard layout
I can't use å, ä, ö or ¨ for increasing/decreasing the brush size. I can set them in the settings, but nothing happens when I press the keys and have the brush selected.

On a Powermac G5 with Mac OS 10.4.11 and the same version of Photoshop, those keys work fine.

Hi all of you. I have the same problem and I have a Faroese keyboard. And I have struggled to find a solution so I can use the brush-shortcut on the keyboard - to de- or increase the brush size.. In my Faroese keyboard it is not possible - but if I go the system preference panel and go to "international" and then push "english" up above faroese, so "english" is on top (could be swedish or norwegian), then my keyboard is english! And the brush size shortcuts in Photoshop work!! And I can now program my Wacom touchstrip to regulate the brushsize..
Maybe you all knew this - but i didn't!

Ramón,

I am having the same issues. I have a Apple keyboard in Spanish and I can´t figure out how to even map my Wacom tablet. I had it maped before with a US keyboard but now I can fifure out how to increase or decrease [] {} brush sizes and/or strengths?

I read you post 4 or 5 I believe but did not understand it?

I am running OS X 10.5.5 and CS 3 / 4

Regards.

Hello Ramón,

Thank you for your feedback. I thought I must have missed something on the light that I could not see a resolution in your message, glad (and sorry) that I did not miss something there. And I appreciate your time in clearing that up :)

Anyways, is there a way to resolve an English version (todo el SW que uso es en Ingles ya que es my lengua materna) although I am using a Spanish keyboard?

I just installed CS 4 and blew away all my preferences when I meticulously de installed CS 2 and 3... Now I can´t print nor get my settings back on my Wacom?

Gracias,

Jose

Brilliant!
Adjust your brush size with the shortcuts on your english keyboard and then quickly plugin the other keyboard to type in yout text. Why didn't I think of it sooner!

Is it possible to have too keyboards plugged in simultaneously with each set to a different output language?

Hi Wade
I was under the impression that it was necessary to select the correct country and keyboard type from System Preferences, International, Input Menu, so that the keyboard layout and language functions operated properly. I may well have this wrong, but if so does anyone out there know what is the purpose of the 'Input Menu'