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Missing keyboard shortcuts in both Designer and Photo


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Today I was busy customising a bunch of keybinds when I came across some missing ones in both programs despite them already existing in some form. Designer doesn't have Transparent Background toggle and Rasterize & Trim in the list of Keybind Shortcuts despite both features existing in various menus (the latter is both accessible in R click in the Layers panel and with the Move Tool.

As for Photo, I found out that Ungroup All doesn't exist on the Keybind Shortcuts list despite being there in the R click menu for the Move Tool. It is also missing in the R click menu in the Layers panel, along with a myriad of other useful operators like Merge Selected and more.

 

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We have keyboard shortcuts for items in the application menu, not for items in the right-click context menu nor in the Context Toolbar.

  1. That explains why Designer does not have a keyboard shortcut for Rasterize and Trim; it does not have that menu item.
  2. It also explains lack of a keyboard toggle for Transparent Background. Again, there's no menu item for that; it's only in Document Setup.
  3. Photo's lack of Ungroup All is similarly explained. There is no application menu item for it; only a right-click context menu item.

Your point about items missing from the right-click context menu is appropriate, but missing function is more appropriate as a Feature Request. Actually, all of these could be Feature Requests, I suppose

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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11 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

We have keyboard shortcuts for items in the application menu, not for items in the right-click context menu nor in the Context Toolbar.

  1. That explains why Designer does not have a keyboard shortcut for Rasterize and Trim; it does not have that menu item.
  2. It also explains lack of a keyboard toggle for Transparent Background. Again, there's no menu item for that; it's only in Document Setup.
  3. Photo's lack of Ungroup All is similarly explained. There is no application menu item for it; only a right-click context menu item.

Your point about items missing from the right-click context menu is appropriate, but missing function is more appropriate as a Feature Request. Actually, all of these could be Feature Requests, I suppose

I simply disagree with the premise that the majority of these missing keyboard shortcuts are a feature request and not a bug. If the operators are perfectly accessible through menus, including R click menus, but you can't even add a keyboard shortcut to them, then it is a bug. Rasterize & Trim in Designer is a perfect example of what I mean. You can access this operator not just in the Layers panel, but also with R click while using the Move Tool, yet it is completely non-existent in the application menus and in Keyboard Shortcuts. I seriously doubt that this was somehow intentional.

I don't expect every feature to be accessible in all programs, just the ones that already exist. Operators that exist in both programs through any menu should always be accessible in Keyboard Shortcuts, otherwise you can't keep a consistent workflow when moving from one program to the next.

The only part I can agree with being a feature request would be adding the missing operators in the R click menus. I really hope they add them soon, since it's something I have been waiting a long time for.

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9 minutes ago, Gabe said:

Keyboard shortcuts can only be set for menu items.

The OP’s point (with which I agree) is that a menu is a menu is a menu, so context menu items should be included. As indicated in the OP’s follow-up post, this is particularly important for a consistent workflow when switching between the apps in the suite.

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Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
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15 minutes ago, Gabe said:

Walt's reply is correct. Keyboard shortcuts can only be set for menu items.

 

11 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

We have keyboard shortcuts for items in the application menu, not for items in the right-click context menu nor in the Context Toolbar.

"Find in Layers Menu CTRL+K" is a right-click menu item that is assigned CTRL+K, which you can remove or change at will.  There are also more Keyboard shortcuts which are not part of the application menu which can be found in the "Miscellaneous" section of Keyboard Shortcuts.

So, the function already exits, we just need more right-click menu items (that currently can't be accessed via the application menus) added to the Miscellaneous section

To save time I am currently using an automated AI to reply to some posts on this forum. If any of "my" posts are wrong or appear to be total b*ll*cks they are the ones generated by the AI. If correct they were probably mine. I apologise for any mistakes made by my AI - I'm sure it will improve with time.

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15 minutes ago, Alfred said:

The OP’s point (with which I agree) is that a menu is a menu is a menu, so context menu items should be included. As indicated in the OP’s follow-up post, this is particularly important for a consistent workflow when switching between the apps in the suite.

Exactly. In the end, what is the difference between an application menu and other menus? In my eyes, there isn't one. If nearly every single operator has a keyboard shortcut but only a select few don't, then I think it is perfectly reasonable to call this a bug. Also, as @carl123 mentioned, there are operators that do not even exist in the application menus but still exist as keyboard shortcuts, so saying that an operator has to exist in the application menus to have a shortcut is just simply not true.

That said, even if this isn't a bug, as long as it gets fixed I am happy.

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12 hours ago, carl123 said:

"Find in Layers Menu CTRL+K" is a right-click menu item that is assigned CTRL+K, which you can remove or change at will.  There are also more Keyboard shortcuts which are not part of the application menu which can be found in the "Miscellaneous" section of Keyboard Shortcuts.

Good point. Thanks.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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  • 3 weeks later...

There are many missing keyboard shortcuts.

I started keeping a list of things I'd like to access from the keyboard.

- Toggle Transform Center
- Toggle Lock Children
- Hide selection while dragging
- Transform objects separately
- Lock aspect ratio (Transform panel)
- Isolate layer
- Make symbol
- Toggle symbol sync
- Merge curves
- Separate curves

Many of these are things I'd like to toggle while in the middle of an operation.

For example, we have the 'hack' of holding the spacebar to hide selections. Wouldn't it be useful to hold the spacebar while dragging to hide the selection?

 

Edited by Aammppaa
loukash pointed out that these 2 can be set in preferences

Win10 Home x64   |   AMD Ryzen 7 2700X @ 3.7GHz   |   48 GB RAM   |   1TB SSD   |   nVidia GTX 1660   |   Wacom Intuos Pro

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6 hours ago, Aammppaa said:

There are many missing keyboard shortcuts

Then add them yourself: Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts
affinity.help/designer/English.lproj/pages/Workspace/customizingShortcuts.html

Don't forget to back up as an *.afshortcuts file when you're finished.

2 hours ago, Rudolphus said:

keyboard shortcuts that exist, but are not changeable. E.g. "[" and "]" for Refine selection tool in Designer

They are changeable, but the custom shortcuts won't stick upon relaunching the app.
It's a known bug. Waiting for a fix…

MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2

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3 minutes ago, loukash said:

Then add them yourself: Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts

That's my entire point!

None of these actions have an entry in keyboard shortcuts, so they can not be configured.

Instead we have to search out tiny icons on the toolbar.

Win10 Home x64   |   AMD Ryzen 7 2700X @ 3.7GHz   |   48 GB RAM   |   1TB SSD   |   nVidia GTX 1660   |   Wacom Intuos Pro

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Just now, Aammppaa said:

None of these actions have an entry in keyboard shortcuts

Ah, right, missed that, sorry.
Well, some do:

  • Merge curves
  • Separate curves

Those are under Layer > Geometry. (For some reason, I've opted for cmd-7 and cmd-shift-7 respectively…)

MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2

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2 minutes ago, Rudolphus said:

Are you sure?

Yep.
Change any one other brush tool resizer shortcut to what you need *) while having "Apply to all" active. That's should do it until the next relaunch of the app.
That said, I've never even use Refine in Designer yet. For pixel pushing, I'm always switching either to APu's Photo persona or to APh directly via File > Edit In.

*) Me using Ö Ä which are at the same position on Swiss keyboard layout as [ ] on the US/UK keyboard.

MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2

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Have tried it, me on Slovak keyboard using ô and § - not the same position as US/UK's [ and ], and noticed that "Apply to all" helped with change of other brushes, but this one :o( Since then I haven't tried this "workaround", just checking if it was added in new release of app. 

Well, it may sound weird to play with pixels in Designer, but it was not my idea to add Pixel persona there 🐵. The fact is I have found the omission of shortcuts by accident and just wanted to better my favorite app.

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5 hours ago, Rudolphus said:

me on Slovak keyboard using ô and §

To je čudné. Pre mňa to funguje v pohode:

 

MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2

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Jejo, slovenčina na fóre, to som tu ešte nevidel! 🤩 

Ako vravím, s nastavením kláves som sa hral svojho času a s úľavou uvítal, že "Apply to all" urýchlilo nastavovanie štetcov (sprvu ma desilo ich množstvo, hlavne vo Photo). Všetko bolo super, až kým som nenarazil na tento jeden jediný štetec, ktorý sa nezmenil a nebol ani v menu. Pre istotu som si to znova overil, ale musím skonštatovať, že na Windows to takto stále nefunguje. Refine brush zostáva fixovaný na [ a ] (čeknuté pridaním US klávesnice a prepnutím na ňu). 

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16 minutes ago, Rudolphus said:

slovenčina na fóre

Po pravdě řečeno jsem Čech. Slovenčinu znam skôr pasívne… :D

20 minutes ago, Rudolphus said:

musím skonštatovať, že na Windows to takto stále nefunguje

To jsem tak nějak tušil, že v tomto asi bude ten rozdíl.

MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2

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36 minutes ago, loukash said:

To jsem tak nějak tušil

A ja som zas tušil, že si/ste Čech - Lukáš nie je moc obvyklé slovenské meno 😉 Musím uznať, že tá "skôr pasívna" znalosť slovenčiny ma zmiatla, klobúk dolu! 👍

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1 hour ago, Rudolphus said:

tá "skôr pasívna" znalosť slovenčiny ma zmiatla

No veď čeština je len volaké západoslovenské nárečie… :D

MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2

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