Long press tool shortcuts

[Ash]

Apps: All
Platforms: Windows, macOS and iPad

Holding onto any tool shortcut will now just put you in that tool temporarily until you release the shortcut key - at which point you will return to your previous tool. So for example when you are using the pen tool you could hold V to change to move tool to move your curve, and then on release be immediately back in pen tool. Another useful example would be when in Brush Tool, you could hold E to put you in Eraser and release to toggle back to Brush.

[Hangman]

This feature is a massive productivity improvement, thank you... 👏

[Frozen Death Knight]

Agreed. Love this change!

[ChristiduToit]

Amazing! Such a useful feature for a super smooth and efficient workflow!

[StuartRc]

Fantastic addition!...Thanks.. will take a bit of getting used to but much better now!

[macieksmola]

Does it work with touch on iPad (holding icon with a finger, drawing with pencil)?

[walt.farrell]

Just now, macieksmola said:

Does it work with touch on iPad (holding icon with a finger, drawing with pencil)?

Note that the description is that you long-press the shortcut, not the icon.

Yes, long-pressing the keyboard shortcut works on iPad, too.

[Robert Hansford]

Awesome addition! 😆

[walt.farrell]

On 6/13/2023 at 3:02 AM, Ash said:

So for example when you are using the pen tool you could hold V to change to move tool to move your curve, and then on release be immediately back in pen tool.

That specific example works nicely, Ash, and when you return to the Pen Tool you're still working on the same curve, and can add additional nodes.

But how should other cases work? For example, suppose instead of moving the curve you're drawing, you want to move a different one out of the way, then return to the curve you were drawing? You can switch to the Move Tool, move the other curve, release V and you're back to the Pen Tool. But you're no longer working on your original curve, and any nodes you add are now separate from it. (Tested using iPad, Designer 2.2.0.1881.)

[Hangman]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

But how should other cases work? For example, suppose instead of moving the curve you're drawing, you want to move a different one out of the way, then return to the curve you were drawing? You can switch to the Move Tool, move the other curve, release V and you're back to the Pen Tool. But you're no longer working on your original curve, and any nodes you add are now separate from it. (Tested using iPad, Designer 2.2.0.1881.)

On Desktop (assume it's the same on iPad)...

• With the Pen tool selected, start drawing your curve
• Long Press 'V' and select the alternative object to move using the Move tool and move it
• With 'V' still held down, reselect your original Pen drawn curve
• Release the 'V' Key
• Cmd-Click (Ctrl-Click) the last created Node on your Pen drawn curve
• Continue drawing with the Pen tool to complete the curve

 

[walt.farrell]

Thanks, @Hangman. In part, I'm curious whether all cases are intended to be consistent. That is, upon releasing the long-press, should you be back in the original tool with the original status (e.g., the same node selected, so you can just click and add a new node to the original curve).

[Hangman]

6 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

In part, I'm curious whether all cases are intended to be consistent. That is, upon releasing the long-press, should you be back in the original tool with the original status (e.g., the same node selected, so you can just click and add a new node to the original curve).

I would certainly agree, that would most definitely be the preferred behaviour and perhaps an improvement request for this particular feature...

Upon releasing the long press, the original layer should also be selected in the layers panel and you should just be able to continue drawing without the need to Cmd (Ctrl) click the prior node, i.e., releasing the long press literally reverts back to the exact state prior to the long press...

[Ash]

The intended behaviour is simply holding on a tool shortcut puts you in that tool, and releasing puts you back in the previous tool. 

Having the hold function is purely to give more of a modifier feel to the tool switch, and certainly for many things where you might just quickly want to toggle between two it can feel lot nicer / intuitive to use hold rather than two key presses.

For there to be any logic about resetting to previous selected states, etc. I don't think is practical and could be very confusing. For example in the case given you may have held V to intentionally select the other layer before going back to pen, so I don't think this functionality should mess with anything like that.

[jmwellborn]

Stumped again!  I am trying this with Photo 2.2.0.1881, using the Paint Brush Tool and the Eraser Brush Tool, but when I release the E I do not get back to the Paint Brush Tool.  Sometimes I actually get the Flood Fill Tool instead. (video doesn't show that.)  And when that happens, neither the B or E shortcut works.  

 

 

 

[debraspicher]

This is so useful.

[Intuos5]

Thanks for adding quality of life features like these!

[Chris B]

12 hours ago, jmwellborn said:

Stumped again!  I am trying this with Photo 2.2.0.1881, using the Paint Brush Tool and the Eraser Brush Tool, but when I release the E I do not get back to the Paint Brush Tool.  Sometimes I actually get the Flood Fill Tool instead. (video doesn't show that.)  And when that happens, neither the B or E shortcut works.  

Screen Recording 2023-07-03 at 14.59.43.mov 28.12 MB · 8 downloads  

 

 

Make sure you aren't releasing the shortcut before you are releasing the mouse button. For example:

1. Tap B to get the Paint Brush Tool > paint something
2. Now hold E for the Erase Brush Tool
3. With E held down, mouse click to erase the paint you applied above
4. This is where you can trip up; releasing E first and then the mouse click will leave you on the Erase Brush Tool. You need to release the mouse click and then E

 

[Dazmondo77]

Brilliant feature for painting and smudging - I just finishes some artwork yesterday where this would have been sooooo useful ---- total joy to use👍

[Frozen Death Knight]

After trying it a bit more, I noticed that if you keep brushing with a tool while you stop holding down the keyboard shortcut, it will just stay on that tool instead of switching back. Not a dealbreaker by any means, but just something I noticed that stops it from working.

Edit: Seems like changing brush size breaks the feature as well. Was able to change the size of the other tools, but I must press the button again to go back and use it.

[Chris B]

25 minutes ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

After trying it a bit more, I noticed that if you keep brushing with a tool while you stop holding down the keyboard shortcut, it will just stay on that tool instead of switching back. Not a dealbreaker by any means, but just something I noticed that stops it from working.

This is what I assumed jmwellborn was doing in my reply above. As far as I know, this is intentional - perhaps Ash can confirm and then I can log it

[Ash]

Yes, this is by design / the way it has to be for various reasons (continuing to brush during release leaving you on the tool you changed to).

[Frozen Death Knight]

Noticed something that was a bit finicky with the new controls. I tried fast tapping the same key to switch to the other tools sharing the same shortcut. Most of the time it works as it used to, but from time to time it registers as me holding down the key longer, so it only temporarily switches to another tool before reverting back.

If the controls could be tightened up a bit so rapid presses do not accidentally activate the new feature, it would be nice.

Edit: The Paint Mixer Brush is really hard to keep activated with button presses with even more testing. It just keeps reverting back to other tools on the same shortcut. Also, trying to colour picker by holding down the tool shortcut instead of alt will revert it to either the Paint Brush Tool or the Pixel Tool. It completely forgets that the Paint Mixer Brush was selected last. Also, the issue of keeping the tool selected by switching fast is more apparent in this GIF below. It refuses to keep still, even when the last button press was a fast one using shift+B.

[Frozen Death Knight]

I figured out what is causing it. When using both shift and B in combination (Preferences option), both keys need to be pressed fast simultaneously. If I hold down shift for a long time, but quickly press B in succession, that still counts as me doing a hold command. Long press should only occur if I activate the main key, not any of the modifer keys. It does not feel natural to quickly press both simultaneously when I want to keep holding down shift to toggle between all the tools on the main key.

Press hold when using the Paint Mixer Brush combined with the Colour Picker Tool still does not work though.

Just pressing any modifier keys in general causes the tools to be switched as well.

[Chris B]

Hey Frozen Death Knight, can you send us your user data, please? We cannot reproduce what you are describing

https://www.dropbox.com/request/KVlocxyduQXCoQOQwSbj

[Hangman]

One thing you seemingly can't do using a Long Press (which may be because it's not designed to work that way), is to change the brush size using the [ and ] keys.

Long Press 'B' in Designer or Photo to select the Brush Tool, and press [ or ] to decrease/increase the brush size with the 'B' key still pressed and it reverts back to the Move tool.