Additional keyboard shortcuts for pixel brush tools

[Ash]

Apps: Designer and Photo
Platforms: All

Additional keyboard shortcuts have been added to all pixel based brush tools (e.g. paint brush, smudge, sponge, dodge, burn, etc.):

• Shift-number key will now change flow % (in the same way that number key on it’s own adjusts opacity)
• Shift + square brackets changes hardness in 10% increments
• Number key in paint mixer and smudge brush will now adjust strength %
• Fill with Primary colour has now been set with a default shortcut of Alt + Backspace
• Fill with Secondary colour has now been set with a default shortcut of cmd / Ctrl + Backspace

Updated list of core brush shortcuts are shown below (those highlighted in red are the new additions):

 

[_Th]

Love this. Small change, huge productivity increase.

[debraspicher]

Being able to change hardness is excellent for masking and other tasks. So that much is certainly appreciated.

[Return]

What about the combo with Ctr+Alt keys and dragging(up/down/left/right?
These are easier to reach and could be extended a bit more with additional modifiers.
Ctrl+Alt+up/down = hardness(as is now)
Ctrl+Alt+left/right = size(as is now)

Perhaps;

Ctrl+Shift+up/down for opacity.
Ctrl+Shift+left/right for flow.

[Robert Hansford]

My absolute favorite part of this update is the fact that we can now change the default cursor to crosshairs with all drawing tools!! This is epic, and has been one of the things that I've wanted to see since 1.0. Thank you guys so much. It's such a small thing, but makes a world of difference. 💥 AWESOME ADDITIONS HERE! 💥

[Robert Hansford]

!! I was just thinking - the title of the post contains "pixel brush" improvements yet all drawing tools have been given the caps lock for crosshairs improvement. - I love this so much that I was compelled out of fear of potential loss to come back and leave a note to you guys - PLEASE. - If this has been done in error, LEAVE IT!  .😆  It's GOLD! Crosshair option on ALL drawing tools = GOLD! Thanks again! Cheers😄

[Benfischer]

seconded!  it's a good upgrade.  I don't know if Caps lock is better than a setting though.  i remember a request to turn off the brush size preview on the ipad pro with hover.  adding a setting for a crosshair/preview toggle might be a good cross-platform solution.  Either way its a welcome change

14 hours ago, Robert Hansford said:

!! I was just thinking - the title of the post contains "pixel brush" improvements yet all drawing tools have been given the caps lock for crosshairs improvement. - I love this so much that I was compelled out of fear of potential loss to come back and leave a note to you guys - PLEASE. - If this has been done in error, LEAVE IT!  .😆  It's GOLD! Crosshair option on ALL drawing tools = GOLD! Thanks again! Cheers😄

 

[DylanGG]

Would love to have more options for Click + Drag - like adjusting the keybind to be more simple. Photoshops brush resize: Ctrl+click-drag (no need to use ALT)

As @Returnsaid, more options / variables for Click + Drag would be great.

[krbo]

Whatever you do with welcomed additional keyboard brush shortcuts you didn't fixed bug from the beginning for non US/UK keyboard users - interpretation of AltGr so a lot of us with extended characters keyboards can't use square brackets.

Since start of 2.0 it is reporting as big bug and yet no fix in basic area - correct input device interpreting, basic core us software usage

Now I'm starting to think this is deliberate - is it?

 

 

[Frozen Death Knight]

After having worked with these new shortcuts for some time, I now have some feedback to give. First off, the implementation works pretty well and is very convenient, so good job on that front. However, I noticed that the time for which I  have to actually type something is very short. For instance, typing something like "91" on the keyboard requires me to quite rapidly press "9" and "1" in the span of a few milliseconds, but because of the distance between keys it can get a bit tricky to time it. Have to resort to hover multiple fingers over the number keys to be fast and precise. 

My suggestion is to at least double the time needed for pressing keys in succession so it doesn't require super rapid presses.

[Ash]

While not actually specific to being in a brush tool, just wanted to point out the latest beta build includes the new shortcuts for filling current pixel layer with primary / secondary colour when in Pixel or Photo persona.

[Michail]

On 7/7/2023 at 11:51 AM, Ash said:

Additional keyboard shortcuts have been added to all pixel based brush tools (e.g. paint brush, smudge, sponge, dodge, burn, etc.):

• Fill with Primary colour has now been set with a default shortcut of Alt + Backspace
• Fill with Secondary colour has now been set with a default shortcut of cmd / Ctrl + Backspace

German, Windows:

[Ash]

Thanks - could you try resetting shortcuts to Serif defaults?

[Michail]

45 minutes ago, Ash said:

Thanks - could you try resetting shortcuts to Serif defaults?

After resetting the shortcuts, the new default shortcuts are available. Thank you 

[Robert Hansford]

Hey guys! Hope all is well. Just a bit of feedback on the caps lock for crosshairs feature. 

I was very happy you guys added this feature. I have a few notes on it though. 

1. I think it has been mentioned before, but if there were an option to choose a shortcut key other than caps lock to activate the feature that would be awesome. It often comes about that I need to type something and the caps lock is still activated. Then when I want to go back to drawing again I activate it again and so on and so forth. Basically, if there was a way to make the cursor change more permanent it would be a much welcomed change. 
2. I've noticed something peculiar while working with my drawing tablet that I thought I would bring to your attention as well. I've got a command key mapped to one of the press keys on my pen. I use the pixel brush these days because I enjoy the command key's alternate function, and have it set to erase. It's very convenient to simply hold down command and use the same exact brush to erase.  However, if I press any command key mapped to my pen or tablet, it automatically breaks the crosshair option and returns the cursor to its original state. Strangely, this doesn't happen when I use the new press and hold tool shortcuts with my pen/tablet. So for example, I have also tried E for eraser mapped to my pen. I can use it with the new press and hold shortcuts just fine. But when I try to map and use command keys like command for alt/erase mode (pixel brush), or shift to draw a straight line, it breaks the caps locked cursor even though the caps lock is still active. I realize that this is likely a symptom caused by the tablet driver. However, I thought it worth mentioning because there are a myriad of tablets, drivers, and customizable press key devices on the market at the moment. If this behavior is confirmed on your end, I thought it would give more strength to an argument made in favor of a more permanent cursor customization option.

I should mention here at the end that the Krita app implements cursor customization really well. There're many things I dislike about the Krita app, but I think they nailed this particular feature. Any chance we might see something similar in the future; near or distant?