text to move tool

[Clayton King]

I've been meaning to ask this question for 2+ years now and have just felt stupid, but here goes...

When using the text tool (frame or artistic), if I want to change to any other tool, it seems I need to press ESC twice. Otherwise, the keystrokes I'm typing are considered text.

Is this expected, or have I been doing it wrong all this time?

[MikeTO]

19 minutes ago, Clayton King said:

I've been meaning to ask this question for 2+ years now and have just felt stupid, but here goes...

When using the text tool (frame or artistic), if I want to change to any other tool, it seems I need to press ESC twice. Otherwise, the keystrokes I'm typing are considered text.

Is this expected, or have I been doing it wrong all this time?

That's the way it's supposed to work but people ask about this all the time.

Press Esc once to remove the text cursor from the frame or text object and the frame or object will now be selected with the text tool. Press Esc a second time to deselect the frame or object.

The issue arises because Affinity allows us to select frames and text objects with a text tool instead of just with the move tool. In most apps, you can't select objects with a text tool. But because pressing Esc once leaves the object selected so you can manipulate it, you have to press Esc a second time.

Most of us have adapted by always pressing Esc twice. It requires changing some muscle memory but now I don't think about it. Esc Esc V to switch to the Move tool will always work while Esc V will work only if the cursor wasn't in the frame or text object.

[Old Bruce]

28 minutes ago, Clayton King said:

When using the text tool (frame or artistic), if I want to change to any other tool, it seems I need to press ESC twice. Otherwise, the keystrokes I'm typing are considered text.

 

6 minutes ago, MikeTO said:

Press Esc once to remove the text cursor from the frame or text object and the frame or object will now be selected with the text tool. Press Esc a second time to deselect the frame or object.

I just want to point out that if I have some text selected then one escape key press deselects the text but leaves the text caret active (either before or after the selection), a second escape key press removes the text caret from the frame but the frame is still selected, and a third escape key will deselect the text fame. In practice two hits of the escape key will allow me to then hit V or any other keyboard shortcut to select a new tool.

[MikeTO]

5 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

I just want to point out that if I have some text selected then one escape key press deselects the text but leaves the text caret active (either before or after the selection), a second escape key press removes the text caret from the frame but the frame is still selected, and a third escape key will deselect the text fame. In practice two hits of the escape key will allow me to then hit V or any other keyboard shortcut to select a new tool.

Oh you're right, I wrote that wrong. Oops.

You need to press Esc Esc V because of the selected text issue. "V" will work if the cursor isn't in the frame, Esc V will work if text isn't selected, and Esc Esc V is necessary if text is selected. So we all just press Esc Esc V regardless so we don't have to think about the shortcut.

[R C-R]

47 minutes ago, MikeTO said:

So we all just press Esc Esc V regardless so we don't have to think about the shortcut.

What I usually do is double-click somewhere outside the text frame to exit text entry mode & reactivate the Move Tool.