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Accidentally hit the tab key


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Hi,

I need some help please. I've pressed the tab key (I think it was that key) and all of my screen went blank with just my pic I'm working on and nothing else in the window to do anything. What do I do please? Pic below. 

 

Thanks,

Lea :(

 

Edited by LeaS
removal of my artwork pic
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15 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Have you tried pressing the Tab key again?

Hahaha, no I hadn't because I've had that many computer issues the past few days and didn't want to touch a thing until I heard back but YES it worked. OMG I'm such a doofus sometimes! Thank you Garry. Much appreciated :) 

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You’re welcome.

It’s very easy to accidentally hit the Tab key and then, if you’re not expecting it, wonder what the heck has just happened (it happened to me within a month of me starting with the software).

There have been requests that the shortcut is removed by default (to prevent accidental use), or that an optional message of some kind could be shown to tell the user what has happened and what to do about it, but nothing has come of them.

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2 hours ago, GarryP said:

There have been requests that the shortcut is removed by default (to prevent accidental use), or that an optional message of some kind could be shown to tell the user what has happened and what to do about it, but nothing has come of them.

I've simply disabled the shortcut because it is so annoying but having it removed by default would be welcomed...

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7 hours ago, GarryP said:

There have been requests that the shortcut is removed by default (to prevent accidental use), or that an optional message of some kind could be shown to tell the user what has happened and what to do about it, but nothing has come of them.

I think users who frequently use this toggle would be annoyed if they had to dismiss a message or even had to set an option not to display it.

Besides, if tapping this keyboard shortcut by accident needs a message to explain what it did, what about the dozens of other shortcuts that users might also tap by accident? 

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15 minutes ago, KarinC said:

Like the Caps Lock key. 

Or Clip to Canvas, Split View, any of the Tool shortcuts, or anything else that could be set to a single key shortcut? For that matter, even the shortcuts that require a modifier key could be activated by accident, so I do not think it is practical to add options to display messages when any keys are pressed by accident.

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44 minutes ago, R C-R said:

I think users who frequently use this toggle would be annoyed if they had to dismiss a message or even had to set an option not to display it.

Those who use it frequently would be annoyed if they had to dismiss a message every time, but I imagine that most of us would be OK with a dialog that included a “Don’t show this message again” checkbox.

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1 minute ago, Alfred said:

Those who use it frequently would be annoyed if they had to dismiss a message every time, but I imagine that most of us would be OK with a dialog that included a “Don’t show this message again” checkbox.

Sure ... but there are also many others that some users could accidentally trigger so I think most users would be annoyed if all or even many of the others of them included a 'don't show again' checkbox. And of course, inevitably some users will have clicked the boxes & realized they didn't mean to do that & want some way to reenable the message(s).

IOW, where do you draw the line?

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10 minutes ago, R C-R said:

IOW, where do you draw the line?

A perfectly reasonable question, but the Tab key effect is arguably a special case. It comes up particularly frequently, probably because its effect is so dramatic and it’s especially easy to accidentally hit a key that’s at a corner of the keyboard.

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20 minutes ago, Alfred said:

It comes up particularly frequently, probably because its effect is so dramatic and it’s especially easy to accidentally hit a key that’s at a corner of the keyboard.

I don't think it is really an issue for enough users to justify any special treatment. It only comes up a few times a month, near as I can tell, so not really very frequently in the greater scheme of things.

Of course, YMMV. 😉

 

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On 3/16/2024 at 10:27 AM, GarryP said:

There have been requests that the shortcut is removed by default (to prevent accidental use), or that an optional message of some kind could be shown to tell the user what has happened and what to do about it, but nothing has come of them.

Instead of removing the shortcut or adding a dialog it is lot easier simply to change the shortcut. I use OPT-TAB since years without issues.

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17 hours ago, Alfred said:

Those who use it frequently would be annoyed if they had to dismiss a message every time, but I imagine that most of us would be OK with a dialog that included a “Don’t show this message again” checkbox.

It would help already if the existing dialogs would work as expected ("Cancel" -> "Cancel") with a consistent UX + UI (wording: "Cancel" <-> "OK" <-> "Yes/No" / default: highlighted <-> not highlighted & left <-> right button). For instance when switching personas in APhoto:

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I have been bitten by this behavior in the past, and it is a little annoying. I have frequent use for hiding the UI in Publisher, when I am copying or editing. I use a laptop, and getting, say, a Word document on the screen side by side with Publisher is helpful. The problem with the Tab key for this is that (specifically for Publisher) if your focus is in a text field, or on a studio, the shortcut does not work, as the app assumes you are typing text or changing the focus from one item to the next. There is an alternate shortcut, again only available in Publisher: <Shift><Ctrl>H (think "hide"). This works all the time. So, I have just disabled the Tab shortcut in Publisher, as the alternate is more reliable.

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4 minutes ago, Greg E said:

The problem with the Tab key for this is that (specifically for Publisher) if your focus is in a text field, or on a studio, the shortcut does not work, as the app assumes you are typing text or changing the focus from one item to the next.

This is not unique to APub. Any time you are in text entry mode in any text field, at least for frame or art text layers, the apps must assume you want to enter a tab character. it is a bit weird for text fields in Studio panels because in most (all?) you can't actually use a tab so it is ignored but the focus remains on that field. I assume the logic here is that if you intentionally set the focus to a text field in a Studio panel, there is a presumption that you would not want to hide it, so it sort of makes sense.

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