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Moving between words on the Mac


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Hi,

There are some conventions on the Mac for moving the text cursor. Alt-LeftArrow moves to the beginning of the (current, then previous) word, Alt-RightArrow to the end of the (current, then next) word. Alt-UpArrow moves to the beginning of the (current, then previous) paragraph, Alt-DownArrow moves to the end of the (current, then previous) paragraph. Command-LeftArrow moves to the beginning of the line, Command-LeftArrow moves to the end of the line.

This isn't so in Publisher, and as far as I can see it can't be reassigned in the Preferences. May you add this set of assignable commands? It would remove some confusions on the Mac, when jumping between different applications.

Best,
Paolo

 

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On 7/3/2019 at 4:25 AM, Fixx said:

Jumping between words is the same as in InDesign; CMD-Arrow.

So it seems that Serif has opted to do it the same wrong way that InDesign does it...

As per the HIG, the command left/right arrow combos are reserved for changing keyboard layouts: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/user-interaction/keyboard/

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  • 4 weeks later...

The same seems to happen with moving between paragraphs. In Mac apps, you usually type Opt-Up to go to the beginning of the paragraph, Opt-Down to go to the end. This doesn't seem to work. But it seems that neither Cmd-Up and Cmd-Down work as a replacement.

Paolo

 

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I am so happy that someone else is picking up that request too. :)

I will never stop advocating for freely assignable keyboard shortcuts for navigating a text without the mouse. Until this option is implemented, that is. ;)

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/92646-text-navigation-shortcuts-cursor-movement-make-them-customisable/

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/18412-consistency-for-shortcuts-in-caret-cursor-navigation/

 

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21 hours ago, PaoloT said:

The same seems to happen with moving between paragraphs. In Mac apps, you usually type Opt-Up to go to the beginning of the paragraph, Opt-Down to go to the end. This doesn't seem to work. But it seems that neither Cmd-Up and Cmd-Down work as a replacement.

Ctrl + Down Arrow moves to the beginning of the next paragraph with Publisher on Windows, and Ctrl + Up Arrow moves to the start of the current or prior paragraph, depending on current position. I'm surprised that Cmd and the up/down arrows wouldn't work similarly on Mac.

-- 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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43 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Ctrl + Down Arrow moves to the beginning of the next paragraph with Publisher on Windows, and Ctrl + Up Arrow moves to the start of the current or prior paragraph, depending on current position. I'm surprised that Cmd and the up/down arrows wouldn't work similarly on Mac.

It works. For some reason, in the previous session it didn't work. By relaunching Publisher, it worked. It is following the same navigation rules as on a PC (Cmd-Up/Down for beginning of the current/next paragraph, Cmd-Left/Right for the beginning of the current/next word, Home/End for the beginning/end of the line.

Oh, how would I love if it worked on a Mac as on a Mac!

Paolo

 

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2 minutes ago, PaoloT said:

Oh, how would I love if it worked on a Mac as on a Mac!

I can see that you might like that :)

But having it work differently between Mac and PC would complicate the coding, and the documentation, and make discussions between Mac and PC users even more confusing, I think.

Also, some of the Mac shortcuts mentioned earlier in this thread (Alt + Up/Down Arrow, for example) are used for different functions in Publisher (increasing or decreasing leading), and having to avoid both the standard PC shortcuts and the standard Mac shortcuts when designing the other shortcuts would get tricky.

So even if Serif allowed the users to configure these navigation shortcuts, it is likely that there would be some conflicts that users would have to work around, as their desired shortcuts might be in use for something else.

I don't think it's a simple problem to solve.

-- 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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Walt, it’s indeed a very simple problem to solve. Just allow assigning custom shortcuts for caret cursor positioning and selecting text. We would just need the option to assign custom shortcuts for the list below. Remember, Indesign has this option. :)

There is really no problem. If there is a shortcut conflict, a warning sign will show up. That’s all. Then you can either rethink your choice for the shortcut or keep going. It’s the same with any other shortcut. :)

 

Indesign.thumb.png.c015c93e87e0c80e030a09267c76209a.png

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The problem is that when you are working with different apps and switch between them (some workflows require that), you have to constantly change your habits when editing text. But I really don’t want to think about the ways I edit text. This is something that simply has to work in an automated fashion, just like talking works for most human beings. To me, editing text in Affinity Publisher is far from fluent at the moment. :(

Custom shortcuts for navigating and selecting text will have to be implemented, at least at the moment when Publisher receives the long-awaited functionality required for typesetting long documents. Otherwise, I fear book typesetters won’t get on the boat … :(

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