Angie's Protocol - Creating new hotkeys
- Angella C Thompson
- Liath Elizabeth Appleton
It is helpful to open the option for setting keyboard shortcuts under the edit menu. In the menu bar of Photoshop, under the 'Edit' header, you'll find an option for Keyboard shortcuts. Clicking this option opens an interface that allows you to fully customize hotkeys for all the toolbar options, as well as Application menus for everything in the menu bar.
One the most beneficial things you can do with hotkeys is to set them up in an easy to remember pattern for often used steps. This is why it's suggested to set the hotkeys up in the manner described below.
- Measure tool- A
- Line tool- S
- Crop- D
- (under Image) F1 = Arbitrary
- F2 = Scale Image
- F3 = Draw Scale
The Alphabetic hotkeys:
Under the Shortcuts for: field, select 'Tools'.
Scroll through this menu until you find the listing for Measure, Line and Crop. By clicking on the letter (or blank area) in the shortcut column, you'll be able to edit or add hotkeys. Change the tool panel command to match the A-S-D pattern shown in steps 1-3. Please be aware you'll have to hit the Accept button for each of the hotkeys you create. Often, you'll be changing the default of another hotkey. Don't worry, just hit accept and move along.
The Function hotkeys:
These are a little trickier. First, you may have not noticed them before, but the function keys are at the very top edge of your keyboard, F1-F12 Change the Shortcut for: from Tools to Application Menu. You'll see a lot of options with drop-down arrows next to them.
First, under the 'File' header, find the Scripts header. You'll see the scripts you placed in the C dive file listed here.
For Scale Image, set the hotkey (shortcut) to F2.
For Draw Scale, change this hotkey to F3.
Under the Image header, scroll down until you find Image Rotation > Arbitrary. Set this to F1.
Now, when you process images you'll be doing the steps using the hot keys in the pattern of A: F1: S: F2: D: F3, or measure, straighten Arbitrary, draw line, scale image, crop image, and scale image.