Xtreme PRO Users - Share your Keyboard Shortcut Customizations

**HayTay** · 30 July 2009, 11:26 PM

I like to use keyboard shortcuts, and, while I don't have all of them memorized, I know quite a few. And not just for Xara Xtreme, either.

Recent releases of Xara Xtreme (v4 & v5) have changed some long standing keyboard shortcut combos to something else. I'm sure some users have been delighted, some have been dismayed and some really didn't notice or care. I'm one of the ones that was more than a little annoyed at the changes and immediately switched them back to their original keystrokes, 'Space Bar' to 'Toggle to Selector Tool' instead of the 'Push Tool' and Ctrl+D to 'Duplicate' an object instead of the 'Clear Mask' function.

While not happy with the keyboard shortcut changes, I am delighted with the ability to 'Customize Key Shortcuts' (Utilities > Customize key shortcuts...) in XXP.

I've also added or changed a few other keyboard shortcuts which got me to thinking...

'Who has changed or added to the default key shortcuts in Xtreme Pro, what did you change and why did you change it?'

Here's a few of the Key Shortcuts I've customized to improve my work flow:

Ctrl+D Duplicate Object (If I start using the Clear Mask function I'll pick some other combo for that)
Space Bar Toggle to Selector Tool (I NEVER use the Push Tool as I prefer to use the horizontal and vertical scroll bars)
Ctrl+Alt+S Convert Line to Shape (I use this all of the time and still find it odd that there isn't a default Xtreme key shortcut for this function)
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+N New Page (Quicker for me than performing the same function from the drop down menus)
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+K Duplicate Current Page (Quicker for me than performing the same function from the drop down menus)
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+D Delete Current Page (Quicker for me than performing the same function from the drop down menus)

Looking forward to seeing what key shortcuts others have adapted,
Harry

**handrawn** · 31 July 2009, 08:45 AM

here's one Harry

6 - select all [as an additional shortcut]
7 - convert line to shape
8 - add shapes [as an additional shortcut]
9 - break shapes
0 - join shapes [as an additional shortcut]

this enables me to close gaps in imported shapes very quickly

EG:

draw freehand line across gap.. draw line across next gap ...... until all gaps closed
press 6 to select all
press 7 to convert the lines within selection to shape
press 8 to add all to one shape
press 9 to break shapes
if all gaps not closed it will not break fully - so press 6 to make sure all selected then press 0 to [re]join shapes, and carry on as before drawing line across missed gap[s]....etc

NOTES:

1 it assumes you are doing this in an otherwise empty or locked file, else you cannot use 'select all' but will need to select by other means

2 sometimes it is better to 'undo' rather than 'press 6 to.. then press 0 to [re]join' - but there again undo in xtreme can sometimes glitch especially in complex compound operations if you undo/redo a lot- after a while you get a feel for which to use when

Being able to shortcut 'convert line to shape' and 'break shape', operations that I do all the time is great

[If only we could short cut 'reverse path' that would be wonderful too]

The ability to make, load and save key shortcut profiles was crucial in me choosing pro version originally..

**amoore** · 31 July 2009, 03:50 PM

Convert Line to Shape - Alt+L
Clear Mask - Alt+M (makes more sense; want Ctrl+D for Duplicate)
Close - Ctrl+F4 (preferred; already in XP; want Ctrl+W for Redraw)
Duplicate - Ctrl+D
Import - Ctrl+Shift+I (makes more sense; parallel to Export shortcut)
Invert Mask - Alt+I (makes more sense)
New document from template 1-10 - Alt+1 to Alt+0, respectively
Show Guides - Num / (added for compatibility with PSP)
Time redraw - Ctrl+W (prefer shortcut I've used for years in Ventura)
Toggle to Selector tool - Space (much preferred; use mouse wheel for push)
Zoom to 100% - Num * (prefer shortcut from Opera; also assign in other apps)

Wish we could assign hotkeys to the following:

Fill and transparency types, especially No Fill/Transparency and Flat Fill/Transparency
Turn on Screen Capture function

**PixelDust** · 31 July 2009, 10:22 PM

I haven't changed too many of them yet.

Break shape - B
Find (in Object Manager) - F. This comes in handy because if the layer is collapsed in the Object Manager, it expands it automatically and takes you right to where the shape is.

Amoore - The default shortcut to trigger Screen Capture is Control-Q, and there's an entry for Screen Capture in the Customize Key Shortcuts utility under the "Utility Menu" category.

**HayTay** · 31 July 2009, 11:21 PM

Those are some very nice key shortcut additions and changes. I'll be implementing a few of them, post haste. Thanks for the contributions, Allison, Steve and PixelDust. That Find shortcut in the Object Manager is going to come in mighty handy and save me a bunch of time!!!

**amoore** · 03 August 2009, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by PixelDust

Amoore - The default shortcut to trigger Screen Capture is Control-Q, and there's an entry for Screen Capture in the Customize Key Shortcuts utility under the "Utility Menu" category.

Thanks, PixelDust! I knew about Control Q, but I'd missed the option for the function in the Shortcuts utility, thinking it was the same thing.

**PixelDust** · 03 August 2009, 10:29 PM

You're welcome, amoore... I wasn't sure about the Screen Capture shortcut myself - I haven't tried it yet.

Oh, I forgot a couple of other custom shortcuts:

Shift-H - hide selected object(s)
Alt-H - show all (unfortunately, that unhides everything on all layers, even layers that I've manually hidden in the Object Gallery.)

**HayTay** · 08 September 2009, 02:09 AM

This aren't necessarily 'Xtreme PRO' shortcuts but I thought I'd add them here anyway. I wasn't paying attention in a recent drawing and missed the ' (single quote) key to toggle on the grid. I did notice one of my object make a big leap across the drawing area though. Looking back and forth at the keyboard and the screen to try and figure out which key I actually pressed took me a couple of tries. I discovered that the Undo and Redo functions that I've been using the Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y key shortcuts for can also be accessed via the , (comma) and . (period) keys on the main keyboard, as well. I guess I was so used to using the Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y keys from other applications over the years I never thought of using or looking for any other way.

I must retrain myself and revisit the Key Shortcut list to see what else I've been missing.

Thanks to everyone who has posted in this thread. I've implemented quite a few of the ideas shared here.

Still learning,
Harry

**Zupdude** · 08 September 2009, 06:19 AM

I know this won't exactly open the Heavens for anybody, but here's one that may be useful. It was very helpful to me the one time I've used it:

I recently had a job that required me to create many soft-groups of objects on several layers. I made a second, tempory shortcut for soft-grouping: A, which is easier to key than the default three finger Ctrl-Alt-G (Try that with one finger). I had to make 35 soft-groups and I was able to do that in about 40 seconds without even looking at the keyboard. ...ok, 90 seconds.

After the job, I removed the shortcut. That way, I can use that shortcut for a job that I have a lot of "Paste In Place" work to do. ...I also won't be accidentally soft grouping objects when I brush the "A" Key. If I've made this idea clear [I'm sorry if I didn't], you'll be happy to know that the letters W, R, Y, S, D, F, X, C and B are also available on that side of the keyboard.