ESC to leave text editor, like in Ai, Ps, and iD

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
September 28, 2022
22 replies
3764 views

In Photoshop, Illustrator, and inDesign, you can leave the text editor with the ESC key. In some instances, it even switches to the move tool simultaneously. Typography is such a huge part of motion graphics so having the ability to edit and move text around quickly is incredibly valuable.

Right now, in AE, hitting ESC after editing a line of text undoes any changes. This is especially frustrating when I've spent time meticulously formatting and kerning characters and then all that work is gone in an instant. Command+Z doesn't bring it back!

I'm aware that Command+Enter will keep changes made to a text layer, but Adobe has already built this muscle memory of pressing ESC in the other apps. And getting my left hand to hit Command+Enter is such an awkward motion (and I'm a lefty!!!).

This probably falls under the request to have ESC as a custom hotkey, but I think it should be addressed regardless.

Workflow

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oh-deer

Participant

So how, do you jump to next line inside the text you are writing?

hellopaul4

Inspiring

Absolutely not. I find other Adobe apps, who use the Esc key to "confirm" the text input (and "cancel" every other process) very silly indeed. AE is the only app that does it logically - Enter "enters" the text on the screen, Esc cancels it...just like the escape key always does, in every situation in every app ever made...except when entering text in Ai, Ps and Id. I feel those other erroneous apps (Ai, Ps, Id) should be reconfigured to behave exactly like AE, and to be more in line with what every user since the 1980s has come to expect in any interaction with a computer:
Escape = cancel
Enter = confirm

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dylanbperry

Participating Frequently

Please, please either change the default behavior in After Effects so Esc keeps text changes (like in other Adobe apps), or give us an option to set this behavior ourselves.

I have lost so much time because of this issue, and my frustration grows each time I do it, which is still frequently.

M

markh16894458

Participating Frequently

+1. Photoshop even asks me what I want the escape key to do. This would be a nice change in After Effects.

S

Shelilah

Participating Frequently

Yes! Please! Why is this not already a thing?

I'm getting into AE after years of using all 3 of the above programs constantly. The inconsistency and years of muscle memory make it so frustrating when working with text in AE. It's minor in theory, but when working with so much text, the extra effort adds up and really slows down the workflow.

And for those who want to mention the numpad, some of us work on laptops that don't have it or we don't always have access to a keyboard with one. It's a simple accessibility fix that can make such a world of difference and I'm confused why it's not even an option when editing shortcuts.

hawkstre

Participant

Bump.

This is the most mindnumbingly frustrating thing in the entire creative cloud suite. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US?

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ryane67968512

Participant

I think out of all the Adobe software AI does this best by allowing the escape key to leave the text editor. However I would be willing to compromise on what key it is, but the important thing would be unifying the control between PS, AI, PP, AE. The most frustrating thing is working in between all this software and constantly having to shift your brain into different key commands for the same task. This could extend into unifying the way color functions work between all these programs.