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May 5, 2011
Open for Voting

P: Allow for keyboard shortcut customization

  • May 5, 2011
  • 276 replies
  • 16251 views

Customizable keyboard shortcuts in Lightroom would be great. I just find it so confusing that crop and brush tools and things like that have such odd keyboard shortcuts in Lightroom. I understand that changing that all now would be awful for many existing users, but being able to override them like I can in Photoshop would be helpful. Doesn't anyone else out there find they use to wrong keyboard shortcuts in the wrong program?

276 replies

Inspiring
July 12, 2016
Mate, that is WAY too much *** about. Especially if Apple changes the implementation of shortcuts in an OS update or Adobe *** about with command names, as they did with the implementation in the latest Photoshop release with "Select and Mask" replacing "Refine Edge/Mask". 

I appreciate you sharing your efforts. Perhaps it will stand as an example to Adobe to pull their finger out and get on with implementing a decent customisation solution for its supposedly valued clients.
Participant
November 26, 2023


1 - Shortcuts in Literoom Classic should be manual. Shortcuts for all tools should be manual.
2- Masking has people field option, it is necessary to give disable and enable option 
3- It is necessary to give all mask deleted option in masking tool so that the editor side good  ,Which is currently in the effects panel which is not needed there


4- It would be great if Lightroom had skin retouching or portrait tool option

KevenA
Known Participant
July 11, 2016
Shift key. 😄 
Victoria, see my comment below! 
KevenA
Known Participant
July 11, 2016
I've found a way to make all (I am 97% sure of this) custom keyboard shortcuts work for Lightroom on OS X. It is a big work-around, but it works!
1. Use 'App Shortcuts' in 'System Preferences' → 'Keyboard' → 'Shortcuts' to create keyboard shortcuts. Follow the instructions on this page if you don't know how to do this: http://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_keyboard/lightroom-keyboard.htm

2. Since you always need to add modifier keys with the 'App Shortcuts' feature, to create single-character shortcuts, you will need an application. There are probably different applications that can do this, both free and paid, but I use BetterTouchTool (which is paid, but it is awesome for a multitude of differnet things—screen-snapping being only one of them).

- First, assign a shortcut in 'App Shortcuts'
- Add Lightroom in the keyboard shortcuts section in BetterTouchTool (or any other application that does the same thing)
- Add the 'App Shortcuts' shortcut and then assign a single-key shortcut to it. 

For example, assigning  'Shift+Cmd+Y' to 'Flagged' in 'App Shortcuts' (since you might need P for somthing else). Then, adding this in BetterTouchTool and assigning 'C' to it (but first changing the 'C' shortcut in Lightroom, which is the 'Compare' function, using 'App Shortcuts', to avoid shortcut conflicts). With this, Pressing 'C' toggles 'Shift+Cmd+Y', which in turn flags a picture in Lightroom.

If there is already an assigned keyboard shortcut in Lightroom (and you won't need it for another function), you can use either 'App Shortcuts' or BetterTouchTool and skip the other. 'App Shortcuts' will require a modifier key though, so BetterTouchTool would be a better option.

3. Make sure there are no shortcut conflicts!
That's it. It's quite a lot of work initially, but for Mac users (and graphics tablet users on OS X), it means not having to impatiently wait for Adobe to implement this feature, and therefore enjoying increased ease of working with Lightroom.

EDIT: Everything I've written is still correct, but there is one small problem. Assigning single-character keys to functions/commands will also be the case modify keys when typing text. 
Victoria Bampton LR Queen
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 11, 2016
Next one along?  
Victoria - The Lightroom Queen
KevenA
Known Participant
July 11, 2016
That's my Z key. I'm in the non-US keyboard boat as well. 🙂 
Victoria Bampton LR Queen
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 11, 2016
For P, U and X, have you tried using the ~/` key to toggle flagged/unflagged?  It's right next to the X key.
Victoria - The Lightroom Queen
Inspiring
July 11, 2016
Your response, Keven, indicates exactly why customisable shortcuts are necessary, which is that when it comes to workflow, each user's preference are unique, so come on, Adobe, get onto it.

To answer your question regarding system-level shortcut modification (even though you didn't direct it to me) in OS X, my experience is that it's such an inadequate solution it's not worth bothering with.
KevenA
Known Participant
July 11, 2016
Ah, tried it again and now the modifier keys work (first time I tried, only F1-F12 keys worked). Thanks for telling me, Victoria. I would have missed it. 

However, it has limitations. For example, I can't use only letter keys (or single keys). In Lightroom, I find the P, U, X shortcuts awfully organized and spread all over the keyboard. When triaging my shoot pictures, I would like to have all three keys together under three fingers, right next to the Shift key. A much better layout! Maybe I'll have to wait for Adobe to add a full feature. Does the same thing happen for you when adding only letters or single keys in the App Shortcuts feature of OS X?

What has been you experience with the App Shortcuts feature (unless you're on PC)?

Kind regards and thanks again.
Victoria Bampton LR Queen
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 11, 2016
No arguments from me Chris - I'd like to see it too - but it may help in the meantime.
Victoria - The Lightroom Queen
Inspiring
July 11, 2016
It might help a little but it's a half-baked option.