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Known Participant
April 23, 2012
Open for Voting

P: Please can you allow FULLY customizable keyboard shortcuts?

  • April 23, 2012
  • 18 replies
  • 1088 views

I'm sure I can't be the first person to point out that one area in which Photoshop is seriously lacking is keyboard shortcuts.

Currently, there are many severe limitations to how you can customize shortcuts, such as:

• Tools can only be single keys
• Other shortcuts cannot be single keys
• All shortcuts must include Shift
• Actions can only be F keys
• Useful keys like Tilde and Backslash cannot be used

You might say: "Why does it matter?" But this kind of customizability is essential for cramming all the controls we use the most into those 12 keys under the left hand, so you don't have to keep moving your hands around constantly. The more shortcuts you can assign to a single key, the more power you have at your fingertips.

You might say: "Tools are special - they need to be a single key". But not everyone uses tools the same, or has the same definition of a tool. For example, some might say that showing/hiding extras was important enough to warrant a single-key command. (Adobe InDesign lets you do this by hitting "W".) You might also say that "Switch foreground/background colors" isn't exactly a "tool" and its control could take a backseat to more important tools.

As well as not being able to full customize controls, even more frustrating is that some of the most essential commands cannot be remapped AT ALL! Commands such as move up/down a layer, or fill layer with foreground/background color. My only option was to remap these to my mouse, using Logitech software, but Photoshop should let you assign them as keyboard shortcuts.

Photoshop has added so many features over the years which, to me, does not seem particularly essential. But what could be more essential than the actual CONTROLS we use to control it?

Please could Photoshop allow full control of the remapping of keyboard shortcuts (ideally also allowing the scroll wheel to move up/down through layers).

18 replies

Carson Jones
Known Participant
October 21, 2020

I run Batch, Image Processor, and Load Files into Photoshop Layers almost everyday and it's ridiculous that Adobe haven't allowed for keyboard shortcuts in Bridge.  Honestly, I don't think Adobe have anyone on their Dev team that has ever worked in a production environment for any length of time.  Super frustrating to have requests like this ignored for so long.

Known Participant
October 21, 2020

I've been using Bridge more and more as a way to target a subset of open images for batched actions. I'm growing weary of having to navigate through the drop-down menus. I think this would be a great idea!

Lee JamesAuthor
Known Participant
April 18, 2018
Thank you for the suggestion, though it's not for me.

I do like the idea of having more keys, but I still need access to all the normal keys, and the ability to quickly start typing, so moving my left hand over to some other device would defeat the object.

Basically I like my keyboard, and it works great for all other applications. But Photoshop is needlessly oppressive when it comes to allowing shortcuts.

I've also just realized that there is no way to use keys to move up and down through layers. You can move between visible layers, but if you want to show a hidden layer, you need to use the mouse.
April 16, 2018
Jim, I snooped around a bit, and this page might be a good place to start.

http://xahlee.info/kbd/programable_keypads.html

Hope this helps.

Phil Pool
grauenwölfe
Inspiring
June 12, 2016
I just wish you guys (Adobe, obviously) would at least add a shortcut for "Purge Cache for Folder". Just that one command would add so many years back to my life.

That would be so good for the planet and you'd have so much fun implementing it! May even help combat famine, disease, and Global Warming. So you have my permission to go ahead and get that sorted for the next update release.
Inspiring
June 9, 2016
I'm not sure why this has never been added to Bridge like many of the other Adobe apps (e.g. Photoshop) but I'd like to request that users be able to create / add custom keyboard shortcuts in Bridge.

A bit of research online shows an OS workaround for those on Macs however for those using Window's there doesn't seem to be an option.  Besides, it's better to have this as a native feature and have it match up with the workflow in other Adobe apps.

I've been working on a compositing project where I've got over 100 final shots and I've had to individually 'load the files into Photoshop layers' one by one via the Bridge menu.  This has been very tedious to say the least.  Having a keyboard shortcut for this would have been really nice.
Inspiring
January 11, 2013
Please allow us to add/edit keyboard shortcuts in Bridge. There are some PS related ones in the Tools menu (including the add-on Dr Brown's Services) that I'd like to hot key.

Thanks
Inspiring
April 23, 2012
Would the PS Team consider giving users more options in assigning Keyboard Shortcuts to Tools? All we can use right now are the letters of the alphabet. It would be most helpful if we could assign F-Keys to Tools.

*Note that InDesign has the ability to remap any combination. :)

Thank you!
Linda