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nebo7
Known Participant
December 3, 2016
Question

Shift+Arrows not always working?

  • December 3, 2016
  • 2 replies
  • 1403 views

I'm a long-time user of Illustrator, but I have something that I've seen happen quite a few times over the years and have never figured out what it is from. It's been bugging me lately, so here I am. So, when you hold down the Shift key and use the arrows, it moves 10x the cursor length, right? Not always for me. Sometimes I'll be using it and it will all of a sudden go to single space or maybe even smaller. I've looked into many things: Am I not holding shift down hard enough? Is the node (or whatever I'm moving) crossing over another node? Is there somethign wrong with the keyboard? None of this has been the case, and it seems to happen pretty randomly. It very well could be something I'm just missing, but I can't put my finger on it. It's frustrating, especially when making measurements (shift 4 clicks right and shift 4 clicks up, etc). I've not noticed it happening in Photoshop or InDesign, but it may well happen there too. I've only Noticed it in Ai. Anyone know of anything on this? Am I missing something? Is it just buggy in that way? I've noticed it happening for years, so I'm not sure what it is. Any help would be Dudically dudical!

Thanks!

Ben

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2 replies

barbara_a7746676
Community Expert
barbara_a7746676Community Expert
Community Expert
December 3, 2016

I agree with Ray that the View > Snap to Grid setting is probably the culprit. The Shift arrow keys have always worked fine for me when snap is not on.

Ray Yorkshire
Ray Yorkshire
Participating Frequently
December 3, 2016

I'd guess at the grid affecting it  , but i'm sure you have ruled that out

I use this free plug in from astute graphics instead, the increments  size can be set as required. 1 , 10 ,100 etc

And just use the arrow keys

http://astutegraphics.com/software/directprefs/

DirectPrefs - Keyboard Increment preference

Keyboard Increment

Using the arrow keys on a keyboard to move, finely position and step an artwork object(s) is a common task. Normally buried in Illustrator’s extensive Preference UI, DirectPrefs makes the distance setting for this operation immediately available.

With three user-definable presets for each document unit of measurement (millimetres, inches,  pixels, etc.), you can switch regularly to ensure that each object is easily positioned just-so!

DirectPrefs panel

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