Stop the beeping!!!

[MicahBurke]

Seems like if I have something selected and use the keyboard shortcut to zoom in, the hold space bar to get the Hand tool, Illustrator CS 5 beeps. There seems to be so much beeping in the app that I've turned my sound off.

Any way to stop the beeping aside from not using the tools Illustrator gave us!?

[Pacoan-wZPMMm]

Thanks for the suggestions. Doesn't ctrl+1 already fit to the artboard? Isn't your precise zoom hotkey the same as tapping "z" and click+drag? I'm not sure I can stomach the thought of remapping my save hotkey. After your suggestions, I feel that the simplest work-around is going to be tapping alt prior to using the spacebar. By the way, some people like to fidget with their view (zoom-->pan-->zoom-->pan, it's a stimulant to thought and scope). In the end this whole thing goes against the idea that developers should be making life easier for their user base, instead they seem to be dedicating their resources towards adding new features for improved sales.

[Mellifluous-Irony]

From my perspective, as someone who previously played games online, hotkeys are all used by the left hand, anything easy to reach in combination with Ctrl, Alt and/or Shift.

It's about allowing your right hand to stay on the mouse at all times, and have the most useful and common tools available and easy to activate with the left hand.

"Fit Artboard in Window" default is Ctrl + 0

Not happening with one hand, for me.

Z is too precious, for me, to be used on zoom with all the tools that I use; especially when Ctrl + Space + Drag is an integrated hotkey.

(Note: There is also Ctrl + Alt + Space + Click [to zoom out] can't say I use it though.)

Save is not the type of command I deem necessary for possessing a hotkey, but I would never suggest that you change it. I was simply giving an example, based on what I use.

Ctrl + Space + Drag and a zoom out hotkey works pretty well for 'fidgeting'. Neither need to use Alt, thus the hand tool (space) could also be used without worrying about beeping.

I genuinely hope that you find something useful from this.

[Pacoan-wZPMMm]

Oh cool! I didn't know about the ctrl+space+drag. I guess at some point the configuration of hotkeys is a personal thing.

[Guest]

I'm also having Same problem..  i want to CS5 Update to solve this problem

(CS5 is not Comfortable to us Ai users )

Using Illustrator in Fullscreen mode disables the beeping. Although, it also disables any menu access through the alt key. I wonder if actual Illustrator users develop the software, this is no brainier stuff.

Any bady Can know Ideas please help with us

by

Venkat..S

(India, Chennai)

[Mellifluous-Irony]

I understand why people would not want to disable the windows beep sound.

But incase you would like to change it to something else:

In Windows 7,

• Start Menu→ Control Panel

• Hardware and Sound→ Change System Sounds

• Under the Sound tab, look for "Default Beep" and change it.

Here are a few I've tried: →Download←

[Mellifluous-Irony]

If you would like to use the Mouse-Wheel to zoom in and out--

!! without having to press alt,

you can use the script I'm using for AutoHotkey.

wheelup::
Send {Ctrl Down}{=}
Sleep 50
Send {Ctrl Up}
Return
wheeldown::
Send {Ctrl Down}-
Sleep 50
Send {Ctrl Up}
Return

That sets the wheel to use the (Ctrl  -) and (Ctrl 😃  zoom hotkeys.

This happens to be a bit more complicated than the normal scripting required to change hotkeys,

because that "Sleep 50" was needed (the script was sending the command too fast for illustrator, or something).

You might also be interested in using:

~Space::Lbutton

which makes it as though you are holding down your left mouse button

while you hold space.

So you just hold space and move the mouse to pan.

usually space::Lbutton would just make space become Lbutton,

but the ~ maintains the space bars native function.

This program removes any hotkey limitations illustrator has (such as commands needing ctrl).

▬▬▬▬ ♦ ▬▬▬▬ ☼ ▬▬▬▬ ♦ ▬▬▬▬

Explanation for using this information:

• Download and install AutoHotkey (it's free and even has a 64bit version)

• Right Click in any folder, or on the desktop,

and goto New→ AutoHotkey Script

name it whatever you want.

• Right-Click the file and select Edit Script, where you enter the code in NotePad.

• Mine always shows:

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.

which I ignore and write the script underneath

So if you wanted to use everything, it would look like this:

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
wheelup::
Send {Ctrl Down}{=}
Sleep 50
Send {Ctrl Up}
Return
wheeldown::
Send {Ctrl Down}-
Sleep 50
Send {Ctrl Up}
Return
~Space::lbutton

• Now save, and click on it to run.

You should see a green square with an H in the bottom right.

Right-click and select exit to stop it.

▬▬▬▬ ♦ ▬▬▬▬ ☼ ▬▬▬▬ ♦ ▬▬▬▬

Some other examples:

-Making A delete things...

a::delete

or

a::Send {Delete}

Use the "Send" command when the other doesn't work.

This link is to a topic about changing S to another hotkey,

and also being able to use (Shift+S) for something else.

Generalized key (not an illustrator example)

(First is what you press)

(E) → (Period) 
(Shift + W) → (Ctrl + X) 
(Ctrl + D) → (Ctrl + Shift + L) 
(Ctrl + Alt + A) → (Alt + Comma)     

Code:

e::. +w::^x ^d::^+l ^!a::!,

These three links have just about all the information you need.

http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Hotkeys.htm

http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/KeyList.htm

http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/Send.htm

Good luck, ask for help if needed!

They have very helpful people on their forums.

[Mellifluous-Irony]

~space::lbutton

It seems using this one allows you to use the normal  Alt + mousehweel without it beeping when you try to pan.

[Mellifluous-Irony]

~alt up::send {alt down}{alt up}

This makes it so when you release Alt, AutoHotkey sends another press and release of Alt.

This solves the beep problem by saving you from having to press Alt twice.

[kemch1013]

Wow I wasn't expecting a whole post on this... thought it was just me getting the beep. Has Adobe officially addressed this yet? Every time it beeps at me it makes me think of those conditioning experiments where they give a rat an electric shock to let it know its doing something unintended. The beeping is annoying. Zooming in and out seems less intuitive. I'm surprised the reasoning for Adobe switching up this behavior from CS4 was to comply with Windows standard key functions. I mean, who really uses the alt key to access menus on a regular basis? Power users and programmers... but illustrators? What's next? CTRL Y for redo?

I'm going to do the 'double' alt method and if I can't get used to that I'll just disable the sound in windows. Adobe User Experience dept where are you?

[Mellifluous-Irony]

The one line script above your post will press alt again for you.

While my post explaining how to use the scripts looks long, installing AutoHotkey and copying + pasting your choice script should take less than 5 minutes. Then you can continue doing what you have always done, without beeping

[Annabelle222]

I can’t understand why there is only one topic about that problem. I  mean... it’s a huge bug, totally annoying, and it wasn’t there in CS4  and previous versions.

I encountered this problem  recently, because I’m used to work on Os X and I’ve just switched to  Windows. When I first noticed this bug, I didn’t understand what was  happening. I was in InDesign, I used alt+scroll, then wanted to use  another keyboard shortcut, as always, and it didn’t work. I was like..  what’s the problem?!?! Then, I noticed that when I used alt+scroll, the  focus stayed on the menu bar, stopping me of using whatever shortcut I  wanted to use after that.

Those kind of things make me so angry!  How can they release a new version of a software that have bugs that weren’t there  before? I think it’s unacceptable... it makes me wonder if I should go  back to CS4. Fortunatly, somebody here found a great solution, but I  still got another huge bug I must deal with everydays (weird blank page  that soooo often appears in my linked text boxes when I make books... it  makes all the text shifts on the wrong pages and I have to ask to  recompose the story everytime... so annoying).

Anyways, I’m sorry to pollute this topic with my moaning... I just wanted to release my frustration about that, and say thanks to Mellifluous-Irony for his great solution.

[Guest]

Can we get an update on this?

This is insanely annoying and it constantly interrupts workflow for PC users.

That Adobe employee said he was looking into it months ago and never posted about it again...

[Guest]

One more thing, it would be great if we could get a real fix for this.

It's funny how some people are just saying "turn off the default Windows beep" or something of the like.

Other solutions might be:

1.) Ripping apart your sound card

2.) Smashing your speakers in with a hammer

3.) Becoming deaf

If these don't sound like solutions to you, perhaps we should keep encouraging Adobe to fix this problem.

[MicahBurke]

Aranaaa... thanks for making my day. You said exactly what I was thinking when I first read the replies.

I did speak with Adobe's Illustrator project manager and the dev team at MAX 2010. They were unaware of the issue, I demonstrated it on my laptop for them, needless to say it was a shocker. I joined the Illustrator beta test team and have yet to download the beta. Will update the thread if/when I do.

Micah Burke

zionurc.org

basiksathome.com

burkehomedesign.com

sleepworld.com

[Guest]

Yes, well let's keep this topic active until we get a solution. People are paying a lot of money for Adobe products and that's because the products are the best in the world at what they do. There's no good reason why these things should be fine with CS4 but not with CS5. I use Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign/etc on our university computers and I really wish they hadn't "upgraded".

For anyone still wondering what this problem is or trying to reproduce it, this is how you do it:

(Obviously your speakers will need to be on. Try Photoshop or Illustrator. It doesn't matter.)

1.) Hold down alt (notice that the file/edit/etc menus are now underlined)

2.) Scroll the mouse wheel (because you want to zoom)

3.) Release alt, because you're done zooming (notice how the file menu is now highlighted)

4.) Press space, because now you want to pan

5.) DING

Oh damn, looks like I can't do a routine function like panning after zooming without hearing that sound.

Before we can continue to move forward, let's all keep in mind the difference between a fix and a workaround. We are looking for a fix here.

[Guest · Accepted solution]

Only satisfying solution (apart from installing additional software) that I've found is to just use Alt Gr+scroll instead of alt+scroll. Alt Gr doesnt seem to activate the menu.

[Guest]

Blibbers: What's Alt Gr?

[Guest]

Alt Gr is the alt key to the right of your spacebar. It works great for zooming with scrolling. Though I don't think it works as a general modifier within Illustrator for other commands.

[Mellifluous-Irony]

We know of many ways to avoid producing the beep at this point;

but I made my own tone to replace the windows default beep

and thought I'd post it :-]

A-tone

[Guest]

windows users can goto the sound panel and deactivate the beep. I personally have never heard it... so idk what beep it is.

but its one of these two...

[maumorenob]

Yes, you have it here, actually is the "Default Beep", that beeps in Illustrator.

I deactivated and works, no more beep.

[Guest]

The annoying thing is not actually just the beeping. The problem is still incredibly annoying even if you don't have speakers, because it highlights the menu (unintentionally) which prevents you from continuing to work as usual. If I want to budge an item or do any command, it won't let me do it if the menu is highlighted. It takes a second to figure out what's going on, then you need to hit alt again to deselect, and then you can continue as usual.

It completely interrupts workflow.

Adobe is completely insane for not fixing this. It never happened in CS2, CS3, or CS4.

If people really don't get it, try repeating the steps I posted above to make it happen.

Again, we are NOT looking for a workaround. They're all just silly.

[Mellifluous-Irony]

aranaaa:

"Again, we are [I am]NOT looking for a workaround. They're all just silly."

We understand your frustration.

It is outrageous that this bug ever existed and that it has not been delt with.

Adobe has been aware of this problem for at least 9 months.

While it seems logical to make fixing this a high priority,

they have likely determined that it is not cost effective to deal with it in CS5.

With that said I think the official response you are waiting for would sound like:

"You can expect this issue to be resolved in CS6."

In reality this problem has a fix: AutoHotkey.

Not only does it fix the problem,

it removes most limitations Illustrator

has regarding hotkeys.

Transfer the energy you are spending here to learn

the relatively simple coding of AutoHotkey,

or copy and paste it from one of my posts above.

Give yourself the gift they refuse to give :-]

[scottjwood]

The alt menu thing has been driving me freaking nuts. The posts above about the autohotkey fix really works well. Thank you so much for that!

This is the fix I used in my autohotkey script:

~alt up::send {alt down}{alt up}

[dgoerndt]

Just for anyone's info, I'm using both  Illustrator CS5 and PS CS5 Extended and neither exibit the beeping using the key combo.