This is for Windows only; it uses a feature to launch your favorite software via a keyboard shortcut. It’s been here for a while but it just never occurred to me to use it for this purpose.
1. Create a shortcut on the Desktop that points to your script.
2. Assign a keyboard shortcut to it. That’s it!!!!
If you don't know how, here’s a step by step
1. Open the folder where all your scripts live
2. Right click on any of them and click on “Send to …” -> “Desktop (Create Shortcut)”
3. (Optional) Rename the shortcut; to help you remember it is a good practice to include the actual key combination
4. Right click on the shortcut, click on “Properties”
5. The Shortcut Key says “None”, place the cursor there and hit for example Ctrl+Alt+8
6. Click on “Apply” then on “Ok”
7. That’s it, go to Illustrator and hit your key combination.
Notes:
1. Add the following line to the beginning of all your jsx scripts “#target Illustrator” (without the quotations)
2. If there are duplicate key combinations, your newly created shortcut will take precedence over any existing Illustrator shortcut used for something else, so…to help you see what key combos are available:
1. In Illustrator, go to “Edit” -> “Keyboard Shortcuts…”, then click on “Export text…”
2. The file is saved as a text delimited, open it with Excel or similar program to be able to sort
3. This is what I get, a sorted list that easily shows what’s available
3. If you have lost of scripts, your desktop will soon be overcrowded with icons, which many people really hate. An alternative could be to create a shortcut to the folder containing all your scripts and assign a key combination. When you’re in Illustrator and use the key combo the folder will open and you will have to double click on the file to run it. Not ideal….but your desktop will be uncluttered and is still better that going to the menus to run your scripts.
any comments or questions are welcomed
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