square bracket keys on AZERTY / touche crochet avec clavier AZERTY

[francisv12957225]

English:

Some shortcuts use the opening and closing square bracket keys [ and ], particularly those relating to the size of the tool.

My question is twofold:

• on my AZERTY keyboard, I don't actually have [ ] keys. You have to type ( or ) parenthesis keys, combined with the Alt Gr key. But in Illustrator it doesn't work; I tried with all sorts of combinations of Alt, Shift, Alt Gr.... The size of the tool remains the same. In the default configuration, how is this supposed to work?
• how can I define custom keys for "tool size up" and "tool size down" ?
  

French:

Certains racourcis utilisent les touches crochets ouvrants et fermants [ ] , particulièrement ceux relatifs à la taille de l'outil.

Ma question est double:

• sur mon clavier AZERTY, je n'ai pas à proprement parler de touches [ ]. Il faut faire les touches ( et ) avec la touche Alt Gr. Mais dans Illustrator ça ne marche pas. Avec les touches par défaut, c'est censé marcher comment?
• comment puis-je redéfinir des touches custom pour la fonctionalité essentielle "taille de l'outil"

[Eric Dumas]

Hi,

Can you confirm the version of your software and operating system?

You can create your own shortcuts from the Edit menu > Edit Keyboard shortcuts

- Select to create a shortcut for a Tool or a Command

- Locate the tool size option

- and remap to what you would like to use

You should get a warning if the shortcut is already used for something else already.

[federico platon]

Regretfully the Keyboard Shortcuts range of options available in Illustrator is quite limited.

Even more, using a non-US keyboard default ones availabilty is compromised.

Sizing up/down with [ ] keys only works for:

Eraser,

Blob and

-Calligraphic/Bristle- Brushes.

These shortcuts are not even available in the Keyboard Shortcuts panel. And therefore are nor remappable, changed to other combination of keys.

[francisv12957225]

For me [ and ] do not work at all. And as Federico pointed out, you can't set custom keys for this.

Can someone tell me how I can change the tool size in Illustrator if I have an AZERTY keyboard, without completely breaking my workflow by clicking in the tool window, and resizing manually.

[francisv12957225]

Hi Erc,

Thanks for answering.

• My OS is Windows 10, it  updates regularly.
• I am using Illustrator 24.0.2

I could not find tool size in the keyboard shortcuts.

[federico platon]

As explained before, the short answer is not. it's not available in Keyboard Shortcuts panel.

Several shorcuts are not available, or not remapped, on localized (non US-English) versions of the program.

Keyboard shortcuts are stored in this file:

.\Adobe Illustrator 2020\Presets\en_US\Keyboard Shortcuts >  illustrator Defaults.kys

This is a text file that can be edited. Though I have not found instruction for the keyboard keys numbering.

I think the lines for what you are after (on US English version and for US keyboards)  are:

/sizeStepDown {
/Context 0
/Modifiers 224
/Represent 44
/Key 44
}
/sizeStepUp {
/Context 0
/Modifiers 224
/Represent 46
/Key 46

[francisv12957225]

So I can edit the keyboard file with a text editor...

Do you know of any guide for doing this?

It seems weird that the Modifiers should be 224 when the command is just [ and not Alt Ctrl or Shift or something.

[federico platon]

 I have not found instruction for the keyboard keys numbering.

[francisv12957225]

thanks for the attempt

[francisv12957225]

I added a feature request here: https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-feature-requests/suggestions/40506217-al...

[federico platon]

Yes, filling a request is the way to ask Adobe for some help or solution.

I will complete my answers to your initial question, pointing, as you talk about

"completely breaking my workflow by clicking in the tool window, and resizing manually."

Never before using a French version and/or AZERTY keyboard those shortcuts were ever available.

When you want to change the size of the path to be drawn using ANY tool, you can select the tool and

1. Change in the Stroke width window or drop down menu in the Control panel on top,

2. And also you can do it too, using the same controls in the Stroke panel.

Currently shortcuts associated with these [ } keys (size, layer selection/move) are only available for English verions of Ai and US or English keyboards.

Equivalent .Kys files are also found in Photoshop and InDesign, but each one is different and only Illustrator one, is a text only file.

[francisv12957225]

So the capability is there, it's just that in 30+ years Adobe hasn't found the time to transfer them to the UI ?

• If anyone from Adobe is listening, this is about the fact you can't change the shortcut for the tool size in Illustrator, ( [ and ] by default), which means you just can't access the tool size from the keyboard if you have an AZERTY (French) keyboard, because those default keys don't work.
• If anyone from Adobe who doesn't know about graphics is listening (you never know) : this is important for graphic work as the tool size is something you need to change often. As in graphics you need to use the mouse a lot, moving the mouse to the menu to change the tool size with the UI means you lose the place in the graphics where you were editing.

[mario hernandez]

I confirm... I'm totally with that said above

That is a great great miss from adobe. 

Be able to change the brush tool size via a simple shortcut like Photoshop on french keyboard is very important.

I still don't understand why this so simple command is not featured in illustrator.

Please do something. We need it !

[Monika Gause]

Support the existing feature request.

[Egor Chistyakov]

Hm, these can be changed in Keyboard Shortcuts, in Tools sections, in Increase/Decrease Diameter... Can you assign something else there?