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ASK DN: SHIFT + arrow key from 10px to 16px?

over 6 years ago from , Tech and Design Lead @QC

Probably one of the most used keyboard shortcuts in Illustrator or Photoshop for me would be SHIFT + arrow. This moves 10px in the direction pressed. Awesome....

Unfortunately most spacing on the web is based of a 16px base so... 8,16,32,48... So in order to get 16px I have to do ( SHIFT + Arrow + 6 presses = 7 keystrokes )

Is there a way to change the default in PS or AI? I think this could possibly be life altering.

10 comments

  • Tom GantzerTom Gantzer, over 6 years ago (edited over 6 years ago )

    SHIFT + Arrow, SHIFT + Arrow, Nudge, Nudge, Nudge, Nudge

    6 Keystrokes

    You're welcome ;)

    13 points
  • Griffin Shreves, IIIGriffin Shreves, III, over 6 years ago

    I know it's easy in Illustrator. Under Preferences > General there is a keyboard increment value. This controls how far things move when you press an arrow key. SHIFT + arrow is ten times the value entered.

    I'm not sure about Photoshop. There's not a setting in preferences, and I haven't messed with custom keyboard shortcuts enough to know if it's possible.

    3 points
  • Kieran Black, over 6 years ago (edited over 6 years ago )

    There are a few work arounds. Creating a script using jsx, creating an action etc. I currently make scripts on my GitHub repo that are a little more in depth. But something like this can be really easy. From this newly created script, you can map a shortcut in Photoshop's settings. Get in contact with me if you would like to chat further about it on Twitter @kieranpblack

    UPDATE: I've written up a tutorial on how to do this, https://medium.com/@kieranpblack/photoshop-productivity-with-scripts-keyboard-shortcuts-and-alfred-5de3c44a33c2

    1 point
    • Clinton HalpinClinton Halpin, over 6 years ago

      Kieran this is awesome! I was actually looking into "scoped" alfred shortcuts this week but never really figured it out. Thanks for the write up!

      0 points
      • Kieran Black, over 6 years ago

        No worries, Clinton! I've updated the Medium post and put a link to download the scripts to move by 8px instead of the default 10px, if you really want 16px you can easily change the values in a script editor like Sublime.

        0 points
  • bradee evansbradee evans, over 6 years ago

    Ohh. I like that. My favorite feature in photoshop is being able to use the mouse to scrub any value... that said... it can be seen as inprecise... but!

    Did you know in Ps that you can shift-scrubby slide (mouse over the type icon in the tool options bar)... Shift scrubby slide jumps the input by 10s just like Shift+Arrow does in Illustrator. That THAT said. Your idea for jumping to reasonable font sizes could be cool in Ps too.

    1 point
    • Clinton HalpinClinton Halpin, over 6 years ago

      Scrubby slide is cool... But I want PS / AI to be like VIM where I don't have to use a mouse at all ( or at least as little as possible )

      0 points
      • bradee evansbradee evans, over 6 years ago

        But don't you use a mouse to select/move/draw elements? I don't like mouse-travel either. and I love command line interfaces and KBSCs for days.

        I feel that hold-shift-for-10px jump scrubby stuff is rad... especially since you can't tab around the Ps interface so you're going to have to mouse over to the input field to begin with.

        Because it's the switching from mouse to keys that's hard... not just the use of the mouse. (for me)...

        So what if the SHIFT scrubby for font-size input was 10-12-14-16? instead of just whole number increments?

        0 points
  • Robert FarrellyRobert Farrelly, over 6 years ago

    For illustrator I just click: Command + K By default it shows the increment preferences. So enter the value I want and hit enter and you're good to go.

    0 points