Hi guys,
I find myself using a combination of filters, scripts and plugins while working and sometimes it becomes very hard to find them between the dropdown menus and all the installed scripts.
The ReporterToggler solves it for the plugins.
I was wondering if it’s possible to create a custom palette where we can add whatever commands or specific actions/scripts from the menu so we have direct access (only with a click) to whatever we use the most, instead of searching for them between the drop down menus.
Please let me know if something like this already exists. Or if you find it useful too maybe someone can build it?
I’m a strong advocate of binding the Show Help Menu to a combination in the System keyboard shortcuts (I use control + alt + /). Hit shortcut, type what you want, and bingo.
What Rob said, plus: there are a handful of scripts I use very often, and for those, I have a shortcut in System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts > Glyphs.app.
I would advise agains a palette plugin. But maybe build a plugin that adds a Favourites menu item and there you can add the few items that you use all the time. With a build in way to assign shortcuts.
This is the exact same question I wanted to ask.
I don’t like shortcuts, and to be honest some of them are rather long-cuts where you have to use almost all fingers, so I find it easier to just do it with a click of a mouse/pen.
The one solution I use now is Wacom’s custom express keys.
The problem is you have to have Wacom, and those express keys are a little ugly, here’s a screenshot of one them I use:
That is a misconception. It is not just the click of the mouse, you have to move it first, then finely position it (multiple little moves, takes a lot of time), then click, and then move back, and finely position again. The only place that is reachable with ‘just a click’ is where the mouse already is. Then come the corners, then the edges of the screen. Everything else is much slower. So, for a mouse, the pulldown menus from the top menu bar are quicker to reach than buttons.
A button map could make sense for a tablet pen, but good tablets already have programmable (physical) shortcut buttons. And I do not see the gain over using the menus. But then again, I am not a tablet pen user. So, this may be your first step into learning some Python, and you can do your own thing. We’ll help you with the learning curve. (And you probably don’t want a palette plug-in, but a script that creates a window with buttons, so you can move it where you need it.)
I’m actually forcing myself to use the tablet, cause I feel that left cmd shift etc buttons have been pressed so many times that a mechanical damage is on its way.
The tablet I’m using also has buttons, eight of them and you can assign anything you like to them. With the tablet, one of your hands is holding a pen and the other is generally on the scroll/zoom wheel of the tablet. So it makes no sense to move my left hand to the keyboard. If I want I can still press those tablet buttons for shortcuts but that is not as convenient as a keyboard key. That’s why I want my left hand to rest on scrolling/zooming wheel (occasionally pressing only shift for straight lines, or option for copying etc, very simple commands) while the right hand does everything else, and it’s really quick to move around with it.
I actually also have keyboard viewer enabled so that I type numbers right on my screen
This way, my laptop turns into a screen and I do everything else on the tablet.
It seems that I’m the type of guy who really needs custom stuff so I may need to look into scripting.
Me personally, I don’t understand how one can draw type with a tablet/pen. I rely on the cursor keys for moving stuff around to much. It is much faster and more precise that way. And I have my hands on the keyboard to be able to use all those keyboard shortcuts. But if the tablet works for you, you might need some other tools – and you can make them yourself
Yes, you’re right, cursor keys are the key, that’s why I have them right in the center of that express keys I assigned (3rd row on the screenshot).
And another advantage is you bring up that panel with tablet, you stick it (make it always show) and then you start using Glyphs normally with a mouse and keyboard, but you’ll have that custom buttons too. So that’s kind of a “strange” workaround I have that somehow fits this topic
Agree with Georg on tablets. They are never made for precision work and, while I know some tablet users in type design, it feels to me that they are torturing themselves without realising it. If you have a physical problem with trackpad or mouse, I highly recommend a vertical mouse; some model’s got many buttons too.
For alternative methods on quickly accessing certain scripts and filters, I recommend dedicated hardwares such as gaming controllers. I for one use XBOX 360 controller for kerning, and also tried a keypad for PC gaming called Razer Tartarus in the past. It’s super customisable, but unfortunately had a very loud click (PC gamers love audible feedbacks of keystrokes). Since I work in an office environment, this wasn’t loved by my colleagues. In any case, PC gaming hardwares are worth a look. Even gaming mice has tons of side keys.
