My vote for shortcuts

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boballen
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My vote for shortcuts

Post by boballen »

FontCreator 8 professional is my first upgrade since version 4. WOW :shock: . What I've been missing! But I'm still missing shortcut keys I use in drawing programs I use to create the images I import. Here's my wishlist. These are the buttons I hit most (translate incessantly) in every session (but none have shortcuts):

As long as I can return to 'selection' by hitting escape, I'm fine there (or you could add an 's' shortcut).
Point Edit is an editing of vector points. So press 'v'
Contour Mode. Press 'c'
Fill Outlines. Press 'x' (as in fill the box with an x)
Measuring Tool. Press 'm'
Knife Tool. Press 'k'

If I looked at existing shortcuts correctly, none are currently used. But honestly, I would be happy with any shortcuts for these common buttons.

Thanks for creating a magnificent program. It truly is incredible.
Bob
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Yes FontCreator 8.0 now has an amazing depth of power features, and there's more to come soon.

I agree about the shortcuts — you will find a full list in help — but it's hard to satisfy everyone. Making them customisable is probably the best solution.

I always use double-click to switch between points mode and contour mode. Double-click will also deselect tools and return to the selection tool.

p = points mode (it doesn't work in the glyph edit window to add glyphs to the preview toolbar)
c = contour mode would be good.
k = knife sounds good too.
o = fill outlines might be easier to remember than x
m = measure sounds OK too.
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by Erwin Denissen »

boballen wrote:8 professional is my first upgrade since version 4. WOW :shock: . What I've been missing! But I'm still missing shortcut keys I use in drawing programs I use to create the images I import. Here's my wishlist. These are the buttons I hit most (translate incessantly) in every session (but none have shortcuts):

As long as I can return to 'selection' by hitting escape, I'm fine there (or you could add an 's' shortcut).
Point Edit is an editing of vector points. So press 'v'
Contour Mode. Press 'c'
Fill Outlines. Press 'x' (as in fill the box with an x)
Measuring Tool. Press 'm'
Knife Tool. Press 'k'

If I looked at existing shortcuts correctly, none are currently used. But honestly, I would be happy with any shortcuts for these common buttons.
Version 4. Even we don't have that one installed any more ;-)

We've added so many new features that I can imagine you are very pleased with version 8. We'll continue to add great features, so don't forget to update/upgrade in the future!

We can surely add some more shortcuts.

Esc is already defaulting back to Selection mode, and if it is in Selection mode, it will clear selected contours/points.

How about this:

v/p/b = toggle between point and contour mode (v=vector, p=point, b=bezier)
c = color mode
k = knife
m = measure
x/o = fill outlines

So for point/contour mode as well as fill outlines we need to decide which shortcut is best.
boballen wrote:Thanks for creating a magnificent program. It truly is incredible.
Bob
Thank you!
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

I was thinking that one shortcut to toggle Point mode and Contour mode would be best. Maybe “p” is best if “c” is reserved for colour mode.

With three modes, cycling between them becomes slightly less attractive than with two, but still probably easier to remember “p” than p,v, and b. The keys c,v,b happen to be in a line, but p is on the right hand, which would be fine if it was a three-way toggle, but v p being on different hands, and opposite sides of the keyboard is not ideal.

x is also more accessible than o, if somewhat less mnemonic for fill outlines.
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by Erwin Denissen »

These will become new shortcuts:

p = toggle between point and contour mode (v=vector, p=point, b=bezier)
c = color mode
k = knife (not in color mode)
m = measure
b = paint bucket (only in color mode)

I just realized the fill outlines option is something global to all fonts opened in FontCreator, so it might not be smart to add a simple shortcut as if people accidentally press the key, they might be surprised. We could add a general shortcut to the main menu item, such as Ctrl-Alt-X, but personally I think it is best to not include a shortcut for it.
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Could fill outlines be made to work only in the Glyph Edit window and to be specific to the current project?

Without the fill, the glyph overview is not very useful.
No Fill.png
No Fill.png (11.81 KiB) Viewed 10059 times
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by Erwin Denissen »

We could decide to only use the fill outline option solely within the glyph edit windows, but it will remain a global setting.

If we decide to make it a font specific setting, it has to be stored in the font project file, and if shared other people will also encounter this view related setting. I know there are workarounds, but with the upcoming shortcut it shouldn't be such a big deal.
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boballen
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by boballen »

Proposals sound great. The toggle between point and contour with one key is fine. I use the double click, but it sure gets my carpel tunnel upset. (love a key when I can get it)

Limitation on fill outlines is splendid. I don't really care if it is project specific. I just never need it in the global view. Perhaps a way to turn it on for someone who does. But I agree that it seems pretty useless. Even when I have the global view blown up, it isn't really giving me good feedback.

I actually thought Bhikkhu's suggestion for 'o' instead of 'x' was perfect for fill outlines. That it is on the right is irrelevant if you keep your right hand on the mouse (or trackball) and left hand on the keyboard (for all the shortcuts) as I do.

I hate to add a shortcut suggestion :oops: but an image import (rather than right clicking for context menu) would be fantastic. I loaded a bunch of drawings into glyphs yesterday, and sure was wishing I had one. That 'i' key looks awfully lonely up there :D .
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

boballen wrote:I hate to add a shortcut suggestion :oops: but an image import (rather than right clicking for context menu) would be fantastic. I loaded a bunch of drawings into glyphs yesterday, and sure was wishing I had one. That 'i' key looks awfully lonely up there :D .
Multiple images can be imported at once with Drag and Drop to FontCreator. Just make sure that they're named in the right order and that you have enough empty cells ready to accept them.
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by boballen »

Lol... That's better than a shortcut. I guess I need to file caps and minuscule in separate folder since 'a' would rename 'A'. Can I just have them alphabetized with any names and drop them in the first position (for example, starting with the '!')? Or, do they have to actually have the name associated with the glyph?

Bob
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

You can name them however you wish to get them in the right order. Drop them wherever you want to start from. The glyphs will be imported into adjacent cells in order. If you make a mistake it's easy enough to copy/paste them into the right place later.

AI or PDF files will be many times faster than bitmaps or WMF, which are also treated as bitmaps.
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boballen
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by boballen »

That makes sense, because some characters can't be used in a filename. Thanks loads Bhikkhu.

And thank you Erwin for your constant consideration of your software users' input.
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Re: My vote for shortcuts

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

boballen wrote:I actually thought Bhikkhu's suggestion for 'o' instead of 'x' was perfect for fill outlines. That it is on the right is irrelevant if you keep your right hand on the mouse (or trackball) and left hand on the keyboard (for all the shortcuts) as I do.
The shortcut of lowercase "x" to toggle Fill Outlines has been implemented in the latest version of FontCreator 9.0 build 1914). Check for updates to get the latest version.

The shortcut for launching MainType was also changed from Ctrl F6 to Ctrl F10 because Ctrl F6 is a standard shortcut for switching tabs. Now:
  • Ctrl F10 launches MainType
  • Ctrl F11 launches the Windows Font folder
  • Ctrl F12 launches Windows Charactermap
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