Font Forum

These six operations are the most commonly used ones for me，
each operation has to move the mouse far away and the efficiency is very low.
Is it possible to complete an alignment operation with a keyboard click?

There are no Shortcut keys for these commands, but one can use access keys. The Menu Key will bring up the context menu for the selected contours.
Access key b will show the Align and Distribute submenu.
Then, access key m will align the selected contours vertically about the middle, etc.

The Align and Distribute Toolbar can be detached to move it to a more convenient position while editing the contour alignment. Double-click the toolbar’s title bar to dock it. Double-click the dots on the toolbar to undock it.

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote: ↑Sat Aug 26, 2023 5:16 pm There are no Shortcut keys for these commands, but one can use access keys. The Menu Key will bring up the context menu for the selected contours.

Align Contours.png

Access key b will show the Align and Distribute submenu.
Then, access key m will align the selected contours vertically about the middle, etc.

The imformation is userful for me, thanks!

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote: ↑Sat Aug 26, 2023 5:16 pm There are no Shortcut keys for these commands, but one can use access keys. The Menu Key will bring up the context menu for the selected contours.
Access key b will show the Align and Distribute submenu.
Then, access key m will align the selected contours vertically about the middle, etc.

Has the right-click menu for Alignment or Distribution been removed for v.15?

chncwk wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2023 4:06 am Has the right-click menu for Alignment or Distribution been removed for v.15?

It looks like it has been removed to make space for many new options. I guess we have to use the Align and Distribute Toolbar now.

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2023 6:37 am It looks like it has been removed to make space for many new options. I guess we have to use the Align and Distribute Toolbar now.

The function is very important and keeping it quickly use is essential and it should be added to the main menu as a sub-menu and allow keyboard completion.

chncwk wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2023 10:19 am

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2023 6:37 am It looks like it has been removed to make space for many new options. I guess we have to use the Align and Distribute Toolbar now.

The function is very important and keeping it quickly use is essential and it should be added to the main menu as a sub-menu and allow keyboard completion.

Adding keyboard shortcuts to alignment and distribution operations would be very useful in my opinion, it has been asked for in the past but the answer is always the same, NO!

Keyboard Shortcuts are almost all assigned already. They are hard to remember, and making them customisable is a major undertaking.

Access keys are more flexible, and have an onscreen reminder when opening the context menu. Still, it is time-consuming to make sure that there are no conflicts, and that new features are added without breaking users' muscle memory when upgrading from previous versions.

I keep a PagePlus file for designing High-Logic menus, but I have not updated it since July 2020.
Points Mode and Contour Mode were merged in FontCreator 15, hence the longer menu.

Let us know what shortcuts or other improvements would help, so we can consider it.

Erwin Denissen wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2023 11:57 am Let us know what shortcuts or other improvements would help, so we can consider it.

My solution was to bind mouse gestures for keyboard action combinations, which would also quickly improve editing efficiency. However, if the software doesn't provide a keyboard manipulation pathway, there's no way around it. It is highly recommended that the "Align or Distribute" menu be added to the "Edit" main menu and right-click menu!

chncwk wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2023 8:52 am It is highly recommended that the "Align or Distribute" menu be added to the "Edit" main menu and right-click menu!

We will put them back into the context menu for the glyph panel.

Erwin Denissen wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2023 10:47 am We will put them back into the context menu for the glyph panel.

Thanks for your decision, it will help me.

We have just released an update, so it is available in the context menu.

All looking good now.

Thank you for the quick update to this and the Complete Composites issue.