Create custom hotkeys for any application
Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V
I remember learning these life changing hotkeys when I was observing a player in a Warcraft 3 lobby quickly “writing” out the same message recruiting for his clan. I vividly remember whispering him telling him how I was so impressed at how fast he could type (I even offered to be a new recruit if he would teach me his ways)!
Little did I know that this thing called “hotkeys” existed! This was a defining moment now that I have jumped off the deep end into the world of technology.
Disclaimer — I am a product designer that eats, sleeps, and breathes Figma.
I have been working with Figma for the last 2.5 years and I have to say I fall more in love with the application everyday. There are plenty of amazing features, but I want to focus on the one that sold me.
Alignment hotkeys. These hot keys should literally be a gold standard for any application where you control elements on an open canvas (miro, adobe suite, etc…). These hotkeys are:
- Align Top: Opt+W
- Align Bottom: Opt+S
- Align Left: Opt+A
- Align Right: Opt+D
I know there are more but these are the go to hot keys for my daily workflow.
Where am I going with this?
Being a power user of an application is a unique experience. It means we are pushing the mental models that the product team has used to create the current experience. Rather than consistent praise, we just begin begging to have things implemented in a way that makes more sense for our specific use case. Of course, we expect this update to be ready and available within the hour it seems.
What if we could “stack” applications functionality?
I believe the team at Figma (and many others need a well deserved break). This is where Better Touch Tool (BTT) comes into play.
Now this story is finally getting good.
Better Touch Tool (BTT)
Download the application at folivora.ai
BTT was introduced to me by a previous coworker (Engineer) turned good friend Adrian Barnes. This tool single handedly changed the way I thought about executing tasks and workflows.
What does BTT do?
BTT allows users to create application specific custom hotkeys. This means that you can remap current hotkeys, create robust macros, etc. The best part is that the app has integrations with the magic mouse, trackpad, etc.! Users can set specific gestures using the magic mouse to activate a specific hotkey.
My favorite and most common use case are within Figma. I have set my “Navigate to children frames” and “Navigate to Parent Frames” to a mouse gesture.
Navigate to children: Shift+2 finger click
Navigate to parent: Shift+3 finger click
I no longer need to take my hand off of the mouse to quickly navigate up and down in a component. This is truly a game changer.
Plugins!
Now that you have a small idea of what you can do with BTT — This application also allows you to create hot keys for plugins. All you need to do is:
- Define the hot key
- Add an action
- Select “Trigger Menubar Menu-Item” — This acts as if you are opening the entered menu then selecting either an option or a branch of options.
- Define the desired menu pathing (see image).
- Do some minor QA and go back into the defined application to make sure you spelled each path correctly.
- Done! You have a new hot key for a plugin!
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I cannot emphasize enough how valuable this tool has been to my workflow. I have only lightly touched on the capabilities of this tool. It is truly worth its cost.
Download the application at folivora.ai
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Thanks for getting this far! This is my first medium article and I am planning on bringing more of my efficiency “hacks” to the channel.
Please follow on medium or connect with me on LinkedIn —I would love to have a longer conversation if anyone is interested in my hotkeys.
Kevin Ascheri — Product Designer and aspiring Thought Leader
