Change keyboard shortcuts

Every keyboard shortcut in StykAnimate can be changed. In this guide you give a command a new key, add a second key, sort out a key that is already taken and put everything back to the defaults.

Change a shortcut

A shortcut (or hotkey) is a key, or a few keys pressed together, that runs a command. Let’s give Flip horizontally the single key F instead of Shift+H.

1. Press ? (Shift and the slash key). Settings opens on its Shortcuts page. Help → Keyboard shortcuts does the same.
2. Click in Search shortcuts… and type flip. Only the matching commands stay in the list. You can also search by key: shift+h.
3. Next to Flip horizontally, click the key chip Shift+H. It turns blue and says Press keys….
4. Press F. The chip now says F, and a green line above the list confirms Flip horizontally: F.
5. Close Settings, select a figure and press F. It flips. Menus, tooltips and the command palette show your new key too.

Changed your mind while recording? Esc cancels and the old key stays.

Try it

The top half is the real Shortcuts page; the little editor under it runs ten of the commands (Add Frame, Play, Previous and Next frame, First and Last frame, Onion skin, Flip horizontally, Joints and Grid) with whatever keys you give them. Click the editor before you press a key, so the keys go to it and not to the search box.

Try itSettings → Shortcuts

Settings

Shortcuts

Click a shortcut to record a new one. A command can have up to four.

Click here, then press your keys

Add frame

00:00:00fps

0 of 6 done

1. Search for “flip” in the shortcuts list.
2. Click Flip horizontally’s Shift+H and press F.
3. Click the editor and press your new key.
4. Add a second key to a command with +.
5. Give Add Frame the O key, then choose Replace or Cancel.
6. Reset a command with its round arrow, or use Reset all.

More than one key, or none

• + after a command’s keys adds another one. A command can have up to four: handy for a second keyboard, a left-handed setup or the keys you remember from another app. Redo already has two out of the box: Ctrl+Shift+Z and Ctrl+Y.
• The small × inside a chip removes that key. With no keys left, the command says Unassigned. You can still run it from the menus or the command palette.
• Some commands start out unassigned on purpose, like Toggle playback loop or Edit together. Give them a key if you use them a lot.

When a key is already taken

StykAnimate never steals a key without asking. Try giving Add Frame the O key: a yellow box appears at the top of the list.

1. Read the box: Already assigned in this context: Toggle onion skin. Replace those bindings or cancel. It names the command that has the key now.
2. Click Replace conflicting shortcuts to move the key. Add Frame gets O; Toggle onion skin loses only that key and keeps any others it had. With none left, it shows Unassigned.
3. Or click Cancel: nothing changes.

Undo your changes

• The round arrow at the end of a command’s row puts back its own default keys. (If another command took one of them meanwhile, you get the same conflict box.)
• Reset all, next to the search box, restores every shortcut and says All shortcuts restored to defaults. It only resets keys: your settings and projects are untouched.

Tips for recording

• Hold Ctrl, Alt or Shift first, then press the main key, all in one go. Ctrl, Alt or Shift alone can’t be a shortcut.
• Tab or clicking somewhere else also stops recording, without changing anything.
• On a Mac, Cmd is shown wherever these docs say Ctrl, and the Mac’s own Ctrl key is a separate key you can use too.
• Shortcuts are stored by the key’s position on the keyboard, not the letter printed on it. On a French or German keyboard, the key may show a different letter than these docs, but it is the same key.

Pen and tablet

Under the list, Pen and tablet shows what a pen does. These can’t be changed:

More in Pens, tablets and touch screens.

My new key doesn’t do anything

1. Click on the canvas first. While you type in a box (a search field, a name, a number), keys type letters instead of running commands.
2. Check the context under the command’s name. A Canvas focused key needs a click on the canvas; an Advanced timeline focused key needs a click on the timeline.
3. Some commands need something selected, like a figure for Flip. The command palette tells you what is missing if you run it from there.
4. Open Settings again and look at the row. If the old key is still there, recording was cancelled or the conflict box was cancelled.

Common questions

Keep going