But how do you create a hotkey? Here’s how: CREATING A HOTKEY He hits “Command,” “Shift,” and the forward slash (/). In order to save some time, Cory created a hotkey that expands objects with the push of one button. Once you’re happy with that aspect, you can make it a shape so it won’t get messed up if you change something else about your design. To expand an object normally, you would go to “Object” and “Expand” to turn a stroke into a shape instead of a stroke. Cory wants to create a hotkey for expanding objects, or turning strokes into shapes. For example, hitting “V” brings up the selection tool, and hitting “T” activates the type tool. Hotkeys bring up different tools just by pressing a key on your keyboard. RELATED: WHY PRINTERS NEED TO MASTER ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR FOR SCREEN PRINTING THE USEFULNESS OF A HOTKEY
To get started, Cory creates a new 13”x19” document and hits “Command R” to pull up his rulers.
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Depending on how many actions and hotkeys you already have set up, you’ll want to know how to create both. Both are used to make a pattern of actions shorter. Generally, hotkeys and actions are pretty interchangeable. Cory shows how to make a hotkey for expanding objects and make actions for two things he does all the time: align an item to the center of the artboards and create registration marks. An action is a series of tasks that you play back on an aspect, like menu commands, tool actions, and so on. A hotkey is a key or a combination of keys providing quick access to a particular function.
Creating hotkeys and actions can save you a ton of time. When designing for screen printing, you perform the same tasks multiple times in every design. In this video, he shows you how to create one hotkey and two actions that speed up your screen printing design workflow. Have you ever wanted to be able to just press one key to complete an action? Golden Press Studio’s art director Cory Romeiser has you covered. Clicking multiple buttons for one action-especially one you use all the time-can become tedious and tiring. Learning to design screen printing art in Adobe® Illustrator can take some time and practice.