Monday, May 12, 2008

Tweaking the Selection tool shortcut in InDesign

When you're editing text in InDesign CS3, and you want to switch to the Selection (black arrow) tool, just hit the Esc key, and the Selection tool will be chosen. After using this for awhile, I became frustrated that the shortcut only works when you have the Type tool selected and have an insertion point in some text. This shortcut is so handy, I want it to work everywhere, no matter which tool I've selected and regardless of whether I have text selected or not. Here is an easy fix so that the Esc key will always switch to the Selection tool:

1. Choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts

2. Choose Tools for the "Product Area"

3. Choose Selection Tool in the list of commands

4. Click in the "New Shortcut" field, and press the Esc key.

5. Click the Assign button. You may be asked if you want to create a new set. If so, answer Yes.

6. Click the OK button.

If you've done this correctly, the Esc key should now always switch to the Selection tool, except when you have text selected in a table cell. In this case, the Esc key will switch between selecting the table cell and selecting the text in the cell.

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