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Assigning Keyboard Shortcuts to Scripts

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One of the great things about InDesign is that you can assign a keyboard shortcut to almost anything—even scripts! And those little helpers can really save you time. For instance, consider the SelectObjects script that ships with InDesign. It lets you quickly select objects with the same attributes, which you can define in the script’s dialog box. But running a script like this can be a hassle, since you have to locate it by looking through several folders in the Scripts panel and then double-click the script. Fortunately, you can make the process of running the script instantaneous by assigning a keyboard shortcut to it. Here’s how.

First go to the Edit menu and at the bottom choose the “Keyboard Shortcuts…” command. Then choose Scripts from the Product Area.

Look for the script SelectObjects.jsx in “Application: Samples: JavaScript:” Now enter a shortcut into the “New Shortcut:” field.

If you never added a custom keyboard shortcut InDesign will ask you to save a separate shortcut set which will contain all of the default shortcuts plus the ones you add. Save the new set and have the script ready at the push of a button.

René is a graphic designer, scripter, and consultant based in Austria. Learn more about him here.
  • It’s certainly great for scripts that are run all of the time. There’s a script from Ariel Walden that cycles through text casing when the script is run, and it is far more convenient to have this as a keyboard shortcut rather than navigating to the scripts panel to run the script.

    That said, the scripts panel could use some UX improvements, such as searchability, ability to group scripts without going into finder, tag scripts as favorites… certainly worth letting the InDesign Software Techs know about it you feel the same way: https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests/suggestions/31852810-script-manager

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