#KEYBOARD MAESTRO TIPS HOW TO#
#KEYBOARD MAESTRO TIPS TRIAL#
#KEYBOARD MAESTRO TIPS SERIES#

IвЂ™ve got three Macros that do a very similar thing: they each assign a link to the system clipboard and they all have the hot key shortcut Command-Shift-L. The Palette disappears as soon as you select a Macro or press any other key. Second, it doesnвЂ™t display the annoying icon overlay. Keyboard Maestro takes over the duty of giving each a unique shortcut. I only need to remember one keyboard shortcut, in this case Command-Shift-L. In the screenshot above you can see that pressing B would activate the BetterTouchTool Macro, pressing K would activate the Keyboard Maestro Macro and pressing T would activate the TextExpander Macro. Instead, you type the first letter of its name. The Palette works like the Global Macro Palette and Group Macro Palettes except for two important differences.ДЇirst, to select a Macro, you donвЂ™t have to use the mouse or assign each a unique shortcut. When more than one Macro has the same trigger, Keyboard Maestro displays a Conflict Palette so you can select which one you want to trigger. While Conflict Palettes sound like theyвЂ™re some sort of trouble shooting or anti-bug feature, theyвЂ™re actually the most useful form of Palette. If youвЂ™ve selected Shows a Palette for One Action When it will remain active until you select a Macro. If youвЂ™ve selected Shows/Hides a Palette When it will remain active until you press the hot key again. Now when you press the shortcut, the Palette will activate. Setting up a Macro Group Palette.ДЄssign the Palette a hot key. If you want to play around with Macro Group Palettes, create a new Macro Group and change Always Available to Shows/Hides a Palette When or Shows a Palette for One Action When. Each Macro still needs a unique shortcut. Macro Group Palettes are a little better but still less than ideal. While they do have their uses, theyвЂ™re not ideal for what I want to accomplish: one keyboard shortcut that makes it easy to trigger multiple macros without touching the mouse or trackpad. You also have to either assign every Macro in the group its own keyboard shortcut, or select them from the list with your mouse. Any Macros in a Macro Group that has a Palette canвЂ™t be activated when the Palette (or its annoying little hovering icon) isnвЂ™t visible even if they have their own independent trigger. They can be assigned a keyboard shortcut which activates or deactivates them.

Macro Group Palettes are a little better than the Global Macro Palette. Personally, IвЂ™m not a fan of the Global Macro Palette as there are better ways to use Palettes in Keyboard Maestro, especially when combined with keyboard shortcuts. You need to hover over it and use your mouse which doesn't help keyboard shortcuts. Hovering over it with your mouse brings up the list of macros assigned to it. The Global Macro Palette is a constant annoyance. It is permanently visible as you can see in the screenshot below. The Global Macro PaletteДЄny Macro can be assigned the Global Macro Palette as a trigger. There are three different palettes in Keyboard Maestro: the Global Macro Palette, Macro Group Palettes and Conflict Palettes. Palettes are a way for you to trigger more than one Macro from the same place.

#KEYBOARD MAESTRO TIPS TRIAL#

ThereвЂ™s a free trial so you can see if Keyboard Maestro is for you before investing. You can grab a copy from the developerвЂ™s website for $36. You will also need Keyboard Maestro installed on the Mac.

#KEYBOARD MAESTRO TIPS SERIES#

It will also help if youвЂ™ve read the first two tutorials in my introductory series to Keyboard Maestro: Keyboard Maestro I: Introduction and Keyboard Maestro II: Launching Apps Intelligently.

#KEYBOARD MAESTRO TIPS HOW TO#

To follow along, you will need to have read the previous tutorial, How To Set Up Custom Keyboard Shortcuts on Your Mac.

One keyboard shortcut can be used for multiple macros with Palettes which is what IвЂ™ll cover in this tutorial.

Instead of doing it all by hand, I spent 15 minutes making a Macro that automated most of the rote work IвЂ™ve written articles like this one on male portraits where IвЂ™ve needed to upload and add attribution to dozens of photos. This means that if youвЂ™ve got to do a repetitive task a few times, you can throw together a Macro to help.

ItвЂ™s really quick and easy to create keyboard shortcuts in Keyboard Maestro.

Unfortunately, thereвЂ™s a steep learning curve to the app, so creating simple keyboard shortcuts is a great way to get started You can use it to fill in complex forms, Tweet your favourite Spotify songs and much much more.

Keyboard shortcuts arenвЂ™t the only thing you can do with Keyboard Maestro.

ThereвЂ™s almost no limit to what you can accomplish with a single keypress using Keyboard Maestro In the last tutorial, not only did the keyboard shortcut I created open the Goals panel in Ulysses, it also filled in a default value of 900 words. While you can set up keyboard shortcuts in System Preferences, Keyboard Maestro is better for a few reasons: In the previous tutorial I showed you how to use Keyboard Maestro to create powerful keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard maestro tips