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OMEGA Keyboard Shortcuts Accelerate your Workflow

This issue of MTSFYI discusses the use of OMEGA keyboard shortcuts or Accelerator Keys to improve productivity. Print and post the chart at the end of this issue as a reminder to learn and reinforce keyboard shortcuts.

Save Time, Design More Quickly with Accelerator Keys

Many computer designers use the mouse as the only means to pull down menus, choose functions and move items on the screen. Gerber OMEGA software has an extensive list of Keyboard Shortcut or Accelerator keys that can help you complete your jobs more quickly. Instead of moving the mouse to the View menu, clicking on the View menu and clicking on Redraw, you can simply press the F7 key on the keyboard to accomplish the same thing. Pressing the F7 key saves a couple seconds; if you could save 2 seconds for every function you use in OMEGA, the savings can really add up! Here is a brief listing of some of the most commonly used functions and their corresponding accelerator keys: Function Redraw Show Filled Select All Cancel Select Text on the Worksurface Text Dialog Box Ungroup Group Shortcut F7 F8 F2 F3 Shift+T, then click mouse to enter text T, then click mouse to enter text F5 F6 Function Fill dialog box Stroke dialog box Output All from Composer to Plot Output Selected from Composer to Plot Circle tool Box Tool Selection Pointer Color Selection Pointer Shortcut 1 (the number 1, not F1) 2 (the number 2, not F2) Shift+F11 Shift+F12 Shift+O (the letter O) Control (CTRL) +B P Shift+P

Access Menus, Menu Items and Dialog Box Entries with the Keyboard
You can also access menus and items within menus by using the keyboard. Notice that almost every menu has an underlined letter, and almost every function within a menu has an underlined letter.

Press the Alt key, then press the underlined letter in the Menu name to pull that menu down. For the Shape menu, press Alt, then S. Depending on your operating system settings, you may have to press Alt to see the menu underlines. To access an item within a menu, simply press the underlined letter or number. To use Absolute Move, press the M key after the menu is showing. The letters or function keys to the right of menu items are the keyboard shortcuts or accelerator keys for those items. You can access these functions without going into the menu at all. When designing in Composer, you can use Absolute Move by pressing Ctrl+W. There are also underlined letters and numbers in dialog boxes. Press the Alt+ the underlined letter or number to access that dialog box item. Alt+m accesses Non-uniform in this dialog box.

Tips on Using Shortcut Keys

When you have to press two keys, such as Shift+F11, press the Shift key first, then the second key. Try to use your non-mouse hand to press the accelerator keys instead or removing your hand from the mouse, pressing the key, then putting your hand back on the mouse. If you are doing something repetitively, such as creating a box then selecting it, try to memorize the accelerator keys for those repetitive actions. Not only will you save time for that instance, but you will likely remember those accelerator keys forever. The menu access rules discussed above are consistent for all Windows programs, so you can save time in other programs too!

Accelerator Reference Charts

A Composer Accelerator Key Chart is included below. The Gerber Omega CD includes complete accelerator key reference charts for Composer and GSPPLOT in PDF format so you can print all the charts at once. For Omega 2.1 and later, these are in CDDrive\Documentation\How Tos\ The OMEGA Help System also includes Accelerator key listings. While in Composer or Plot, press F1 then search for the word accelerator.

ALPHABETICAL COMPOSER ACCELERATOR KEY ASSIGNMENTS

Composer Function
0.5 Degree Rotate 1 Degree Rotate 2 Degree Rotate 5 Degree Rotate 10 Degree Rotate 15 Degree Rotate 30 Degree Rotate 45 Degree Rotate 90 Degree Rotate 180 Degree Rotate

Accelerator
0 (NumPad) 1 (NumPad) 2 (NumPad) 3 (NumPad) 4 (NumPad) 5 (NumPad) 6 (NumPad) 7 (NumPad) 8 (NumPad) 9 (NumPad)

Composer Function
Copy to Clipboard Corner - Round Corner - Sharpen Crop Image Curve - Start or End Curve Smooth - Start or End Cut to Clipboard Cuts OFF Cuts ON Delete

Accelerator
Ctrl + C W V

(minus)

F12 F11 Ctrl + X 8 7 Delete E Ctrl + 8 Backspace Alt + D K D Ctrl + H Ctrl + Alt + A Ctrl + Alt + O Ctrl + Alt + H Ctrl + Alt + I Ctrl + Alt + L Ctrl + Alt + T Shift + L Ctrl + 9

Acquire Image Add Lines Add Point Align Points Horizontal Align Points Vertical Allow Point Grabbing Allow Point Selection Allow Segment Grabbing Allow Segment Selection Allow Single Segment Delete Arcline Arrange Menu Assign Fill Color Assign Stroke Color Assign Style Bend Segment Border Box Box - Perfect Square Box - Perfect Square from Center Box from Center Cancel Select Change Rotate Direction Character Slant Character Spacing Clipping Path, Select Clippng Path, Make Clipping Path, Release Color Selection Combine OFF Combine ON

Shift + F8 Ctrl C Shift + Ctrl + M Shift + Ctrl + V Shift + U Ctrl Shift + V Shift + W Shift + D Shift + Ctrl + N Alt + A 1 2 6 Shift B Ctrl + B Ctrl Ctrl + Shift Shift F3

Delete Delete Cuts Delete Previous Point Detail Menu Detail Edit Options Detail Edit Selection Dim Image Dimensions, Angular Dimensions, Object Dimensions, Horizontal Dimensions, Vertical Dimensions, Aligned Dimensions, Annotate Draw Shape Duplicate

Edit Menu Edit Fill Halftone Edit Image Edit Stroke Halftone Ellipse/Circle Ellipse/Circle - Perfect Circle Ellipse/Circle - Perfect Circle from Center End Crop Image End Keyboard Rotate End Shape Closed End Shape Open Extract Style File Menu Fill Off Find Intersects Fixed Length Flip X Flip Y Font Height Font View

Alt + E 4 Ctrl + E Shift + Ctrl + 4 Shift + O Ctrl Ctrl + Shift Esc or Esc or Ctrl + T End Shift + End 5 Alt + F Ctrl + 1 I Shift + Ctrl + X Ctrl + F F Shift + Ctrl + H Shift + Ctrl + 6

(NumPad)

Shift + Ctrl + A Shift + Ctrl + S Ctrl + Alt + F4 Ctrl + Alt + C Ctrl + Alt + R Shift + P 9 0 (zero)

Composer Function

Accelerator

Composer Function

Accelerator

Ghost Segments Grid Group Help Help Menu Hijack Select (F2, Ctrl + A, F2, F3)

Shift + G G F6 F1 Alt + H Shift + H

Layout Menu Line Length Line Rotate Line Tool Lock Guide Lines Lock Object Lower Case Make Curve

Alt + L Shift + Ctrl + G Shift + Crtl + T L Ctrl + G Shift + 4 Shift + Ctrl + 7 Shift + F6 Shift + F5 X Ctrl + M < Alt Shift + Y H Ctrl + W Shift + Pg Dn Ctrl + Pg Dn Shift + Pg Up Ctrl + Pg Up Ctrl + N Shift + F1 O Ctrl + O Shift + F11 Shift + F10 Shift + F12 Ctrl + Shift + F10 Ctrl + F7 Shift + Ctrl + F7 Ctrl + F5 Shift + Ctrl + F5 Ctrl + F6 Shift + Ctrl + F6 Ctrl + Alt + V Ctrl + V > * (Shift + 8) Ctrl + Q Shift + Ctrl + Q Q Shift + Q Ctrl + P Ctrl + D

Image Fill Import In Front Of In Back Of In Place Flip Both In Place Flip X In Place Flip Y Incremental Move Inter-line Spacing Join Open Points Join Open Shapes Join Selected Segments Justify Justify - Center Justify - Left Justify - Right

Shift + 1 F10 Ctrl Shift + Page Up Ctrl Shift + Page Down Shift + 3 Ctrl + 3 3 Shift + Ctrl + D Shift + Ctrl + I Shift + X Shift + J J Shift + F9 Shift + Ctrl + C Shift + Ctrl + L Shift + Ctrl + R

Make Line Manual Entry Measure Mode Minus Kern Modify Adjacent Segments Modify Curves vs. Adding Lines Move Move - Absolute Move to Back Move to Back 1 Move to Front Move to Front 1 New Object Help On - Axis Open Output All

Layer, Collapse All Layer, Delete Layer, Duplicate Layer, Expand All Layer, Hide Layer, Hide All Layer, Lock Layer, Lock All Layer, Output Layer, Merge All Layer, Merge Selected Layer, New Layer, Select All Layer, Show Layer, Show All Layer, Unlock Layer, Unlock All

Shift + Alt + 7 Delete Ctrl + Alt + 9 Shift + Alt + 6 Ctrl + Alt + 2 Shift + Alt + 2 Ctrl + Alt + 4 Shift + Alt + 4 Ctrl + Shift + F10 Ctrl + Alt + 8 Ctrl + Alt + 7 Ctrl + Alt + N Ctrl + Alt + F2 Ctrl + Alt + 3 Shift + Alt + 6 Ctrl + Alt + 5 Shift + Alt + 5

Output by Vinyl Output Selected Output by Layer Over Lap & Print OFF - Fills Over Lap & Print OFF - Strokes Over Lap ON - Fills Over Lap ON - Strokes Over Print ON - Fills Over Print ON - Strokes Paste Back Paste from Clipboard Plus Kern Polygon Primer OFF - Fills Primer OFF - Strokes Primer ON - Fills Primer ON - Strokes Print Print Output/Order

Composer Function
Raster to Vector Redo Redraw Refresh Job Palette Reject Selection Reopen Shape Replace Deleted with Curve Replace Deleted with Line Replace Deleted with Line or Curve Reset Line Spacing Retain Reverse Select Rotate - Directed Rotate - Keyboard

Accelerator
Ctrl + F8 Shift + Ctrl + Z F7 Shift + Ctrl + J Backspace Shift + N Alt Ctrl Shift Shift + Ctrl + E R F4 Ctrl + R Ctrl + T

Composer Function
Show Print Simulate Left Mouse Button Simulate Right Mouse Button Size - Absolute Size - Percent Slant - Absolute Slice & Dice Slice & Dice Copy Slice & Dice Snap Small Text Smooth Curve Smooth Path Snap To Guideline Spacing Spell Check Stroke Off

Accelerator
Ctrl + F11 , (comma) . (period) Ctrl + I S A Y Shift + C Ctrl + Y Shift + S Ctrl + 5 M N Ctrl + F9 Shift + Ctrl + K Ctrl + 2 Shift + Ctrl + U Shift + F7 Shift + Ctrl + P Ctrl + 7 T Alt + T Shift + T Shift + Ctrl + 9 Shift + Ctrl + 0 (zero) Alt + 0 U Ctrl +Z F5 Shift + 6 Shift + 5 Shift + Ctrl + 8 Alt + V Alt + W Z Ctrl + Shift + Z Ctrl + L Ctrl + U Space Bar or Ctrl + Space Bar Shift + Z

Save Scan to Vector Select Menu Select All Select by Halftone Fills Select by Process Color Fills Select by Spot Color Fills Select by Vinyl Select Cut Select Cut & Print Select Font Select Font Categories Select Print Selection Selection Shift Lock Set Start Point and Direction Shape Menu Sharp Curve Show 2nd TOWS Toolbar Show All Show Current Categories Show Curve Control Points Show Cut Show Filled/Wireframe Show Image

Ctrl + S Ctrl + J Alt + C F2 or Ctrl + A Shift + F4 Ctrl + 4 Shift + F3 Shift + F2 Ctrl + F2 Shift + Ctrl + F4 Shift + Ctrl + F Shift + Ctrl + O Ctrl + F3 Esc or P Shift Shift + F Alt + S Ctrl + 6 Shift + Ctrl + 2 Ctrl + F12 Shift + Ctrl + W Shift + B Ctrl + F10 F8 F9

Superscript Suppress Fill Cuts Suppress Fill Cuts Symmetric Curve Text Text Menu Text On Work Surface (TOWS) Title Case Toggle Case Tools Menu Unconstrain Undo Ungroup Unlock All Unlock Object Upper Case View Menu Window Menu Zoom Zoom In One Level Zoom Out & Select Center Zoom Out One Level Zoom To All Zoom To Selected