You can allocate the function keys on the keyboard as shortcuts for menu items in different applications. The Mac®OS itself uses many of the function keys and other keyboard shortcuts for a variety of operations, such as Exposé and for taking Screenshots.
The tool bars found at the top of the windows can be used as shortcuts for a large variety of menu items. However, if you wish to assign keyboard shortcuts to other functions, they can be set through the Menu > System Settings .
- Go to the Menu > System Settings and click on Keyboard.
- Select the Shortcuts tab:
- From the side menu, select the App Shortcuts option.
- Click the + button located to the bottom left of the shortcut list.
- In the sheet which opens, click on the Application drop down menu and choose 'Other.'
- Locate the AVA application and click add. AVA will now be added to the application list to choose from. This process only needs to be done once.
- To set an individual short cut, enter the exact title of the feature/command for which you wish to create a customised short cut, as it appears in AVA, in the ‘Menu Title’ entry field.
Click in the Keyboard shortcut entry field and press the key combination you want to use for that function and then click the Add button.
This method allows users to set short cuts on virtually any key combination which is not already in use by either the operating system or the AVA Application. Short cut keys used by Apple®will vary according to the hardware and the operating system in use.
Tip: For those users who wish to create a few customised short cuts without spending a long time finding out which key combinations are free on their system, we recommend that you start by using the ^ (control key) and number combinations or the fn/F key combinations since these are most likely to be free.
Note: Choosing a key combination already in use as a short cut by either the operating system or AVA (depending upon the combination chosen) will either not work, or will overwrite the original short cut so that it no longer works. For example, if you set ⌘C for the Mover Tool function in AVA, pressing ⌘C will bring up the Mover Tool and will no longer copy and should therefore be avoided unless you are absolutely sure of the consequences.
- Click Add. Your new short cut will appear in the AVA Menu next to the item you have created it for.
Click on the + button again and repeat Steps 6 - 8 to set other keyboard shortcuts for AVA.