Primary Keyboard Shortcuts and
Modifiers
Let's
begin with what every Lightroom Classic user should already know. Adobe
have included a fairly extensive list of keyboard shortcuts and modifier
key combinations under the Help menu. Unfortunately, many of the more
important shortcuts are less well documented.
A
comprehensive list of Lightroom Classic and Desktop Keyboard shortcuts
can be downloaded from Victoria Bampton's
website
Remapping keyboard shortcuts and filling in the gaps
- macOS
As I mentioned above Adobe have not yet provided
tools for customising Lightroom Classic keyboard shortcuts, but that doesn't
mean that it can't be done. For example, in macOS Apple have provided everything we
need to create new shortcuts and/or remap those that already exist.
Better still it can be done on an application by application basis. The
tools required are located in Keyboard utility of System
Preferences pane (figure 4).
Figure 4 - macOS 11
Big Sur System Preferences Panel
Here are the steps required:
-
Select App Shortcuts from the
Description list
-
Click on the + button to add Adobe Lightroom
Classic
to the list of applications. When you press the + button you'll be
given a list of applications to choose from.
Figure 5 - macOS 11
Big Sur Keyboard Shortcuts Panel
Tip: With the
exception of toggling a few side panels Adobe have
generally avoided the use of the Control (Ctrl) modifier in
Lightroom Classic, so you have this key at your disposal for any new shortcuts that
you might want add. Likewise, the Ctrl key can be used if you want to
free up an existing keyboard shortcut so that it can be used for one that's more important to you.
The next step is were you will need to be careful because
the information you type into the Menu Title field must be typed exactly as it appears in the
Lightroom Classic menu.
To add a new shortcut (i.e. the command doesn't already
have a shortcut):
-
Carefully type the menu item you want to add
into the Menu Title field. The example I have shown in figure 6 is
Synchronize Folder, but notice that I have included the symbol for an
ellipsis (...) because this is how it is listed in the Lightroom
Library menu
-
Click on the Keyboard Shortcut field to activate it
-
Type the new combination. In the example
shown I have used Ctrl+F
-
Click Add
-
Launch Lightroom Classic and check that the keyboard shortcut has
been listed against the appropriate command
Figure 6 - adding a new keyboard shortcut
As mentioned above, you can also free up an existing
shortcut for use with a command you consider more important. For example,
Show in Finder (Cmd+R), which is listed in the Library
module Photo menu could be changed to say Ctrl+F, thus
leaving Cmd+R for Read Metadata from file.
-
Carefully type Show in Finder into the Menu Title
field
-
Click on the Keyboard Shortcut field to activate it
-
Type the revised key combination (e.g Ctrl+F)
-
Click Add
-
Launch Lightroom Classic and check that the new keyboard shortcut has
been listed against the command. The steps followed up to this point will
have freed up Cmd+R, which can now be remapped.
-
Close Lightroom Classic
-
Next type Read Metadata from file into the
Menu Title field
-
Click on the Keyboard Shortcut field to activate it
-
Type the revised key combination (e.g Cmd+R)
-
Click Add
-
Launch Lightroom Classic and check that the new keyboard shortcut
has been listed against the command
I've been
using the method outlined above to add new / remap keyboard shortcuts since Lightroom 1.0.
In most instances it works well, but occasionally a command will be
ignored. When this happens, it's a simple matter of deleting the shortcut from the list
and adding a revised version. That said, it is better to delete the
command after having first closed Lightroom Classic as not doing so will often
end with the application crashing.
Remapping keyboard shortcuts -
Windows
There are
aspects on the Windows API that are less flexible than in macOS. This is particularly true of remapping keyboard
shortcuts and modifier keys. It's not that it can't be done but rather
it's not so easy and generally requires third party applications and or
scripts. An example of a third party app compatible with Windows is
AutoHotKey
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