Invisible Tools: Keyboard Shortcuts

This is the first post in a series about my invisible tools: the hardware and software I use so much that I don't have to think about using them.

I'm starting with one of the simplest: keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard and shortcuts

I use a Durgod Fusion keyboard, but I've found that the keyboard itself doesn't matter that much, the warm-up time when switching is minimal, as long as you have a similar layout.

The Durgod is a 60% keyboard, and switching to the built-in keyboard on the MacBook isn't an issue, they're very similar. The most important thing about the keyboard is to extract as much value from it as possible.

I've collected a bunch of toys during the last few years. Two of them that I recently ditched were a macropad with 12 configurable keys and a volume knob that used to sit behind the keyboard. They were both incredibly useful, but whenever I happened to be working with the laptop only, I kept reaching for the macropad to take screenshots, or for the knob to adjust the volume. And that's enough to take me out of focus.

Today, all the functions I use constantly are mapped to a keyboard shortcut with Hyperkey, an incredible app that allows you to map your Caps Lock key to . Four keys in one. Combine that with any number or letter key, and you have a lot of shortcuts available.

Right now, I have these configured:

• HYPER1 Takes a full-screen screenshot to a file
• HYPER2 Takes a full-screen screenshot to the clipboard
• HYPER3 Takes an area screenshot to a file
• HYPER4 Takes an area screenshot to the clipboard
• 9 Resizes the current window to half the screen width and full-height, and places it at the center of the screen.
• 0 Resizes the current window and puts them in an eight of the screen. Pressing the shortcut repeatedly alternates between different eights of the screen.
• Resizes and places the window at the left quarter of the screen
• Resizes and places the window at the right quarter of the screen
• HYPERN Invokes Antinote
• HYPERA Invokes AudioSWITCH (more on this one later)

The quarters and eights of the screen will make sense once you see my screen division, in an upcoming post. Remember, for setup, HYPER equals .

All of those, which depend on both Hyperkey and Rectangle along with the native SPACE to open a new Finder window, and SPACE for Spotlight, are the ones I'm using all day every day.

They work in my external keyboard and in the built-in Macbook keyboard, so it doesn't matter where I am, I never need to think about them.