Shortcuts

For more information on how to install the shortcuts for the first time, go to the Shortcuts Installation page.

Shortcut Modes

On Windows, you can choose between two ways on how Workflower applies its shortcuts: Single Script Mode and Individual Scripts Mode. To change the mode, go to Settings / Shortcuts.

On Mac, due to scripting limitations, you only can use the Individual Scripts Mode.

Single Script Mode (Windows only)

Single Script Mode unifies all shortcuts in one script in AE's Script folder. You can apply as many shortcuts as you like. Within AE, all shortcuts get applied to the one Workflower script. All shortcuts call the script and within the script itself, it is being determined which specific keys are being pressed in order to execute the corresponding function.

When the OS language is Japanese, Single Script Mode doesn't seem to work. Please switch your OS language to US or similar, or use Individual Scripts Mode instead. More info on shortcut issues for Japanese users.

Advantages of Single Script Mode

The advantage of Single Script Mode is that you don't need multiple scripts within AE's scripts folder which can get messy, especially when adding other scripts to the folder. Also because you can only apply a maximum of 20 shortcuts to scripts, you otherwise couldn't apply shortcuts to all Workflower functions. It would limit the number of shortcuts you can apply to non-Workflower scripts, too.

Disadvantages Single Script Mode

In some instances, there might be some sort of lag between pressing the shortcut and the execution of the function.

Also, in very rare instances, the Workflower Main Menu will come up although you pressed another shortcut. This happens when you let go of the keys too early because, at the moment when the script is called, there are no keys to gather information from. And when no shortcut is being registered, the Workflower Main Menu will always come up.

In rare instances as well, no function might be executed at all. An error message will pop up telling you that this is a known bug. Often you can just keep on working but sometimes pressing shortcuts will continue not to work. This is because of a bug within the Adobe scripting environment. The variable that reads the currently pressed key will return without result and will be broken from then on. You will have to restart your computer. (Sometimes just restarting After Effects will help, too.) After that, shortcuts should work without a problem.

If you encounter too many problems when using shortcuts on Windows, switch to Individual Scripts Mode instead. You will only have a maximum of 20 shortcuts t o assign but you will not encounter any bugs anymore. However, because of its advantages, we still recommend Single Script Mode for most users.

Individual Scripts Mode (Windows + Mac)

Individual Scripts Mode will create one script for every shortcut within AE's Script folder.

On Windows, you will have to run After Effects as administrator when opening up the Keyboard Shortcuts panel in Individual Scripts Mode. After setting the shortcuts, you don't have to run it as an administrator anymore. On Mac, this isn't necessary.

Shortcut Slots

Within the Keyboard Shortcuts panel, you can define how many Workflower scripts (slots) should be created. You can create up to 20 shortcut slots. When you create 20 slots, however, you cannot assign shortcuts to non-Workflower scripts, since After Effects only allows for up to 20 shortcuts to be applied to scripts. If you want to assign shortcuts to other scripts, lower the number of slots via the dedicated dropdown.

In case you experience issues when trying to assign a shortcut to a another script, please read this F.A.Q. entry first.

Be aware that every time you change the number of slots, all non-Workflower script shortcuts will get deleted.

When you set shortcuts for the first time, or when you change the number of slots, you will have to restart After Effects after saving to correctly apply the shortcuts. This is because Workflower scripts will have to created/removed and After Effects only loads new scripts when starting up. If the number of slots stays the same, however, you don't have to restart After Effects.

If you have other scripts before --- Workflower ---.jsxbin within AE's Script folder, your available number of slots will be lower than 20 since shortcuts can only be applied to the first 20 scripts. Change the name of the other scripts or move them out of the folder to increase the number of slots.

When you switch from Single Script Mode to Individual Scripts Mode, only the first 20 functions within the panel will have a shortcut. Click on Reset to Default to set shortcuts to the 20 most important functions instead.

When you switched from Individual Scripts Mode back to Single Script Mode and you want to remove the created Workflower script files from AE's scripts folder, you need to run AE as administrator, go to Wokflower's shortcuts panel, and just hit Save. (You can also simply manually remove the files AE's scripts folder. Make sure to keep your original --- Workflower ---.jsxbin!) Now restart AE and the additional script files will be gone from the menu.

Shortcut Issues for Japanese Users on Windows (others might be affected too)

Japanese users on Windows seem to encounter two main issues with Workflower's shortcuts:

Single Script Shortcut Mode doesn't work.
Typing in custom shortcuts on Workflower's Shortcut Panel doesn't work.

These issues are due to an AE bug which only occurs when the OS language is Japanese. It has been reported to Adobe but as long as they haven't fixed this, Japanese users will have to rely on the following solutions:

Japanese users can use Single Script Mode and type in custom Workflower shortcuts when they switch the OS language to US or similar. As it might be unpractical to have the OS language changed for the whole time you're running AE, using Single Script Mode that way doesn't seem like a viable workaround for most users, though. (You will have to use Individual Scripts Shortcut Mode which will work without a problem in your OS language.) However, you can use this workaround to at least type in custom shortcuts on Workflower's shortcut panel:

Temporarily switch your OS language to US or similar.
(You might have to restart AE for the change to take effect.)
Open up Workflower's shortcuts panel, type in your shortcuts, and save them.
Now switch your OS language back to Japanese.

Switching the OS Language

If you need to know how to switch the language of your OS, here's how you do it:

If you haven't installed the US language yet, go to Windows' Language settings.
Click on Add a language, then add English (United States).
You can even choose to use the Japanese keyboard layout with the English language: After installing, click on English (United States), then on Options, and then on Add a keyboard to add the Japanese keyboard.
Now, on the right side of Windows' taskbar, just click on the language button and choose English (United States) / Japanese keyboard (or just English (United States) if you haven't added the Japanese keyboard layout to it).

Default Shortcuts

Notice for version 2.0 Windows users with Single Script Mode enabled:

Due to AE now occupying Shift+J and Shift+K, the default shortcut for Parent Layers to Group has been changed to Ctrl+Alt+3 and for Set Parent Exception Layer to Ctrl+Alt+Shift+3.

Additionally, in AE 22 and below: Due to Activate / Deactivate Tag Group 2 now occupying Alt+F5, the default shortcut for Unshy Layers has been changed to Alt+9.

Notice for Mac users or Windows users with Individual Scripts Mode enabled:

New default shortcuts have been added in version 2.0 and version 1.1:

Perform Action on Tagged Layer/s (Win: Alt+F3, Mac: macControl+R) [added in v2.0]
Ungroup Layer/s (Win+Mac: Shift+H) [added in v1.1]
Precompose (Win: Alt+F3, Mac: macControl+C) [added in v1.1]

To make room for those, the following functions have been removed from the list of functions with default shortcuts:

Add Layer References [removed in v2.0]
Clone in Comp [removed in v1.1]
Store Layers 1 [removed in v1.1]

Sometimes language-specific shortcuts (like German or French) won't get applied correctly by default because the OS or AE language can't get detected accurately. In that case, the English shortcut will be applied. If you want the best user experience, change the shortcuts to their default according to this table (most relevant in the case of Refresh Layout).

Main Functions

Group Functions

Layer Functions

Panel Shortcuts

Panel shortcuts can't be modified.

Rename Panel

Relabel Panel

Tag / Untag Layer/s Panel

Perform Action on Tagged Layer/s Panel

Double-Click Shortcuts

(Added in version 2.0)

For double-clicking behavior to work, you need the WQ plug-in installed that you find in your installation files. For installation instructions, please read the user guide chapter on Installation.

Please note that by double-clicking a group header, you can only execute the action if you have a single group header selected. If you want to execute the action on multiple groups, you have to execute Workflower's dedicated functions for that.

PreviousMain Menu NextLayout

Last updated 10 months ago

Shortcuts

Shortcut Modes

Single Script Mode (Windows only)

Advantages of Single Script Mode

Disadvantages Single Script Mode

Individual Scripts Mode (Windows + Mac)

Shortcut Slots

Shortcut Issues for Japanese Users on Windows (others might be affected too)

Switching the OS Language

Default Shortcuts

Main Functions

Group Functions

Layer Functions

Panel Shortcuts

All Panels (Main Menu, Rename Layer/s, Relabel Layer/s, Tag Layer/s) (Windows only)

Rename Panel

Relabel Panel

Tag / Untag Layer/s Panel

Perform Action on Tagged Layer/s Panel

Double-Click Shortcuts

Shortcut Modes

Single Script Mode (Windows only)

Advantages of Single Script Mode

Disadvantages Single Script Mode

Individual Scripts Mode (Windows + Mac)

Shortcut Slots

Shortcut Issues for Japanese Users on Windows (others might be affected too)

Switching the OS Language

Default Shortcuts

Main Functions

Group Functions

Layer Functions

Panel Shortcuts

All Panels (Main Menu, Rename Layer/s, Relabel Layer/s, Tag Layer/s) (Windows only)

Rename Panel

Relabel Panel

Tag / Untag Layer/s Panel

Perform Action on Tagged Layer/s Panel

Double-Click Shortcuts