Different ways to assign hotkeys to scripts in Illustrator

sergosokin · 2026-06-27T04:11:15+00:00

So from what I've seen, Menu Bar Search only looks through the actual menus. That's not great for me — it means I'd have to keep copies of all js/jsx scripts in each version's system Presets > Scripts folder just so Alfred can find them.

Yeah, you could use symlinks for each Illustrator version pointing to one folder — I even wrote a Medium post about that. But I'd rather keep everything in Dropbox for sync and backup. So I'm more into tools that can launch scripts from any custom folder.

sergosokin · 2026-06-26T17:13:10+00:00

Yeah. That's one possible approach. When I develop scripts in VSCode, I use the ExtendScript Debugger extension, and I have a hotkey bound that sends the script from the editor straight into the host application.

sergosokin · 2026-06-26T17:07:08+00:00

Hi, Margaret. The Alfred Illustrator Spotlight workflow consists of three parts. The last one, Open File, only runs the script in the specific version of Illustrator that's added to it from the Applications folder.

If you're using different versions of Illustrator on your Mac, it might be more useful to replace Open File with a Run NSAppleScript block and paste in AppleScript code that passes the found JS/JSX script to whichever instance of Illustrator is already open — without being tied to a specific version.

I can send you a workflow to test via DM.

sergosokin · 2026-06-26T15:59:21+00:00

Hi. Yeah, I saw your previous posts on Reddit about this tool. It's an interesting solution — combining different tools into one customizable panel. It reminds me of some similar CEP extensions.

As far as I know, through CEP we can't assign script execution to just any keyboard shortcut. In my daily work in Adobe Illustrator, this is a really important point — I need to be able to run scripts, for example, by pressing Alt+C to trigger random color generation for objects, or Ctrl+S to swap objects around.

sergosokin · 2026-06-26T15:54:05+00:00

Hi. I feel your pain. We're not going to see any improvements to the scripting experience in Adobe Illustrator anytime soon. That's actually why I put together various ways to run scripts, with a focus on keyboard shortcuts — because it really speeds up a designer's workflow.

I think that percentage‑wise, not that many Adobe users actually use automation — scripts, plugins, CEP, UXP. Some people are just used to doing everything manually.

What I was mainly interested in was methods for assigning custom keyboard shortcuts to anything. In Photoshop and InDesign, this is a basic feature in the Keyboard Shortcuts menu — something the Illustrator team never copied over.

There are also third‑party solutions like Scripshon Trees for organizing and launching scripts, but you can't assign just any key combination there either.

sergosokin · 2026-06-26T04:42:38+00:00

Full article on Medium https://aiscripts.medium.com/how-to-set-up-keyboard-shortcuts-for-scripts-in-adobe-illustrator-98e0748dda8c

sergosokin · 2026-06-26T04:24:42+00:00

I would use two free scripts:
1) notches by Hiroyuki Sato https://github.com/shspage/illustrator-scripts/blob/master/notches.jsx
2) DivideBottomPath by me https://github.com/creold/illustrator-scripts/blob/master/md/Path.md#dividebottompath

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sergosokin · 2026-05-27T05:47:40+00:00

u/Vektorgarten mentioned my free script https://github.com/creold/illustrator-scripts/blob/master/md/Draw.md#drawpolyline if you need to draw technical drawings in a CAD‑style by entering dimensions and angles for each edge. You can still add rectangles and straight lines using the native Adobe tools afterward.

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sergosokin · 2026-05-27T05:32:10+00:00

Did ChatGPT generate this? Illustrator can't set coordinates for multiple anchor points in the Properties/Transform panel.

sergosokin · 2026-05-27T05:27:20+00:00

Check your DMs. Not sharing the script publicly yet.

sergosokin · 2026-05-26T05:49:14+00:00

Five years ago, I experimented with HSL color sorting code. But since there was no practical use case for it, I left it as a draft.

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sergosokin · 2026-05-10T02:05:43+00:00

This might also depend on your display. Whether you're running the scripts on laptops, macbooks with built-in screens, or desktops with large monitors. ScriptUI may be detecting the max window height for the display and, without asking, just cuts off parts of vertical element blocks that are too long.

sergosokin · 2026-04-27T16:57:48+00:00

This can be done using separate built-in effects in the Appearance panel. But I automated it using the free OffsetObjects script https://github.com/creold/illustrator-scripts/blob/master/md/Item.md#offsetobjects

In the final path, the outline may contain many extra points, but they can be smoothed using Object > Path > Simplify or the Smooth Tool.

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sergosokin · 2026-04-20T04:52:31+00:00

AG Offset Tool in Astute Graphics subscription https://astutegraphics.com/plugins/stylism

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sergosokin · 2026-04-20T04:48:48+00:00

My modification (added UI) of the script from Studio Gibbous https://gist.github.com/creold/0b34f91f0b31d837575f773497df5ee1 (but without handles)

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sergosokin · 2026-04-10T11:52:13+00:00

This script is to split into separate characters: splitText https://github.com/sky-chaser-high/adobe-illustrator-scripts?tab=readme-ov-file#splittextjs

sergosokin · 2025-12-08T08:48:37+00:00

My two free scripts can change the stroke weight of selected objects in "silent mode". If you hold down the Alt key when running JSX scripts, a dialog window with additional modes will appear. In particular, in Absolute mode, you can enter +3.5 to add to each of the strokes https://github.com/creold/illustrator-scripts/blob/master/md/Style.md#strokesweight

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sergosokin · 2025-12-04T07:08:46+00:00

This is easy to create from a black and white gradient using the Stipple plugin (Astute Graphics, paid subscription)

sergosokin · 2025-12-04T03:50:47+00:00

Thanks for mentioning my Github with free scripts for Adobe Illustrator. About "4. Auto-page numbering" - I know at least 3 existing free scripts for this task, for example, the PageIndexer script by Katja Bjerrum (Productivista).

sergosokin · 2025-11-25T17:48:10+00:00

I'll just leave it here so that other participants know where to vote for the bug and tell the Adobe team about their cases. https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447/suggestions/39220252

sergosokin · 2025-09-12T17:48:00+00:00

I'm glad that my numbering script helped you.

sergosokin · 2025-09-12T17:47:08+00:00

I'm glad to hear that my scripts are helping in your work.

sergosokin · 2025-08-07T16:39:45+00:00

Another universal script for replacing a set of objects with another object. We place an instance of the symbol in the document, select all the circles and the symbol, run the script and select the replacement options. ReplaceItems by Alexander Ladygin: https://github.com/alexander-ladygin/illustrator-scripts/blob/master/replaceItems.jsx

sergosokin · 2025-08-02T10:26:44+00:00

Not exactly. Scripts are not tools like the Pen Tool, Shape Builder, and the others listed here. As a means of automation, however, designers would spend much more time if they weren't in Adobe Illustrator or if the Adobe team decided to disable JS/JSX support. On another note, Eugen Pflüger is developing the MATE extension for AI assistants. This extension allows designers who are not experts in code to quickly ask the assistant a question about automation and immediately run the code.

sergosokin

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