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(Archived) Keyboard Shortcuts for Changing Font Size


DaveS

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I'm disappointed to see that the latest version of Evernote that was just released (4.5.3.6131) still does not reimplement the change font size keyboard shortcuts. The User Guide (Note Editor section) says that Ctrl+Shift+> and Ctrl+Shift+< increase and decrease the font size. It also lists Ctrl+[ and Ctrl+] as alternative keyboard shortcuts. Unfortunately, neither set of shortcuts works.

This is an issue I reported some months ago and was hoping would be fixed. Changing the font size is something I do all the time and it's tedious to constantly be switching from the keyboard to the mouse and back again. It would be great if we could get this simple feature reimplemented in the near future.

Otherwise, thanks for a great product!

David Salahi

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  • Level 5*

Okay, I'm sad to say, my time with Evernote has ended.

As much as it pained me to do it, I swapped over to MS OneNote and you know what? One word, wow! It does everything I wished Evernote did and more :)

Glad to hear that you have found an application that meets your needs. Enjoy! I think it is fair to say that OneNote has a much richer environment for text and font control. Of course, there are other things it lacks, and that is why I gave it up long ago, but you need to use what works best for you :)

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This issue has been raised many times. The last time a developer reported that a case was filed:

Thanks for the report - case #3963 has been filed

Of course there is no eta for a solution. For something as simple and critical as font increase/decrease for a note taking application!!

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Thanks for bringing it up again, I'll revisit the prioritization of that issue. Sorry for the delay

And sorry there's no ETA, we simply don't give them out, nothing particular about this issue

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

I can't believe this has been ignored by the devs for so long. I took a few minutes and wrote an AutoHotKey script to allow this. The source code is below as well as the executable for Windows which you can just launch and then enjoy the hotkeys.

Download (source code and EXE for Windows): http://bit.ly/evernote-font-keys

Once launched, the executable will stay loaded in the icon tray. To change font size press Ctrl + Shift + > or Ctrl + Shift + < or alternatively Ctrl + ] or Ctrl + [. In addition, I coded Ctrl + F12 to toggle between your default Evernote font and "Courier New" -- useful if you need a fixed-width font quickly like I often do.

You can also select a piece of text in Evernote and then press any of the above hotkeys to change the font size/face.

If you find this small tool useful and would like other text features or Evernote functionality mapped onto keyboard shortcuts (e.g. different/configurable fonts, etc) then just drop me a line.

Cheers.

P.S. you'll see that the dropdown font size list is dropped quickly when you press the font size hotkey. This is because Evernote has a very weird implementation of the "Edit" windows control.In MS Word or any other editor I know, you can click inthe "font size" box, type the font size, e.g. "16" and then press Enter to change it. In Evernote, you can't. It reacts as soon as you type the first character, rather than waiting for you to press Enter (try typing "80" in the font size box, it will take only "8" and change it to 8pt). I'll try to hack the internals later using direct window messages to the control rather than sending keys.

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  • Level 5*

I doubt the developers are ignoring this. I imagine they have had a lot on their plates with a brand new operating system (Windows 8), for example, to keep them busy. It's good to remind them about this, though :)

Thanks so much for sharing your solution! It's this kind of generosity that makes the user community so great!

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That is a pretty cool solution, nice idea. Thanks for posting. :)

I noticed a similar thing with the text size edit box, typing your size into it is not possible, which can be annoying.

Some comments on the script:

- The script file will require AHK_L since it makes use of #If. Not an issue, just something to note.

- Using BlockInput while changing the size/font is a clever idea. I have often had issues when manipulating menus with AHK and extra keypresses etc. Though I knew about the command, I never had the idea to use it that way :)

Scott

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I thought most people here would use the executable, which has no requirements, but having the ahk script allows you to change/add functionality or keys. I updated the ahk source code to avoid the usage of #If and be able to run it in AHK Basic. BlockInput is no longer used.

I changed Ctrl + F12 now to toggle between your default font (the one you have set in Evernote > Tools > Options > Note) and "Courier New" -- I wrote many notes regarding programming and I want a quick way to switch between the default font and a fixed width font.

Download (source code and EXE for Windows): http://bit.ly/evernote-font-keys

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Nice, like I said. It wasn't a big issue, just something to note.

I use AHK as well, so I tried the script. There are a few others here, but I guess you are right, most will go for the executable version.

Ok, so testing it out (executable) a little there is a slight issue. With the font size hotkey, if you hold it or press it too quickly, you can end up inputting a comma or a period replacing your highlighted content.

The trick is to press it once for each time that you want and give it a little time to work.

With the basic version, I have to release the control and shift buttons each time, otherwise it replaces it with a comma/period.

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I updated my post above with a version that toggles between your default Evernote font and "Courier New". Let me know if you'd like more functionality added to this small app.

@Scott: I updated the source code. You should not use BlockInput with AHK basic. Try the executable or the new code now and let me know.

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I fixed that now. At first I didn't want to increase/decrease the font-size repeatedly by keeping the hotkey pressed. The version uploaded now work fine for me, I'm quite happy. I updated them a few minutes ago. Maybe try again?

Download for Windows: http://bit.ly/evernote-font-keys

I also added Ctrl + ] and Ctrl + [ as alternatives to increase/decrease font size. I further applied some fixes to the "keeping hotkey pressed" for repeated operation. It no longer fails by inputting a "." or "," (is still limited by the Evernote restriction of having to pull down the list).

@GrumpyMonkey: I don't know, really. The docs state those keys should work for more than 1 year and there have been plenty of reports that they don't work. It took me literally only a few minutes to get it done (by hacking, using external tools; would have been faster with the proper Evernote source) ...

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Level 5

Where can you download the beta?

You can opt into beta releases by checking "Update to pre-release version when available" in Tools -> Options. Once you do that, Help -> Check for Updates will install the latest beta release.

Unless you're extremely comfortable running beta software and have well-maintained backups, though, I would just wait for the official 4.5.8 release which will be available soon.

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  • 3 weeks later...

You can use Ctrl + to increase the font size and Ctrl - to decrease the font size in the 4.5.8 beta.

This is great. Thanks!

One questions though... Why change away from the standard keyboard shortcut combination?

CtrlShft>/< is standard across other Windows apps. Ctrl+/- is more closely associated with zoom/unzoom.

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  • 5 months later...

You can use Ctrl + to increase the font size and Ctrl - to decrease the font size in the 4.5.8 beta.

 

Thanks for the tip, how about updating the documentation with this info? I'm a new Evernote user, my version number is 4.6.2.7927, and I spent about an hour trying to track down how to report a bug becuase neither CTRL + SHIFT > nor CTRL + ] work like the docs show, then finally I stumbled upon this form and eventually this thread learning that CTRL+ and CTRL- are now the font increase/decrease keys.

 

Please update the documentation. Lastly, I think the old documented shortcut keys were a better combination becuase those are more consistent with other Windows applications "CTRL + SHIFT >" and "CTRL + ]" was better and I'm sorry to see that has disappeared.

 

https://support.evernote.com/link/portal/16051/16058/Article/625/What-are-the-keyboard-shortcuts-in-Evernote-for-Windows

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