Keyboard shortcuts for Macbook pro and wireless keyboards.

Unfortunately, that is not the case, since most of the shortcuts are mapped using modifier keys. So if instead of having the + (plus sign) on one key, you have to press option and another key to get the + (plus sign), that options key is most of the times used to access another command. So, the software (final cut pro, photoshop, etc.) normally doesn´t recognize this combination of keys.

It really is something that should be addressed right out of the box. As in the computer, you go to system preferences and you can change the configuration of your keyboard, this should be an option also on most software, but it is not and is driving me nuts.

To both Tom and Melophage, I am using a Macbook pro bought in Mexico so it's a latin (?) keyboard, or a spanish one, since it has the letter Ñ. I guess a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll attach a photo of my keyboard.

Most image or video editing software employ complex shortucts (three or more keys) due to the abundance of commands and tools they require to operate. Several commands are mapped with two or more modifiers. So even if my keyboard was a US keyboard, pressing command and shiftplus the equal key to get the plus sign to substitute for a simpler command plus, wouldn't achieve the function desired, since shift is also one of the modifiers commonly mapped for other commands. In my specific case, the plus sign is to the left of the return (or enter) key, along with a bracket and the asterisk. To get the plus sign, I need to press the function key and that multipurpose key, the bracket is achieved by pressing the option key, and that multipurpose key. Unfortnunately, the function, as well as the option keys, are mapped with all sorts of other combinations, so it just doesn't work, and as you can imagine, mapping every command and tool on a program like final cut pro or photoshop would be a humongous and rather tedious task.

Tom,

No I have not asked on a dedicated forum since this is an issue I've had with several programs (I should start to refer to them as apps), however, it's not a bad idea and I'll skim those forums to see if this issue has been addressed. Also, indeed you are right and I made a mistake in my previous post, the + sign comes up by just pressing that multipurpose key, with shift it will produce the asterisk and with option it will produce the bracket. I got carried away with Melophage's first post where the plus sign is used as an example. I apologize to both for my mistake, and I'll try to be more specific and careful in the future.

Tom and Melophage,

My keyboard does have the Spanish-ISO mode of input by default, and I've added the US input also, although I hardly ever use it. And indeed, being able to do something simple like zooming on a document or a web page with command and the plus sign is something I can easily manage. However, the things I usually have a problem with are, for example (and I'll be more specific this time), in photoshop cs6 to reduce or increase the size of a brush, you have to press either the left or right bracket. For me to get the left bracket, I have to press option and a multipurpose key that contains these three signs: ` ^ [. Now, in photoshop, as soon as you press the option key, the brush, or whatever tool you have selected, turns into the eyedropper tool, so pressing option and multipurpose key doesn´t get you a bracket, gets you the eyedropper and ignores any other key you press.

In final cut there is a similar problem with the bracket to make L cuts with a shortcut that uses the bracket, and both programs also make use of the tilde key, which I don't even have in my keyboard.

You both made me realize, of course, that the problem lies in my regional configuration of the keyboard, and that software makers probably just avoid the hassle of having to come up with multiple different sets of keyboard shortcuts due to those different layouts. I still think this is something that should be addressed right from the box, but now I realize it might not be such a prevalent issue, specially with people who have the US keyboard layout.

Yes, you are right about the + sign, it was my mistake and I apologize.

Indeed in almost all the software I've addressed and I'm trying to learn (creative suite by adobe, final cut and motion by apple, etc.) there is a way to remap the shortcuts to your liking, but as you can imagine, it is a very cumbersome procedure due to the fact that there are a lot of commands and tools, and sometimes the interface is not so amicable. In final cut, for example, this is not so much a problem since the interface to remap shortcuts is very well done, reproducing a colored keyboard and having modifiers as toggles separately. But in adobe's software the interface is a nightmare and the procedure is extremely tedious. I figured some app or plug in should have addressed this by now, but i wasn't able to find it, so the app you provided is a big big help to solve this issue I'm having. I appreciate all the help and patience both to you and Tom, and I'll be sure to check this app and see how it works.