Keyboard manager

[verithingeoff]

Hi, finally seen the light and I'm moving from a PC to a Mac. One utility that I use a lot is called Keyboard manager. This assigns text to a key and allows a one key install of a line or several lines of text into any document or webpage.
Does a similar application exist for Imac?

Cheers
Geoff

[NaOH]

I've never used Keyboard Manager, but there are similar utilities for the Mac based on how that software is described on its site.

Keyboard Maestro
QuicKeys (not updated in a few years)
iKey

All of these should be able to what you'd like, plus a whole lot more. I've been a Keyboard Maestro user for seven years now, and I think it's fantastic. But they all have trial versions you can download before purchasing.

From a different angle based on your specified goal, you may want to look at text-expansion software. A Windows equivalent to software like this is AutoText. Rather than using custom shortcuts for inserting text, these enable you to assign custom abbreviations which automatically convert to whatever you'd like. For example, you might have an abbreviation wfd that auto converts to What's for dinner? Or maybe you type eml and it converts to your email address. The key with software like this is setting abbreviations that aren't parts of real words. Again, lots of options here.

TextExpander
Typinator
TypeIt4Me
DashExpander

The first three are paid applications, but trial versions are available for download. DashExpander is free and available from the Mac App Store. I used to use Typinator, then I switched to TextExpander. Both are very good, and I've heard good things about the other two, though I've never used them.

[chabig]

Quote: Originally Posted by verithingeoff Does a similar application exist for Imac

Hi Geoff. Third-party applications may be more full-featured, but you'll probably be fine with the substitution engine built into the OS. Here is how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJYExgiB8Sk

The video doesn't mention how to enter multiple lines. To do that, just type it out in TextEdit and paste it into the System Preferences.

[NaOH]

Good call, chabig, I completely forgot. To make up for my oversight, I'll add this: You can add line breaks when creating snippets in System Preferences. Instead of pressing Return for a line break, press Option-Return.

[chabig]

Quote: Originally Posted by NaOH Instead of pressing Return for a line break, press Option-Return.

That's a good tip! You can also press Option-tab to enter a tab.

[NaOH]

There are a couple other places where that can be used. I can't remember them just now, but keep that in mind for other system-based text-entry points where you can't seem to enter a line break (or a tab) and it will likely work.

[verithingeoff]

Thanks for the info guys