The Hotkeys Tab

While the Camtasia Recorder interface allows for complete mouse- driven control of the program, some users are simply more comfortable and efficient using their keyboards. The Hotkeys tab of the Tools Options dialog will allow you to stipulate hotkeys, which are keys or combinations of keys that will execute a given command. You have a few hotkeys set up for you by default. Pressing the F9 key will start or pause the recording. It’s the same as clicking the Record button on the Main toolbar or choosing Record from the Capture menu, except that multiple presses of the hotkey will toggle between record and pause. Pressing F10 will stop the recording, the equivalent of clicking the Stop button or selecting Stop from the Capture menu. Pressing

Ctrl+Shift-M will add a marker to your video that can later be manipulated in Camtasia Studio (if grayed out, then Recorder is currently set for recording to AVI; use CAMREC instead). These hotkeys can be fully configured on this tab, so if you already have these keys assigned to something else or you simply want a hotkey that’s easier for you to remember, just change it.

To assign a hotkey to a function, you must first select a key, which can be pretty much any of the alphanumeric keys, function (“F-”) keys, or the Print Screen key (PrtScr). In addition to this key, you can add a custom combination of extension keys, if desired. The Control <Ctrl>, Shift <Shift>, and Alt <Alt> keys are available, either singly or in combination. Just check the appropriate boxes. The command is then executed by holding down any applicable extension key(s), and then pressing the main key. For example, if you have the Record/Pause command mapped to Ctrl+Alt-R, you would hold down the former two keys, and then press the latter.

Just as Record/Pause is a toggled command, the ScreenDraw hotkey will also toggle your last chosen ScreenDraw tool on and off. You can find out all about the ScreenDraw tool in Chapter 6, “Special Effects of the Camtasia Recorder.” Note that you also have the option of configuring hotkeys for five lesser-used commands. To reach these options, simply click the Advanced… button. You can assign hotkeys for the following commands:

• AutoPan. When pressed, Camtasia Recorder’s AutoPan mode will engage, and the capture area (if less than full screen) will begin to follow the mouse cursor as it moves about the screen. Pressing the hotkey again will disengage AutoPan, and the capture area will remain in the current location.

• Hide. This hotkey will toggle the visibility of the Recorder’s icon in your Windows system tray.

• Zoom in and Zoom out. Each successive press of one of these hotkeys will zoom farther. You can zoom as far out as full screen and as far in as 1,000% or more of the original recording window.

• Mute. This hotkey essentially silences all sound in the recording, be it microphone audio, mouse cursor sounds, or keyboard sounds. You can still hear sound coming from the system, but nothing will be recorded. Pressing the hotkey again will re-enable whatever sound functions were active prior to the mute.