This afternoon I ran into an issue that I have seen before, but haven't seen for a while that got me to the point of wanting to go and fix the issue. The problem that some of my quick keys, which I hold down, that allow me to maneuver around my screen (option), or retain my aspect ration when scaling items (shift), or quickly switch to my arrow tool to move items (command). This had happened me a while back on my last MacBook but I never really tried to troubleshoot it, I just dealt with it.

Today I was plagued with this issue again, and it was so crippling that I couldn't finish what I was working on without constantly needing those keys. I tried everything, restarted my computer, relaunched the application, played with my keyboard settings, and nothing worked! I checked the web and came across a couple of articles, none of which fixed my problem. The one macforums.com discussion board got me the closest, and that was pointing fingers straight at Firefox. So I closed Firefox, and I had my tools back! Well, after using them for a few minutes I jumped back to Firefox to check my Gmail account...so I logged on, and then jumped back to find that my keys were gone again.

That's when I sat there thinking, "OK. What could Gmail have to do with this?" The first thing that came to mind was the keyboard shotcuts Lab feature that I had enabled. So, I went there and disabled it, let Gmail refresh, then went back to Illustrator and....BAM...my problem was fixed! So, there you have it! If you ever run into this issue turn to Firefox and Gmail first. I never used those Advanced Keyboard Shotcuts anyway, so I won't be lookin' back!