Adobe Illustrator from a game controller
The Adobe Illustrator layout is built into InputConfig, free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.
On a Mac: Illustrator has no controller support of its own. It reads its default tool keys from this layout like a keyboard. Nothing to enable.
Yes, a game controller works as a left-hand deck for Illustrator on a Mac. Illustrator is the pen tool and everything else, and the pen tool wants the other hand free for shortcuts: switch to selection, undo the bad anchor, back to the pen. Four tools on the face buttons, undo on a bumper and zoom on the D-pad do exactly that.
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Pick a tool. Selection (V) on the bottom face button, Pen (P) on the right, Type (T) on the left, Rectangle (M) on the top.
- Undo and save. On the bumpers.
- Zoom. In and out on D-pad up and down.
- Draw. The left stick is a pointer, the right trigger draws, and the left trigger right-clicks.
Illustrator has no controller support of its own. It reads its default tool keys like a keyboard. The pad switches tools so the pen hand never leaves the drawing.
Tune it for Illustrator
- Direct Selection. Put A, the anchor-point tool, on the touchpad press. You will use it as much as V.
- Hand tool. In Illustrator, holding Space while dragging pans. A row with Space and a left click held together does it from one button.
- Group and ungroup. Put Command G and Command Shift G on the stick clicks.
- Small targets. Anchor points are tiny. Lower the Pointer speed slider on the preset's page, or add slower pointer rows behind a held bumper.
- Shape and pencil tools. Put Shift M for the Shape Builder and N for the Pencil behind a chord with the face buttons.
The iPad as a drawing tablet page covers drawing in Illustrator on an iPad screen with Sidecar, with this deck in the other hand. Add Direct Selection first, because you reach for it as often as V.
The short version
- It sits beside a pen tablet. It does not replace one.
- Add A and the pan row. Direct Selection and Space with a click.
- Slow the pointer for anchors. It is one slider on the preset's page.
For a hand that cannot use a keyboard, this deck is the keyboard. Tools on the thumb, pen in the other hand.
Get it in two clicks
- Get InputConfig free on the Mac App Store, open it, and click Smart Preset Maker on the welcome screen.
- Search for Adobe Illustrator and pick it. The layout is created as a preset in your sidebar, named and ready.
- Press Activate. Every row can be changed afterwards: the editor's Scan button rebinds any control the moment you touch it.
Every binding, as a table
| Controller | Sends | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Left stick left | Mouse motion left (speed 16) | Cursor left |
| Left stick right | Mouse motion right (speed 16) | Cursor right |
| Left stick up | Mouse motion up (speed 16) | Cursor up |
| Left stick down | Mouse motion down (speed 16) | Cursor down |
| Right trigger | Left click | Click / draw |
| Left trigger | Right click | Right click |
| A / Cross | V | Selection tool (V) |
| B / Circle | P | Pen tool (P) |
| X / Square | T | Type tool (T) |
| Y / Triangle | M | Rectangle (M) |
| LB / L1 | Command (Left), Z | Undo |
| RB / R1 | Command (Left), S | Save |
| D-pad up | Command (Left), = | Zoom in |
| D-pad down | Command (Left), - | Zoom out |
Button names follow the Xbox / PlayStation pair shown in the editor, so A / Cross is the bottom face button on either pad. On a Switch Pro Controller the bottom button is labeled B; the mapping still fires on position.
Questions
Does this replace a pen tablet?
No. It sits beside one. For a hand that cannot use a keyboard, it is the keyboard.
Does it work in Affinity Designer?
Affinity Designer has its own entry. Many tool keys match, Pen is P in both, but check the rest against Affinity's shortcut list.
Related
Completely free. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon. Open source on GitHub.
Updated