Personalizing-Rnote-Launchers

Customize your Rnote experience with these keyboard shortcuts to improve your note-taking workflow. This repository provides instructions for setting up three shortcuts that let you control Rnote directly from your keyboard.

Features

• Add new pages instantly without navigating menus
• Export notes with a single key combination
• Remove pages efficiently during editing
• Works with Rnote's D-Bus interface for direct application control
• Compatible with GNOME, KDE, and other major desktop environments

How These Shortcuts Work

Rnote exposes a D-Bus interface that allows external programs to control it. These shortcuts use gdbus (the GNOME D-Bus client) to send commands to Rnote's service. When you press the configured keyboard combination, the system sends a D-Bus message to Rnote, which then executes the corresponding action.

The commands follow this pattern:

gdbus call --session --dest com.github.flxzt.rnote --object-path /com/github/flxzt/rnote --method com.github.flxzt.rnote.[Action]

The Three Shortcuts

1. Add Page Shortcut

• Command: gdbus call --session --dest com.github.flxzt.rnote --object-path /com/github/flxzt/rnote/window/1 --method org.gtk.Actions.Activate add-page-to-doc "[]" "{}"
• Function: Creates a new blank page in your current Rnote document
• Default Shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + +

2. Remove Page Shortcut

• Command: gdbus call --session --dest com.github.flxzt.rnote --object-path /com/github/flxzt/rnote/window/1 --method org.gtk.Actions.Activate remove-page-from-doc "[]" "{}"
• Function: Removes the currently selected page from your document
• Default Shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + -

3. Export Shortcut

• Command: gdbus call --session --dest com.github.flxzt.rnote --object-path /com/github/flxzt/rnote/window/1 --method org.gtk.Actions.Activate export-doc "[]" "{}"
• Function: Exports your current document to your default export format
• Default Shortcut: Ctrl + E

4. Selector

• Command: gdbus call --session --dest com.github.flxzt.rnote --object-path /com/github/flxzt/rnote/window/1 --method org.gtk.Actions.Activate pen-style "[<@s 'selector'>]" "{}"
• Function: switch to defualt Selector frame
• Default Shortcut: Ctrl + W

5. Shaper

• Command: gdbus call --session --dest com.github.flxzt.rnote --object-path /com/github/flxzt/rnote/window/1 --method org.gtk.Actions.Activate pen-style "[<@s 'shaper'>]" "{}"
• Function: switch to defualt Shaper shape
• Default Shortcut: Ctrl + Q

5. Typewriter

• Command: gdbus call --session --dest com.github.flxzt.rnote --object-path /com/github/flxzt/rnote/window/1 --method org.gtk.Actions.Activate pen-style "[<'typewriter'>]" "{}"
• Function: switch to defualt Typewriter to type
• Default Shortcut: Ctrl + T

Setup Instructions

For GNOME:

• Open Settings > Keyboard Shortcuts
• Click + to add a custom shortcut
• Fill in the details:
  • Name:
  • Command: [Use the specific command for that shortcut]
  • Shortcut: [Press your desired key combination]
• Click Add

For KDE:

• Open System Settings > Shortcuts
• Click Custom Shortcuts
• Right-click and select New > Global Shortcut > Command/URL
• Configure:
  • Trigger: Set your keyboard shortcut
  • Action: Enter the corresponding command
  • Comment: Add a description
• Click Apply

Customization

You can create custom shortcuts for almost any feature in Rnote by calling the specific Action Name through D-Bus.

To see a list of all available actions (like undo, redo, zoom-in, etc.) for the current window, run tis command while Rnote is open:

gdbus introspect --session --dest com.github.flxzt.rnote --object-path /com/github/flxzt/rnote/window/1

Constructing a Command

Once you find an action name (e.g., undo), follow this pattern to create the command:

gdbus call --session --dest com.github.flxzt.rnote --object-path /com/github/flxzt/rnote/window/1 --method org.gtk.Actions.Activate "undo" "[]" "{}"

Common parameter types:

• Simple actions: Use "[]" "{}" (e.g., Undo, Redo).

• State actions: require parameters inside the brackets, like "[<@s 'selector'>]" for tool switching.