Programmable Keyboard for Mac / Adobe CC

[dontaskbrad]

Hi, I'm interested in programming my own keypad/macropad to use with several Adobe CC applications on a Mac. Mostly they will be keyboard shortcuts, but I do have a need for macros.

I don't have access to a PC so I need to be able to program it with a Mac. In addition, I have no experience coding a keyboard so I need to find a solution that is doable. I am technically inclined and I could figure out code with a good tutorial but having trouble figuring out where to start.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

[ErgoMacros]

Hi and welcome to Geekhack!

Your requirements are fairly easy to meet in the land of Mechanical Keyboards.
You need a "programable" keyboard, and there are many of those. Most are based
off the open source software such as:

• TMK https://github.com/tmk/tmk_keyboard
• QMK https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware
• or EasyAVR https://github.com/dhowland/EasyAVR

Once you have a board with that software installed you can edit the keyboard "map" to put whatever shortcuts or macros you like on any key.
You can also create a "layer" for each app you care about and re-use the keys.

For a "far out" example, more than you're asking for (and more work), but with a flavor for what is quite possible, take a look at compboard:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=82868.msg2497979

You can get lots more help here.

[ErgoMacros]

A couple more pointers...

When looking for a macro keypad you probably are looking for an "ortholinear" keyboard. Keys in a grid rather than staggered.

Many ortholinear keyboards cone as kits, some assembly required. https://olkb.com is one good place to start. Soldering switches is quite easy.

If you want quick, dirty, cheep, fully assembled. Possibly enough for all you want you can look at these:
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-Gateron-Red-Switch-Keypad-46-Program-Key-8-Macro-Key-USB-Mechanical-Keyboard/192352954750
The downside of those is they require a "Windows machine" to configure the board. I've done this with other Windows-only programers running under Parallels on my Mac.

More expensive, but fully assembled and Mac configurable there is also these: http://xkeys.com/XkeysKeyboards/index.php

[ErgoMacros]

(tired of me yet?)

You should also be aware of available macOS software:
    Hammerspoon http://www.hammerspoon.org
    Karabiner-elements: https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/
    USB Overdrive http://www.usboverdrive.com/USBOverdrive/News.html

With USB Overdrive you can detect which keyboard is active and remap if you like.
Likewise Hammerspoon can keep track of which app is active, and could respond to different keys for each.

Good luck.