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Make a gesture do something

An action is what Input.Observer does for you. A trigger is what starts it: a gesture, a hotkey or typed text. This page makes an action with a gesture trigger that opens Notepad.

Create it with Quick create​

Quick create…
What do you want to make?
Step 1 of 5
Do something when I draw a shape
Hold the mouse button you draw with, draw a shape, and let go.
Do something when I press keys
Replace something I type
Leave a program alone
CancelBackNext
Where should it work?
In every program
Only in one program
Which shape?
Down, then right
Right, then up
Up and back down
Draw a new shape
What should it do?
Send keys
Open a program, file or website
Anything you could open from the Run box.
Program, file, folder or web address
notepad
Name it and create it
Name
Open Notepad
New things take effect once they're applied. Apply now, or later with the bar at the bottom of the window (or Ctrl+S).
CancelBackCreate, apply laterCreate and apply
  1. In the configuration window, click Quick create… ① under the list of pages, or press Ctrl+N. The wizard opens.
  2. Choose Do something when I draw a shape ② and click Next.
  3. Choose In every program ③ and click Next.
  4. Pick a shape ④. Each card says what that shape already does here. Choosing one that already runs another action in the same place is blocked, because only the first action would run; the wizard selects the first free shape for you. To make a shape of your own, choose Draw a new shape, give it a name, and draw it three times in the box with the left mouse button. Click Next.
  5. Choose Open a program, file or website ⑤, type notepad in Program, file, folder or web address ⑥, and click Next. To make the gesture maximize the window instead, choose Maximize or restore the window.
  6. Keep the suggested name or type your own, then click Create and apply ⑦.

The new action is created, applied to Input.Observer at once, and shown on the Actions page. Applying saves every unsaved change in the window, not only this one. Create, apply later creates the action without applying it; it then waits, with any other unsaved changes, until you click Apply at the bottom of the window.

Try it​

Draw the shape you chose with the right mouse button over any window. While you draw, the hint shows the action's name. When you let go, Notepad opens.

If nothing happens, see Troubleshooting.

Do the same on the Actions page​

Quick create is a shortcut. Everything it makes is an ordinary action that you can open and change on the Actions page, and you can build an action there from the start.

Input.ObserverSimpleAdvanced
AUTOMATION
Actions
Text expansion
Snippets
Sandbox
App groups
Ignore groups
Gestures
SETUP
General
Appearance
Security
Help
About
Actions
Open Notepad
Actions
App group
Global
Triggers
+ Gesture
GESTUREDown, then right
Gesture
What it does
1Run or opennotepad
ADD A STEP
Send keysType textClickMove windowShow a notificationWaitƒ All 322 builtins…≔ Set variable↻ If / loop
Engine connected
  1. Open Actions. In App group ①, choose the group the action belongs to: Global for every program. The list can't create an action while it shows All, because an action always belongs to one app group.
  2. Click + New at the bottom of the Actions list ②, and type a name.
  3. In Triggers, click + Gesture ③. Click the empty gesture box ④ and choose a gesture, or click New… to draw one.
  4. In What it does, pick a step under ADD A STEP ⑤ and fill in its settings.
  5. Click Apply in the bar at the bottom of the window, or press Ctrl+S.

Nothing you change in the configuration window takes effect until you apply it. See The configuration window, The Actions page and Steps.

Next​

An action for one program.