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I've been using iTerm for a while, but I switched back to Terminal.app in Snow Leopard due to the Visor plugin.

Most of thing works pretty well after I switched to Terminal.app, except in iTerm, I can create different profiles and assign each profile with key shortcut. The advantage of this setup is that I can have non-transparency and transparency profile. If I need to look up a command on the background, I can start a transparency shell, and vice versa.

I was thinking to use Mac built-in "Application shortcut" in System preference. Though, I realize in Terminal.app, the "New Window" and "New Tab" have the same profile names, so the Application shortcut is confused and I can't assign a shortcut to it... Any thought on how to change menu name on Terminal (or even better, any application?)

Thanks for your help.

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A workaround is to create a window group (with just one window in it) and assign that a command key. The downside to this is that the windows all appear at the same location instead of staggered. –  Chris Page Feb 26 '12 at 13:03

3 Answers 3

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Create a window just how you like it, then under the "Shell" menu of Terminal.app select "Export Settings...". Save the file with a file name, and the resulting file can be used to open a new terminal window with the same settings.

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Thanks for the answer. Though, what I'm looking for is a shortcut key combination that allows me to open different "settings" instantly. i.e. "cmd+shift+D" to open transparency shell, "cmd+shift+G" to open non transparency shell, etc. –  Patrick Jun 21 '10 at 17:34
If you are running Quicksilver, you could add a trigger that would open the settings file. I'm not sure you could do it with a stock MacOSX install. –  Peter Murray Jun 21 '10 at 17:42
This post might help you in creating keyboard shortcuts. superuser.com/questions/153890/… –  Stefan Lasiewski Jun 21 '10 at 18:07

Save a Terminal.app profile as described in Peter Murray's answer and then set up a shortcut for it using Better Touch Tool. BTT is primarily intended for adding touch pad gestures but you can also assign keyboard shortcuts. Create a shortcut to open your saved profile ("Open Application/File/Script...") and you'll get a new Terminal.app window running that profile.

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You can try doing what I suggested in this answer.

If you want access to this functionality from the command line, see this answer.

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