by 
The short answer
Looking for a Shortcutter alternative for Premiere Pro? Mako gives you 13 one-click tools in one small panel, and every one of them can live on a key of your own. It is free, on Mac and Windows.
Adjustment layers, color mattes, freeze frames, fit to frame and clearing effects all happen in a single click or keypress. You lay the panel out your way, color the buttons and stay in the edit.
Thirteen buttons where the menus used to be
The jobs you repeat all day usually sit behind a menu, a dialog or a drag and a trim. Mako puts them in one row of buttons that docks right next to your Tools panel.
- Adjustment Layer. One over the selected clips, cut to fit. Shift-click for one per clip, Cmd-click (Ctrl-click on Windows) for a short 0.4-second layer on every cut.
- Color Matte. Pick a color and it lands over your selection.
- Freeze Frame. A still of the playhead's frame on the track above, held for the whole clip. Shift-click for a 3-second still.
- Fit to Frame. Scales an oversized clip to fit. Shift-click fills the frame instead.
- Clear Effects. Removes the video effects from the selected clips in one go.
- Transparency Grid. The checkerboard in the Program Monitor, on in one click.
- And seven more. New Sequence, Staircase, Unstaircase, QC Check, Nest, Unnest and Delete Empty Tracks.
New layers always go on the first free, unlocked track above your clips. If there is none, Mako adds one, so it never overwrites a clip.
Step 1: Install Mako and dock it
Check out for $0, with no card, no account and no license key. On a Mac, open Mako.pkg. On Windows, run MakoSetup.exe from the zip, no administrator needed.
Restart Premiere Pro and open Window > Extensions > Mako. Dock it beside the Tools panel or anywhere you like. Mako works with Premiere Pro 2021 and later and updates itself quietly in the background.
Step 2: Keep only the buttons you use
Click the gear to open Settings. On the Buttons tab, switch off anything you never reach for and drag the rest into your own order.
A hidden button keeps its shortcut, so you can clear the panel down to five favorites and still fire the other eight from the keyboard. If your docked panels ever get scrambled, here is how to reset the workspace layout in Premiere Pro.
Step 3: Color-code the panel
Turn on Colored buttons and pick Tinted or Solid. Give each button any color you like, or choose No Color to keep one plain.
Color by job and your eye finds the right button without reading: warm colors for layers, cool ones for timeline cleanup. On the Options tab, pick Compact, Standard or Roomy spacing, 1 to 4 columns, or let the buttons fill the panel. Turn on Button confirmation and a button briefly lights up green when its job is done.
Step 4: Give every button a key
Right-click any button and choose Keyboard Shortcut, then press your keys. A modifier and a key works, like Option + 1, or an F key on its own. You can also set everything at once on the Shortcuts tab in Settings.
Shortcuts work whenever Premiere is in front, while you are in the timeline or the monitor. The Mako panel only needs to be open, and docked behind another tab is fine.
Step 5: Put the click modes on keys too
This is where the panel really pays off. Each Shift-click and Cmd-click gets a shortcut of its own, so one button can become two or three keys.
- Adjustment Layer. One key for over the selection, one for one per clip, one for every cut.
- Freeze Frame. One key for a still held for the whole clip, one for a 3-second still from the playhead.
- Fit to Frame. One key to fit, one to fill.
Put the layer keys on one hand and the cleanup keys on the other, and whole stretches of the edit happen without touching the mouse. Pair the every-cut key with a flash transition in Premiere Pro and a full video gets its cut effects in seconds.
Why editors keep it docked
Mako works the way Premiere already works. It uses your selection and your playhead, puts new layers and freeze frames in a tidy Mako bin and never asks you to fill in a dialog.
It is free for good, with updates included. For the full tour of every button, see our complete Mako guide, or download Mako and try it on your next edit.
FAQ
What is the best Shortcutter alternative for Premiere Pro?
Mako. It puts 13 one-click tools in one panel, lets you give every button and click mode its own shortcut, and is free on Mac and Windows.
Can I set a keyboard shortcut for an adjustment layer in Premiere Pro?
Yes. Install Mako, right-click Adjustment Layer and choose Keyboard Shortcut. Its Shift-click and Cmd-click modes can get keys of their own too.
Do the shortcuts work when the panel is hidden?
Yes, as long as the Mako panel is open. Docked behind another tab is fine, and buttons you hide in Settings keep their shortcuts.
Can I change the colors and layout of the Mako panel?
Yes. Color the buttons tinted or solid, hide the ones you don't use, drag them into your own order and pick the spacing and 1 to 4 columns.
Which Premiere Pro versions does Mako support?
Premiere Pro 2021 and later, on both macOS and Windows.
Thirteen tools, your colors, your keys, for free. Get Mako for Premiere Pro.
