Moving around the views
In the 3D view
The same mouse in every view (Settings › Navigation › Mouse; Classic keeps a left drag for orbiting):
| Do this | To |
|---|---|
| Click with the left button | Select (Shift adds) |
| Drag with the left button on empty space | Select with a box |
| Drag with the left button on something selected | Move it |
| Drag with the middle button | Orbit round the model |
| Alt + drag with the left button | Orbit, with a mouse that has no middle button |
| Drag with the right button, or Shift + middle | Pan |
| Click with the right button without moving | The menu for what is under the pointer |
| Roll the wheel | Zoom toward the pointer |
| Ctrl + drag with the middle button | Zoom, as in Blender: drag up to zoom in, down to zoom out |
| Home | Frame everything |
| . | Frame the selection |
The buttons at the top right of the 3D view do the same, and more: zoom in and out, orbit round the selection, perspective or orthographic, the ground grid, X-ray, Show (what the 3D view shows), the render menu (Shaded, Shaded with edges, Hidden line or Wireframe, also in View › Render; wireframe shows shafts and what is inside walls) and View (look from the top, the front, a side or a corner).
The view cube
The cube in the top right corner of the 3D view turns the view for you:
- Click a face (Top, Front, Right…), an edge or a corner to look from there. The view turns smoothly and the status bar says where you are looking from, for example Looking from the top, front, left (south-west).
- Click N, E, S or W on the ring under it to look from that side.
- The buttons beside it: drag the magnifier up or down to zoom, and the four arrows to pan; the house frames everything from the three-quarter view, as Home does; the two turn buttons turn the view a quarter round, from a corner to the next corner; the grid switches between perspective (a grid going away) and orthographic (a square grid).
- Drag the cube to orbit.
Front is the south face: the cube is named from north, which is up in plans, so Front shows what the south elevation shows.
In plans, sections and sheets
| Do this | To |
|---|---|
| Drag with the left button on empty paper | Select with a box |
| Drag with the right or middle button | Pan |
| Roll the wheel | Zoom |
| Ctrl + drag with the middle button | Zoom, as in the 3D view |
| The buttons at the top right | Zoom in and out (click a step, or drag up and down), fit, frame the selection, and drag the hand to pan |
| Zoom to scale (⋯ More) | 1 mm on paper is 1 mm on screen |
Layout
- The window's middle is split into view areas; Workspace at the top right picks a layout of them (Model, Drawing, Document, Sheets, or your own), and Ctrl+Page Up / Ctrl+Page Down step through them.
- Ctrl+Space shows the area under the pointer alone, and again brings the others back.
- Each area pans and zooms on its own; Pan and zoom with the other area of this view in its ⋯ More menu links two areas of one view.
- In the View menu, under 2D view: In its own window moves the drawing to a window of its own, for a second screen; Overlaid in the 3D workspace shows it as an inset over the 3D view.
- View › Show the 2D view in 3D space draws the plan or section in the 3D view, where it cuts.
Touchpads
A two-finger scroll pans plans, sheets and the 3D view; a pinch zooms. A mouse wheel still zooms.
The ground grid
The 3D view shows a grid on the working level. Turn it off with the grid button in its navigation bar, and pick its spacing in View › Ground grid, including any spacing you type. The model's X axis runs through it in red and Y in green (Settings › Viewport); Z shows in blue only while a move keeps to it.
Plans and sections have a Grid button in their header too, with faint red and green lines through the origin.