Zoom, Pan, and Navigate¶

You'll zoom and pan hundreds of times per session. Making these actions reflexive, second nature rather than conscious decisions, is the biggest single productivity improvement you can make in Vexy Lines. Every shortcut here is worth memorising.

The Essential Three¶

If you learn only three navigation gestures, learn these:

Z: Zoom in. Press Z (no modifier keys), then click on the canvas. Each click zooms in one step, centred on where you clicked.
X: Zoom out. Same mechanic: press X, click the canvas, and the view pulls back. Z and X are right next to each other on the keyboard, which makes toggling between them fast.
Spacebar + drag: Pan. Hold the spacebar, then click and drag the canvas to slide it around. This works regardless of which tool is currently active, so you don't need to switch away from the Brush or Editor to pan.

With just Z, X, and spacebar-drag, you can reach any part of your canvas at any magnification. Everything else is convenience.

Zoom Controls¶

Keyboard Shortcuts¶

Action	macOS	Windows
Zoom in (click to target)	Z, then click	Z, then click
Zoom out (click to target)	X, then click	X, then click
Zoom at cursor position	Alt + scroll wheel	Alt + scroll wheel
Frame selection	Cmd+2	Ctrl+2
Show all (fit to canvas)	Cmd+3	Ctrl+3

Understanding Zoom Behaviour¶

Z and X are toggle-style zoom tools. When you press Z, your cursor becomes a magnifying glass with a + sign. Click once to zoom in one step. Click again to zoom further. Press X to switch to zoom-out mode. These keys don't require you to hold them. Press once, and you're in that zoom mode until you press another tool key.

Alt + scroll wheel is the fastest way to zoom because it targets the exact point under your cursor. Scroll up to zoom in, scroll down to zoom out. The view zooms towards (or away from) the cursor position, so you naturally stay centred on what you're looking at. This is the zoom method you'll use most once it becomes habit.

Cmd+2 / Ctrl+2 (Frame Selection) zooms and centres the view to fit the currently selected element: a fill layer, a group, or a mask region. Useful when you've selected something in the Layers Panel and want to jump to it on the canvas.

Cmd+3 / Ctrl+3 (Show All) zooms out just enough to fit the entire document in the visible canvas area. This is your "reset the view" shortcut. Press it whenever you've zoomed in too far and lost your bearings.

The View menu offers the same zoom commands with additional presets:

Zoom In and Zoom Out: same as Z/X click
Fit in Window: same as Cmd+3 / Ctrl+3
Actual Size: zooms to 100%, where one document pixel equals one screen pixel
Frame Selection: same as Cmd+2 / Ctrl+2

These menu options exist primarily for discoverability. Once you know the keyboard shortcuts, you'll never visit the menu for zoom.

Panning¶

Spacebar + Drag¶

Hold Spacebar, then click and drag anywhere on the canvas. The canvas slides with your mouse. Release the spacebar to return to your previous tool.

This is a standard convention shared with Photoshop, Illustrator, and most design applications. If you're coming from any of those, your muscle memory transfers directly.

Trackpad Gestures (macOS)¶

On a Mac with a trackpad:

Two-finger scroll: Pans the canvas in the direction you scroll. No modifier key needed in most configurations.
Pinch to zoom: Zooms in and out, centred between your two fingers.

On macOS, trackpad navigation works alongside keyboard shortcuts. Use whichever feels right in the moment.

Mouse Scroll Wheel¶

Scrolling the mouse wheel without modifier keys typically scrolls the canvas vertically. Add Shift to scroll horizontally. Add Alt to zoom (as described above).

Scroll Action	Result
Scroll wheel	Pan vertically
Shift + scroll wheel	Pan horizontally
Alt + scroll wheel	Zoom at cursor

The Zoom-Work-Reset Cycle¶

Most editing follows this pattern:

Cmd+3 / Ctrl+3: Show all. Get the big picture.
Alt + scroll to the area you want to work on.
Edit (adjust parameters, paint masks, move elements).
Cmd+3 / Ctrl+3: Show all again. Check how your change looks in context.
Repeat.

This cycle keeps you from getting tunnel vision on a small area while the rest of the composition drifts. The "show all" step is the most commonly skipped and the most valuable.

Working on Detail vs. Composition¶

For detail work (fine-tuning mask edges, checking stroke rendering at small intervals), zoom in until individual strokes are clearly visible. Alt + scroll wheel gets you there fastest.

For composition (evaluating overall tone balance, checking how multiple fills interact), stay zoomed out to see the whole document. Resist the urge to zoom in: many artistic decisions are only visible at the full-document scale.

Alternating between these two scales is the key habit. A fill that looks perfect at 100% zoom might produce muddy results when you zoom out to see the full image. A mask edge that looks rough at high zoom might be invisible at normal viewing distance.

Navigating Large Documents¶

For documents with many layers spread across a large canvas:

Select the target layer in the Layers Panel.
Press Cmd+2 / Ctrl+2 to frame the selection. The canvas jumps to show exactly that element.
Work on it.
Press Cmd+3 / Ctrl+3 to return to the full view.

This is faster than scrolling and zooming manually, especially when elements are far apart on the canvas.

Quick Reference¶

I Want To...	Do This
Zoom in on a specific spot	Alt + scroll up at that spot
Zoom out	Alt + scroll down, or X then click
See the whole document	Cmd+3 / Ctrl+3
Jump to a selected layer	Cmd+2 / Ctrl+2
Slide the canvas around	Spacebar + drag
See the artwork at actual size	View > Actual Size
Reset when completely lost	Cmd+3 / Ctrl+3 (show all)

Tips¶

Don't forget X. New users zoom in constantly and forget they can zoom out. X is your friend.
Alt + scroll is the fastest. Once you start using it, Z and X feel slow by comparison, because the cursor-targeting saves a click.
Spacebar pan works during other operations. You can hold spacebar to pan while in the middle of painting a mask or adjusting a selection. The tool you were using resumes when you release the spacebar.
Cmd+3 is your home base. Use it liberally. Ten times per session is not too often.

Now that you can move around the canvas confidently, it's time to put something on it. See Creating a New Document.