Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
AutoCAD function. At any time, you can switch between panning and zooming (or switch
to a related function, such as Zoom Window) by using the right-click menu.
You also can pan and zoom by using your mouse's scroll wheel (if it has one)
or the middle button of a three-button mouse:
To pan:
Hold down the scroll wheel or the middle button as you move the mouse.
To zoom in and out:
Roll the scroll wheel forward and backward.
To zoom to the extents of your drawing:
Double-click the scroll wheel or the
middle button.
The scroll wheel or middle mouse button zoom and pan operations described
in the preceding list depend on an obscure AutoCAD system variable named
MBUTTONPAN. When MBUTTONPAN is set to 1 — the default value — you can
use the middle button to pan and zoom as I describe in the preceding list. Unless
your system has been customized by someone, if you change MBUTTONPAN to 0,
clicking the middle mouse button displays an Object Snap menu at the crosshairs,
as it did in older AutoCAD releases. If you can't zoom or pan with your middle
mouse button, set MBUTTONPAN back to 1. (With MBUTTONPAN set to 1, you use
Shift+right-click to display the Object Snap menu at the crosshairs.)
Realtime zooming and panning is the easiest, most interactive way to get around in your
drawings. In some situations, though, this method is less efficient or precise than the
old-fashioned methods, the most important of which I describe in the next section.
Another way to pan in AutoCAD should be familiar from other Windows pro-
grams — the scroll bars in the drawing area. Scrolling is the same in AutoCAD as
in any other Windows program; click the arrows in the right and bottom scroll
bars on the borders of the drawing window to scroll, or pan, a step at a time; or
click and drag the little scroll boxes to pan as little or as much as you want to. To
turn scroll bars off or on, choose Options in the Application Menu (or type
OPTIONS
or
OP
) to display the Options dialog box. On the Display tab, select or
