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Manual / Interface & settings

Zoom, Pan and View Controls

Zoom, pan, save views, lock the view, rotate the view, and the UCS coordinate system.

What it does

Controls the view in the drawing area without changing the drawing itself.

Where to find it

  • Ribbon: View › Navigate and Draw › (Zoom Fit ▾)
  • View menu
  • Mouse: scroll the wheel = Zoom, press and drag the wheel = Pan

View tab, Navigate group
View tab, Navigate group

Commands

Command Alias Format Meaning
ZOOM Z, ZE, ZA, ZW ZOOM <E|A|W|I|O|ZWS> E = Extents (fit all objects), A = All, W = Window, ZWS = Window with Snap, I/O = in/out (can be used inside another command as 'ZOOM)
PAN P – Drag to pan. Press Esc to exit (can be used inside another command)
VIEW V VIEW <Save|Restore|List|Delete> [name] Save/recall named views
VIEWLOCK VL VIEWLOCK [ON|OFF] Locks the view center so it changes only with PAN/ZOOM
REGEN RE, REGENALL, REDRAW, REDRAWALL – Redraws the screen from the drawing data
VIEWCUBE NAVVCUBE VIEWCUBE <ON|OFF|RESET> Show/hide the ViewCube. RESET = return to the TOP 0° view (click the ViewCube to rotate the view by 90°)
UCS – UCS <World|Origin x,y|Z angle|Previous|?> Moves the coordinate reference point or rotates the axes (does not change the drawing, only the coordinates you type and see)
UCSICON – UCSICON <ON|OFF|ORIGIN|NOORIGIN> Shows the axis icon at the screen corner or at the Origin

Steps: Zoom Window

  1. Type ZW (or ZOOM W) and press Enter.
  2. The Prompt bar shows Zoom window: drag a rectangle to zoom.
  3. Drag a window around the area you want.

Zoom Window: dragging a window around the floor plans (house-plans.dwg demo)
Zoom Window: dragging a window around the floor plans (house-plans.dwg demo)

Shortcuts

Shortcut Meaning
Ctrl++ / Ctrl+- Zoom In / Zoom Out
Ctrl+Shift+R Rotate the view 90° clockwise
Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab Next / previous file tab
Ctrl+PgDown / Ctrl+PgUp Next / previous Layout tab

Note: XLINE and RAY are not counted in Zoom Extents, so they do not shrink your real drawing until it is too small to see.

Try it: Named views of a small office plan

A 10 x 6 m office with a reception area and a meeting room. Save named views, then jump between them with one command instead of zooming around every time.

  1. Draw the plan: REC 0,0, then 10000 Tab 6000; the reception wall L 4000,0 @0,6000; and the meeting room REC 6500,3000, then 3500 Tab 3000.
  2. Type ZW, drag a window around the reception area on the left, then type VIEW Save Reception.
  3. Type ZW, drag around the meeting room, then type VIEW Save Meeting.
  4. Type ZE to see the whole plan, then VIEW Restore Meeting. The screen jumps straight back to the meeting room.
  5. Type VIEW List to see the saved views.

Office plan with the Reception and Meeting view frames
Office plan with the Reception and Meeting view frames

Challenge: Type VIEWLOCK ON before you edit the meeting room so the view stays put while you work.

See also