Tools in the Workspace

Display Options

The workspace background can be set to white or black. When a white (black) background is chosen, all wires will default to black (white) unless a different color is specified for specific wires. To set the workspace color, navigate to Tools > Preferences > Workspace tab. The color of selected wires can be changed at any time via Edit > Wire Color in the main menu.

The line width used for drawing wires and axes in the workspace can be adjusted by selecting a Line Thickness option in the Workspace tab of the Preferences dialog box. There are three levels: Thin, Medium, and Thick.

Figure 1 illustrates the different combinations of workspace background color and line thickness that can be achieved.

Viewing 3D Axes

To customize the appearance of the X, Y, Z axes in the workspace, navigate to View > Axes Settings… (Ctrl + A) in the main menu to open the Axes Settings dialog box (see Fig. 2). There are two types of axes:

• Corner Indicator: Displayed in the lower-left corner of the workspace.
• Origin Axes: Displayed at the center of the screen.

Both positive and negative axes can be displayed. The color of the origin axes can be changed by clicking the Color button. Check the Enable tick marks option to add a specified number of ticks to the Origin Axes.

Tip

Press F7 to switch between the Corner Indicator and Origin Axes.

Zooming the View

To zoom in or out of the structure in the workspace:

• Use the mouse wheel.
• On a laptop touchpad, use two fingers (similar to zooming an image).
• Alternatively, use the Zoom In (Ctrl + I) and Zoom Out (Ctrl + K) commands in the View menu.

For a more specific zoom on a particular area, click the Zoom Box (magnifying glass) button on the toolbar and drag a rectangle over the desired area. To return to the initial view, click the Reset View (Home) button on the toolbar.

Rotating the View

To rotate the view of the structure around a specific axis:

1. Press one of the following toolbar buttons:

• Orbit X
• Orbit Y
• Orbit Z
• 3D Orbit

2. Move the mouse while holding the left button.

Alternatively, use the following keyboard shortcuts:

• F1: Right-handed rotation around the x-axis.
• F2: Left-handed rotation around the x-axis.
• F3: Right-handed rotation around the y-axis.
• F4: Left-handed rotation around the y-axis.
• F5: Right-handed rotation around the z-axis.
• F6: Left-handed rotation around the z-axis.

Moving the View

To move the view of the structure in the workspace:

1. Click the Pan button on the toolbar.
2. Move the mouse while holding the left button.