Hey Guys,

I am back with the 3rd tutorial on Microsoft Expression Design and this time we are going to talk about Zooming and Scrolling features in Expression Design.

Hope that you know the basics of MS Expression Design and the panels of MS Expression Design. If you are not then you go through my previous posts Basics of MS Expression Design and Panels in MS Expression Blend

So if you are upto speed now we can get started and master the document navigation which majorly refers to zooming and scrolling in MS Expression Design. In order to work more efficiently with MS Expression Design you need to cultivate good navigation skills. Now there a lot different ways you can zoom or scroll your Expression Design docs and here i will discuss various commans you can use for zooming and fitting as well as the tools (zoom tool and pan tool). If you would pay a little attention then you can learn everything about document navigation in Expression Design within this post itself.

Navigating With The Zoom Tool

Using the zoom tool you can increase and decrease the current view magnification for any selected area within a Expression Design doc . There ar two ways you can do this :

Click With Zoom Tool

Note – you can press z to access zoom tool quickly.

Note – Press and hold ctrl + spacebar to access the zoom tool temporarily and release the keys to return to previously selected tool.

For zooming out you can use Alt + Click

Marqueee with the zoom tool

To access the zoom tool you can click the magnifying glass icon in the Tools palette and then click and drag over the document area that you’d like to zoom into.

Navigating with the Document Page Zoom Control

If you look at the bottom left corner of the Expression Design Interface then you  will see the magnification of the document and if you click on the combo box drop down you can see multiple options for setting the zoom on the current document.

Navigating with Keyboard Shortcuts

Now the fastest way to navigate is keyboard so lets discuss some keyboard shortcuts.

You can press Ctrl+= to zoom into the center of document. you can continue pressing Ctrl+= to zoom in even further.

And you can press Ctrl+- to zoom out.

Note – The zoom keyboard command always use the center of the document as a reference point.

Fitting to Screen

While working on Expression Design at some point of time you might want to see everything you have created (including any items you might have placed in the pasteboard area). The quickest way to fit all your artwork in the document window is to apply the fit to screen command. You can find the fit to screen command under View Menu.

Note – You can also press Ctrl+0 or double click the zoom tool icon to apply the fit to screen command.

Fitting to Canvas

The best way to preview your artwork onscreen is to display the entire artboard in the document window. The Fit to Screen command works well for this purpose, but only if no items are placed in the surrounding pasteboard area. This is because Fit to Screen will display everything in the document, including items on the pasteboard. To display the artboard without any surrounding pasteboard objects, you must apply the Fit to Canvas command.

You can click the down facing arrow in the bottom left corner of the document windows and a pop up list of zoom presets appears. To fit the entire artboard in the document window choose fit to canvas from the pop-up list.

Fitting to Selected

No matter what objects you have selected, Expression Design always uses the center of the document as the reference point when zooming with the Zoom In or Zoom Out commands, or when choosing one of the preset zoom percentages from the document window preset list. To zoom in on a selected object, you can use the Zoom tool or, to zoom even more precisely, apply the Fit to Selected or Zoom on Selection commands.

Apply Zoom on Selection CammandSelect the items you want to magnify and under the view menu click Zoom on Selection and the selected objects are magnified to fit the window.Zoom on SelectionViewing Actual SizeViewing artwork at its actual size means displaying it onscreen at 100% view magnification. When you view artwork at its actual size, what you are seeing is the piece displayed at the exact width and height dimensions that will print or export. You can do this by choosing the Actual Size from View menu or press Ctrl+1. Alternativly you can double-click the pool tool in the Tools Panel to view actual size.Note – The actual size does not center your view.Centering ViewThe Center View command allows you to center the artboard in the document window at 100% view magnification. Applying this command is the quickest and easiest way to return to centered view after navigating around the document with the Zoom and Pan tools. To do this you can choose Center View form the View menu.Note – Applying center view also changes the document view magnification to 100%.Working with multiple viewsThe New View command allows you to create multiple document windows for the same open document. By doing so, you can view your artwork at different zoom percentages. With New View, you can create one window for zoomed-in detail work and a separate one for previewing the entire artboard. In fact, you can create as many views as you like. 1. To create a second window for the currently active document, choose New View from the View menu. NewView

2. In the new window that appears, use any of the methods described in this chapter to apply a different view percentage.

 

Note – Whatever changes you make in one view will immdeatly appear in all the other views.

Scrolling with Scroll Bars

Another way that you can navigate around the document is by using the document window scroll bars. When you zoom in on your artwork, say to 300% view magnification, the document window can no longer fit the entire artboard in its display area. Rather than zoom out to access another part of the document, you can instead use the scroll bars to reposition the artboard in the window.

 

Note – The pasteboard area surrounding the artboard is infinite.

Scrolling with the Pan Tool

The Pan tool offers a much more free-form method for scrolling around the document. If you need to access a specific area of the document quickly, don’t waste time by applying multiple zoom commands or dragging the scroll bars. Instead, access the Pan tool and click and drag in any direction. Clicking with the Pan tool causes the cursor’s icon to grab the artboard; dragging repositions the artboard in the window.

 

To access the Pan tool, click the hand icon in the Tools panel.

Note – Press H to access the Pan tool quickly. Press and hold the Spacebar to access the Pan tool temporarily. Release the Spacebar to return to the previously selected tool.

 

 

Zooming with the Mouse Wheel

Expression Design also includes an option for zooming with the mouse wheel. With this option enabled, you can zoom in and out of the document without having to access the Zoom tool or apply any of the Zoom commands. There’s also an option that allows the position of the mouse to determine the reference point for zooming.

 

1. Under the Edit menu, point to Options and choose General

 

 

Note – Press Ctrl+K to quickly access the General pane of the Options dialog box.

2. In the Options dialog box that appears, choose Zoom from the Mouse Wheel Usage drop-down list.

3.Check theMouse Wheel Zoom About Mouse Position option to allow the position of the mouse to determine the reference point for zooming.

 

4. Click OK to apply the mouse wheel zoom options.

5. Scroll the mouse wheel up to zoom in; scroll down to zoom out. Zoom percentages are applied incrementally in the document with each position of the mouse wheel.

Rotating the Artboard

One of the nicer features in Expression Design is the ability to rotate the artboard. This can be especially useful when drawing freehand or applying shading or cross hatch with the simulated natural media brushes. It’s nice to be able to rotate your artboard onscreen just as if it were a piece of drawing paper.

 

1. Under the View menu, choose Rotate View Clockwise or Rotate View Counter Clockwise.

 

Note – Press Shift+[ to apply the Rotate View Clockwise command; press Shift+] to apply Rotate View Counter Clockwise.

2. The artboard appears rotated in the window. To rotate the artboard even further, continue applying the rotate commands.

3. To return the artboard back to its original position, choose Reset View Rotation from the View menu.

 

 

Note – Press the End key to apply the Reset View Rotation command quickly.

 

Ruler units disappear when applying the Rotate View commands. Rotating the artboard causes the rulers to appear blank.

 

Ruler guides rotate with the artboard, but the document grid does not. Existing ruler guides rotate along with the artboard, but the document grid always remains static.

Comments and feedback are most welcome. 🙂