Freecad mouse operation guide

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The control mode of the freecad mouse consists of multiple commands for visual navigation and control of display objects in 3D space. Freecad supports multiple mouse navigation modes. The default navigation method is "cad navigation", which is very simple and practical. But freecad also provides several alternative navigation methods that you can choose based on your preferences. To change the operation mode, go to "edit"> "options"> "display" tab> "3D view" to change the 3D navigation!

Navigation

All workstation objects are processed in the same way. The following mouse gestures can be used to control the object's position and Angle Based on different navigation methods.

CAD navigation method (default)

This is the default navigation method, which allows you to control the view and does not need to use the arrow keys on the keyboard.

Select	Translation	Zoom	Rotate	Can replace the previous Rotation
Click the left mouse button on the object to be selected. Press ctrl to select multiple objects.	Click the middle mouse button to move objects in parallel	Use the scroll wheel to zoom in or out.	Click first with the middle mouse button, hold it down, and then click the left mouse button and drag the mouse in the desired direction. the cursor location at the middle mouse button click determines the center of rotation. rotation works like spinning a ball which rotates around its center. if the buttons are released before you stop the mouse motion, the object continues spinning, if this is enabled. A double click with the middle mouse button sets a new center of rotation.	Click first with the middle mouse button, hold it down, and then click the right mouse button and drag the mouse in the desired direction. this method works just like the previusly described Rotate View that uses middle mouse button + left mouse button, should t that the middle mouse button may be released after the right mouse button is pressed. users who use the mouse with their right hand may find this Rotate View method easier than the previous method.
	Press and hold ctrl key and click and release right mouse button to Pan (rev0.14)	Once in Pan mode, press and release left mouse button to zoom, to exit back to Pan mode press and release right mouse button (Rev 0.14)	Once in Pan mode, click and momentary hold left mouse button to rotate, to exit back to Pan mode press and release right mouse button (Rev 0.14)

Inventor navigation

In inventor navigation, modeled after Open Inventor (not to be confused with Autodesk Inventor), there is no mouse-only selection. In order to select objects, you must hold down the ctrl key.

Select	Pan	Zoom	Rotate View
CTRL +		Or
Hold CTRL and press the left mouse button over an object you want to select.	Click the left mouse button and move the object around.	Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out, or click and hold the middle mouse button and click the left mouse button.	Click and drag with the left mouse button to rotate

Blender navigation

In blender navigation, modeled after blender, there is no mouse-only panning. In order to pan the view, you must hold down the Shift key.

Select	Pan	Zoom	Rotate View
	Shift +
Press the left mouse button over an object you want to select.	Hold shift and click the middle mouse button and move the object around.	Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out.	Click and drag with the middle mouse button.

Touchpad navigation

In touchpad navigation, neither panning, nor zooming, nor rotating the view, are mouse-only (or touchpad-only) operations.

Select	Pan	Zoom	Rotate View
	Shift +	Pgup/pgdn	Alt +
Press the left mouse button over an object you want to select.	Hold shift and move the object around.	Use pgup and pgdn to zoom in and out.	Hold ALT and move the pointer.
		Or	Or
		Shift + Ctrl +	Shift + Ctrl +
		Hold down both the shift and the CTRL keys, press the left mouse button, and move the pointer.	Hold down both the shift and the CTRL keys and move the pointer.

Selecting objects simple selection

Objects can be selected by a click with the left mouse button either by clicking on the object in the 3d-view or by selecting it in the Tree View.

Preselection

There is alsoPreselectionMechanic that highlights objects and displays information before selection by just hovering the mouse over the objects. if you don't like this behaviour or you have a slow machine, you can switch preselection off in the preferences.

Manipulating objects

Freecad offersManipulatorsThat are handles that can be used to modify an object's appearance, shape, or other parameters.

.

Obsolete

The clipping plane is a good example of an object with manipulators. A clipping plane can be activated withView → clipping planeMenu. after activation the clipping plane object appears and shows seven obvious manipulators as little boxes: one on each end of its three coordinate axes and one on the center of the plane normal axis. there are four more that are not as obvious: the plane itself and the thin part of the Three Axis objects.

Scaling

To scale the object click with the left mouse button on the box manipulators at the end of the axes and pull them back and forth. Depending on the object the manipulators work independently or synchronously.

Out of plane shifting

To shift the object along its normal vector, pull the long box on the center of an axis with the left mouse button. For the clipping plane there is only one manipulator along the normal vector.

In plane shifting

To move the center of the clipping plane, click on the plane object and pull it to the desired location.

Rotation

Clicking on the thin part of the axes puts the manipulator in rotation mode.

Hardware Support

Freecad also supports some 3D input devices.

Mac OS X issues

Recently we got reports on the Forum from Mac users that those mouse button and key combination do not work as expected. unfortunately, none of the developers owns a Mac, neither do the other regular contributors. we need your help to determine which mouse buttons and key combination work so we can update this Wiki.

Freecad mouse operation guide