Move and Pan the Canvas
The Move tool lets you navigate around your design and reposition elements. It's the tool you'll use most often between drawing strands.
What you'll learn
- How to pan (scroll) around your design
- How to move elements
- How to move multiple elements at once
- Zoom controls
Pan the canvas
Panning slides the entire view — your photo, lights, decorations, and ruler all move together. Nothing changes size or position; you're just scrolling to see a different part of the design.
Three ways to pan:
- Move tool drag — Press V to switch to the Move tool, then click and drag on empty space (anywhere that isn't a light or element). The cursor changes from a hand to a grabbing hand.
- Middle-click drag — Click and drag with your middle mouse button (scroll wheel click). This works in any tool mode — you don't need to switch to Move first.
- Trackpad — Two-finger swipe on a laptop trackpad scrolls the canvas.
Move elements
- Switch to the Move tool (press V).
- Click and drag any element (strand, shrub, or decoration) to reposition it. The element and all its lights move together in real-time.
- Release to set the new position.
Tip: If you have multiple elements selected, dragging any one of them moves the entire selection together.
Zoom in and out
Zooming lets you see fine detail (zoom in) or the full picture (zoom out).
| Action | How | |--------|-----| | Zoom in | Scroll wheel up | | Zoom out | Scroll wheel down | | Zoom toward a point | The zoom centers on your mouse cursor — the point under your cursor stays fixed while everything scales around it |
What changes when you zoom
- The house photo gets larger or smaller.
- Lights scale proportionally — bulbs grow when you zoom in, shrink when you zoom out. They never disappear; there's a minimum size floor so lights are always visible even when fully zoomed out.
- Light spacing stays proportional to the house. The pattern always looks correct at any zoom level.
- Drawing guides (blue lines), selection handles (white circles), and the ruler maintain their screen size — they don't grow or shrink with zoom. This keeps them easy to click at any zoom level.
Zoom limits
- Maximum zoom: 5x — close enough to see individual bulb detail.
- Minimum zoom: Dynamic — the photo always fills at least 60% of your screen. As you zoom out toward the limit, the view smoothly recenters.
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