Magnifying or reducing the view

You can use the View Manipulation toolbar to change the scale of the view in the viewport.

Related Topics
Linking viewports for view manipulation
The magnify tool
The view manipulation tools
Using the view manipulation tools

Context:

Use the magnify tool from the View Manipulation toolbar to change the scale of the view in the viewport. Hold Shift while using the magnify tool to access the alternate magnify mode. The alternate mode moves the camera closer to or farther from the objects in the view instead of changing the magnification. The alternate mode is most useful when you use movie camera mode (for more information, see The magnify tool).

Your configuration settings for the view manipulation options affect the behavior of the magnify tool. If you are using the default Abaqus/CAE view manipulation configuration, the magnify tool operates by dragging the cursor horizontally: dragging to the right zooms in and dragging to the left zooms out. In all other view manipulation configurations, the magnify tool operates by dragging the cursor vertically: dragging upward zooms in and dragging downward zooms out. See Using view manipulation shortcuts, for more information.

If your mouse has a wheel as mouse button 2, you can also change the scale of the view by scrolling up or down when the cursor is in the viewport. For X–Y plots the effect of this scrolling depends on the location of the cursor:

  • When the cursor is within the X–Y plot grid, the X–Y plot will retain its aspect ratio as you magnify or reduce the view of the X–Y curves in the plot.

  • When the cursor is placed on one of the axes, Abaqus/CAE stretches or compresses the X–Y plot along the axis you select. This functionality enables you to adjust your view of X–Y plots that exhibit much more change along one axis than the other.

If the current viewport is linked to other viewports, Abaqus/CAE also changes the scale of the view within all linked viewports in your session. For more information, see Linking viewports for view manipulation.

  1. From the View Manipulation toolbar, click the magnify tool to enter magnify mode.

    Tip: You can also select ViewMagnify from the main menu or press F4.

  2. Position the cursor in the viewport whose view you want to change.

    The cursor changes to a magnifying glass:

  3. Drag the cursor to change the view. The direction in which you drag depends on your view manipulation configuration settings. You can change these settings by selecting ToolsOptions from the main menu bar and selecting a setting from the View Manipulation Options tabbed page.

    • If you are using the default view manipulation configuration, drag the cursor to the right of the starting point to magnify the view (zoom in). Drag the cursor to the left of the starting point to reduce the view (zoom out).

    • If you are using a nondefault view manipulation configuration, drag the cursor above the starting point to magnify the view (zoom in). Drag the cursor below the starting point to reduce the view (zoom out).

    Abaqus/CAE draws a rubberband line from the starting point as you drag the cursor across the screen. The rubberband line indicates the amount of zooming that has been applied, which is proportional to the component of your dragging motion in the effective direction.

  4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until you achieve the desired view.

  5. To exit magnify mode, do one of the following:

    • Click mouse button 2.

    • Click the cancel button in the prompt area.

    • Click the magnify tool.

    • Click any other view manipulation tool.

    Tip: Use the cycle view manipulation tool to return to the previous view.