BoardSurfers: Training Insights: Tips to Zoom and Pan Efficiently in Allegro PCB Editor

While designing a layout within Allegro^® PCB Editor, designers zoom in and out or pan in the design canvas to take a closer look at a component’s placement and connectivity. Because they frequently zoom or pan when creating or editing designs, it is crucial to perform these operations with maximum ease and efficiency. In this post, we will see quick and effortless ways of zooming and panning in the design canvas of Allegro PCB Editor.

Why should one learn these basic operations? Whether you are a beginner or an expert designer, knowing the right set of commands and settings saves you a lot of time. Using these tips, you can:

• Zoom in to a specific area in the design canvas
• Control the speed of zooming in or out
• Quickly reduce the visual complexity of the view
• Zoom back and forth between multiple previous views

Now, let’s look at the following three methods that you should know to master the zoom commands in Allegro PCB Editor:

• Mouse and keyboard buttons
• Menu options
• View pane

Mouse and Keyboard Buttons

The easiest way to zoom in and out and move (roaming or panning) on the canvas is to use the middle mouse button. You can pan the design on the canvas to analyze different sections of it.

Panning Mode

To pan in the design, place the cursor inside the canvas. Now, press and hold the middle mouse button to enter the panning mode and drag the cursor over the design. While holding down the mouse button, you can move the drawing in any direction and focus on your area of interest.

To pan in the design using the keyboard, press and hold the Ctrl key then press any arrow key (up, down, left, right).

Zooming Mode

To enter the zoom mode, select and release the middle mouse button. You will see two concentric circles. Moving your mouse will draw a white rectangle that represents the area to be magnified. Now, you can move your mouse diagonally left or right to zoom in or out.

Moving the middle mouse wheel forward or backward dynamically zooms in and out in the design canvas.

Menu Options

If you would rather not use the mouse wheel, you can control the view of the editor’s canvas by choosing the zoom commands from the View menu.

Here is a summary of the commands that you can pick from the zoom menu options:

Zoom by Points		Use to magnify a selected area of your design.
Zoom Fit		Use to see a full view of the design.
Zoom In		Use to magnify the view by a factor of two.
Zoom Out		Use to reduce the magnification of the design.
Zoom World	-	Use to reduce the magnification of the design to view the entire drawing.
Zoom Center	-	Use to move the indicated point in the design into the center of the design canvas.
Zoom Previous		Use to zoom back to the previous view.

View Pane

In addition to the mouse controls and menu options, the Allegro PCB Editor interface also has a View pane to adjust the design display. It is located at the bottom right of the Allegro PCB Editor user interface. In this pane, you need to right-click to choose display controls.

When you select Move Display, a moving rectangle with a cursor will appear, which represents the area currently visible in the design canvas. You can use these display controls to adjust the display of the drawing in the design canvas.

Hope you found it interesting to know how you can control the display in Allegro PCB Editor from the mouse and keyboard buttons, menu options, and the View pane. Do try these effective methods to be more productive.

To learn in detail about this flow, watch Controlling the Display within the Allegro® PCB Editor training byte on the Cadence Support portal. Click the training byte link now or visit Cadence Support and search for this training byte under Video Library.

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