Quick and efficient zooms in SolidWorks
After writing about the Magnifying Glass previously, I felt compelled to immediately post this tip about what I feel is a very efficent means of zooming in and out of areas of your model. While the Magnifying Glass is interesting, I don’t think it’s as efficient as this.
First of all, F is for Fit – “Zoom to Fit” technically speaking. It’s about the first SolidWorks command I ever learned and I think it is the first most people should learn. It is basically the equivalent of “zoom extents” in that 2D program most of us used to use.
The next most important command, I think perhaps, is “Zoom to Area”. I’m not certain, but this one might not have a shortcut key associated with it when SolidWorks ships “out of the box”. I associate my W key with this command because it is the equivalent of zoom window in that one 2D program I referred to earlier.
The third command that I think is very interesting is “Previous View”. I’m pretty sure this one is not associated with a shortcut key out of the box – and if it is, I’m pretty sure it’s not associated with the P key, because that is Pan out of the box I believe. But my brain likes P for Previous – besides, there is a better way to Pan than with the Pan command I think. (hold down the Ctrl key and the middle mouse button simultaneously and Pan away…)
So, assuming your keys I’ve discussed above are set to F and W and P, this is how I use SolidWorks a lot, particularly if I am just checking or investigating a model: F zooms all the way out. If you want to look at a certain area or work on a certain area, then press w and zoom in on that area. Now, you can hold down the middle mouse button and rotate the model, or “roll” the model to look at it. Press the P key to zoom previous, which will take you back to the “pre-rotated” state, and then press P one more time and you will be back out to the zoomed to fit state. You can repeat this over and over again very quickly and “accurately”, again, particularly if you are only checking a model.
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