Efficient viewport navigation is essential for working with both detailed work and overall composition. FlashFX provides multiple methods for zooming and panning across the canvas.

Zoom Methods

Method	Action	Notes
Scroll wheel	Scroll up/down over canvas	Zooms to cursor position
Zoom tool (Z)	Click to zoom in, Alt+Click to zoom out	Centers on click point
Keyboard	Ctrl/Cmd + Plus/Minus	Zooms to canvas center
Trackpad pinch	Two-finger pinch gesture	Zooms to gesture center
Zoom dropdown	Select percentage from menu bar	Predefined zoom levels

Zoom Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl/Cmd + 0	Zoom to fit (entire canvas visible)
Ctrl/Cmd + 1	Zoom to 100% (actual pixels)
Ctrl/Cmd + 2	Zoom to 200%
Ctrl/Cmd + +	Zoom in one step
Ctrl/Cmd + -	Zoom out one step
Z then click	Zoom in at point
Z then Alt+click	Zoom out at point

Pan Methods

Method	Action	Notes
Hand tool (H)	Click and drag canvas	Temporary: Hold Space while dragging
Scroll wheel + Shift	Shift + Scroll to pan horizontally	No modifier pans vertically
Trackpad	Two-finger drag	Natural scrolling direction
Middle mouse	Click and drag with middle button	Must be enabled in preferences
Arrow keys	Press arrow keys	Small incremental pans

Zoom Levels

Available zoom range: 1% to 6400%

•1-10% — Extreme wide view, useful for large compositions
•25-50% — Comfortable overview for general work
•100% — Actual pixels, true output preview
•200-400% — Detail work, path editing
•800%+ — Pixel-level precision

Zoom Behavior

Zoom to cursor

When zooming with the scroll wheel or trackpad pinch, the zoom centers on the cursor position. This allows you to quickly zoom into a specific detail without manually panning.

Zoom to selection

Select one or more elements, then press Ctrl/Cmd + 3 to zoom and center the view on the selection's bounding box.

Animated zoom

Keyboard zoom commands (Ctrl/Cmd + 0, Ctrl/Cmd + 1) animate smoothly to the target zoom level. This can be disabled in Edit → Preferences → Interface → "Animate zoom transitions."

Navigator Panel

The Navigator panel shows a thumbnail of the entire canvas with a viewport rectangle indicating the current view. Access via Window → Navigator.

•Red rectangle — Shows the visible area at current zoom
•Drag rectangle — Instantly pan to a different area
•Click thumbnail — Center view on that location
•Thumbnail zoom — Adjust navigator thumbnail size with slider

Performance Optimization

At high zoom levels (400%+), FlashFX renders a high-resolution preview. On slower devices, this can cause lag. To improve performance:

•Enable "Reduce quality while zooming" in preferences
•Temporarily hide complex layers (eye icon in layer panel)
•Disable GPU effects preview in View → Preview Quality → Low

Multi-Monitor Workflows

When using multiple monitors, you can detach the canvas to a separate window for full-screen preview:

1.View → Detach Canvas
2.Drag the canvas window to your secondary monitor
3.The main window retains all panels and controls
4.Zoom and pan sync across both windows

Best Practices

•Learn the Hand tool (H) temporary shortcut: Hold Space and drag
•Use Ctrl/Cmd + 0 frequently to see the full composition
•Zoom to 100% before exporting to verify actual output quality
•Use Zoom to Selection (Ctrl/Cmd + 3) when editing details on large canvases
•Keep the Navigator panel open for large projects to maintain spatial awareness

Zoom & Navigation