Scroll, pan, or rotate an image

When zoomed in, you can scroll to view the parts of the image that are out of view. Additionally, you can use the rotation controls to rotate the entire canvas, similar to rotating a piece of paper.

Scroll or pan an image

Do any of the following:

  • Scroll by sliding two fingers on your Multi-Touch trackpad, just like you would in apps like Safari.

  • Choose Tools > Hand from the Tools menu at the top of your screen.

  • Press the H key on your keyboard.

  • Press and hold Space on your keyboard and drag to scroll the image. When you do this, the cursor will change from a pointer to a hand. This lets you know the Hand tool is active. With certain tools, like the Color Adjustments or Effects, the Hand tool is automatically activated.

Rotate the image canvas

When retouching images, drawing, or painting, it can sometimes be useful to rotate the canvas to have a better reach of some trickier image areas or to achieve smoother brush strokes. Pixelmator Pro lets you rotate the entire canvas freely to any angle you want without changing layer orientation.

Do one of the following:

  • Use the standard rotate Multi-Touch gesture — move two fingers around each other to rotate.

  • Press and hold Space + R on your keyboard and slide two fingers on your Multi-Touch trackpad or scroll.

  • Use the canvas rotation controls (shown below). Choose View > Canvas Rotation > Always Show Controls (from the View menu at the top of your screen) to reveal the canvas rotation controls or Always Hide Controls to hide them. If you'd like to see the controls only when the canvas is rotated, choose Automatically Show Controls. To rotate the canvas at increments of 15°, press and hold the Shift ⇧ key while rotating.

💡 Tip: To enter a specific rotation angle, click the angle field in the canvas rotation wheel and enter the desired value.

To reset the canvas to its original orientation, click Reset below the canvas rotation wheel or choose View > Canvas Rotation > Reset Canvas Rotation from the View menu at the top of your screen.

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