Manual:Navigating in the 3D view

A word about the 3D space

If you are new to 3D modeling applications, it\'s essential to understand some fundamental concepts before proceeding. If you already have experience with such software, you may skip this introduction.

FreeCAD operates within a three-dimensional Euclidean space which centers around an origin point defined by three axes: X, Y, and Z. Typically, when viewing from above in FreeCAD, the X axis extends horizontally to the right, the Y axis extends towards the back, and the Z axis moves vertically upwards. The intersection point of these axes, where each coordinate is zero, is known as the origin.

Every location in FreeCAD\'s space is determined by (x, y, z) coordinates. For instance, a point located at coordinates (2,3,1) is positioned 2 units along the X axis, 3 units along the Y axis, and 1 unit along the Z axis. Navigating this space is akin to manipulating a camera. You can move the camera left, right, up, or down (panning), swivel it around the focal point (rotating), or move it closer to or away from objects (zooming), allowing you to explore your design from various perspectives.

The FreeCAD 3D view

Mouse navigation

Navigating the 3D view in FreeCAD can be achieved using various inputs including a mouse, a Space Navigator device, keyboard shortcuts, a touchpad, or any combination thereof. FreeCAD offers a range of navigation styles that define how the three fundamental viewing operations---pan, rotate, and zoom---are executed. Additionally, these styles govern how objects are selected within the workspace. To access and switch between these navigation styles, you can navigate to the Preferences screen or simply right-click in the 3D view. Additionally, there is a third, more immediate option for altering the navigation style directly from the user interface located in the lower-right part of the screen.

Each of these styles allocates different mouse buttons, or mouse + keyboard combinations, or mouse gestures, to these four operations. The following table shows the principal available styles. Keyboard keys and mouse buttons indicated in magenta must be held down.

It\'s worth noting that when a user hovers over the navigation styles menu located at the bottom right of the screen, a tooltip will appear. This tooltip provides a brief description of the highlighted navigation style, offering immediate guidance on its use.

Keyboard navigation

Alternatively, some keyboard controls are always available, no matter the navigation style:

Ctrl+ {{ASCII|43}} and Ctrl + {{ASCII|22}} or PgUp and PgDn to zoom in and out, respectively.
The arrow keys, {{ASCII|17}}{{ASCII|16}}{{ASCII|30}}{{ASCII|31}}, to pan the view left/right and up/down.
Shift+ {{ASCII|17}} and Shift + {{ASCII|16}} to rotate the view by 90 degrees.
The numeric keys, {{ASCII|48}}{{ASCII|49}}{{ASCII|50}}{{ASCII|51}}{{ASCII|52}}{{ASCII|53}}{{ASCII|54}}, for the seven standard views: Isometric, Front, Top, Right, Rear, Bottom, and Left
V Owill set the camera in Orthographic view.
While V**P** sets it in Perspective view.
Ctrlwill allow you to select more than one object or element

These controls are also available from the View menu and some from the View toolbar.

Using the Navigation Cube

In the default setup, there is a Navigation Cube in the upper right corner of the 3D view. This may be used to change the view.

Clicking on a face of the cube will switch the view to that face. Clicking one of the four triangular arrows rotates the view 45 degrees in the indicated direction. Clicking one of the two curved arrows rotates the view 45 degrees in the indicated direction around a line pointing towards you. Clicking the round button in the top right corner of the cube rotates the view 180 degrees around the vertical axis of the view.

There is a smaller mini-cube in the lower right of the Navigation Cube which activates a drop-down menu with several options, including an option to make the cube movable, which allows to temporarily move the cube to a different position by dragging.

Selecting objects

Objects in the 3D view can be selected by clicking them with the corresponding mouse button, depending on the navigation style (described above).

A single click will select the object and one of its subelements (edge, face, vertex).
Double-clicking will select the object and all its subelements.
You can select more than one object and more than one subelement, from the same or different objects, by pressing the CTRL key.
Clicking with the selection button on an empty portion of the 3D view will deselect everything.

A panel called \"Selection view\", available from the View menu, can also be turned on, which shows you what is currently selected:

You can also use the Selection View to select objects by searching for a particular object.

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