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View images

Change the screen mode

You can use the screen mode options to view images on your entire screen. You can show or hide the menu bar, title bar, and scroll bars.

Note:

Press the F key to quickly cycle through screen modes.

  1. Do one of the following:
    • To display the default mode (menu bar at the top and scroll bars on the side), choose View > Screen Mode > Standard Screen Mode. Or, click the Screen Mode button  in the Application bar, and select Standard Screen Mode from the pop-up menu.

    • To display a full-screen window with a menu bar and a 50% gray background, but no title bar or scroll bars, choose View > Screen Mode > Full Screen Mode With Menu Bar. Or, click the Screen Mode button in the Application bar, and select Full Screen Mode With Menu Bar from the pop-up menu.

    • To display a full-screen window with only a black background (no title bar, menu bar, or scroll bars), choose View > Screen Mode > Full Screen Mode. Or, click the Screen Mode button in the Application bar, and select Full Screen Mode from the pop-up menu.

View another area of an image

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Use the window scroll bars.

    • Select the Hand tool and drag to pan over the image. To use the Hand tool while another tool is selected, hold down the spacebar as you drag in the image.

    Note:

    If your computer has OpenGL, you can use the Hand tool to flick the image in the direction you want to view. After a quick mouse gesture, the image will move as if you were continuously dragging. Enable this feature by choosing Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > General (Mac OS) and then select Enable Flick Panning.

    Photoshop Drag with Hand tool
    Dragging the Hand tool to view another area of an image

    • Drag the colored box (proxy view area) in the Navigator panel.

Use the Rotate View tool

You use the Rotate View tool to rotate the canvas non-destructively; it does not transform the image. Rotating the canvas can be useful for any number of reasons, including facilitating easier painting or drawing. (OpenGL is required.)

Note:

You can also use rotate gestures on MacBook computers with multi-touch trackpads.

  1. In the toolbox, select the Rotate View tool  . (If the tool isn’t visible, hold down the Hand tool.)
  2. Do any of the following:
    • Drag in the image. A compass will indicate north in the image, regardless of the current canvas angle.

    • In the options bar, enter degrees in the Rotation Angle field.

    • Click or drag the circular Set Angle of Rotation control.

  3. To restore the canvas to the original angle, click Reset View.

For a video on the Rotate View tool and other workspace tips, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4001_ps. (Discussion of the Rotate View tool begins at the 5:10 mark.)

Disable trackpad gestures (Mac OS)

If you have a MacBook computer with a multi-touch trackpad, you can use the trackpad to flick, rotate, or zoom images. This functionality can greatly increase your efficiency, but you can disable it if inadvertent changes occur.

  1. Choose Photoshop > Preferences > Interface (Mac OS).

  2. In the General section, deselect Enable Gestures.

Use the Navigator panel

You use the Navigator panel to quickly change the view of your artwork using a thumbnail display. The colored box in the Navigator (called the proxy view area) corresponds to the currently viewable area in the window.

  1. Do one or more of the following:
    • To display the Navigator panel, select Window > Navigator.

    • To change the magnification, type a value in the text box, click the Zoom Out or Zoom In button, or drag the zoom slider.

    • To move the view of an image, drag the proxy view area in the image thumbnail. You can also click the image thumbnail to designate the viewable area.

      Tip: To simultaneously set the size and position of the proxy area, Control-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Mac OS) in the image thumbnail.

    • To change the color of the proxy view area, select Panel Options from the panel menu. Select a preset color from the Color pop‑up menu, or click the color box to choose a custom color.

    Photoshop Navigator panel
    Navigator panel

    A. Panel menu button B. Thumbnail display of artwork C. Proxy preview area D. Zoom text box E. Zoom Out button F. Zoom slider G. Zoom In button 

Zoom in or out

Use the Zoom tool  or the View menu commands to zoom in or zoom out of an image. When you use the Zoom tool, each click magnifies or reduces the image to the next preset percentage and centers the display around the point you click. When the image has reached its maximum magnification level of 3200% or minimum size of 1 pixel, the magnifying glass appears empty.

Note:

To view images most accurately, precisely revealing sharpening, layer effects, and other adjustments, see Display images at 100%.

Set Zoom tool preferences

  1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Performance (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > Performance (Mac OS). In the GPU Settings section, select Enable OpenGL Drawing.
    Note:

    Some Zoom tool preferences require OpenGL. If Enable OpenGL Drawing is unavailable, your video card does not support this technology.

  2. In the General preferences, select any of the following:

    Animated Zoom

    Enables continuous zooming while holding down the Zoom tool

    Zoom With Scroll Wheel

    Enables zooming with the scroll wheel on your mouse.

    Zoom Clicked Point To Center

    Centers the zoom view on the clicked location.

Zoom a preset amount

  1. Do any of the following:
    • Select the Zoom tool , and click either the Zoom In  orZoom Out button  in the options bar. Then, click the area you want to zoom in or out.

      Tip: To quickly switch to zoom out mode, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS).

    • Choose View > Zoom In or View >Zoom Out. The Zoom In or Zoom Out command becomes unavailable when the maximum image magnification or reduction is reached.

    • Set the zoom level at the lower left corner of the document window or in the Navigator panel.

Display images at 100%

A zoom setting of 100% provides the most accurate view, because each image pixel is displayed by one monitor pixel. (At other zoom settings, image pixels are interpolated to a different amount of monitor pixels.)

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Double-click the Zoom tool in the toolbox.

    • (Creative Cloud) Choose View > 100% or, click 100% in either the Zoom tool or Hand tool options bar.

    • Choose View > Actual Pixels or, click Actual Pixels in either the Zoom tool or Hand tool options bar.

    • Enter 100% in the Status Bar and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS).

    Note:

    The 100% view of an image displays an image as it will appear in a web browser (at the current monitor resolution).

Zoom continuously

Note:

To zoom continuously, your video card must support OpenGL, and Animated Zoom must be selected in the General preferences.

  1. Select the Zoom tool, and then do any of the following:
    • Click and hold in the image to zoom in. Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to zoom out.

    • In the options bar, select Scrubby Zoom. Then drag to the left in the image to zoom out, or to the right to zoom in.

Magnify a specific area

  1. Select the Zoom tool.
  2. Drag over the part of the image that you want to magnify.
    Photoshop Using Zoom tool to magnify
    Dragging the Zoom tool to magnify the view of an image

    The area inside the zoom marquee is displayed at the highest possible magnification. To move the marquee around the artwork in Photoshop, begin dragging a marquee and then hold down the spacebar.

Temporarily zoom an image

  1. Hold down the H key, and then click in the image and hold down the mouse button.

    The current tool changes to the Hand tool, and the image magnification changes as follows:

    • If the entire image originally fit within the document window, the image zooms in to fit the window.

    • If only a portion of the image was originally visible, the image zooms out. Drag the zoom marquee to magnify a different part of the image.

  2. Release the mouse button and then the H key.

    The image returns to the previous magnification and tool.

Automatically resize the window when zooming

  1. With the Zoom tool active, select Resize Windows To Fit in the options bar. The window is resized when you magnify or reduce the view of the image.

    When Resize Windows To Fit is deselected (the default), the window maintains a constant size regardless of the image magnification. This can be helpful when using smaller monitors or working with tiled views.

    Note:

    To automatically resize the window when using keyboard shortcuts for zooming, choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > General (Mac OS). Then select the Zoom Resizes Windows.

Fit an image to the screen

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Double-click the Hand tool in the toolbox.

    • Choose View > Fit On Screen.

    • Select a zoom tool or the Hand tool, and click the Fit On Screen button in the options bar.

      These options scale both the zoom level and the window size to fit the available screen space.

Hide the pixel grid

Over 500% magnification, the image’s pixel grid becomes visible by default. To hide the grid, do the following.

  1. Choose View > Show, and deselect Pixel Grid.

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