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Canvas navigation

Getting around the canvas: zoom, pan, guides, and the handful of view modes that change how the canvas looks while you work. None of this touches your design; it is all about how you see it.

Zooming

  • In and out: ⌘= and ⌘-, or pinch on a trackpad, or hold ⌘ and scroll to zoom around your cursor.

  • Toggle 100%: 0 flips between 100% and the zoom you were just at.

  • Jump to a level: 1 through 9 set 100% through 900%. Press the same digit twice to snap back to 100%.

  • Fit everything: ⌘⌃A zooms out until the whole canvas is in view. This is the fastest way to get un-lost.

  • Fit the selection: ⌘⌃F zooms to whatever is selected. ⌘⌃C centers on it without changing zoom.

Panning

  • Space-drag: hold Space and drag to pan with any tool active.

  • Trackpad: two-finger drag to pan; Shift plus scroll pans horizontally.

  • Middle-mouse drag pans one-to-one.

Rulers and guides

Toggle the rulers along the top and left edges with ⇧U. With rulers on, drag from a ruler onto the canvas to drop a guide. Guides are snap targets and never export, so use them freely to line work up.

Pixel grid

Zoom in past 400% and the pixel grid appears; toggle it with ⌘'. Separately, pixel-grid snapping keeps everything on whole pixels as you draw and move; toggle that with ⌘⇧'.

Canvas backdrops

The canvas backdrop is yours to set:

  • Whiteboard (⌘⇧W) puts a solid white surface behind your work.

  • Blackboard (⌘⇧B) does the same in black.

  • Toggle background (⌘⇧D) flips between an opaque backdrop and the transparent default.

Hiding the interface

  • Presentation mode (⌥P) hides the editing chrome to show your design cleanly.

  • Toggle all UI (⌘\) hides every toolbar for a distraction-free canvas.

  • Toggle sections (⌘/) collapses the toolbar panels rather than hiding them, so headers stay reachable.

  • Hide a single edge with ⌘⇧ArrowLeft, ⌘⇧ArrowRight, or ⌘⇧ArrowDown for the left, right, and bottom toolbars.

Overlay mode

Brilliant can float above your other apps as a transparent overlay, so you can trace, annotate, or design on top of anything on screen. Summon and dismiss it with ⌃F, a global hotkey that works even when Brilliant is not focused. Overlay mode is a macOS feature. A dedicated guide to it is on the way.

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