Rotating the Workspace View

camera angle

Performing a Rotation

Rotation of the camera angle is performed with the middle mouse button, by default. If you are using a two-button mouse and have enabled three-button mouse simulation, you can use both mouse buttons to simulate the middle mouse button. If you prefer a different mouse action, choose Workspace → Customize Mouse Actions to set the action for rotation.

The axis of rotation is selected by a combination of keys and mouse movements. The middle mouse button on its own can be used to rotate about the x axis with vertical movement or the y axis with horizontal movement. Holding down the Shift key restricts the movement to either the x axis or the y axis, depending on the direction in which you first move the mouse. Holding down the Ctrl key selects rotation about the z axis.

If you have a trackpad, you can use the Ctrl key with a single-finger swipe for the default x and y rotation. Rotation about the z axis is done with both Shift and Ctrl, or with a two-finger rotate action on a Mac.

Keyboard shortcuts (or items on the View → Rotate menu) can be used to rotate structures by a small increment (which can be set in the Preferences Panel). The default shortcuts are described in the topic Using the Keyboard in Maestro.

It is often useful to perform a rotation of 90° about an axis. These actions can be performed with View → Rotate → X 90) and View → Rotate → Y 90).

To reset the orientation so that the screen axes and structure coordinate axes coincide (which also resets the zoom and the location of the screen origin), choose View → Reset All.

Rotating While Performing Other Actions

When you are editing a structure with the Move Atoms tool, or adjusting a bond, angle, or dihedral, you may want to rotate the view to bring atoms into view that you want to work on. As the usual rotation action may be used for something else while you are performing another action, you can switch to rotating the view by holding down the space bar. This shows the "heads-up display" that gives you options for changing the camera view.

When a project is closed, all viewing changes (rotation, translation, and zoom) are saved with the project and restored when it is opened again.

Customizing Actions for Rotation

The various ways of doing a rotation are customizable. The mouse buttons or trackpad gestures used for rotation can be customized in the Customize Mouse Actions Panel. The increment for rotation with keyboard shortcuts can be set in the Preferences Panel. The shortcuts for the specific rotations are associated with menu items, which can be customized in the Preferences Panel.