Changing your view

Jump to Mobile or Windows 10


If you are looking to change your view and navigate around the canvas, check below for how to do this for the platform you're on.

INFORMATION: Other ways to change your view - If you want to move, scale, or rotate your canvas, see Transforming canvases. To frame your image or resize it, see Resizing images.

Changing your view in SketchBook Pro Desktop

In the Lagoon, Tools icon contains lots of tools for changing your view that you’ll probably use all the time, such as View Snap, Fit to View, and Actual Size.

If you are an Enterprise customer using a 4K high-DPI display, see View SketchBook Pro on a 4K high DPI display for how to change your view.

View of the SketchBook Pro canvas and UI for Changing the view

Ways of changing your view

Learn how to zoom in and out, move around, and view an image’s actual size or fit it to view.

Zoom in and move about

Pan and Zoom

Tap and flick toward or press and hold down the spacebar to access the puck.

Puck Pan/Zoom

Zoom using a touch strip

Cintiqs and some tablets have a touch strip for zooming. Position your cursor over the area you want to zoom in or out of. Move your finger along the touch strip in an upward motion to zoom in or a downward motion to zoom out.

View at actual size

Before using Actual Size

Example of Actual Size in use

For the actual pixel size of an image, tap Tools icon and flick toward Actual Size icon or press Option+Cmd+0 (zero) for Mac or Alt+Ctrl+0 (zero) for Windows.

Fit an image in the display

Created by Carsten Bradley with SketchBook Pro - Example of image before Fit To View

Created by Carsten Bradley with SketchBook Pro - Fit image

To expand or shrink an image, tap Tools icon and flick toward Fit To View or press Cmd+0 (zero) for Mac or Ctrl+0 (zero) for Windows.

View SketchBook Pro on a 4K high DPI display

Enterprise version of SketchBook Pro customers will need to do the following to view SketchBook Pro properly on 4K high DPI displays:

  1. Right-click the SketchBook Enterprise icon and select Properties from its menu.

    SketchBook Pro Properties option"

  2. Tap the Compatibility tab.

  3. Tap Override high DPI scaling behavior. Scaling performed by to add a check and enable it.

    Setting the high DPI override for 4K displays

  4. From the Application drop-down menu, select System.

    Changing Applications to System"

  5. Tap Apply.

Changing your view in SketchBook Pro Mobile

Zoom in on or out of an area of your sketch, or move around the canvas and change your view, use split-screen view, or transform your iPad or iPhone into a drawing tablet with Astropad.

Zooming in and moving around a sketch

Zooming in and moving around a sketch Zooming in and moving around a sketch to change your view

Zoom in to see details and have finer control when sketching and painting.

With two fingers, drag and expand on the canvas to zoom in

With two fingers, drag and expand on the canvas to zoom in.

To zoom in further, repeat this action as many times as necessary

To zoom in further, repeat this action as many times as necessary.

With two fingers, drag the canvas to change its placement

With two fingers, drag the canvas to change its placement.

Zooming out of a sketch

Zooming out of a sketch Zooming out of a sketch 2

Use zooming out for when you want to have a better view of the overall composition.

With two fingers, pinch the canvas

With two fingers, pinch the canvas.

With two fingers expand

To zoom out further, repeat this action as many times as necessary.

Rotating your view

You can use your finger(s) to freely rotate the canvas.

Twist with two fingers to rotate the content on all layers.

Rotate gestures

Moving the canvas

You can use your finger(s) to freely move the canvas.

Drag with two fingers in any direction to move the canvas.

Fit to view

Viewing the full canvas

Set a corner tool to Frame Canvas icon Frame Canvas (see Customizing the corner tools) and tap it to instantly change what you see and display the full canvas.

Frame Canvas Image framed

Split screen view

SketchBook Pro support split-screen multi-tasking, using Split View and/or Slide Over.

Transform your iPad (or iPhone) into a drawing tablet with SketchBook Pro and Astropad

If you don’t have a tablet device to use with SketchBook Pro, but own an iPhone, iPad, or iPad Pro – you can simply use your existing device(s) as an input tool with SketchBook. With a pen stylus, pair it with Astropad for pressure-sensitivity input, while drawing.

Astropad Page

Installation instructions

To download Astropad for your iPad, see the links below:

Share your art made with SketchBook Pro and Astropad on Astropad with #Astropad.

Changing your view in SketchBook Pro Windows 10

On Windows 10, you can use your middle mouse wheel to zoom in and out of the canvas. You can also use gestures to zoom, fit your image to the view, pan around the canvas, and rotate around a point.

Changing your view using gestures

You can use your finger(s) to freely move, scale, and rotate the layer or use the Transform tools to move in a constrained direction, flip, or rotate 90 degrees in either directions.

When transforming a layer, keep in mind that any content that is resized and expands beyond the size of the canvas (not your view) will be cropped off. Undoing this action will restore the content; otherwise, it is lost.