Zoom Controls

Because GDSII files have such a large dynamic range (the smallest feature may be 0.1 um and the chip may be 20,000 um in its longest dimension) the user needs to constantly zoom in and out to identify features on the chip.

Using the Toobar Controls

Interactive zooming is controlled by the mouse using several basic controls which can be selected from the toolbar:

Zoom Window

The most commonly used zoom tool is the zoom window one. This enables the user to both zoom in - by dragging (with the left button down) from upper left to lower right and to zoom out by dragging from lower right to upper left.

Pan

It should never be necessary to select the pan tool because holding the middle mouse button (or wheel) down changes the tool to pan. Then just drag a reference point to a new location and the display is updated.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Experienced users always appreciate shorcuts to make their movements more efficient. The following keyboard shortcuts are available:

Home - zoom to extents
W    - zoom window tool
+    - zoom in tool
-    - zoom out tool
P    - pan tool
X    - view area dialog (by coordinate entry)

Pan/Zoom using Coordinate Entry

It is possible to control the display by entering coordinates - either the lower left/upper right which defines a rectangular window, or the width,height and center of the window.