Skip to main content
Canvas navigation changes only your viewport into the composition. It is safe to pan or zoom aggressively while inspecting details because these operations do not alter render geometry.

​
Zoom

Use the lower-right zoom controls to enlarge fine detail or reveal extra workspace around the composition. The percentage reports view scale, not a layer’s scale property. A 50% canvas view still renders at the composition’s full pixel dimensions. + or = zooms in, - zooms out, 0 fits the composition, and Shift+0 selects actual-size (100%) viewing when the canvas owns the shortcut.

​
Pan

Pan through canvas workspace when a zoomed composition no longer fits the available panel. A normal wheel gesture pans, middle-button drag pans, and holding Space while dragging pans. Cmd/Ctrl+wheel zooms around the cursor position. Panning changes the translation of the editor viewport; it does not add an offset to any layer.

​
Fit

Use the fit action or 0 after losing orientation, resizing a side panel, or switching between canvas-heavy and timeline-heavy layouts. Fit derives a zoom and pan that keep the whole output frame visible inside the current workspace. Double-clicking empty workspace resets to the fitted view.

​
Gesture precedence

Canvas interaction distinguishes navigation from authoring. A middle-drag or Space-drag pans even when the pointer begins over rendered content. A plain primary drag can select, move, resize, crop, or draw depending on the current tool and target. During Cmd/Ctrl+wheel zoom, the composition point beneath the cursor is kept stable as closely as the viewport permits.
Browser zoom can intercept Cmd/Ctrl plus/minus combinations. The visible lower-right controls are authoritative when a shortcut is reserved by the browser or an input still has focus.

​
Off-canvas content

Extra workspace around the composition is useful for motion paths, partially cropped layers, and objects entering from outside the frame. Only pixels within the output frame render. A layer can remain selected while its entire visual box is off-canvas.
Before moving a layer that seems missing, fit the canvas and inspect the timeline interval. The problem may be viewport pan, playhead time, or layer geometry rather than deleted content.

​
Input focus

Canvas navigation gestures can conflict with browser or operating-system shortcuts. Use visible controls when precision matters, and ensure a numeric inspector input is not focused before expecting a canvas shortcut to act. See fullscreen review, canvas transforms, and performance troubleshooting.