Drawing click and drag setup

[Justin1981]

G'day

I'm a sparky trying to learn how to use autocad electrical 2009 so I can do schematics. I've been told that I should be able to left click and hold on the drawing and drag it around the screen to reposition it where necessary but I haven't able to work it out. I'm as green as it comes but keen to learn so any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

[ReMark]

To be able to do that one would have to be able to see the blue bar that runs across the top of the drawing. Try using the Minimize button in the top right-hand corner of your drawing. Why is this even necessary in the first place? AutoCAD gives you several ways to move around in a drawing. Moving the drawing itself is counterproductive.

[Justin1981]

Sorry I might not have explained that properly. I don't want to actually move the drawing around autocad the screen. I want to be able to scroll along the drawing without having to zoom out and in again or using the scroll bars on the side. Apparently you can "grab" your view and move it wher you want. So say if i want to centre the top left corner of my current view I simply hold the left mouse button down and drag it down instead of having to scroll around.

[dbroada]

You are looking to PAN the drawing. Probably the easiest way is to press & hold the mouse wheel to grab the page and release when happy. You can also zoom in and out on the wheel.

[GE13579]

If you don't have a mouse wheel, just type PAN <ENTER> and your crosshair will become a hand. You can now pan with the left mouse button.

Although if you don't have a mouse with a wheel the best thing is to buy one- it's a far more efficient method.

[ReMark]

Now you tell me. Yeah, it's the Peter Pan command. Let's you fly around in your drawing.

You can also pan using Aerial view. Refer to AutoCAD Help for more details.

[dbroada]

If you don't have a mouse wheel, just type PAN <ENTER> and your crosshair will become a hand. You can now pan with the left mouse button.
just in case there are young people reading, you can also use 'PAN if you are already inside a command. This allows you to PAN without exiting the current command. :)

[GE13579]

Same goes for 'ZOOM... :)

(Both handy if there's no wheel present)

[Justin1981]

Hi.
Thanks for the help. My PC has a mouse with wheel with button. I worked out that the mouse wasn't set up right so thats why it wasn't working.
My Laptop on the other hand has a wheel but no wheel button. Can I assign the the PAN command to the left mouse button? I've found my way to Customise User Interface and changed the command for the left mouse button to be PAN but when I exit out the changes don't take effect. Do I need to load up these new settings some how? Any other suggestions?

[Tankman]

Assigning the left button to PAN doesn't sound like a good idea, you'll suffer from cell "shock!" :shock:

Just use the PAN at the command line.

Welcome to the forums Sparky! Where are you posting from?

[Justin1981]

I'm in Geraldton, Western Australia.

[GE13579]

I would have to agree with Tankman, the left mouse button is way too useful elsewhere. If you want you can shorten the command to P or 'P, providing you've not played around too much with your CUI?