10 Keyboard Shortcuts That Every Scan2CAD User Should Know

Scan2CAD already helps CAD users around the world save hours of time every working day by automating the raster-to-vector conversion process.

But what if I told you that you could save even more time?

Scan2CAD has a number of great keyboard shortcuts that can help to speed up your workflow and boost your productivity.

Want to learn how to use them?Here’s a guide to our top 10 shortcuts…

Learn how to…

Move around the screen

Zoom in and out

Get set up

View vectors

View vector grab points

View vectors by color or type

Vectorize

Undo

Rotate raster image

Tidy up vectors

1. Moving around the screen

Thoroughly checking your image before and after conversion is the best way to avoid errors and ensure best results. Using the keyboard shortcuts in the list on the right means that you can view your image in great detail whilst still ensuring no part of the image is left unchecked. This means you can take a systematic approach to checking your image.

UpDown

LeftRight

Ctrl + UpCtrl + Down

Ctrl + LeftCtrl + Right

Pan up incrementallyPan down incrementallyPan left incrementallyPan right incrementally

Pan up by a pagePan down by a pagePan left by a pagePan right by a page

Tip: When should you use shortcuts to move around the screen?

These shortcuts are especially helpful when cleaning up a raster image, tidying up a vector image or just checking vectorization results.

1. Zoom in until you can see all the detail2. Press Ctrl + Right to move one screen to the

right3. Repeat screen by screen until you’ve moved across

the image4. Press Ctrl + Down to move down.5. Press Ctrl + Left to move left, and go across6. Keep going until you have moved through the

entire drawing

MD

F

Scroll wheel on your mouse

MagnifyDe-magnify

Fill screen with the selected area

Zoom in around your cursor position

2. Zooming in and out

Zooming is an intuitive and simple process—just click on the magnifying glass, or use a keyboard shortcut! Please note, though, that these shortcuts are different to those you may be familiar with from programs such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Office.

When you select an area of your image, you can also use the F key to enlarge it to fill the screen.

Shift + IShift + PShift + FShift + G

GP

ECT

Shift + LShift + H

3. Getting set up

Every designer will have different preferences as to how their workspace is set up. Scan2CAD is no different—that’s why you can select from a number of different viewing settings.

In the next few slides, we’ll also be going into detail on how some of these settings can be used.

Toggle these on/off:Grid display Palette display Raster fading Vector ghost display

Grab point displayPolygon and polyline endpoint display Bezier control point display Viewing vectors by color/typeText extents display Vector line width display Polygon outline display

VRB

View Vectors onlyView Raster onlyView Both vector and raster

4. Viewing vectors

You can choose whether to display your vector image only, raster image only, or both. This is a useful tool for comparing your original raster image with the vector image created by the conversion process. These keyboard shortcuts are a quick and easy way to toggle between the different views and compare and contrast between the images.

G

P

Toggle between Grab Points On/Off

Toggle between Grab Points On/Off (applicable for polyline and polygon end points)

5. View vector grab points

It’s easy to see where your vectors start and end by viewing grab points. Grab points are placed:

● at the ends of a vector line● at the centre and 12 o’clock points of a vector

circle● at the mid points of an arc● at text origin points

You also use Grab Points to move vectors around the screen – just position your cursor over the grab point and drag the vector to its new position.

C

6. View vector elements by type

Choosing to view vectors by type means that different types of vectors will be differentiated from one another on screen by being displayed in different colors. The full list of colors for each line type is:

● Continuous lines Red● Dash lines Black● Arrow lines Gray● Hatch lines Brown● Polylines Green● Circles Dark blue● Arcs Magenta● Bezier curve Pale blue● Text Magenta

Toggle between viewing vector by Color or by Type

F5

F6

F7

Ctrl + F5Ctrl + F6Ctrl + F7

Vectorize raster text only (OCR)Vectorize raster image without textVectorize raster image with text

Undo raster text recognitionUndo vectorizationUndo text recognition and vectorization

7. Vectorize

Scan2CAD makes vectorization a one-click process — but if you’d rather use your keyboard, it can just as easily be a one-stroke process using the commands on the right.

You can choose whether to vectorize text, lines, or both — and if things don’t go to plan, it’s just as easy to undo them by hitting the same key again + Ctrl.

Ctrl + Z Undo edits

8. Undo

Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, so you’re almost definitely familiar with this one. If not, then say hello to the most useful keyboard shortcut on your computer.

Using Ctrl + Z gives you the freedom to take a trial-and-error approach whilst perfecting your vector image. With Scan2CAD, you can undo up to 256 actions!

Ctrl + L Rotate by Line9. Rotate raster image

Need to deskew a raster image before you vectorize it? This is one of our favourite tips to do just that!

When you select the Rotate by Line tool, Scan2CAD will prompt you to draw a reference line. Draw this line on top of a skewed line which should be exactly horizontal or vertical. Scan2CAD will use this line as a reference to detect the angle by which the image is skewed. The tool will then automatically rotate the image, giving you perfect alignment!

AE\

. (full stop)

, (comma)

Attach End Points On/OffEnd Point Snap On/OffExtend a vector

Increase Grab Snap Distance (by one value up)Decrease Grab Snap Distance (by one value down)

10. Tidy up vectors

Attach End Point determines which grab points are moved together:

Extend Grab Point ‘stretches’ one vector to meet another vector:

Grab Snap Distance defines how close two vector end points must be for them to snap together.

Can’t tell whether Attach End Points is switched on or off?Just check at the bottom of your screen!

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For more tips and tricks, be sure to check out our blog!

Each week, our team explores a different topic from the world of CAD and its related fields. We’ve got guides to file conversion, introduction to the different CAD file types, as well as DIY tutorials to get you started with Scan2CAD!

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