Using the mouse wheel

Background

The default action of scrolling the mouse wheel is to change the circular cursor size.

When Mouse wheel focus is enabled, you can scroll the mouse wheel up or down to change the Z-position displayed on screen in the main window. Note that enabling mouse wheel focus disables the ability to change the circular cursor size using the mouse wheel. However, you can benefit from both mouse wheel functions by holding down Ctrl on the keyboard while moving the mouse wheel to adjust the circular cursor size when mouse wheel focus is enabled and vice versa.

Preferences that affect mouse wheel functions

  • Change the Z distance per wheel click by typing in the desired distance in µm.

    Go to File > Preferences > Movement > Mouse Wheel to change this setting.

  • Enable the mouse wheel to change marker size by setting the Marker Size preference to Intrinsic.

    Go to File > Preferences > Tracing > Markers. Look for Marker Size and select Intrinsic.

  • Enable or disable mouse wheel focus in preferences (equivalent to clicking Mouse wheel focus on the Move ribbon).

    Go to File > Preferences > Movement > Mouse Wheel and check Focus with mouse wheel.

You can also move up and down in the Z orientation using the Page Up and Page Down keys on your keyboard.

Procedures

Focusing (moving in the Z orientation) using the mouse wheel

  1. Enable Mouse wheel focus: Go to the Move ribbon and, click Mouse wheel focus if it is not already enabled.

    Alternatively, you can go to File > Preferences > Movement > Mouse Wheel and check Focus with mouse wheel.

  2. Scroll the mouse wheel in the main window to focus or move in the Z orientation.

Adjust cursor size to change line thickness while drawing contours around ROIs

Changing the line thickness used for drawing contours can be useful for visualization of contours during or after drawing regions of interest.

  1. Disable Mouse wheel focus: Go to the Move ribbon and, if Mouse wheel focus is enabled (clicked), disable it by clicking the icon.

    Alternatively, uncheck Focus with mouse wheel in File > Preferences > Movement > Mouse Wheel.

  2. Scroll the mouse wheel to change the circular cursor size as you draw.

  3. (optional) To display the thickness of the line, click Thickness on the Trace ribbon. Note that it may be easier to trace structures when line thickness is not displayed while you are tracing.

Adjust cursor size to change marker size using the mouse wheel

Using large markers can be useful for visualization of a few markers in large images. Conversely, using small markers is typically preferred when placing many markers or to avoid obscuring nearby markers and/or the structures being marked.

  1. Disable Mouse wheel focus: Go to the Move ribbon and, if Mouse wheel focus is enabled (clicked), disable it by clicking the icon.

    Alternatively, uncheck Focus with mouse wheel in File > Preferences > Movement > Mouse Wheel.

  2. Set the Marker Size preference to Intrinsic: Go to File > Preferences > Tracing > Markers. Look for Marker Size and select Intrinsic.

  3. Choose a marker from the marker tool bar and scroll the mouse wheel to change the circular cursor size as you place markers.

Implement both circular cursor size adjustment and focusing with the mouse wheel

It can be helpful to utilize both functions of the mouse wheel without needing to repeatedly enable/disable mouse wheel focus in the Move ribbon or in Preferences. To easily implement both functions, choose one of the following procedures.

With Mouse wheel focus enabled

  1. Enable Mouse wheel focus: Go to the Move ribbon and, click Mouse wheel focus if it is not already enabled.

    Alternatively, you can go to File > Preferences > Movement > Mouse Wheel and check Focus with mouse wheel.

  2. Scroll the mouse wheel in the main window to focus or move in the Z orientation.

  3. Scroll the mouse wheel while holding down Ctrl on the keyboard to adjust the circular cursor size.

With Mouse wheel focus disabled

  1. Disable Mouse wheel focus: Go to the Move ribbon and, click Mouse wheel focus if it is not already disabled.

    Alternatively, you can go to File > Preferences > Movement > Mouse Wheel and uncheck Focus with mouse wheel.

  2. Scroll the mouse wheel in the main window to adjust the circular cursor size.

  3. Scroll the mouse wheel while holding down Ctrl on the keyboard to focus or move in the Z orientation.