Trackpad Gestures
Use your laptop trackpad to pan, zoom, and navigate the canvas. Two-finger gestures provide full control in both 2D and 3D views.
Gardenly3D is designed to work with laptop trackpads. All primary navigation actions — pan, zoom, and context menu — are available via trackpad gestures without needing an external mouse.
Trackpad gestures work in both 2D and 3D views. Most gestures behave identically in both views; the key exception is that three-finger gestures may behave differently depending on your system settings.
A minimum movement threshold of 6 pixels is required before a pan gesture registers. This prevents accidental canvas movement when you tap or lightly rest fingers on the trackpad.
Pan — two-finger drag
Place two fingers on the trackpad and drag in any direction to pan the canvas.
- Horizontal drag — pans the canvas left or right
- Vertical drag — pans the canvas up or down
- Diagonal drag — pans in the diagonal direction
Panning works in both 2D and 3D views. In 3D, two-finger drag translates the camera (not orbits — orbit is not available on trackpad via two-finger drag; see the 3D orbit note below).
Movement threshold — the canvas does not begin panning until the two fingers have moved at least 6 pixels. This prevents the canvas from jumping when you position two fingers for a gesture.
Two-finger pan on a trackpad is equivalent to middle-click + drag on a mouse. It is the primary navigation gesture for day-to-day canvas work.
Zoom — pinch / spread
Place two fingers on the trackpad and pinch them together (zoom out) or spread them apart (zoom in).
Zoom is centered on the midpoint between the two fingers — position your fingers over the area of interest before pinching to zoom toward that area.
Pinch/spread zoom works in both 2D and 3D views:
- 2D — zooms the plan view scale
- 3D — dollies the camera forward (spread) or backward (pinch)
Pinch and swipe can be performed simultaneously — spread two fingers while dragging them sideways to zoom and pan at the same time.
In 2D, zoom follows the cursor — position the cursor over the area you want to see before scrolling in for precise control.
Context menu — two-finger tap
Tap the trackpad with two fingers to open the context menu at the cursor position. This is equivalent to a right-click.
The context menu content depends on what is under the cursor:
- On entity — entity actions (Edit, Duplicate, Lock, Group, Delete, etc.)
- On empty canvas — canvas actions (Paste, Select All, Grid Settings)
Two-finger tap works in both 2D and 3D views. In 3D, the context menu shows 3D-specific entity actions.
Horizontal and vertical swipe
Fast two-finger swipes without lifting produce a momentum-based pan:
- Horizontal swipe — pans the canvas horizontally. A fast swipe produces momentum scrolling that decelerates naturally.
- Vertical swipe — pans the canvas vertically with momentum.
This matches the natural macOS scrolling behavior. The momentum scrolling can be interrupted at any time by placing a finger back on the trackpad.
Horizontal swipe is equivalent to Shift+scroll wheel on a mouse.
Momentum swipe is useful for quickly navigating large projects — give a fast swipe to launch across the canvas, then place a finger down to stop at the target area.
Three-finger drag
Three-finger drag may pan the canvas depending on your system trackpad configuration:
- macOS — three-finger drag is a system-level gesture that moves windows by default. If you have configured three-finger drag for window movement in System Settings > Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options, it will move the browser window rather than panning the canvas.
- If three-finger drag is not configured as a system gesture, it acts as a pan in the canvas (same as two-finger drag).
For predictable canvas panning, use two-finger drag rather than three-finger drag.
If three-finger drag on macOS unexpectedly moves the browser window, check System Settings > Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options and disable three-finger drag if you prefer to use it for canvas panning.
3D orbit on trackpad
In the 3D view, orbiting the camera (rotating around the scene) requires:
- Two-finger drag while holding the Option/Alt key (Alt) — orbits the camera in 3D
- Or use a mouse with a middle button for standard middle-click + drag orbit
Without Alt held, two-finger drag in 3D pans the camera. Holding Alt switches the same gesture to orbit.
This modifier convention is consistent with other 3D applications on laptop trackpads.
If you frequently work in 3D on a laptop, consider connecting an external mouse. Middle-click + drag for orbit is more comfortable for extended 3D navigation sessions than holding Alt with a trackpad.
These gestures work on both macOS and Windows precision trackpads. On older non-precision touchpads that do not report multi-touch, use the on-screen alternatives: the Pan tool (H) to pan, and the zoom controls in the status bar to zoom.
When your cursor is over a side panel (such as the plant browser or inspector), two-finger scroll scrolls that panel instead of zooming the canvas. Move the cursor over the canvas first to zoom, or over the panel to scroll its contents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does two-finger scrolling zoom the canvas instead of scrolling the page?
Gardenly3D treats two-finger scroll as a zoom gesture while your cursor is inside the canvas area. This is standard behavior for design application canvases. If you want to scroll within a side panel (such as the plant browser or inspector), move your cursor over the panel first — trackpad scroll will then scroll that panel normally.
Do trackpad gestures work on Windows laptops?
Yes — two-finger scroll to zoom, pinch-to-zoom, Shift + two-finger scroll to pan horizontally, and two-finger tap for the context menu are all supported on Windows Precision Touchpads. On older non-precision touchpads that do not report multi-touch to the browser, gestures may not work. In that case, use the Pan tool (H) to pan and the status-bar zoom controls to zoom.
The view keeps zooming or moving after I lift my fingers — can I change that?
Scroll momentum follows your operating system's trackpad settings, not a Gardenly3D preference. On macOS, open System Settings > Trackpad > Scroll & Zoom to adjust the scroll behavior. On Windows, the setting is in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad. There is no canvas-specific momentum control inside Gardenly3D.
How do I orbit the 3D view on a trackpad without an external mouse?
Use the orientation cube (the small 3D navigation widget in the corner of the 3D view): click its faces to snap to preset angles, or drag it to orbit freely. Clicking an entity first sets the orbit point on that element so it stays centered as you rotate. Use Zoom Fit in the left toolbar's zoom flyout to re-center on the whole design.
Pinch zoom is not working — what should I check?
First confirm that pinch-to-zoom is enabled in your system trackpad settings (macOS: System Settings > Trackpad > Scroll & Zoom > Zoom in or out; Windows: Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad > Pinch to zoom). If pinch zoom is enabled system-wide but still does not work inside the browser, check that your browser is not intercepting the gesture (some browser zoom settings override application-level pinch handling). Try Ctrl + 0 in the browser to reset browser zoom to 100%, which resolves this for most users.