Hi,

I use Paint Shop Pro and eventually I may want to switch to CS3.  I have Elements 3.0 on my computer and would like to play with it to get a head start on CS3 for when that day comes.  However, I find one thing MADDENING about Elements.

On PSP, when I use the scroll wheel on my mouse, it zooms in and out on the picture.  In Elements, it moves the picture up and down, which is useless (to me.)  Can I select and option anywhere to make Elements zoom in and out when I am scrolling the mouse wheel?

Thanks!

Holding down the ctrl and alt key while scrolling turns on the zoom feature no matter which tool is selected. BTW this also works in Photoshop and not just Elements.

You own me a beer.

MikeVan:

Holding down the ctrl and alt key while scrolling turns on the zoom feature no matter which tool is selected. BTW this also works in Photoshop and not just Elements. You own me a beer.

That does work... not as well as Paint Shop Pro, but better than nothing.  In PSP, the zoom centers based on where the cursor is and I've learned to use this to navigate the image with about 4,592 less steps (I counted - REALLY!) per editing session than Elements way of doing this!

By using the scroll wheel and cursor position to zoom in and out, you can easily navigate around the screen without ever having to use the slider bars on the side of the picture.  I suppose maybe I will learn to alternate between having the CTRL and ALT keys selected and letting up on them to use the wheel to move the slider bars, but I can't say it feels at all intuitive to me right now.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Let's say I am painting a mask and want to get to the details, I roll the scroll wheel (with the cursor over the area I want to zoom) and paint a little on the mask, then I roll the scroll wheel the other way and back out a little.  Then I move the mouse a little and position the cursor over the next area I want to zoom and roll the scroll wheel.  I zoom in on the new area of focus and keep painting.  I never have to click the mouse or go to the edges of the photo to grab any slider bars.  It TREMENDOUSLY reduces my mouse travel.  I have a 22 inch screen, so if I am constantly having to go to the edge of the screen and grab slider bars (which I don't like anyway) I am wasting a LOT of time and a LOT of mouse travel (and resulting wrist movement which can lead to strain or tiredness.)

I know it sounds like a "personal preference" thing, but really - on a logical level - it is much faster and uses much less movement to accomplish the same thing.  I'd have a tough time giving that up.

I guess you can download trial versions of CS3 when it comes out and I can make sure it will operate in a way that I would be comfortable with before I purchase it, but I truly wouldn't buy it if it won't work in that way.  It is just too much of a loss of functionality vs Paint Shop Pro.

Tom,

Ctrl and +   or Ctrl and -  zoom in and out in the way you describe, unless your route zooms from the mouse pointer.  Those combinations also work even when another editing or dialog window are open (e.g. Levels).

 Jim