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Manual - Blender 2.4x

[edit] Keyboard and mouse

This chapter gives an overview of the general mouse and keyboard usage in Blender and the conventions used in this Manual to describe them, as well as tips on how to use non-standard devices.

[edit] Conventions in this Manual

This manual uses the following conventions to describe user input:

• The mouse buttons are called LMB (left mouse button), MMB (middle mouse button) and RMB (right mouse button).
• If your mouse has a wheel, MMB refers to clicking the wheel as if it were a button, while Wheel means rolling the wheel.
• Hotkey letters are shown in this manual like they appear on a keyboard; for example G which refers to the lowercase ''g''. When used, the modifier ⇧ Shift is specified just as the other modifier keys, Ctrl and/or Alt ; this gives, for example, CtrlW or ⇧ ShiftAltA.
• 0 NumPad to 9 NumPad, + NumPad and so on refer to the keys on the separate numeric keypad. NumLock should generally be switched on.
• Other keys are referred to by their names, such as Esc, ⇆ Tab, F1 to F12.
• Of special note are the arrow keys, ←, → and so on.

[edit] General Usage

Blender's interface is designed to be best used with a three-button mouse. A mouse wheel is quite useful, but not essential.

Because Blender makes such extensive use of both mouse and keyboard, a golden rule has evolved among Blender users: Keep one hand on the mouse and the other on the keyboard. If you normally use a keyboard that is significantly different from the English keyboard layout, you may want to think about changing to the English or American layout for your work with Blender. The most frequently used keys are grouped so that they can be reached by the left hand in standard position (index finger on F) on the English keyboard layout. This assumes that you use the mouse with your right hand.

[edit] Mouse Button Emulation

It is perfectly possible to use Blender with a two-button mouse or an Apple single-button Mouse. The missing buttons can be emulated with key/mousebutton combos. Activate this functionality in the User Preferences, View and Controls Context, Emulate 3 Button Mouse button.

The following table shows the combos used:

	2-button Mouse	Apple Mouse
LMB	LMB	LMB (mouse button)
MMB	AltLMB	⌥ OptLMB (Option/Alt key + mouse button)
RMB	RMB	⌘ CmdLMB (Command/Apple key + mouse button)

All the Mouse/Keyboard combinations mentioned in the Manual can be expressed with the combos shown in the table. For Example, ⇧ ShiftAltRMB becomes ⇧ ShiftAlt⌘ CmdLMB on a single-button mouse.

[edit] NumPad Emulation

The Numpad keys are used quite often in Blender and are not the same keys as the regular number keys. If you have a keyboard without a Numpad (e.g. on a laptop), you can tell Blender to treat the standard number keys as Numpad keys in the User Preferences, System & OpenGL Context, Emulate Numpad button. A detailed description can be found on this BsoD page.

Manual