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[edit] Normal axis locking

Blender has a very useful option: if you want to…

• S - Scale,
• R - Rotate,
• G - Move/Grab/Translate,
• E - Extrude,

…the selected object, the operation can be constrained to one axis:

Press the appropriate key to start the operation (e.g. S to scale), then press X, Y, or Z to constrain to the corresponding global axis.

If the same “axis” key is pressed again, the operation is constrained to the object’s local axis (by default : it depends in fact on the selected transform orientation). E.g. G, X, X to constrain to the object’s local X axis.

[edit] Move/Translate

Press:

• G, X for the global X-axis (along left-right).
• G, Y for the global Y-axis (along forward-backward).
• G, Z for the global Z-axis (along up-down).

Translation/Grab with locked axis X, Y and Z.

[edit] Rotate

Press:

• R, X for the global X-axis (around left-right).
• R, Y for the global Y-axis (around forward-backward).
• R, Z for the global Z-axis (around up-down).

Rotation with locked axis X, Y and Z.

[edit] Scale

Press:

• S, X for the global X-axis (along left-right).
• S, Y for the global Y-axis (along forward-backward).
• S, Z for the global Z-axis (along up-down).

Scale with locked axis X, Y and Z.

[edit] Plane axis locking

You can lock two axes at once at both the global and the local axes. Press ⇧ ShiftX, ⇧ ShiftY or ⇧ ShiftZ to lock the other two axes:

• ⇧ ShiftX - Uses Y+Z
• ⇧ ShiftY - Uses X+Z
• ⇧ ShiftZ - Uses X+Y

[edit] Move/Translate

• Press G, ⇧ ShiftX to move only along the global Y-axis and Z-axis (not left-right).
• Press G, ⇧ ShiftY to move only along the global X-axis and Z-axis (not forward-backward).
• Press G, ⇧ ShiftZ to move only along the global X-axis and Y-axis (not up-down).

Translation/Grab with locked axes Y+Z, X+Z and X+Y.

[edit] Rotate

For rotation pressing ⇧ Shift has no effect (except for the display of different axes).

Rotating an object by locking two axes has the same effect as using only one axis to lock it, as rotation using two axes will rotate the object on the unlocked axis.

[edit] Scale

• Press S, ⇧ ShiftX for the global Y-axis and Z-axis (not left-right).
• Press S, ⇧ ShiftY for the global X-axis and Z-axis (not forward-backward).
• Press S, ⇧ ShiftZ for the global X-axis and Y-axis (not up-down).

Scale with locked axes Y+Z, X+Z and X+Y.