Mouse wheel: Illustrator != Photoshop

[RandomDS]

Is there any setting (hidden or otherwise) that will make the mouse wheel behave the same in Illustrator as it does in Photoshop? In particular, I would like the wheel to zoom without holding down the Alt key, and Shift+Wheel to zoom in whole multiples of 100%, just like in PS.

In my work, I have to switch back and forth between the two apps a lot, and the inconsistency drives me a little nuts.

[Skullmaker]

Hello RandomDS,

In my mac I use Option + wheel to Zoom in and out, Command + Wheel makes my page go from side to side, But my ignorance on PC OS does not allow me to give a definitive answer, but probably a clue that should be a set of keys that can do the Zoom for you. Good luck!

[Zeno_Bokor]

Photoshop has a Zoom with Scroll Wheel checkbox in Preferences->General while Illustrator doesn't so no, you can't have it zoom without holding down Alt. I'd say go make a Feature Request in the forums or here: http://www.adobe.com/go/wish

[RandomDS]

Damn, I was afraid you'd say that.

OK, I've posted a feature suggestion via that link you specified. Is there any evidence that Adobe is paying attention to those submissions?

[TeamSport90]

Have you tried altering your mouse properties from control panel or it's software? Sometimes you can have program specific options there (PC at least) that may be able to help.

[RandomDS]

Funny you should ask... I'm a big fan of AutoHotKey; I already use it to do some pretty cool things and modify my mouse behavior. My first thought was to use AHK to make Illustrator think I'm holding down the Alt key whenever I use the mouse wheel in Illustrator. Unfortunately, it seems as if Illustrator is reading the state of the Alt key in some funky way, because I couldn't find a way to make this work. Illustrator still sees the actual state of the Alt key, not the simulated state sent by AHK.

However, I came up with a compromise that works for me. I can use AHK to send the Ctrl+Space+LeftClick and Ctrl+Alt+Space+LeftClick combinations when I use the mouse wheel in Illustrator. The behavior is slightly different from Alt+MouseWheel, because Illustrator centers the point where the mouse is located, rather than zooming around that point. But I can live with that behavior (I actually kinda like it). And there's an added benefit: mouse wheel zoom now works in Pixel Preview mode. (We're really working around the Adobe quirks now!)

In case any other Illustrator users want to do the same thing, here's the snippet of AutoHotKey script I'm using:

(make sure you un-wrap this text)

; --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; In Adobe Illustrator, make the mouse wheel zoom in and out without holding down the Alt key.

#IfWinActive ahk_class illustrator
WheelUp::
Send {Space Down}{Control Down}{LButton}{Control Up}{Space Up}
return

WheelDown::
Send {Space Down}{Control Down}{Alt Down}{LButton}{Alt Up}{Control Up}{Space Up}
return
#IfWinActive

[Mellifluous-Irony]

Here is another version, it zooms the frame, not from the mouse cursor.

wheelup::
Send {Ctrl Down}{=}
Sleep 50
Send {Ctrl Up}
Return
wheeldown::
Send {Ctrl Down}-
Sleep 50
Send {Ctrl Up}
Return

[zyxwzyxwzyxw]

#IfWinActive ahk_class illustrator

^WheelUp  ::SendInput^{+}

^WheelDown::SendInput^{-}

#IfWinActive

[kenblu24]

Go simpler.

#IfWinActive ahk_class illustrator

{

$wheeldown::!wheeldown

$wheelup::!wheelup

return

}

FOR THOSE WITH AUTOHOTKEY THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT.

Not quite as smooth as photoshop, but this is as close as we'll get.

[fghj3693]

I love you, I carry you looking for this two hours, have a free lunch in Spain

[dclevela3130w7]

I know this thread is old but this may be helpful to someone.

I use the program X-Mouse Button Control. http://www.highrez.co.uk/downloads/XMouseButtonControl.htm

1. Create a new profile called Illustrator (or whatever you want).

2. Panning:

For the Middle Button change the setting to "Simulated Keys" from the drop down. In the dialog box enter {space}{LMB} Under the "how to send the simulalted key strokes:" dropdown, select #3, During (press on down, release on up).

This configuration will let you click and hold the middle mouse button to pan around the screen i.e., the hand tool

3. Zoom In/Out:

For the Wheel Up change the setting to "Simulated Keys" from the drop down. In the dialog box enter {CTRL}+ Under the "how to send the simulalted key strokes:" dropdown, select #3, During (press on down, release on up).

This configuration will let you roll the mouse wheel up to zoom in.

For the Wheel Down change the setting to "Simulated Keys" from the drop down. In the dialog box enter {CTRL}- Under the "how to send the simulalted key strokes:" dropdown, select #3, During (press on down, release on up).

This configuration will let you roll the mouse wheel down to zoom out.

IMPORTANT!

For this to work correctly you need to change the default keyboard shortcuts "+" and "-" that would normally add or subtract anchor points. I changed mine to "Shift +" and "Shift-". X-Mouse gets confused at the end of the string. It thinks after you zoom in or out you want to either add or subtract a point depending on which way you rolled the wheel. This happens because of the "+" or "-" after the {CTRL}. By changing the shortcuts, the problem is eliminated and it defaults back to the last command you had running.

Hope this helps!

[eviltima]

I did the same with X-mouse but for Wheel Up i made {ALT}{MWUP}{ALT} so wheel would work in layers tab and coursor-centered zooming. Alt is twice to return focus from menu. Works not really well, but i like it more than Ctrl+-. Hope that helps.

[dclevela3130w7]

Thanks eviltima. Both ways seemed to work equally well for me. What would really be helpful is if Adobe would add this in to the preferences panel so we didn't have to go through all this. Inkscape has this feature for goshsakes! They also have an axonometric grid. Pretty sad when a free piece of software can do more than a purchased piece. That's why I dropped Lightwave for my 3D and started using Blender.

[karamiko]

Jan 2015 and we still don't have mouse wheel zoom in AI this is so  dumb from Adobe tbh.

[flippy_lumpy]

Hello guys! Noob here, any ways on how to make Illustrator zoom to act like in photoshop? I don't like that u need to press Alt and Ctrl for zoom in zoom out, while in PS u just need to press leftclick on mouse and that controls zoom in/out.

[marks59391491]

I came here to find out if this has been sorted yet... But no...

However, if you're a fan of 'Scrubby zoom' in Photoshop (Click and drag with the zoom tool, or click and hold space and ctrl and click and drag) you'll be please to know that that is now the default behaviour in Illustrator.

Of course Adobe being Adobe, with their phobia of consistency have decided to call it 'Animated zoom' and the option to turn it on or off can be found in the 'GPU Performance' section of the preferences.