5. View

Contents of the View menu

The View menu contains commands that affect the visibility or appearance of the image and various elements of the interface.

New View

This command can be accessed from an image menubar as View->New View.

"New View" creates a new image window for the current image, which you can set up differently than the existing display. You can create multiple displays of any image: only the zoom level and other viewing options can differ, though. Any other changes made in one view are reflected in any other displays that show the same image. One common use for multiple views is if you are working on individual pixels, at a high zoom level: it may be useful for you to see at the same time the effects of your changes on the image as it would normally be viewed.

You can delete a new view by closing the window it creates. Closing the last remaining display for an image will cause the image itself to be closed, but if this would lead to any loss of data, you will be asked to confirm that you really want to do it.

Zoom

The Zoom submenu of the View menu

The "Zoom" commands can be accessed from an image menubar, in the submenu View->Zoom. In GIMP 2.2, you can also zoom an image using the Zoom button on the image window. Zooming means changing the magnification level of the image. Zooming in to an image is useful for pixel-level image modifications, and zooming out can be handy for working with broad effects. Note that zooming is not undoable, because it does not affect the image data, only the way it is displayed.

Here are the available Zoom commands, along with their default keyboard shortcuts if any:

Zoom Out.  (Shortcut: -) Each time "Zoom Out" is used, the zoom factor is decreased by about 30%. There is a minimum zoom level of 6%.

Zoom In.  (Shortcut: +) Each time Zoom In is used, the zoom level is increased by a factor of around 30%. The maximum possible zoom level is 1600%.

[Note] Note

The keyboard shortcut for "Zoom In" has been a subject of some controversy, because this is a very commonly used operation, and on English keyboards it requires the Shift key to be pressed. (For European keyboards, it does not.) If you would like to have an easier shortcut, you can create a dynamic shortcut for it; see the help section for User Interface Preferences for instructions.

Fit Image in Window.  (Shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-E). This command zooms the image as large as possible while still keeping it completely within the window. Padding will probably show on two sides of the image, but not on all four sides.

Fit Image to Window.  This command zooms the image as small as possible without requiring any padding to be shown: it causes the image to fit the window perfectly in one dimension, and extend beyond the window borders in the other dimension.

A:B.  Here you have a series of menu entries for specific zoom levels, including, most importantly, the 100% zoom level, which has a simple keyboard shortcut: 1

Other.  This command brings up a dialog that allows you to choose any zoom level you want, within the allowed limits of 6% to 1600%.

    Shrink Wrap

    This command can be accessed from an image menubar as View->Shrink Wrap, or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-E.

    "Shrink Wrap" resizes the window so that it precisely matches the dimensions of the image display at the current zoom level, unless this would cause it to be larger than the viewable area of the monitor. Note that you can make this happen automatically by setting the options "Resize window on zoom" and "Resize window on image size change" in the Image Window page of the Preferences dialog. Note also that this behavior is not implemented by GIMP itself, but rather by the window manager, so it is possible that in some very broken environments it might not work, through no fault of GIMP's.

    5.1. Dot for Dot

    This command is found in Image>View/Dot for Dot.

    Turns "Dot for Dot" viewing on or off. When turned on, every pixel in the image is shown as one pixel on the screen, on condition that the zoom ratio is 1:1.

    Actually, it is set at a general level in the Preferences menu. Here, you can set it for your image.

    Another condition for the Dot-for-Dot to be effective is that the image resolution is set to the screen resolution in the Preferences menu.

    If your image is intended for a Web site, this option is suitable but not if it is intended for printing.