Moving Around a Canvas

A Canvas has no edges, so most of the time you are moving across it, zooming in to work and out to see the whole picture. This page covers every way to get around, select things, and find what you are looking for.

Pan and zoom

Lino reads your input as either a touchpad or a mouse. Choose which in the Controller panel (the bottom-right corner): Controller Mode → Touchpad or Mouse.

	Touchpad	Mouse
Move the Canvas	Two fingers	Middle-button drag; wheel scrolls up/down, `⇧` + wheel scrolls sideways
Zoom	Pinch	`⌘` (or `Ctrl`) + wheel
Canvas menu	Right-click or double-click an empty spot	Right-click or double-click an empty spot

The Zoom Speed slider in the same panel (1–7) sets how fast pinch or ⌘-wheel zooms, separately for each mode.

The zoom indicator

The percentage in the bottom-right corner is the current zoom.

Drag it left or right to zoom out or in. When you let go, the zoom snaps to the nearest step.
Double-click it to jump to the object you changed most recently on this Canvas.

Minimap

Minimap (bottom-right) opens a small overview of the whole Canvas. Click or drag inside it to move there. Its button zooms to fit all content — or, when everything is off-screen, scrolls back to it. You can pin the minimap so it stays open.

Select objects

To	Do this
Select one object	Click it.
Add or remove one from the selection	`⇧`-click it.
Select an area	Drag on an empty spot to draw a selection box.
Add an area to the selection	Hold `⇧` and drag a box.
Toggle an area in or out of the selection	Hold `⌘` and drag a box.
Select everything	`⌘A`
Clear the selection	`Esc`, or click an empty spot.
Delete what's selected	`Delete`

Right-click a selection for actions on all of it — Group, Connect to..., Move to Canvas..., Copy to Canvas..., Remove instance, Delete and more.

Hold-key tricks

While you hold one of these keys, a hint at the bottom of the window tells you what it does. (You can turn those hints off in Settings → Shortcuts → Reduce shortcut hints; hints that tell you how to get out always stay.)

Hold	Then	What happens
`⇧`	Hover stacked objects	The bottom one comes to the front, so you can reach something hidden under another object.
`⇧`	Drag an object	The move is locked to horizontal or vertical.
`⌥`	Drag a Card, or click ⊕	Duplicates the Card.
`Space`	Hover an object	Focus Isolate: everything not connected to that object dims. Release `Space` to restore.
`Z`	Hover an object, then drag left/right	Zoom preview: the object is shown enlarged so you can read it without zooming the Canvas. Works when the Canvas is zoomed out below 40%.

Focus Isolate without a key

In Canvas Settings (bottom-right) → Focus Isolate, choose Hover instead of Space + Hover to dim unconnected objects whenever you hover something — no key needed.

Go back and forward

Lino keeps a history of the Canvases you visit. Use Go Back and Go Forward, the two arrows in the top-left beside the navigator button, the way you would in a browser.

Search & Replace on a Canvas

Press ⌘F (or click Search in the top-right corner) to open Search & Replace. It finds text in the Cards on this Canvas.

Type in Search... — the count shows how many matches there are, and the Canvas moves to each one.
Step through with Previous match / Next match (or ↑ / ↓).
To change text, type in Replace with... and click Replace (this match) or Replace All.

The panel's title says what it searches: Search in Canvas, Search in Selected (right-click several selected Cards → Search & replace) or Search in Card (right-click one Card → Search & replace). Click Pin panel to keep it open while you work.

Shortcuts at a glance

Shortcut	Action
`⌘Z` / `⌘⇧Z` (or `⌘Y`)	Undo / Redo
`⌘A`	Select all
`Esc`	Clear selection
`Delete`	Delete selected
`⇧A`	Quick add (search Artifacts and place one)
`⌘F`	Search & Replace
`⌘T`	Open the Start page
`⌘1` / `⌘2`	Canvas view / Bento view
`⌘\`	Toggle Zen mode

Every shortcut is listed in Settings → Shortcuts.

Canvas — what a Canvas is, the Canvas menu.
Canvas Settings & Zen Mode.
Bento view — the same Canvas as a tidy grid.