The Canvas

The canvas is the main workspace in Knovis. It's zoomable, pannable, and has no fixed boundaries. Items can be placed anywhere, at any size, in any arrangement.

Panning and zooming

Move around the canvas by dragging the background. Zoom in and out with Ctrl + scroll wheel. These shortcuts work the same in all navigation modes.

Navigation modes

Knovis supports three navigation modes to match how you prefer to work. Switch between them in the View menu.

Mode Pan Zoom in (Land) Zoom out (Takeoff)
Standard Drag background Ctrl + left-click background Ctrl + right-click background
Knovis (Mouse + Keyboard) Ctrl + drag Ctrl + left-click background Ctrl + right-click background
Knovis (Mouse Only) Right-drag Left-hold, then right-click Right-hold, then left-click

Middle-click drag always pans in any mode, useful as a quick override.

Takeoff and Landing

Takeoff and Landing are preset zoom levels you can jump to instantly. Takeoff pulls back to show your full environment. Landing zooms into a detailed view. Both can be customized per environment in the View menu.

Tip: Use Takeoff to get your bearings, then Land on the area you want to work in. It's faster than scrolling manually across a large canvas.

Selecting and moving items

Click an item to select it. Drag it to move it. Hold Shift and click to select multiple items, then drag to move them together.

Double-click an item to activate it, which opens its target (a file, link, or media content).

Zoom and detail

Items in Knovis render at different levels of detail as you zoom in and out. Thumbnails are sharp at close range and simplified when the canvas is pulled back. This means you can have hundreds of items in one environment without it feeling cluttered at a distance.

Context menu

Right-clicking the canvas background opens a menu with options for creating new items, adding waypoints, setting the background image, and more. Right-clicking an item opens item-specific options like editing, copying, or deleting.

The Nav Panel

The Nav Panel is a collapsible side panel that gives you quick access to your waypoints, routes, and playlists without opening a separate window. Open it from the View menu or with its toolbar button.

From the Nav Panel you can:

  • See all waypoints in the current environment and jump to any of them
  • Switch between routes and step forward and backward through them
  • Start, pause, and stop playlists
  • Add new waypoints at the current view

The Nav Panel is designed to stay out of your way during presentations. It floats over the canvas edge and can be hidden entirely so your audience only sees the environment.