Magic Gestures

Astropad Studio’s Magic Gestures streamline your productivity, enhancing your workflow all from your iPad Pro. With 1-2-3 fingers and Apple Pencil, commands and functions are right at your fingertips.

Apple Pencil Required Gestures

For these gestures, hold your fingers on screen while using Apple Pencil.

There are 3 Magic Gesture types that utilize Apple Pencil; 1 finger and Pencil, 2 fingers and Pencil, and 3 fingers and Pencil. Once you remove your fingers from the screen, the gesture deactivates.

• With a Finger and Pencil, you can set Magic Gestures to erase.

• With 2 Fingers and Pencil, you can set Magic Gestures to Right Mouse Click; for command menus and functions.

• With 3 Fingers and Pencil, you can set Magic Gestures to a Modifier key, or even Middle Mouse.

Functions that can be assigned to these gestures include:

Eraser 

Command/Ctrl and E lets you utilize an Eraser tool if available in a program. Hold your fingers on screen, and eraser with your Pencil.

Hover

Move around your cursor on screen, without leaving a mark! Crosshairs will show up on screen where you place Apple Pencil’s tip. Hold your fingers on screen and hover with your Pencil.

Right Mouse Button 

Use Apple Pencil as a Right Mouse button. This is helpful for 3D sculpting and rendering software.

Middle Mouse Button

Use Apple Pencil as a Middle Mouse button; another shortcut that is helpful for rendering programs.

Modifier Keys  

Command, Option/Alt, Shift, and Control can be set individually or combined as commands. For example, select both Option/alt and Shift in a gesture, and it would be the same as if these two keys were tapped together. Shift key set as 2 Fingers & Pencil gesture using ZBrush

Gestures without Apple Pencil

Like magic, you can use your fingers to control functions from your iPad Pro. Tap 2 or 3 fingers at the same time on your iPad Pro screen, to activate your most heavily used commands quickly and effortlessly.

These gestures can be utilized without Apple Pencil; so even if you’re drawing with your fingers, Fingers tap is available and ready for use!

• Two Fingers Tap to Undo, with no limits

• Three Fingers Tap to Redo and change your composition in moments

• Set these Fingers Tap Gestures to your preferred commands and shortcut keys at any time. More information on how to edit shortcuts is available here

Undo & Redo

Default commands set to 2 and 3 fingers tap gestures. These gestures are application-specific shortcuts, and can always be edited, renamed, and saved for different workspace uses.

Panning & Zooming

Using two finger gestures you can pan and zoom your canvas like you would using a Mac or some Windows trackpads. Unlike Move & Zoom, this allows touch pan and zooming directly in your creative program’s canvas. Two fingers pinching gesture to zoom; and two fingers together dragging along the screen to pan.

Also using two fingers gestures, you can rotate your canvas left or right. This feature is supported in programs that have a native trackpad rotation gesture.

Customizing Gestures

Want to change a gesture for use with a different program? No worries! Magic gestures can be customized and edited at any time from the sidebar.

For Apple Pencil-required gestures, tap Magic Gestures from the Main Menu sidebar.

Convenient Shortcuts:

1 Finger + Pencil

For Illustration and drawing –  Hover; Eraser; or Option/alt.

For 3D or other rendering type programs –  Hover; Middle Mouse Button; shift + control; or Option/alt + Control + Shift.

2 Fingers + Pencil or 3 Fingers + Pencil

For Illustration and drawing –  Shift; Option/alt; Control; or hover

For 3D or other rendering type programs –  Middle Mouse Button; or Right Mouse Button; Shift + Control

Options will be available to reconfigure each Finger-with-Pencil combination. An individual preview line color can also be set or to an Apple Pencil gesture.

After you’ve chosen the function for a Finger & Pencil gesture, tap “Back” at the top of the sidebar and it will be changed and saved.

For Finger Tap Gestures, select Workspace from the Main Menu. Tap “Edit Shortcuts”, and options to edit will be towards the bottom. One thing that makes them different from the Fingers & Apple Pencil Gestures is that you can set them to any keyboard shortcut.

Convenient Shortcuts:

For Two Fingers Tap:

Option/alt; ⌘Z, Ctrl+Z;  or Option/alt ⌘Z or Ctrl+Z

For Three Fingers Tap:

⌘Y/Ctrl+Y; Option/alt ⌘Z/Ctrl Z; Delete; or Shift ⌘N/Ctrl Z

Disabling Gestures

Selecting “No Action” will disable the gesture, but this can always be changed back at any time.