This section contains a list of tips related to the Alias interface that will ease some tasks and increase your efficiency.
| If you do not see any view windows, or the view windows do not take up the full view window space, choose Layouts > All Windows > User Windows (or press F9) or Layouts > All Windows > All Windows. |
| If the Control Panel is not displayed, choose Windows > Control panel to make it visible. |
| Hotkeys show up next to the names of menu items. |
To see the Alias view windows full screen, without
borders or user interface elements, choose Layouts
> Full Screen. To return to the conventional display press  .
|
| Choose Construction > Grid Preset ❒ to customize the grid further. For example, you can turn on Labels to show distances between grid lines. |
| If a menu item or tool seems to have disappeared from the interface, choose Preferences > Menus > Long Menus. |
| You can customize which menu items and tools appear in the interface. Use Preferences > Interface > Hotkeys/Menus to turn items on or off, then choose Preferences > Menus > Short Menus. |
| To show only tools and menus related to painting, modeling or visualizing workflows, choose Preferences > Workflows > Paint, Modeling or Visualize, respectively. |
When setting up marking menus, hold  (Windows) or  (Mac) and double-click icons
to shorten (or abbreviate) the name of the tool. This allows for
narrower marking menus.
|
| You can customize the name of tools on the shelves by
holding the (Windows) or (Mac) key and double-click
the tool icon in the shelf.
|
| Assign a hotkey or marking menu item to the Windows > Palette and Windows > Shelves Commands. This way you can keep the palette and shelves windows closed until you need a tool not on your hotkeys or marking menus, saving you screen space. |
| You can hold the middle mouse button and drag the color from the Color Swatch in the Color Editor to a shelf |
| Values (for example x,y,z or u,v) can be typed on the prompt line with either a space or a comma separating the numbers. |
| If you type an r on the prompt line, the numbers you type after it are considered relative. If you type an a, the numbers are absolute. |
| Double-click a menu title to reselect the last command chosen from the menu. |
You can also hold  and click a tool icon or menu
item to open its option box.
|
You can hold the  (Windows) or  (Mac) key and drag left
or right over a text box to adjust the value inside
|
You can copy, cut, and paste text strings in Alias (for
example values in option boxes) by using + C (Windows)
or  + C (Mac), + X (Windows)
or + X (Mac),
and + V (Windows) or + P (Mac).
|
| If you make a mistake, choose Edit > Undo or + Z (Windows)
or + Z (Mac)
to step back.
|
Single key hotkeys (Preferences > Interface
> Toggle single hotkeys) let you use normal keystrokes
(without modifier keys) as hotkeys. To use the prompt line while
in single key hotkey mode, press the  key.
|
| Pressing the Space bar has the same effect as clicking the Go button that appears while using some tools. |
| Pressing + Space bar (Windows)
or + Space bar (Mac)
shows or hides an opened control window (such as the one for Align or Rail
surface).
|
| If Alias crashes, look for a file named wire\_M.SAVES\_msaved_<month>_<day>_<time>_Stage.wire under your current project. |
