Ubuntu: Up and Running

Zooming In and Out

Have you ever used the Zoom facility in Firefox and other browsers to view a web page in larger or smaller type? Well, you can do exactly the same thing with Ubuntu, which offers seven different levels of zoom control over the display of items in the file browser (but not of the desktop icons).

This makes it easy to locate documents even if you have limited visibility, and it is also a great feature for using Ubuntu on a device with a small screen, such as a MID, UMPC, or Netbook. You might want to reduce the size of icons or text so you can see more of them on a small screen, or because you have the luxury of a large monitor that lets you see small things clearly. On the other hand, you can increase the size to see them more clearly on a small screen, at the cost of viewing fewer at one time.

Figure 6-11 shows the icons reduced to their next-to-smallest size so more of them can fit in the file browser.

Figure 6-11. The result of zooming out a few times

Zooming in

To zoom in or enlarge the file browser icons, you can use any of the following controls:

• Hold down Ctrl and press the + (plus sign) key

• Hold down Ctrl and scroll the mouse wheel forward

• Right-click the file browser background and select Zoom In

Zooming out

To zoom out or decrease the size of file browser icons, use one of the following combinations:

• Hold Down Ctrl and press the – (hyphen) key

• Hold down Ctrl and scroll ...