User interface features only in Rhino for Mac

A number of commands and features are available only in the Rhino for Mac version. There are additional ways you can invoke commands besides clicking tool palette buttons or typing a command.


Mouse features

Apple Magic Mouse

To use the right-mouse click function in Rhino

Navigating with a Magic Mouse

Multiple-button mice

To set up the extra buttons to run commands, go to Rhinoceros > Preferences > Mouse > Buttons and enter the commands for the mouse buttons.


Trackpad features

On a trackpad, two fingers can pan and rotate viewport views.

You can also assign commands to three-finger or four-finger swipes on the trackpad. In our tests, the four-finger left and right swipes can be unreliable, and the four-finger up and down swipes never work. If you want to try these, remember that the Mac OS X also assigns actions to these gestures, so you will need to disable the OS X settings in System Preferences.


Screen edge

You can run a command by touching the edge of the computer screen with the mouse cursor.

Set the commands to run in Rhinoceros > Preferences > Mouse > Screen Edges. Type the command you want executed when you touch a screen edge.


Additional commands

The following commands have been added to Rhino for Mac for use in mouse gestures, trackpad gestures, and mouse buttons.

_-Layer _Visible=_Toggle _Enter: Toggles the Layers panel on and off.

ToggleObjectPropertiesPanel: Turns the Properties panel on and off. This is especially useful as a Screen Edge command. For example: In Rhinoceros > Preferences > Mouse on the Screen Edges tab, in the Right edge edit box, type ToggleObjectPropertiesPanel. Touching the right screen edge will then turn the Object Properties panel on and off.

ToggleLeftSidebar: Shows or hides the left sidebar.

ToggleRightSidebar: Shows or hides the right sidebar.

ShowToolPalette: The command options are: ToolPalette={name of tool palette}, UnderCursor={Yes,No}, and AsMenu={Yes,No}. The command _ShowToolPalette _ToolPalette=Popup UnderCursor=Yes AsMenu=No _Enter will activate the Popup tool palette under the mouse cursor.

ToggleOsnapPanel: Turns the OSnap panel on and off.

ToggleOsnapPanelUnderCursor: Pops up the OSnaps panel under the cursor, making it easy to change OSnap settings. The panel disappears when you move the cursor off the panel. Assign this command to a mouse button if you have a mouse with more than three buttons, or to a trackpad swipe gesture.

ToggleActiveToolPalettes: The active tool palettes are all the tool palettes that are currently visible. This command lets you turn those tool palettes on and off.

In Rhinoceros > Preferences > Tool Palettes, the Hide tool palettes when starting commands option lets you keep tool palettes hidden. The ToggleActiveToolPalettes command, along with these settings, lets you show the tool button palettes only when you need them.


Tips for modeling on smaller laptops

You can comfortably model on a 13“ laptop using only the built-in trackpad and a combination of the above settings. Try the following as a guide:

System Preferences > Trackpad > More Gestures

Rhinoceros > Preferences > Trackpad

Rhinoceros > Preferences > Tool Palettes

Rhinoceros > Preferences > Mouse > Screen Edges