Zoom It is an on-screen magnifier that’s always available to give you a closer look at whatever you’re doing on your Mac. The Zoom It magnifying loupe stays at your fingertips via simple keyboard shortcuts, but it never interferes with your work or stops you from using all the shortcuts and commands you’re used to.
You can customize Zoom It shortcuts, keep the loupe on-screen, or just show it for a moment when you need it. The loupe moves naturally, centered over your cursor, and you can make it round, rectangular, big, or small, and zoom its magnification level up to 500%.
Zoom It is great for:
• Designers who need a closer look at layout and design elements, palettes, and tools.
• People who wear reading glasses or find themselves straining to see small elements on-screen.
• Project collaborators who need to send each other detailed screenshots.
• Presenters who want to highlight specific areas of an on-screen presentation for an audience.
Zoom It 1.1
• Larger loupe available.
• Toggle between round and rectangular loupes with a single keyboard shortcut.
• Activate the welcome screen from your menu bar.
• Restore default keyboard shortcuts with one click.
• Set Zoom It to start up on system startup from the Settings menu.
• Zoom It’s screenshot file saving tool automatically remembers the location where you stored your last screenshot.
With Zoom It you can:
• Set the app to open when you start your Mac so that the magnifying loupe is always available but stays hidden until you want to use it.
• Use all of your usual keyboard shortcuts, trackpad controls, and mouse clicks at the same time as the loupe.
• Show the loupe temporarily with a simple keyboard shortcut.
• Keep the temporary loupe on-screen just by holding the Z key, and make it disappear by simply releasing the key.
• Use a simple shortcut to make the loupe stay on-screen permanently, without holding the Z key.
• Click, type, and select inside the magnified area.
• Choose between a round or rectangular loupe.
• Quickly change the size of the loupe.
• Easily adjust the amount of magnification, up to 500%
• Customize keyboard shortcuts for all Zoom It functions.
• Take a screenshot of what the Zoom It loupe is showing.
Requirements:
• Intel Processor.
• Mac OS X v10.5.x or later.
• No special hardware needed.
"When small text comes along, you must Zoom It." - Mac|Life
★★★★★ "Although your Mac will already have a zoom function built in, Zoom It is much sleeker and lets you magnify areas without loosing the rest of your screen." - HotMacApps.com
Ubiquitous availability.
The first time you use Zoom It, the app will ask you if you want it to open automatically every time you start your Mac. Just say yes, and the Zoom It loupe will always be available, no matter which software you're using. You can show the loupe for just a moment with a simple keyboard shortcut, or you can keep it on-screen while you work.
Zero interference.
Zoom It never takes over your menu bar, stops your software from functioning normally, or gets in the way of other controls while you're using it. The loupe moves naturally along with your cursor, and you can always click, type, and select inside the magnified area. Zoom It works with your other software programs, not against them.
Just the view you need.
Using the Zoom It loupe lets you magnify just the area of your display that you need a closer look at, without changing your view of the whole screen. It's always quick and easy to adjust the size, shape, and magnification level of the loupe with simple keyboard shortcuts.
No keyboard shortcut conflicts.
When you use the control-Z shortcut to show the Zoom It loupe temporarily, you can keep it open just by holding the Z key down. That means you can always use the control key for other functions such as cutting, copying, and pasting, even while you're using the loupe.
No trackpad or mouse conflicts.
Zoom It won’t interfere with your mouse or trackpad controls. You can always right-click, Command-click, and use gestures while you’re using the loupe.
Easier navigation for complicated palettes and tools.
Graphics and design software often includes palettes and toolbars displaying multiple small icons that can be hard to see. Instead of leaning forward to peer at your screen, you can sit back and use Zoom It to get a clear view of small icons, tools, and color patches.
Specific screenshots.
Zoom It makes it easy to take a screenshot of a specific item on your screen, at a magnification level that will make it easy for people to see. All it takes is a single keyboard shortcut. You won't have to open your screenshots in an image editor to fix them up before sending them to colleagues and collaborators. You can take screenshots with or without the Zoom It loupe border, too.
No need for glasses.
Instead of reaching for reading glasses every time you strain to see a small item on your screen, you can use Zoom It to quickly magnify the item without taking your hands off the keyboard.
Customizable controls.
All of Zoom It's functions can be controlled with simple keyboard shortcuts, and you can customize them to suit the way you work.
"When small text comes along, you must Zoom It." - Mac|Life
★★★★★ "Although your Mac will already have a zoom function built in, Zoom It is much sleeker and lets you magnify areas without loosing the rest of your screen." - HotMacApps.com
Round Loupe
Rectangular Loupe
Customize Settings
How to use
Keep working
<
>
3 - 5
The first time you open Zoom It, you will be asked whether you would like the app to open at login. We recommend you select this option so that Zoom It starts running every time you turn your Mac on, and is always just a quick keyboard shortcut away.
You can control Zoom It by using keyboard shortcuts or via the dropdown menu that opens when you click the Zoom It icon on the right side of the menu bar at the top of your screen.
Here is an overview of all of Zoom It’s functions and how to use them:
Show the loupe temporarily.
When you want to use the Zoom It loupe for just a moment, you can show it temporarily by using a keyboard shortcut.
Default shortcut: Control-Z
As long as you hold the Z key down, the loupe will stay on-screen. You can release the Control key after the initial keystroke, which allows you to use it for other shortcuts while you still have the temporary loupe on-screen. You can highlight text, drag and drop, right click, and command click—even when you’re just using the temporary loupe.
To make the temporary loupe disappear, simply release the Z key
Show/hide the loupe permanently.
To keep the Zoom It loupe on-screen permanently, without holding down a key, you can use a keyboard shortcut or select the Show/Hide Loupe option in the Zoom It menu.
Default shortcut: Option-Z
To make the loupe disappear, use the same menu option or keyboard shortcut.
Select the loupe shape.
You can use a rectangular loupe or a round one. To change the loupe’s shape, use the keyboard shortcut or select the Loupe Shape option in the Zoom It menu. Zoom It has a single default keyboard shortcut for the loupe shape to make it easy to toggle between rectangular and round.
Default shortcut:
Control-0
Adjust the loupe size.
You can adjust the size of the loupe in eight increments, from little to extra large. To adjust the size, use a keyboard shortcut or select the Loupe Size option in the Zoom It menu.
Default shortcut:
Increase size: Control-]
Decrease size: Control-[
Adjust the loupe magnification (zoom) level.
Naturally, you can zoom with Zoom It. To adjust the level of magnification the loupe applies, use a keyboard shortcut or select the Loupe Zoom option in the Zoom It menu.
Default shortcut:
Increase zoom level: Control-=
Decrease zoom level: Control--
Power Tip:
If you use a Wacom tablet, you can assign one of the function keys to show/hide "Zoom It."
An editor for the French avosmac.com magazine says it was the first thing he did.
Customize your Zoom It keyboard shortcuts.
Zoom It’s default keyboard shortcuts are designed to make using the loupe quick and efficient. But if you’d like to do things differently, you can customize the shortcuts so that Zoom It works the way you do. Here’s how to do it:
1. Open the Zoom It menu and select Settings.
2. Click the shortcut field of the function whose shortcut you want to customize.
3. When you see the text “Type shortcut,” press the keys that you want to use for a shortcut to the function.
Take a screenshot of the magnified area.
To take a screenshot of the area displayed inside the loupe border, you can use a simple keyboard shortcut.
Default shortcut: Shift-Command-2
Take a screenshot of the magnifier area, including the loupe border.
If you’d like your screenshot to include the loupe border, use the following series of commands:
1. Open the loupe permanently (see #2).
2. Press and hold: Shift-Command-4
3. Press and release: Space
4. Click with your trackpad or mouse on the loupe.
