Viewports

You can view models through one, two, or four viewports.

To open four viewports:

  • Click Four View (Standard Views toolbar) or Window > Viewport > Four View.


You can choose the following viewport arrangements from the Window menu or the Standard Views toolbar:

  Tooltip Views Displayed
Single View User-specified
Two View - Horizontal Front and Top
Two View - Vertical Front and Right
Four View Front, Right, Top, and Trimetric (Third Angle), or Front, Left, Top, and Trimetric (First Angle). Specify First Angle or Third Angle in Tools > Options > System Options > Display .
  • The lower left corner of each viewport displays the current orientation.
  • To choose a different orientation, click the View Orientation (Heads-up View toolbar).
  • When you switch from multiple viewports back to a single viewport, the model displays the orientation of the active viewport. If you then switch back to multiple viewports, the orientations are the defaults again.
  • You can change the orientation or rotation of a model in any viewport independently as long as the viewports are not linked.

Linking Orthogonal Views

You can link orthogonal views. Non-orthogonal views (such as Isometric, Trimetric, etc. or custom orientations) are not linked.

To link orthogonal views:

Click Link Views (Standard Views toolbar) or Window > Viewport > Link Views.
The icon on the flyout View pop-up menu indicates linked viewports.
Functionality with linked views:
  • Zooming and panning are linked for all orthogonal views.
  • View rotation using the pointer is not available.
  • If you rotate a view out of its orthogonal orientation, the view is no longer linked.
  • If linked views is on and you rotate a view into orthogonal orientation, the view becomes linked.