How to Enable/Disable Smart Mouse & Guides

How to Enable/Disable Smart Mouse & Guides


Smart Mouse is a drawing aid that can help the cursor precisely snap to a point on another object when you are drawing. Snap constraints like Smart Mouse are particularly useful when creating technical illustrations or documents in which micron-precision is paramount since it can snap the pointer to the corners, edges, and other points of objects.

To Open the Smart Mouse Palette:
  • Choose Window | Palettes | Smart Mouse & Guides...
  • Choose Layout | Smart Mouse & Guides | Show Palette...
  • Press Ctrl+Alt+[ (Windows) / Alt+Command+Q (Mac)

To Turn on or off the Smart Mouse:

To turn on or off the Smart Mouse, do one of the following:

  • Choose Layout | Smart Mouse & Guides | Smart Mouse On or Smart Mouse Off.
  • Press F9 to toggle Smart Mouse on or off (Win) / Press Shift+Command+S  to toggle Smart Mouse on or off (Mac)
  • Select or deselect the Smart Mouse On checkbox in the Smart Mouse and Guides palette.

To Open the Smart Mouse & Guides Palette and Activate Virtual Guides:

  1. To open the Smart Mouse & Guides palette and customize the settings, do one of the following:
    • Choose Window | Palettes | Smart Mouse & Guides...
    • Choose Layout | Smart Mouse & Guides | Show Palette...
    • Press Ctrl+Alt+[.
  2. Click the Guides tab.
  3. Select the Virtual Guides On checkbox.
  4. Configure the settings as described in the table below.

To Toggle Virtual Guides On or Off:

Do one of the following:

  • Choose Layout | Smart Mouse & Guides | Virtual Guide On or Virtual Guide Off.
  • Press F10.
  • Select or deselect the Virtual Mouse On checkbox in the Smart Mouse and Guides palette.

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