Snap View to Object

[RP_Schmidt]

Many 3d pmodeling programs have the ability to snap the view to a selected item; edge, vertex, plane, or an entire mesh.

Does Illustrator have this ability? 

If not, I would like to request it.

There have been many times I have been working in Illustrator and while between zoom and the hand tool there are many ways to navigate a canvas, it would be great if I could press a single button and snap/ zoom to that single selected item.

It would make work much faster and it seems like it would be a simple addition.

If it already exists, it wouls be great if someone could clue me in on it.

Thank you!

[Pariah Burke]

Easy. Select the object you want to zoom to--either on the artboard, on the Layers panel, or various other ways of selecting the object--and then zoom in with CMD++/CTRL++ or out with CMD+-/CTRL+- . Illustrator will zoom toward or away from the selected object.

[RP_Schmidt]

Thank you, that is useful. I guess I just wish it was a single press to snap straight in to the object, not a few pressses in steps.

[Bobby Henderson]

The Ctrl/Cmd and + keyboard combination works okay for zooming into a selected object. I think it's more convenient to simply toggle the Ctrl and Spacebar keys to bring up the zoom tool. GPU-enabled animated zoom allows a mouse or pen to drag the zoom view in and out. The spacebar can toggle the hand panning tool. The combination of both allows on-the-fly fine adjustments of the view. If I'm using the pen tool to draw clean paths over some scanned imagery I can toggle those zoom and hand panning tools without going to a tool bar or drop-down menu. When the Ctrl and Spacebar keys are released the previous tool (such as the pen tool) is restored. The description sounds a little complicated but the keyboard shortcuts are very fast in actual use.

[RP_Schmidt]

The existing tools are good, it's not that they aren't. I guess I'm just used to being able to snap in and out rapidly for selection and adjustment, rather than incrementally, so it feels slower doing it that way.

I use the hand tool a lot, and of course, mouse wheel zoom. But sometimes in larger compositions, it can take a few ticks to get where I'm going and get it in the position I need it.

But the CTRL++ (I changed that in keyboard preferences) works okay for that.

[Bobby Henderson]

I don't even use a mouse wheel zoom in Adobe Illustrator -at least not unless something happens that disables the GPU-enhanced animated zoom functions. With animated zoom I can zoom in or out very fast if I want to do so. If I want to zoom into an object I just place the zoom tool over it and with the Ctrl and Spacebar keys pressed I mouse/pen drag into the the desired object. The nice thing about animated zoom is it allows for a fine tune adjusted view of the artwork. The view can be zoomed in fast or in a slower gradual manner. It just depends on how the pen/mouse is dragged. Using the Ctrl and + keys is an uncomfortable keyboard combination (I can't quickly press both with my left hand while my right hand is holding a pen or mouse unless I move my hand over to the right end of the keyboard). The Ctrl and Spacebar combo can be toggled with the left hand while the right hand holds the mouse or pen. Even without animated zoom the Ctrl, Alt and Spacebar keys can be useful for toggling zoom in or zoom out tools, but it takes mouse clicks to jump various steps into or out of the view, similar to how clicking the Ctrl and + keys behaves.

[RP_Schmidt]

I have always hated the zoom tool, personally. I don't like to change out of the tool I actually want to use in order to zoom in. Also, I changed the ctrl++ command to the keyboard . button, so just one keyboard tap. It's a motion I'm used to, so it just works better for me. Each to their own.

[Bobby Henderson]

What I'm talking about does not involve a persistent zoom tool or mousing back and forth to tool bars to switch tools.

Using the Ctrl & Spacebar keyboard shortcut the zoom tool is merely toggled into view, temporarily overriding the current tool in use, be it the pen tool or something else. When the Ctrl & Spacebar keys are released the zoom tool reverts back to the previous tool. That's all without mousing back and forth to a tool bar.

Illustrator has the best keyboard shortcuts for tasks like manually drawing clean paths over placed "dirty" artwork. With my left hand on the keyboard I can manually edit anchor points and path segments while I'm drawing them by using different keyboard shortcuts. And I can bring up the zoom tool and hand panning tool on the fly at the same time. None of Illustrator's rivals (such as CorelDRAW or Affinity Designer) can do this nearly as well.

[RP_Schmidt]

I get it. You like it the way it is. Good for you. I don't agree. Thank you for your feedback.

[Pariah Burke · Accepted solution]

@RP_Schmidt I solved it for you the way you want it to work.

Reading through your conversation with @Bobby Henderson , I understood how useful it would be to you to have a single keyboard shortcut that zooms to the selected object, and that the built-in Illustrator method I described above isn't the most convenient for you. That made me think there must be a way to create the functionality you want by scripting Illustrator. And there was. I scripted a zoom to selected object function for you. You can even bind it to a keyboard shortcut with the below instructions (which are also in the script's download ZIP).

First, download my script and the installation instructions, then follow these instructions to add it to Illustrator and to bind it to a keyboard shortcut:

Zoom to Selected Object in Adobe Illustrator

Version 1.0 | 2025-04-06

by Pariah Burke https://iampariah.com

This script centers the view on the currently selected object(s) and adjusts the zoom so that the selection fits within the active artboard.

----------------------------------------

Installation

----------------------------------------

For Mac

1. Install the Script

• Move the Script:

Place the PSBZoomToSelected.jsx file into the Illustrator Scripts folder located at:

/Applications/Adobe Illustrator 2025/Presets.localized/en_US/Scripts

(Adjust the language folder if needed.)

2. Restart Illustrator

• If Illustrator is running, close and reopen it to load the new script.

----------------------------------------

For Windows

1. Install the Script

• Move the Script:

Place the PSBZoomToSelected.jsx file into the Illustrator Scripts folder, typically located at:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator 2025\Presets\en_US\Scripts

2. Restart Illustrator

----------------------------------------

Bind the Script to a Keyboard Shortcut

----------------------------------------

1. Open the Actions Panel:

Go to Window > Actions.

2. Create a New Action:
   • Click the New Action button at the bottom of the panel.
   • Name the action (e.g., “Zoom to Selection”) and assign a function key (with optional modifier keys) for the shortcut.
   • Click Record.
3. Run the Script:
   • Navigate to File > Scripts and select PSBZoomToSelected.
   • The script will execute, and the action will record this step.
4. Stop Recording:
   • Click the Stop button in the Actions panel.
   • Your new keyboard shortcut is now active.

----------------------------------------

Run the Script

----------------------------------------

You can now execute the script either via the assigned keyboard shortcut or by navigating to File > Scripts > PSBZoomToSelected.

----------------------------------------

By following these instructions, you’ll have the PSBZoomToSelected.jsx script installed and accessible via your custom keyboard shortcut in Adobe Illustrator 2025 on both Mac and Windows. Enjoy better zooming!