Using the Navigator, Info and Document info panels in Vectornation
How the Navigator, Info and Document info panels and saved views in Vectornation by Zaweba help you find your way round and check large drawings.
Large drawings can be hard to steer around and harder to check. Vectornation by Zaweba has three small panels for that, Navigator, Info and Document info, plus saved views. None of them draws anything, but together they tell you where you are, what you've selected and what the file contains.
Navigator
The Navigator panel shows a small picture of the whole drawing with the part you are looking at marked on it. When you are zoomed far into a detail of a poster or a map, it reminds you where that detail sits in the whole, and it lets you jump to a different area without zooming out first. On big artwork, such as a long banner, a wall graphic or a sheet of many artboards, it is far quicker than scrolling.
Saved views
Saved views keep a particular position and zoom so you can come back to it later. If you keep returning to the same few places in a drawing, like the logo, the small print in the corner and a tricky join in the middle, save each as a view and switch between them instead of zooming and panning each time. It is a small thing, but over a long job it adds up.
Info
The Info panel reports about the current selection and pointer. Leave it open while you work on something that needs to be exact, such as a sign panel, a cutting job or interface pieces that must land on whole numbers, and glance at it as you move and resize. It pairs well with smart guides, which show measurements on the canvas as you drag, and with the Ruler tool, which measures distance, angle and area.
Document info
The Document info panel describes the drawing as a whole. Use it as a check before you send a file anywhere, for example to see what kinds of content the drawing holds. A file that looks simple on screen can be carrying leftovers that don't belong, and finding them before a printer or client does is far less embarrassing.
Where these panels fit in
Think of the three panels as instruments rather than tools. The Navigator gets you around, Info tells you about the thing in front of you, Document info tells you about the file. They suit the end of a job as much as the middle, when you are looking over a drawing before it goes out, and they work well floated in their own window or put on a second monitor, where they can sit open without crowding the canvas.
For print work, follow Document info with the dedicated print checks, such as preflight, separations preview and colour proofing. For screen work, follow it with a look in Pixel preview at 100%. The panels are the overview; the specialist tools take care of the details.
Small habits that help
Keep the Navigator open on big drawings and closed on small ones, where it only takes space. Save views as soon as you notice yourself going back to the same spot twice. Leave Info open when sizes matter. And make a look at Document info part of your routine before you export or send any drawing to someone else.
These panels are modest, but on a complex file they are the difference between feeling lost and knowing exactly where everything is.
