Finding your way around Pendrilo Maps: the window, moving the map, zoom and undo

Pendrilo Maps has three areas: the tools, the map and the settings. This article shows you where each one is, how to move around the map and zoom in and out, and how to undo a change.

The Pendrilo Maps window

The window has three areas:

Left: the tools, from top to bottom: Select, Land, Symbol, Scatter, Line and Name. Below them are New World… and Fit.
Middle: the map itself. This is where you draw and place things.
Right: the settings. The top part shows the settings for the tool you've chosen, or for whatever you've selected on the map. Below that are the map's own settings: Title, Look, Page and Trimmings.

When you choose a tool or select something on the map, check the right-hand panel first. That's where you change its size, style or other details.

The first-run sample map and tour

The first time you open Pendrilo Maps, it shows a finished sample map, sized for a 6 × 9 inch book page. It also starts a short welcome tour that points out the main parts of the window.

To replay the tour at any time, choose Help → Getting Started. You can use the sample map to try things out. Changes to it are kept only if you save them, so you can also open a new map and experiment there.

Moving around the map

You can move the map in any of these ways:

Scroll with the mouse wheel to move up and down.
Drag with the middle mouse button to move the map in any direction.
Hold Space and drag with the left mouse button to move the map in any direction. This is useful if your mouse has no middle button.

Zooming in and out

Hold Ctrl and scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in or out.
To see the whole map again, click Fit on the left, or choose View → Fit Map to Window.

Zooming changes only how the map is shown on your screen. It doesn't change the map or its size on the page.

Undoing a change

To undo your last change, press Ctrl+Z, or choose Edit → Undo. You can keep undoing to go back further.

Undo works on anything you've done, including a whole New World. If you roll a new world and don't like it, press Ctrl+Z to bring back the map you had before.

Saving your map

Each map is saved as its own file, with the extension .mapmaker. Your work saves itself as you go, so you don't need to save by hand. To keep a copy of a map under a different name, use File → Save As.

Getting help

Help → User Guide… opens the Pendrilo Maps help section at pendrilo.com/help/maps in your browser.
Help → Getting Started replays the welcome tour.
Help → Send Feedback… sends a note to us. It works the same way as in Pendrilo Studio and the Formatter.