Layout View Zoom Tools

[NicholasLook]

Migrating to Pro from using Desktop for many years and need a way to add zoom in/out tools for the Layout to the toolbar. I understand that using the Navigate button and holding shift will do the job, but I need a single button tool (like the rectangle zoom in/out tools) as my disability makes constantly using 2 hands to zoom around my layout a pain.

Anyone know of any UI mods/python scripts/anything to get a single use Layout Zoom tool? Thanks very much for any assistance.

[Eugene_Adkins]

If your layout is active, you can hold down on the right mouse button and control your zoom levels by moving the mouse.

Hope that helps.

[DavidPike]

You can also add the zoom-in by rectangle (same as ArcMap) tool into the quick access toolbar (very top left set of icons - at the end of those you will see a small down arrow -> customise the Ribbon.  There you can add the zoom tool and also the fixed zoom-out tool (I guess the rectangular zoom-out went as it made no logical sense!)  You can also get to the same menu by right-clicking in one of the ribbons (navigate, Layer, Selection etc.) and 'customise this ribbon'.  Eugene's right mouse button method is also easy and intuitive when you get used to it.

[NicholasLook]

Thank you. I've got the Rectangle Zoom In/Out tools on my Quick bar already which function as the Data View zoom tools in ArcMap did but they don't work when in Layout view. The Shift+Navigate Button functionality but as a separate tool is what I am trying to create so that I can just use one hand to zoom in on the Layout. I tested out most of the "zoom" type tools that I could add to the Quick Access bar and I couldn't find one that worked in Layout. 

The continuous zoom feature in Pro is simply not precise enough of a tool imo. Especially when working over a corporate network and it can take a long time for data to load in the frame. 

[Eugene_Adkins]

Activate your layout and the zoom functionality you normally use with your map will become available in the layout. When finished, close the activation via the layout tab.

[NicholasLook]

Eugene,

There might be a misunderstanding. That "Activate" button is for the Map Frame and will take you inside whichever Map Frame is currently selected. I'm trying to replicate the Shift+Navigate Button function so that I can zoom in on all Layout elements (multiple map frames, legends, scale bars, and graphics). Thank you.

[Eugene_Adkins]

Ok. Only other thing I can suggest is (when in layout mode) you can highlight/select the layout item(s) of your choice (some or all of the items you mentioned above) in the drawing order pane, then use the zoom to selected elements tool in the navigate section of the ribbon (or right-click/zoom to selected). I realize you're looking for a way that does not require two hands, so selecting multiple layers at once may not be achievable with this workflow, but it would still allow you to highlight an individual layer/feature/element and zoom to it without having to constantly use the zoom function on the mouse.

Hope that helps. If not, and if no one else is able to help find a better solution, maybe you can submit an idea for a more comprehensive tool to ESRI. 

[EmikoCarrell]

Nicholas, like you I am really frustrated that this functionality was removed in ArcGIS Pro. I'm perplexed that it's not a more popular tool. I hate having to use 2 hands to get a precise zoom. Besides that, I find the shift key workaround is sometimes glitchy. If you like, please upvote my idea to add a Rectangle Zoom Layout tool:

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/rectangle-zoom-for-layout-view/idi-p/943531

[VeraNeroni1]

I agree with Nicholas - this is a function I used to use in ArcMap all the time, and it is very frustrating to have to work without it. It was one of the tools I used the absolute most.

To recap: looking for way to zoom in on map elements *without* having the map activated.

Existing options and why they don't work as well:

- scroll zoom - takes longer, and is not as precise; have to do trial and error of multiple zoom levels and scroll to get desired result; plus if running over a network (which we are, often) have to account for load time and it takes even longer. The old tool was very precise - you select where you want to go and it went there immediately.

- there is a zoom to selected elements button in layout view - not as good, because 1) it requires additional clicks, where it used to be a one-click task, and 2) it zooms in too close (zooms to only part of an element, when I need the zoom area to be slightly outside it).

Would really like to have this functionality be added back into the software.

*note: there seem to be other, older, idea posts that are talking about this issue as well, so it seems to be an ongoing issue - hopefully will get noticed.