NOTE: [key] next to a menu item indicates a keyboard shortcut.

Full Screen  [F1 on Mac, F11 on other platforms]

Switches to full screen mode, automatically hiding the menu bar, the status bar, the tool bar, the pattern folder and the scroll bars. To exit from this mode just hit the same function key or any unassigned shortcut key, like "q". [Currently not supported on X11.]

Fit Pattern  [f]

Changes the scale and location so the entire pattern fits within the current view.

Fit Selection  [F]

Changes the scale and location so the entire selection fits within the current view.

Middle  [m]

Moves the origin cell (0,0) to the middle of the view.

Restore Origin  [9]

Restores the true origin. The origin cell can be changed by hitting "0" while the cursor is over the view -- the cell under the cursor will become the new origin and its location will be displayed as 0,0. This can be handy for measuring distances or for saving a location and returning to it quickly by hitting "m".

Zoom In  [* or ]]

Zooms in by doubling the current scale. If the scale is 1:16 then you can't zoom in any further.

Zoom Out  [/ or []

Zooms out by halving the current scale. Golly has an unbounded universe so you can zoom out as far as you like.

Set Scale

This submenu lets you set the scale from 1:1 to 1:16. A quicker method is to use these keyboard shortcuts: "1" for 1:1, "2" for 1:2, "4" for 1:4, "8" for 1:8 and "6" for 1:16.

Show Tool Bar  [']

Shows or hides the tool bar at the left edge of the window. [On X11 the tool bar is above the status bar.]

Show Status Bar  [;]

Shows or hides the status bar at the top of the window.

Show Exact Numbers  [e]

If ticked then the status bar is made larger and exact numbers are displayed instead of using scientific notation.

Show Grid Lines  [l]

Shows or hides the grid lines. Use the Preferences dialog to change the spacing of the major grid lines, or to set the minimum scale at which grid lines should be displayed (1:4, 1:8 or 1:16).

Swap Cell Colors  [b]

If ticked then the colors used to display cell states are swapped. Use the Preferences dialog to change these (and other) colors.

Buffered

If ticked then window buffering is used to avoid flicker, but it does slow down pattern rendering a bit so you might prefer to live with the flicker. Note that buffering is always used if grid lines are displayed or if a selection is visible.

This option is disabled on Mac OS X because windows are automatically buffered.

Pattern Info  [i]

Displays any comments in the current pattern file.