Canvas

The Canvas is the area where you will edit your gauge designs. It can hold any number of gauges, and it will overlay different editing tools depending on the layer type being edited or specific tool selections.

Whatever you see on the canvas is what will be exported or printed, except for any drawing aids or tools.

Licensing

Some of the features on this page require a subscription, as described on the Login & Subscriptions page:

Standard

• Save Canvas
• Export Gauge
• Print Gauge (Export PDF)

File & User Operations

At the top of the Canvas area there is a set of controls that will allow you to manage your gauge files, as well as your login and subscription options.

Sample Gauges

The Sample Gauges button will show you a list of prebuilt gauges that you can load to explore how they were made on GaugeMaster Pro.

Sample files default file name

Since the sample gauges work like templates that you can adapt to your needs, the default file name after selecting any of them will be Untitled.gmpro.

New Canvas

Use this button to clear the entire Canvas, with all its gauges, and start a new design. After pressing this button the current file name will default to Untitled.gmpro.

Changed in GaugeMaster Pro 2

The New Gauge button of previous versions is now New Canvas, since individual gauges can also be added to the canvas with Add Gauge. The keyboard shortcut is unchanged.

Load Canvas

Use this button to open any of your gauge files created by GaugeMaster Pro, which should have the file extension .gmpro.

If you converted any of your old iPad or Mac GaugeMaster files to GaugeMaster Pro format with those apps’ conversion tools, you should be able to open them as well. If you were to have any issues with your converted files please contact us at support.

Save Canvas

Use this button to save the current design on the canvas in GaugeMaster Pro format. Gauge files saved by GaugeMaster Pro will have the file extension .gmpro.

Why are there no file thumbnails?

Being GaugeMaster Pro a web app, it doesn’t have the ability to interact with your machine’s file system in the manner required to provide thumbnails for your saved gauge files. Make sure to use meaningful names when saving your files as you will not see thumbnails for them on your machine’s file browser.

Export Gauge

Use the Export button to export the whole canvas, or just the active gauge, to any of the following formats:

• PNG
• JPEG
• SVG

Check the Print and Export Gauges section for more information on the process and formats.

Print Gauge (Export PDF)

Use this button to print, or export to PDF, the whole canvas or just the active gauge.

Check the Print and Export Gauges section for more information on the process and options.

File name

After the file handling buttons on the Canvas header bar, the app will always display the current gauge’s file name. This is updated when creating a new canvas, opening an existing gauge file, or saving the current canvas with a new name. For new canvases the file name will default to Untitled.gmpro.

The filename will be prefixed by a ● if the current file has been modified in any way since loading or saving.

Help

The Help button will open a popup window with some quick tips on how to create a gauge, a list of keyboard shortcuts, and links to further help and support options.

App version

The popup’s title also shows the exact app version, so you can tell at a glance which build you are on. Very handy when reporting issues!

Color Theme

GaugeMaster Pro has a full dark mode. A dropdown on the canvas header lets you choose between the Light, Dark and System themes, with System following your operating system’s appearance.

The theme choice is remembered on your device, as it is a personal preference and not part of the gauge file.

Login & Subscriptions

The User button will give you access to the Account & Subscription menu from where you will be able to Sign Up or Sign In and manage your subscriptions.

Read all about it on the dedicated Login & Subscriptions page.

Undo/Redo

Use the Undo button to undo any unwanted actions and restore the canvas to a previous state. Use the Redo button to restore undone actions that you want to recover. If either button is disabled it is because there are no more actions to undo or redo.

Active Gauge Frame

The active gauge shows a frame (bounding box) with a header bar on the Canvas. The header shows:

• The gauge name.
• The gauge’s position on the canvas.
• The gauge’s diameter, prefixed with the diameter symbol Ø. A gauge with a size preset shows its fixed diameter, while a Free gauge shows the current diameter of its content.
• A zoom-to-fit button, to frame just that gauge on your screen.

Drag the header bar to move the gauge around the Canvas.

A click on the canvas away from any layer deselects the layer and the gauge, leaving no gauge selected: the gauge frame and all editing aids disappear, rendering a clean canvas with only your designed gauges.

When is the frame shown?

To keep the canvas uncluttered, the gauge frame is only drawn for the active gauge, and only once that gauge has at least one layer or a size preset set. It also gets out of the way automatically while you are dragging a layer control.

Gauge frames are only a design aid, so they are never included on printed or exported gauges.

Global Snap

The Global Snap is used to force any edited radius or angle values to multiples of the selected snap value. The snap grids adapt to the current measurement unit. Check The Magic of Snapping for more details on how to work with snapping.

Quick Global Snap with Shift key

When editing any radii or angles on a gauge on the Canvas, you can hold the Shift key to temporarily apply the middle snap grid (the classic 5 px / 5° segment). This will allow you to quickly snap radii and angles to multiples of 5 (or equivalent measures in units other than px) for precise positioning at commonly used values.

Layer Snap

Use Layer Snap to match the radii and angles of the layer being edited against all the other layers on the canvas. Check The Magic of Snapping for more details on how to work with snapping.

Quick Layer Snap with Alt/Option key

When editing any radii or angles on a gauge on the Canvas, you can hold the Alt/Option key to temporarily turn ON layer radius and angle snapping, for quick layer matching.

Zoom & Pan

The GaugeMaster Pro Canvas starts at 100% zoom and centered on the (0,0) coordinate. With the zoom buttons you can zoom in and out, up to x10, or reset it.

The Zoom to Fit action, with the Option/Alt + = shortcut, zooms and pans the canvas to fit all your gauges on screen. The = key still resets the zoom and centers the canvas. Each gauge frame header also has its own zoom-to-fit button, to frame just that gauge.

You can use the following controls to Pan the Canvas on both macOS and Windows:

• Scroll operation on a Trackpad (usually with two fingers)
• Drag with Middle Mouse Button pressed

You can also use the following controls to Zoom the Canvas on both macOS and Windows:

• Alt + Scroll up and down on trackpad (usually with two fingers)
• Alt + mouse Scroll Wheel

Canvas vs App zoom

While the Canvas Zoom & Pan can be controlled with the above operations, as well as with the GaugeMaster Pro Shortcut Keys, you can also zoom in or out the entire app to suit your preference. By using the following browser shortcut keys you will be able to zoom in/out the entire browser window content:

Action	macOS	Windows
Zoom In	Cmd + +	Ctrl + +
Zoom Out	Cmd + -	Ctrl + -

Remember though this is a browser keyboard shortcut, and not under the control of the GaugeMaster Pro app, so check the browser’s help information if it doesn’t work with the above keys.

Space Bar clears all controls

To quickly view your gauge design without any control or outline overlays on the canvas, press the space bar at any time to hide anything but your gauge layers, to see how it will look when printed or exported.

If the space bar doesn’t seem to work, it is very likely that your cursor is still editing one of the fields on the Settings bar. Just press Esc to clear the focus from the settings field and then the space bar will clear the canvas as expected.