# QCAD Viewing Modes

**URL:** http://forum.qcad.org/t/qcad-viewing-modes/2867
**Category:** QCAD Tips and Tutorials
**Created:** [September 9, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](http://forum.qcad.org/t/qcad-viewing-modes/2867 "2016-09-09T15:45:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![andrew](http://forum.qcad.org/user_avatar/forum.qcad.org/andrew/32/7_2.png) [@andrew](http://forum.qcad.org/u/andrew)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](http://forum.qcad.org/t/qcad-viewing-modes/2867/1 "2016-09-09T15:45:52Z")

</div>

QCAD offers different viewing modes for the graphics view:

**Normal Mode**

This means that none of the viewing options is turned on.  
In this mode, line weights are shown in drawing units. A 1mm thick line is 1mm thick in drawing units. Zooming in makes lines appear thicker on screen.  
All line types are displayed with dashes and spacings in drawing units. A 2mm dash is shown as 2mm in drawing units. Zooming in makes dashes and spaces appear longer on screen.

 ![Screen Shot 2016-09-09 at 17.33.45.png](https://cdn.qcad.org/original/2X/c/cc05b6f400d4ff27050aa4a3e48b531cc5319c03.png)  
**Screen-based Linetypes**

_View \> Screen-based Linetypes_

In this mode, line types are rendered in pixels, not drawing units.  
Line weights are shown in pixels. A 1mm thick line is several pixels thick and appears approximately 1mm thick on screen. Zooming in has no effect on the line thickness on screen.  
Dashed lines are rendered in pixels. Zooming in has no effect on the length of dashes and spaces on screen.  
Complex line types (with symbols, text, etc) are displayed as dashed lines in this mode.

 ![Screen Shot 2016-09-09 at 17.34.00.png](https://cdn.qcad.org/original/2X/1/19d09cb84aeb40900c6e114fbc48bc7e07b5de0c.png)  
**Draft Mode**

_View \> Draft Mode_

This mode is optimized for best performance. No line weights or line patterns are shown.

 ![Screen Shot 2016-09-09 at 17.33.53.png](https://cdn.qcad.org/original/2X/5/5da4ec726bb080c3a14487d7e9765ff9f534a47f.png)  
**Anti-aliasing**

Anti-aliasing is a technique to minimize stair like patterns of vector graphics displayed on a pixel based device ([Spatial anti-aliasing - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatial_anti-aliasing)). Lines and arc appear smoother when anti-aliasing is switched on at the expense of performance.