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Keyboard & Mouse Shortcuts Reference

Complete reference of keyboard shortcuts and mouse bindings available in ROXAS AI for high-throughput image navigation, manual vector/raster curation, and workflow dock management in napari.

Shortcut Availability & Activation

  • Launching via napari-roxas: Running the custom launcher napari-roxas installs all navigation and workflow shortcuts immediately upon startup and opens the Manual Editing dock container.
  • Launching via standard napari: When starting via plain napari, shortcuts and duplicate dock protection are installed and activated as soon as any ROXAS AI widget or menu action is opened.

Complete Shortcut Summary Table

Category Action Key(s) / Mouse Binding Scope / Active Context Description
Navigation Pan Up W or ↑ Global Viewer Pans the viewport upward by 200 pixels.
Navigation Pan Down S or ↓ Global Viewer Pans the viewport downward by 200 pixels.
Navigation Pan Left A or ← Global Viewer Pans the viewport leftward by 200 pixels.
Navigation Pan Right D or → Global Viewer Pans the viewport rightward by 200 pixels.
Navigation Fast Pan Shift + (W/A/S/D or ↑/←/↓/→) Global Viewer Doubles panning speed (400 pixels per step).
Navigation Zoom Out Q Global Viewer Decreases magnification by a step of \(0.25\).
Navigation Zoom In E Global Viewer Increases magnification by a step of \(0.25\).
Widget Groups Manual Editing Group Ctrl + Shift + M (macOS: Cmd + Shift + M) Global Viewer Closes existing docks and opens the unified Manual Editing sidebar.
Widget Groups Batch Operations Group Ctrl + Shift + B (macOS: Cmd + Shift + B) Global Viewer Closes existing docks and opens the unified Batch Operations sidebar.
Widget Groups Close All Docks Ctrl + Shift + W (macOS: Cmd + Shift + W) Global Viewer Closes all open dock widgets in the napari window.
Cell Editing Adjust Brush Size Ctrl + Mouse Wheel (macOS: Cmd + Wheel) 5 - Edit cells (Raster Mode) Dynamically resizes the painting/erasing brush (1 to 100 px).
Cell Editing Switch Brush / Eraser Ctrl + Double-Click (macOS: Cmd + Double-Click) 5 - Edit cells (Raster Mode) Toggles between the paint brush and eraser tool.
Cell Editing Delete Lasso Cells Delete or Backspace 5 - Edit cells (Vector Mode) Deletes all cell polygons intersecting the drawn lasso area.
Cell Editing Undo Last Edit Ctrl + Z (macOS: Cmd + Z) 5 - Edit cells (Active Editing) Reverts the last stroke or vector modification (up to 50 undo steps).
Ring Editing Fine Nudge Boundary (1 px) Ctrl + ↑ / ↓ / ← / → (macOS: Cmd + Arrows) 6 - Edit rings (Selected Boundaries) Nudges all selected ring boundary vertices by 1 pixel in the chosen direction.
Ring Editing Fast Nudge Boundary (10 px) Ctrl + Shift + ↑ / ↓ / ← / → 6 - Edit rings (Selected Boundaries) Nudges all selected ring boundary vertices by 10 pixels in the chosen direction.
Ring Editing Delete Lasso Vertices Delete or Backspace 6 - Edit rings (Lasso Mode) Deletes vertices from topmost boundary enclosed by the lasso area.
Ring Editing Undo Last Edit Ctrl + Z (macOS: Cmd + Z) 6 - Edit rings (Active Editing) Reverts the last boundary edit, deletion, or affine move (up to 50 undo steps).

Detailed Mechanics by Category

1. Viewport Navigation & Magnification

Wood anatomical cross-sections can contain millions of pixels. Single-key navigation shortcuts allow rapid, continuous inspection without switching between active drawing/selection tools:

  • Single-Key Panning (W/A/S/D or Arrow Keys): Shifts the visible camera viewport by 200 screen pixels in the corresponding direction.
  • Fast Panning (Shift + Navigation Keys): Doubles the movement step to 400 screen pixels, useful for traversing long radial stem increments.
  • Incremental Zoom (Q / E): Adjusts camera magnification by \(\pm 0.25\) zoom increments while keeping the viewport centered.

2. Workflow Dock Groups & Sidebar Management

ROXAS AI organizes its 11 tools into unified, scrollable dock containers to keep the workspace clean:

  • Manual Editing Group (Ctrl + Shift + M / macOS: Cmd + Shift + M): Opens the primary interactive analysis workflow containing 2/4 - Load image(s), 3A - Detect cells & rings, 5 - Edit cells, 6 - Edit rings, and 9A - Measure cells & rings.
  • Batch Operations Group (Ctrl + Shift + B / macOS: Cmd + Shift + B): Opens the high-throughput batch pipeline containing 1 - Prepare project images, 3B - Batch detect cells & rings, and 9B - Batch measure & update.
  • Close All Docks (Ctrl + Shift + W / macOS: Cmd + Shift + W): Clears all open dock widgets to maximize screen real estate for visual inspection.

3. Cell Editing Shortcuts (5 - Edit cells)

In the Edit Cells widget, shortcuts streamline both pixel-level raster touch-ups and vector polygon curation:

  • Dynamic Brush Resizing (Ctrl + Mouse Wheel / macOS: Cmd + Wheel):
  • While using the Paint Brush or Eraser in Raster mode, holding Ctrl and scrolling dynamically adjusts brush diameter between 1 and 100 pixels.
  • Step scaling is proportional: \(\text{step} = \max(1.0, 0.15 \times \text{brush\_size})\), providing single-pixel precision at small diameters and rapid scaling at large sizes.
  • Standard napari dimension slider scrolling is temporarily suppressed during editing to prevent accidental slice jumps.
  • Brush / Eraser Quick Toggle (Ctrl + Double-Click / macOS: Cmd + Double-Click):
  • Holding Ctrl and double-clicking on the canvas instantly swaps between painting and erasing modes without needing to click toolbar icons.
  • Lasso & Shape Polygon Deletion (Delete or Backspace):
  • In Vector mode with Lasso Select active, drawing one or more closed loops and pressing Delete removes all cell polygons that intersect the lasso selection. Selecting cell polygons directly with the shape selection tool and pressing Delete also deletes the selected cells.
  • Undo Stack (Ctrl + Z / macOS: Cmd + Z):
  • Maintains a history of up to 50 operations. In vector mode, it restores exact shape geometries and properties; in raster mode, it triggers napari's label brush undo history.

4. Tree-Ring Editing Shortcuts (6 - Edit rings)

In the Edit Rings widget, shortcuts facilitate precise alignment of vector polylines:

  • Fine Boundary Nudging (1 px):
  • Select one or more boundary polylines using the Direct Select tool and press Ctrl + ↑ / ↓ / ← / → (or Cmd + Arrows on macOS).
  • Shifts all vertices of selected boundaries by exactly 1 pixel, ideal for sub-lumen alignment along latewood cell walls.
  • Fast Boundary Nudging (10 px):
  • Press Ctrl + Shift + Arrow keys to shift selected boundary vertices by 10 pixels per step.
  • Topmost Lasso Vertex Deletion (Delete or Backspace):
  • When Lasso Select is active in ring editing mode, drawing a selection loop and pressing Delete removes vertices located inside the lasso.
  • Topmost Layer Priority Rule: When multiple boundary polylines overlap closely within the lasso area, vertices are removed exclusively from the topmost boundary (highest shape index), preventing accidental deletion of underlying ring lines.
  • Undo History (Ctrl + Z / macOS: Cmd + Z):
  • Restores prior boundary polylines, calendar year metadata assignments, deleted vertex markers, and affine transform modifications across a 50-step history stack.

Cross-Platform Modifier Key Reference

(Note for macOS users: <kbd>Cmd</kbd> corresponds to ⌘ (Command) and <kbd>Option</kbd> corresponds to ⌥ (Option/Alt)).

Action / Shortcut Windows / Linux macOS Equivalent
Workflow Groups Ctrl + Shift + Key Cmd + Shift + Key
Brush Sizing Ctrl + Mouse Wheel Cmd + Mouse Wheel / Trackpad Scroll
Brush / Eraser Toggle Ctrl + Double-Click Cmd + Double-Click
Boundary Nudging Ctrl (+ Shift) + Arrows Cmd (+ Shift) + Arrows
Deletion Delete or Backspace Delete or Backspace
Undo Ctrl + Z Cmd + Z