Pinch zoom, Openoffice (and elsewhere)

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Level 1

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Pinch zoom, Openoffice (and elsewhere)

I've started using OpenOffice but have found that under some circumstances (??) the page zooms wildly in and out whenever I use the trackpad. I gather this is called pinch zoom, and that there's a workaround for Safari. Is there something that will help with OpenOffice? Or better still, eradicate it from my Mac altogether?

Macbook Pro 15", Mac OS X (10.5.6), 2.53Ghz 4GB

Posted on Jul 27, 2009 2:39 AM

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Answer 1

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JoeyR

Level 6

8,305 points

Jul 27, 2009 6:50 AM in response to strida

This is usually a result of resting your thumb on the lower part of the trackpad (where the button used to be) while using another finger on the trackpad. Essentially, the trackpad thinks you are trying to zoom because it detects two fingers on the pad moving in opposite directions. If this is not the case (meaning you are using only one finger when this happens), let us know.

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Answer 2

Jul 27, 2009 9:17 AM in response to strida

Perhaps if enough people select "report a bug to Apple" regarding the erroneous pinch gesture (be it caused by resting your thumb, or in my case during some 2-finger scrolls where the fingers do not move exactly in tandem), Apple will mercifully allow us to disable this gesture altogether in the Trackpad System Preferences.

Until then, and this is a gesture that Steve says we should all use and enjoy, and us mortals are simply wrong in our inability to appreciate it! 😉

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Answer 3

strida Author

Level 1

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Jul 27, 2009 10:05 AM in response to channonhol

Thanks for comment, but why is the pinch zoom not a problem in most of my applications? Openoffice is the first app I've found where it's horrendous.

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Answer 4

JoeyR

Level 6

8,305 points

Jul 27, 2009 10:11 AM in response to strida

I haven't used OpenOffice much. Have you tried using NeoOffice instead:

http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php

It's a port of OpenOffice specifically for the Mac. While the OpenOffice folks have done a great job with OpenOffice 3, many of the underlying controls that you are used to in OS X are implemented differently in OpenOffice. NeoOffice was developed to have a more seemless integration with OS X.

The NeoOffice team has been working on OpenOffice ports for the Mac for years. The OpenOffice folks develop OpenOffice for all platforms and they have designed it to function similarly across all platforms (Windows, OS X, Linux). The NeoOffice team does nothing but work on making their distribution work like a Mac app.

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Answer 5

strida Author

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Jul 27, 2009 10:11 AM in response to channonhol

Forgot to make another point. It wouldn't be QUITE so bad if I could use pinch zoom to re-size the screen to my convenience – but the app zooms in and out 'of its own accord', then I have to use the slider at the bottom of the screen to put it right. Same with Google maps: I've just tried it out – I looked up a location and tried to zoom with finger and thumb... nothing happens, no zooming. But the next time I'm on there trying to check out a map, you bet it'll start zooming 'of its own accord'. Baffled.

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Answer 6

JoeyR

Level 6

8,305 points

Jul 27, 2009 10:18 AM in response to strida

You may want to try resetting your SMC. The SMC maintains settings for trackpad control and it is possible that something may have gone screwy:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411

Be sure to follow the instructions for your specific model as they vary from model to model.

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Answer 7

strida Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 27, 2009 1:36 PM in response to JoeyR

It turns out that pinch open and close can be disabled in NeoOffice, by entering

defaults write org.neooffice.NeoOffice IgnoreTrackpadGestures -bool yes

into Terminal. User GeorgeDickey in another thread kindly passed on the tip from

http://neowiki.neooffice.org/index.php/TroubleshootingTips#Disable_trackpadgestures

Now it turns out that NeoOffice has problems when I try to input Chinese with punctuation via ITABC, which I need. OpenOffice has no such problems. If I could just disable pinch open-and-close in OpenOffice, all would be well...

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