Earlier sessions focused on reading the Blender interface; this session moves to acting on it. Two skills are central to every scene: controlling what the 3D View draws, and moving objects within it precisely. The goal is to toggle viewport helpers and to add, select, delete, and transform objects using keyboard shortcuts rather than menus. Learn Ctrl Z at once: it undoes recent actions and can reverse several steps in sequence.

Learning outcomes

This topic covers six outcomes: opening the Overlays popover and toggling grid, axes, gizmos, and statistics; explaining how overlays differ from what renders; adding and deleting objects with Shift A and X; selecting by click, box, and all or none; transforming with G, R, and S while locking to an axis; and moving the 3D cursor, switching pivot points, and snapping. The last three apply to nearly every project this term.

What are overlays?

Overlays are drawing aids displayed on top of the scene. They support the work rather than the final image, and include the grid, axes, wireframes, object origins, and statistics. They are purely visual, so they change nothing in the file, and they never appear in a render. The viewport displays the scene together with its overlays, while the render engine produces the final image from the scene alone. A common beginner question is whether the grid appears in a rendered animation; it does not. Like the guide lines on graph paper, overlays assist drawing but are not part of the drawing. The grid is the overlay most students have already encountered.

Figure: how a scene splits into the overlay layer you see in the viewport and the render engine output that has no overlays.

graph TD
  A[Your scene] --> B[Overlays layer]
  B --> C[What you see in viewport]
  A --> D[Render engine]
  D --> E[Final image, no overlays]

The Overlays control

The Overlays control sits at the top right of the 3D View header. It appears as two overlapping circles, positioned immediately to the left of the two shading spheres from the previous topic. Clicking the icon body toggles all overlays at once, which produces a clean preview. Clicking the small dropdown arrow beside it opens the popover, which groups every overlay setting into checkboxes. The default shortcut Shift Alt Z toggles all overlays on or off. The popover itself has no default shortcut.

Inside the popover

The popover organises settings into three groups. Guides contains Grid and Floor plus X, Y, Z Axis lines and the 3D cursor. Objects contains Wireframe, Outline of selection, Bones, and Object Origins. Geometry contains wireframe density, Face Orientation, and more. In Blender 4.2 the Guides section provides a single Floor checkbox for the ground plane and separate X, Y, Z Axis checkboxes for the coloured centre lines; the full separation of Grid and Axis into independent toggles was refined in later releases, but in 4.2 the Floor and each axis line are already controlled here. Statistics and Face Orientation, the most frequently toggled settings, are covered below.

Grid, floor, and axes

The grid provides orientation in empty space and a sense of scale and position. The Floor is the ground plane used as a building surface. The Axis X line is red and the Axis Y line is green, while the Axis Z line shows only in some views. Colours are consistent throughout Blender: X is red, Y is green, Z is blue, so the upward axis is Z in blue. In the default top orthographic view the X and Y lines cross at the world origin. Gizmos, the on-screen handles for move, rotate, and scale, are separate from overlays: they live in the Gizmos popover immediately to the left of the Overlays popover, not within it, so they should not be sought inside the Overlays panel.

Figure: the floor grid and the red X and green Y axis lines together give a sense of scale and position.

graph TD
  F["Floor grid"] --> O["Sense of scale and position"]
  X["Axis X, red"] --> O
  Y["Axis Y, green"] --> O

Statistics and face orientation

Statistics shows object, vertex, face, and triangle counts as a viewport overlay and is useful for monitoring scene complexity, for example detecting an unintended subdivision. It previously appeared in the status bar, but in 4.2 it is an overlay checkbox that draws counts in the top left of the viewport. Face Orientation draws the front of a face in blue and the back in red. Flipped faces cause shading and export bugs. If part of a model turns red with Face Orientation on, its normals are flipped; this is not permanent damage, it simply means a face points the wrong way. The fix, applied later, is Alt N.

Adding objects

Press Shift A to open the Add menu, then choose Mesh followed by a primitive such as Cube or Sphere. The new object appears at the 3D cursor, which is why controlling the cursor matters. Immediately after adding, a collapsed Adjust Last Operation panel appears in the bottom left corner. This is the reliable place to set values such as size or the number of segments on a sphere. Once another action is performed, the panel closes.

Figure: pressing Shift A opens the Add menu, spawns a primitive at the 3D cursor, and exposes the Adjust Last Operation panel.

graph TD
  A["Shift A"] --> M["Add menu"]
  M --> P["Mesh, Cube, Sphere, etc"]
  P --> C["Spawns at 3D cursor"]
  C --> R["Adjust Last Operation panel"]

Deleting objects

Two keys delete, and both require the mouse to hover over the 3D View. X opens a confirmation menu and then deletes; it is the safer, deliberate option and is taught first for beginners. Delete removes the object immediately without confirmation and is faster for experienced users. Deletion acts only on the active or selected objects, so if nothing is selected, nothing happens. Ctrl Z undoes a deletion and can reverse several steps.

Selecting objects

Selection decides what a command acts on. A left click selects one object, and the last object clicked becomes the active object, drawn with a lighter, brighter outline than the rest; some commands, such as parenting, treat the active object specifically. Shift click adds or removes an object from the selection. B starts box select by dragging a rectangle, the primary method for selecting several objects, while circle select with C is an additional option. A selects all and Alt A deselects all; pressing A twice or clicking empty space also clears the selection.

Figure: the four ways to build a selection, single click, Shift click, box select, and select all or none.

graph TD
  S["Selection"] --> C["Click, one object"]
  S --> SH["Shift click, add to set"]
  S --> B["B, box select"]
  S --> ALL["A all / Alt A none"]

Transforming with G, R, S

Reviewed here from the tools lesson, the three transform commands are G to grab or move, R to rotate, and S to scale. The pattern is to press the key, move the mouse, then left click to confirm; right click or Esc cancels. Beginners often omit the confirmation and leave an object stuck to the mouse. Each object transforms around the current pivot point, discussed below.

Figure: the three transform keys and what each one does, G to move, R to rotate, S to resize.

graph LR
  G["G, grab"] --> MOVE["Move object"]
  R["R, rotate"] --> ROT["Rotate object"]
  S["S, scale"] --> SC["Resize object"]

Locking to an axis

After pressing G, R, or S, press an axis key to constrain the transform. G then X moves along X only, R then Z rotates around Z, and S then Y scales along Y. This is the standard professional workflow, since it stops an object drifting on unwanted axes. Pressing the axis key once locks to the global axis; pressing it a second time switches to the object's local axis. Typing a number after the axis makes the transform exact and repeatable: G X 2 Enter moves an object exactly two units along X without a menu, and S 0.5 Enter scales to half size on all axes. Pressing Shift plus an axis excludes that axis, so Shift Z affects everything except Z, which is useful for scaling on a plane.

Figure: press a transform key, then an axis key to lock the transform to that axis, then type a number for precision.

graph TD
  T["Press G, R, or S"] --> AX["Then X, Y, or Z"]
  AX --> LOCK["Locked to that axis"]
  LOCK --> NUM["Type a number for precision"]

The 3D cursor and pivot points

The 3D cursor is a small red and white circle that acts as a movable reference point. New objects spawn at it, and it can also serve as a pivot point. Shift Right Click places it under the mouse, and Shift S opens the Snap pie menu with options such as Cursor to World Origin (which resets it), Cursor to Selected, and Selection to Cursor. The Pivot Point dropdown, in the centre of the 3D View header, defaults to Median Point, the average centre of the selection. Switching to 3D Cursor rotates objects around the cursor, while Individual Origins makes each object rotate around its own centre; rotating two cubes with each setting shows the difference.

Figure: the 3D cursor as a spawn point and a pivot, and the Pivot dropdown choices of Median Point, 3D Cursor, and Individual Origins.

graph TD
  CUR["3D cursor"] --> SPAWN["Add objects here"]
  CUR --> PIV["Can be a pivot point"]
  PIVMENU["Pivot dropdown, header"] --> MED["Median Point, default"]
  PIVMENU --> CUR
  PIVMENU --> IND["Individual Origins"]

Snapping

Snapping makes transforms land on targets. The magnet icon in the header toggles it, and Shift Tab toggles it quickly. When it is on, G, R, and S snap to nearby Vertex, Edge, Face, or Grid, depending on the mode chosen in the dropdown next to the magnet. Holding Ctrl during a transform provides a single temporary snap without leaving the magnet enabled. Two separate concepts share the word snap and are commonly confused: the magnet toggle affects transforms, while the Shift S pie menu operates on the 3D cursor and selection. They are different tools.

Figure: the magnet toggle enables snapping to vertex, edge, face, or grid, while holding Ctrl during a transform gives a temporary snap.

graph LR
  MAG["Magnet toggle"] --> ON["Snapping on"]
  ON --> TGT["Snap to vertex, edge, face, grid"]
  CTRL["Hold Ctrl during G/R/S"] --> TEMP["Temporary snap"]

Hands on: build a tiny scene

A short exercise ties the outcomes together. First Shift Right Click to place the 3D cursor near the world origin. Then Shift A, Mesh, Cube, and in Adjust Last Operation set Size to 2. Move it with G X 3 Enter to shift it three units along X, then S 0.5 Enter to halve its size on all axes. Turn on Statistics and Face Orientation in the Overlays popover, observing how the Statistics counts change and using any red face to illustrate Face Orientation. Finally select all with A, deselect with Alt A, and undo any extras with Ctrl Z. This covers the cursor, adding, precise move, precise scale, overlays, and selection.

Summary

• Overlays are viewport only drawing aids that never appear in a render; the icon and Shift Alt Z toggle them, and the popover groups Guides, Objects, and Geometry settings.
• The grid, Floor, and coloured axes give orientation, with X red, Y green, Z blue; gizmos live in a separate Gizmos popover.
• Statistics reports scene counts, and Face Orientation shows front faces blue and back faces red to reveal flipped normals.
• Objects are added with Shift A at the 3D cursor and deleted with X (confirmed) or Delete (immediate); selection uses click, Shift click, B, A, and Alt A.
• Transforms G, R, S can be locked to an axis and given exact numeric values, for example G X 2 Enter.
• The 3D cursor, pivot points, and snapping control how transforms are anchored; the magnet snap and the Shift S cursor snap are distinct tools.