Skip to content
Molkit

Right-Click Menus

Right-clicking the canvas opens a context menu built for whatever sits under the cursor. The click selects that object first, but if the object is already part of a multi-selection, the selection is preserved and the menu applies to the whole group. Right-clicking empty space keeps your current selection. The menu is context-sensitive: only items relevant to the current selection appear.

Two things the context menu does not do: right-click drag pans the viewport instead of opening a menu (see Navigation), and cut, copy, paste, and delete are not menu items. Those live on the keyboard and the Edit menu (see Keyboard Shortcuts).

Any selection

These items appear for nearly every selection type:

  • Properties… (P) opens the matching properties panel (see Object Properties).
  • Bring to Front (Ctrl+Shift+]), Bring Forward (Ctrl+]), Send Backward (Ctrl+[), Send to Back (Ctrl+Shift+[) reorder the object within its layer (see Layers and Groups).
  • Copy as Image (Ctrl+Shift+C) puts a rendered image of the selection on the system clipboard.
  • Export Selection as SVG… / Export Selection as PNG… export just the selected objects (see SVG Export).
  • Group (Ctrl+G) when multiple items are selected; Ungroup (Ctrl+Shift+G) when a group is selected.

Atoms

  • Aux Position submenu (Auto, Left, Right, Above, Below) moves the auxiliary text relative to the atom label (see Atom Tool).
  • Set Atom Number… on a single atom; Number N Atoms (1, 2, 3…) sequentially numbers a multi-atom selection; Clear Numbers from Selection removes them (see Atom Numbering).
  • Set Element Color… (single atom) opens the color scheme editor focused on that element.
  • Expand “[label]” on a collapsed abbreviation atom; Collapse to Abbreviation… on a multi-atom selection (see Abbreviations).

Bonds

When two bonds cross, these control which one draws on top:

  • Bring Bond to Front paints this bond over crossing bonds.
  • Send Bond to Back paints it underneath.
  • Reset Bond Crossing Order (shown only after you customize) restores the default order.

Arrows

Curved and multi-segment arrows carry the largest menu (see Arrow Beautification and Curved Arrows):

  • Beautify applies the full automatic cleanup pass.
  • Auto S-Curve and Auto Shape fit the curve to a standard profile.
  • Flip Curve (F) mirrors the bow to the other side.
  • Straighten, Symmetrize, and Smooth Curve adjust the existing shape.
  • Align to Dots (spline arrows) lines the curve up with its electron-source dots.

Waypoint editing on multi-segment and spline arrows:

  • Delete Point (Del) removes the waypoint under the cursor.
  • Add Bezier Handles / Remove Bezier Handles toggle tangent handles on a waypoint.

Attached-arrow tip control (see Curved Arrows):

  • Reset Tip to Bond Midpoint clears a slid tip position on a bond-anchored arrow.
  • Flip This Tip to Other Side (spline) moves the tip approach to the opposite side.
  • Reset Head to Perpendicular (edge-attached spline) restores the default head angle.

With exactly two arrows selected:

  • Mirror Curve to This / Mirror Curve from This copy one arrow’s curve shape onto the other, mirrored.

Special annotations reuse the same menu:

  • Edit LaTeX Equation… reopens the editor for a LaTeX annotation (see LaTeX).
  • Edit Chart… reopens the chart editor for an imported chart (see Imports).

Text

  • Shrink to Text tightens a fixed-size box to its content.
  • Make Auto-size returns the box to automatic sizing (see Text).

Standalone lone pairs and radicals

Free-floating lone pair and radical annotations get two submenus (see Lone Pairs):

  • Representation: Dots, Lines, or Lobes.
  • Color Mode: Standard or Custom Color.

Projections

  • Fischer: Add center above / Add center below extend the backbone; Remove this center deletes the clicked stereocenter (see Fischer).
  • Chair: Flip Chair performs a ring flip (see Chair).
  • Newman: Set Conformation submenu with Staggered (60°), Eclipsed (0°), Anti (180°), Gauche+ (60°), and Gauche− (300°) (see Newman).

Animation mode

Inside animation mode the menu adds (see Animation States):

  • Propagate to All States adds the selected annotation to every state it is missing from.
  • Set as Animation Center (or Set N Atoms as Animation Center) marks the selected atoms as the alignment center; Clear Animation Center removes it.
  • Match Charge Pos from Prev State / Match Charge Pos from Next State copy a charge’s custom offset from the adjacent state (see State Matching).

Note: while the Match Editor is active, the canvas context menu is suppressed.

Tab bar

Right-clicking a document tab opens its own menu: Close Tab, Close Other Tabs, Close Tabs to the Right, Duplicate Tab, and Close All Tabs (see Tabs and Autosave).

See also