Full Screen
Switches to full screen mode, automatically hiding the menu bar, the status bar, the tool bar, the layer bar, the edit bar, the pattern/script folder and the scroll bars. To exit from this mode just hit the menu item's keyboard shortcut or any unassigned key.
Fit Pattern
Changes the scale and location so the entire pattern fits within the current view.
Fit Selection
Changes the scale and location so the entire selection fits within the current view.
Middle
Moves the origin cell (0,0) to the middle of the view.
Restore Origin
Restores the true origin. The origin cell can be changed by hitting "0" while the cursor is over the view — the cell under the cursor will become the new origin and its location will be displayed as 0,0. This can be handy for measuring distances or for saving a location and returning to it quickly by hitting "m".
Zoom In
Zooms in by doubling the current scale. If the scale is 1:16 then you can't zoom in any further.
Zoom Out
Zooms out by halving the current scale. Golly has an unbounded universe so you can zoom out as far as you like.
Set Scale
This submenu lets you set the scale from 1:1 to 1:16. A quicker method is to use these keyboard shortcuts: "1" for 1:1, "2" for 1:2, "4" for 1:4, "8" for 1:8 and "6" for 1:16.
Show Tool Bar
Shows or hides the tool bar at the left edge of the main window.
Show Layer Bar
Shows or hides the layer bar above the viewport window (and above the edit bar if it's visible).
Show Edit Bar
Shows or hides the edit bar above the viewport window. The edit bar contains buttons for undo and redo, buttons for changing the cursor mode, a button for showing/hiding all states (see below), boxes showing the current drawing state's color and icon, and a scroll bar for changing the drawing state.
Show All States
If ticked then the edit bar is made larger and the colors and icons for all cell states in the current universe are displayed. A box is drawn around the current drawing state; to change it just click on a different state.
Show Status Bar
Shows or hides the status bar at the top of the main window.
Show Exact Numbers
If ticked then the status bar is made larger and exact numbers are displayed instead of using scientific notation.
Show Grid Lines
Shows or hides the grid lines. Use Preferences > View to turn off the bold grid lines or change their spacing. You can also set the minimum scale at which grid lines should be displayed (1:4, 1:8 or 1:16).
Show Cell Icons
If ticked then icons will be displayed at scales 1:8 and 1:16. Icons are small bitmaps that can have any shape but their color is automatically synchronized with the cell's state color. Each algorithm can have a different set of icons. You can change these icons by loading suitably formatted files via the "Load Icons" button in Preferences > Color.
It's also possible to have rule-specific icons. Whenever Golly switches to a new rule it looks inside the Rules folder for a matching rule.icons file and, if it exists, loads the bitmaps stored in the file. The format of a .icons file is identical to that used above. See Help > File Formats for a description of the format.
Invert Colors
If ticked then the colors of all cell states in all layers are inverted; i.e., each r, g, b value is changed to 255-r, 255-g, 255-b.
Buffered
If ticked then window buffering is used to avoid flicker, but it does slow down pattern rendering a bit so you might prefer to live with the flicker. Note that buffering is always used if grid lines are displayed or if a selection is visible.
This option is disabled on Mac OS X and Linux/GTK because windows are automatically buffered on those systems.
Show Timeline
Shows or hides the timeline bar below the viewport window. If the current algorithm supports timelines (only QuickLife doesn't) then the timeline bar has a button to start/stop recording a timeline. This button is equivalent to the Control menu's Start/Stop Recording item.
When recording stops, or after a timeline is loaded from a .mc file, you'll see a scroll bar that lets you view any frame within the timeline. There are also buttons to automatically play the timeline forwards or backwards, a slider to adjust the speed of auto-play, and a button at the right edge to delete the timeline. Note that if the Control menu's Auto Fit option is ticked then Golly will force each timeline pattern to fit the viewport.
A number of keyboard shortcuts can be used while a timeline exists. Hit the escape key to stop recording or to stop auto-play. Hit your preferred keys for Faster/Slower to change the speed of auto-play. Hit your preferred key for Start Generating to play the timeline forwards and, if you wish, use Preferences > Keyboard to assign a keyboard shortcut for Play Timeline Backwards.
Pattern Info
Displays any comments in the current pattern file.