To display the Transform palette, choose Effects > Transform. To
close the palette, click the Close box (Mac) or double-click the Con-
trol menu box (Windows).
You can change the palettes layout from horizontal to vertical by
dragging the lower-right corner.
You can change the size, location, and orientation of selected objects
by using options and entering values in the Transform palette. Can-
vas applies the current settings when you press Enter or tab to the
next box.
Once an object has been transformed, it becomes a new object.
Therefore, the reference point is reset to reflect its position on the
new object. The values in the text boxes display the size and position
of the new object. The text boxes that show rotation and skew display
0. And the scaling percentage text boxes display 100 percent.
Locating the reference point
The reference point is displayed on the transform palette. It is a point
on the selected object (or its bounding box) that position data are
based on. The reference point is also the fixed point used in an
objects transformation. For example, with a rectangle selected, click
the upper-left corner point. The X Y boxes show the coordinates of
the rectangles upper-left corner, if Absolute coordinates are speci-
fied.
Transform menu options
You can choose different options to transform objects. The option
you choose determines the type of data that appears in the boxes on
the palette. You can choose from one of the following options:
Relative
Changes the position of the object relative to the current
position, or height and width values. The value in the first boxes,
Delta X and Delta Y, is 0 when you select an object. To move the
object, type the distance to move. The next two boxes, W and H, dis-
play the objects width and height. Type new values to resize the
object.
Absolute
Specifies X Y coordinates or height and width values.
The first two boxes, X and Y, display the coordinates of a selected
objects reference point. To move an object, type new coordinates for
the reference point. The next two boxes, W and H, display the
objects width and height. Type new values to resize the object.
Reference point