The Align tool box gives you the power to arrange objects in a variety of ways.
Since vector objects can overlap in the image window, it is useful to be able to decide which position each object will occupy in relation to the others in the "hierarchy", and therefore which objects will be completely visible and which partially hidden. In addition, Align gives you options for adjusting the height, width and position of selected groups of objects.
If you have two or more overlapping objects, you may want to change the order of one or more of the objects. Select the object you would like to re-align. It is best to use the hand-pointer and then click once (see Editing vector objects). For these tools to become active you must select one and only one object (with the exception of grouped objects - see below).
In the Align tool box there are four options highlighted:
Bring to Front |
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The selected object will be brought in front of all the objects it overlaps. |
Send to Back |
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The selected object will be sent to the back of all the objects it overlaps. |
Bring Forward |
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The selected object will be brought in front of the overlapping object one place ahead. |
Send Backward |
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The selected object will be sent behind the overlapping object one place behind. |
The above options work with a single selected object. However, you can select several objects and then turn them into a single Group. The boxes surrounding the individual objects are turned into one big box around all the selected objects. To create a group drag the pointer round the relevant objects and then release. The individually selected objects can now be turned into a group by clicking on the G tool . The above four options are highlighted. You can now proceed to move the group to the front or back, forwards or backwards. To Ungroup and return to the individually selected objects, just click on the U tool
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To activate the rest of the align tools you need to select at least two of the objects. Drag the pointer round the objects you want to align and then release the mouse button. Each of the objects is surrounded by its own box. Note that if you attempt to move one of these objects they will all move together.
After you have made your selection the rest of the options in the Align tool box become available. Each of the following commands applies to the currently selected objects (non-selected objects are ignored):
Align Left |
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Objects are lined up with the object furthest to the left. |
Align Right |
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Objects are lined up with the object furthest to the right. |
Align Top |
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Objects are lined up with the top of the current highest object. |
Align Bottom |
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Objects are lined up with the bottom of the current lowest object. |
Align Vertical |
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Objects are lined up along a vertical axis. |
Align Horizontal |
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Objects are lined up along a horizontal axis. |
Space Evenly Vertically |
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Spaces three or more objects evenly in vertical direction. |
Space Evenly Horizontally |
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Spaces three or more objects evenly in horizontal direction. |
Make all same width |
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Makes all objects the same width. |
Make all same height |
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Makes all objects the same height. |
Make all same size |
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Makes all objects the same height and width. |