Working with Objects > Moving objects > Aligning and distributing objects

 

Aligning and distributing objects

You can align or distribute objects or points relative to other objects, other points, or the current page. Aligning moves objects so that they lie on a straight line along one edge or their centers. Distributing spaces objects evenly by one edge or their centers, or by evenly spacing the distance between them. Points are aligned or distributed by their position, since they don't have an edge.

You can lock an object so that it does not move during alignment. Other objects will align relative to the locked one.

You can also use blends or power duplicating to evenly space identical objects across a page. For more information, see Working with blends and Power-duplicating.

To align or distribute selected objects or points:

1

Choose Window > Panels > Align to display the Align panel.

The three rectangles in the preview illustrate the current alignment settings; when you select a distribute option, a fourth rectangle appears.

2

Do one of the following:

In the preview window, click to set alignment options. For example, click the left edge to align objects by their left edges.

Choose alignment or distribution options using the pop-up menus.

Select Align to Page to align or distribute objects relative to the current page dimensions.

3

Click Align.