Aligning and positioning objects

You can align objects to the same top, bottom, left and right positions, center objects horizontally or vertically on a page, space objects evenly, and make objects the same size. You can use the alignment functions to align several objects along their top, bottom, left and right sides, or align them to their horizontal or vertical centers.

To align objects:

Hold down your Ctrl key and select the objects you want to align. Multiple objects must be selected to activate the following alignment options.

Select from the following alignment options. You can align objects by clicking the appropriate status bar graphic.

Align Left: Moves two or more selected objects so that the left edge of each is aligned with the left edge of the selected object which is furthest left on the page (the lowest X coordinate value).

Align Center: Moves two or more selected objects so that the horizontal (left-to-right) centers are aligned (the center line of the objects have the same X coordinate). The center line is determined using the left-most and right-most edges of the objects.

Align Right: Moves two or more selected objects so that the right edge of each is aligned with the right edge of the selected object that is furthest right on the page.

Align Top: Moves two or more selected objects so that the top edge of each is aligned with the top edge of the selected object that is furthest up on the page (the lowest Y coordinate value).

Align Middle: Moves two or more selected objects so that the vertical (top-to-bottom) middles are aligned (the middle line of the objects have the same Y coordinate). The center line is determined using the top-most and bottom-most edges of the objects.

Align Bottom: Moves two or more selected objects so that the bottom edge of each is aligned with the bottom edge of the selected object that is furthest down on the page.

Center Horizontal on Page: Moves one or more selected objects so that the horizontal (left-to-right) center is in the center of the page (the center line of the objects have the same X coordinate as the center line of the page width).

Center Vertical on Page: Moves one or more selected objects so that the vertical (top-to-bottom) center is in the middle of the page (the center line of the objects have the same Y coordinate as the center line of the page height).

Space Evenly Horizontal: Moves three or more selected objects so that horizontal distance (the left-to-right, X-axis space) between the objects is equal; regardless of the size of each object. It leaves the left edge of the left-most object (lowest X coordinate) unchanged, and the right edge of the right-most object unchanged, and then spaces the other objects in between. It does not change the Y coordinate (top-to-bottom) of the objects.

Space Evenly Vertical: Moves three or more selected objects so that vertical distance (the top-to-bottom, Y-axis space) between the objects is equal; regardless of the size of each object. It leaves the top edge of the upper-most object (lowest Y coordinate) unchanged, and the bottom edge of the lower-most object unchanged, and then spaces the other objects in between. It does not change the X coordinate (left-to-right) of the objects.

Make Same Width: Resizes two or more selected objects so that their width is equal to the width of the first selected object; regardless of their height.

Make Same Height: Resizes two or more selected objects so that their height is equal to the height of the first selected object; regardless of their width.

Make Same Width and Height: Resizes two or more selected objects so that they are equally sized for both width and height to the width and height of the first selected object.

To directly specify the position or size of an object, you can also modify the object's properties.